Editing War (section)

==War in practice==

{{topquote|Men, steel, money, and bread, are the sinews of war; but of these four, the first two are more necessary, for men and steel find money and bread, but money and bread do not find men and steel.|[[Perturabo|Niccolo Machiavelli]] in his military treatise, Dell'arte della Guerra (The Art of War)}}

{{topquote|All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.|[[Alpharius|Sun Tzu]] in his military treatise, 孫子兵法 (The Art of War)}}

Warfare. A profession for many, an art to some. Wars can be waged by just about anyone, but they cannot be won by everyone. At the end of the day, as long as there's still conflict to be settled, [[Team Fortress 2#Sniper|someone is gonna want someone else dead]]. To maximize the chances of winning, plenty have elaborated plans of actions to conduct war in a proper manner. Any regime that had plenty of men and who knew how to use them made some pretty drastic changes in history, plenty left their mark through sheer force of will... And lethal application of weaponry. 

So, you wanna wage a war, son? Or... Well, have some tips to write a good war for your '''worldbuilding considerations?'''

First of all; you need to decide what kind of war do you want, and for what purpose. Authors don't bring up wars for the same reason, they can either serve as the primary source of conflict, a means to a greater end, or the consequences of unfortunate situations. You also need to establish the stakes; are people fighting for a greater philosophical cause and for the good of the country, or is it just a matter of natural ressources and successions?

For instance, fantasy tends to invoke that the entire world is at stakes because a dark lord, or a demon, or an order, or anything for that matter, is/are trying to change the way of things. This serves for an effective if manichean way of generating conflict. It's vague enough to have little to no political implications, prefering to rely on philosophy and morality to justify itself. This usually means that the consequences of the war could have an impact on a cosmic scale; as in, the world might literally change depending on who's the victor. This usually ties into the cosmology or the way the whole world function on a magical/literal level. For instance, in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Chaos is the primary opposing force that drives the conflicts present in the Warhammer world, that is due to its destructive nature and its main emphasis on spreading corruption. While it isn't exactly the only antagonistic faction of the game, it remains one of its biggest threats.

If you wish to take a more realistic approach, consider that all wars are always about one thing; a faction can't do something because of another, so it seeks to make it right through the application of violence. Because usually wars intervene when diplomacy becomes useless. Look out for historical examples and read eye-witness accounts of battles, they are very good ressources to write your conflicts. Keep in mind that feuds where one side was clearly in the wrong and the other in the right were spectacularly rare, and that every soldier was a person, not [[Orc|a mindless mook meant to follow the orders of his superiors]]. Sure, there are examples of tyrants, religious zealots, warmongers and powerhungry buffoons who needlessly wasted lives over petty games of power. But just remember that usually those kinds of wars and conflicts are considered very lackluster in literature and games. Especially game-design. Try to find an appeal in every faction you write, so that your players have an interest in playing them.