Writing Historical Fiction

Chapter 4: Realistic Wars and Conflicts

      This, can be a bit of a tricky one. We're covering a new topic: Wars and Conflicts.
        Most of the time, a big epic battle in fictional stories will end without any of the major characters dead. This, is not really that likely, as war, by it's very nature, is spontaneous and brutal. HOWEVER, one way I do this, is by using a bit of mathematics. Typically, in a medieval battle, for instance, you will have two opposing forces numbering 5,000 people each. Assuming they're evenly matched, soldier for soldier, then when one guy goes down on the other side, one guy on the protagonist' side will go down.
       Now, here's where multiplication comes in, for every twist and turns the protagonist' comrades or underlings take, multiply the number of deaths that the enemy suffers usually by two, and then subtract that number from the total forces left (which should be equal).

      So, say I have two armies from opposing countries with equally trained and numbered armies that have each lost 300 men

Army 1: 4,700 (defending)
Army 2: 4,700 (attacking)

Army 1 Frontline: 200 troops
(Flanks Army 2)

Result: Army 1: 100 losses
              Army 2: 400 losses

End result:
Army 1: 4,600 (defending)
Army 2: 4,300 (attacking)
Total losses incurred: 1,300

      Despite the fact that a flanking order in this scenario would actually deliver 3 times the losses, this is a good "turn of the tide" scenario.
      A big part of war is also morale. Notice how Army 1 only lost 100 troops in their movement, despite being evenly matched to Army 2. No, they didn't do commit just their forces at the very tip of their defensive, they dispirited the enemy. Also, I did technically strip out the wounded. So, just keep in mind that casualties aren't always dead men.