How to Write a Fantasy Battle: Basic Medieval and Modern Military Tactics for Authors

by Suzannah Rowntree

The forces of good are arrayed against the minions of evil on a storm-swept battlefield, and someone is about to yell “Charge!”—Now what?

We’ve all been there. Many fantasy novels end with a climactic battle scene, yet few authors have a solid understanding of how battles are planned, staged, fought, and won. The answers are locked within dense history books—but never fear: I read them so you don’t have to.

This short, accessible book not only gives you a crash course on basic military strategy and tactics across history—it also contains invaluable tips on how to adapt real-world battle tactics into a thrilling scene for your fantasy novel. Along the way you’ll learn:

∙ How socio-economic forces affect the ways that battles are fought.
∙ The importance of factors such as surprise, terrain, fog of war, and more.
∙ Different categories of fighters.
∙ How your world-building and magic system may affect your battle.
∙ The typical phases a battle may go through.
∙ Where to find more advanced resources.

This book contains countless examples from real and fictional battles, collected during the ten years I’ve spent reading up on medieval and modern military history—and put into terms which anyone can understand.

Read How to Write a Fantasy Battle, and tackle that battle scene with confidence!

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing

76 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2025

About the author

Hi! I live in a big house in rural Australia with my awesome parents and siblings, drinking fancy tea and writing historical fantasy fiction that blends real-world history with legend, adventure, and a dash of romance.

​If you like the historical fantasy of Gail Carriger, S. A. Chakraborty or Naomi Novik, you'll probably like my stories too!

You can visit me online at https://suzannahrowntree.site

GOODREADS FRIEND POLICY: I'm afraid I don't accept every single friend request I receive, unless we already know each other, or it looks like we have tastes broadly in common. However, please feel free to follow and interact.

Reviews

[Rosamund Hodge]

GOOD FOOD

[Juliet McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an epic fantasy writer who's studied military history in different periods for decades, I bin books for errors in strategy and tactics too often. I absolutely recommend this concise, straight-forward handbook for any author unsure of their footing with these things. Your story will improve in all sorts of ways, including ones that will surprise you. I'll be keeping my copy to hand as a useful backstop to my own work as well.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fantasy author I have stayed away from battles. There are so many things I don’t understand about war and armed conflict, I have purposefully crafted my books to avoid those things. But Suzannah Rowntree’s helpful primer on how to write a fantasy battle was so grounded and helpful, I may change my tune.

This short book is pared down to understandable concepts and examples from both history and fiction. As a historical fantasy author, Rowntree has chewed through many weighty tomes on the crusades and on modern warfare and shared that information for the layman in a friendly, engaging way. I found myself reading through the book in an afternoon, entirely fascinated.

The book is geared for fantasy authors, but would work for anyone who was interested in getting some basic warfare concepts under their belt. Highly recommend for authors who need to write a battle or armed conflict or just want to make sure they’re not writing any war faux pas.

Read in beta, looking forward to the final version!!!

[Christina Dongowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as someone interested in military history and strategy, not as an aspiring fantasy writer. Books on military history are almost always written by men, and very often tend to be not very welcoming to readers that are not into the armchair general mindset. I hoped this little book would be very different from that and it didn’t disappoint. It’s very good at conveying the complexity of warfare and battles, and provides one with basic knowledge to actually understand what the fuzz about strategy, tactics, logistics and equipment is actually all about. (And why terrain and supply lines are often much bigger factors in a battle or a war than the morale of the soldier.) My only quibble: It‘s too short, I really would like Rowntree to write a big non-fiction book on medieval warfare or on the crusades.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reserve 5-star ratings for books that make an exceptional contribution in their field. This book is admittedly niche, but it is five star worthy. An enjoyable and helpful read.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I would thoroughly enjoy this book from the moment I read the "to save your fief" joke on the first page.

It includes battles from medieval history, current times, and from literature such as Lord of the Rings. In addition to the battle analysis, there is helpful information about all sorts of aspects of warfare and applicable advice for how to go about not just planning but also writing a battle scene, and how to make it work for the story you are writing.

I have no hesitations in recommending this to any writer who is facing down an imminent battle and feeling defeated before they even begin, and also to anyone who enjoys reading about battles and writing but doesn't want anything too dense.

[R.M. Krogman · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How to Write a Fantasy Battle" by Suzannah Rowntree is exactly the kind of reference book a fantasy author wanting to grow their battle-writing skill needs. It is introductory, yet does not skip any relevant topics. It provides historical examples primarily from the high Middle Ages to demonstrate its key lessons, as well as current-day events and pop culture for others. Altogether, this book is incredibly well-written and accessible to those who want to learn.

It does not pretend to be a massive compendium of battle knowledge, but it is clear that the author has read some of those references, has a passion and deep interest in the topic, and is happy to provide recommendations for those bigger references to the reader. This book is a wonderful place for authors to start when learning more about writing battles well!

[Emily Devereux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really appreciated this as a resource! It came well-timed, as I'm in the middle of editing a book where I have some big war scenes only to discover that I don't know what the heck I'm doing. This book gave me a good perspective on larger-scale battles, strategy, and gave me a better idea of what makes sense and how I can tackle these scenes. For anyone who wants to dig into the super nitty gritty, there are also ample recommendations on further reading. I didn't even know where to start, and this book was a great foundation and gave me some more confidence.

[Night Owling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brief and to the point.

If you are planning on writing a battle scene, you want to read this book. Susannah explains both with historical and fictional battle examples all the considerations that go into planning and executing a battle along with many silly pitfalls that popular movies fall into in their battle depictions

And once she analyzes everything she narrows it down in what your focus should be when writing a battle scene.

disclaimer: I received a free ARC

[Cassandra Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the most helpful resource I've added to my writing library to date. Suzannah Rowntree explains the basics of battle and warfare in a way that feels more like a conversation with a friend than a college lecture. The chapters are short and to the point with relevant examples.

I had spent hours trying to research battles and found myself more confused by the end of my research than when I began it. But after I read the first two chapters of this book, I felt like I actually might be capable of writing a battle scene. By the end of How to Write a Fantasy Battle, I am confident I can.

This is an engaging, easy-to-understand resource and I will be referencing it again and again. Highly recommend!

[Jazmin Jordan-Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you don't know what you don't know, sometimes a gem comes into your life to show you what you are missing.

I have always avoided writing fantasy battles out of fear I would ruin my story with a poorly written battle or war.

I wasn’t wrong. I learned so many interesting things about battles and wars I csn use in the future!!

[Kathrin Passig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leider viel zu kurz, sonst hätte ich über fünf Sterne nachgedacht.

[Rebekah Isert · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only reason it took me this long to finish this book is because I have been dragged from commitment to commitment 😂

I’ve been excited about this one since the author announced it, and I am pleased to say it was exactly what I was looking for: enough information to give a brief overview, references to current events, real life examples, and well-known literary examples, and recommendations on where to find more. All of this, and housed in a format and tone that makes it easy to read.

Love it. Well done.

[L.T. Getty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a decent resource for writers, new and seasoned, so long as they already aren’t very familiar with siege style battles. I consider myself mid, as generally speaking I write battles that focuses on relatively smaller scale skirmishes but I have dabbled with larger scale assaults.
The good? It’s entertaining and references both contemporary films and classic battles – so if you got inspired by a film, there’s something for you, if you are in love with say, roman battle tactics, it references some classic battles as well. Sometimes when we’re writing we get tunnel vision, and this book will no doubt point out issues that catering to making a battle exciting will entail. Castles are defensive battlements, afterall, so sometimes your goal isn’t to ride out and meet them but to wait out your enemy. Occasionally, the author’s narration ventures in a bit of opinion and personality, so it’s not a dry read, and I personally didn’t find it distracting.
The bad? It’s short, but the book doesn’t promise to be a be all end all. If you want to know the specifics of tactics used during the crusades, this is not the book for it. It touches on ideas, but doesn’t really talk about strategy like in The Art of War, and while referencing defensive measures like caltrops, can’t talk about everything that could potentially happen because warfare has happened across ages and technology, and admits that tactics would change drastically if you have various new threats that reach out from the realm of the fantastic. Personally, I would have preferred to touch on supportive logistics – but again, it’s a short read and not a definitive guide as to how fast siege style weapons can move across various terrain.
Overall, I think if you already know a lot about the sort of warfare you’re writing about, you can probably skip it, but I know that I’m pretty bad about acknowledging blindspots. I think seasoned writers could make use of this resource, it doesn’t demand a lot of time to read and may help if you’re like me and worried you may be relying on the same tricks.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little volume is a good introduction for new fantasy authors, although I would have liked a longer book and additional coverage of other topics.

Suzannah Rowntree concentrates on medieval conflicts (with repeated references to the present war in Ukraine). She correctly points out the realism of battles in The Lord of the Rings (Tolkien had experienced the Battle of the Somme). She also has a good discussion of the importance of terrain – something which played an important part at Gettysburg. She has a brief discussion of logistics (supply lines), although for serious study I would recommend Supplying War: Logistics from Wallenstein to Patton by Martin van Creveld. She briefly mentions mission command and the role of surprise, but the best discussion of these topics is in the US Marine Corps publication "Warfighting."

I had a few minor quibbles with this book, but the main criticism is that it is just too short. I liked Suzannah Rowntree’s discussion of point of view in the section on writing towards the end. She points to C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a good example. One might also mention The Horse and His Boy, where Shasta’s very limited view of the battle “from inside” is paired with a magical view through the Hermit’s pool.

[Or Bialik · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to Write a Fantasy Battle is a fun hybrid of an academic essay (with references) about the medieval battlespace, a writer's guide on depicting warfare, and a scathing critique of how popular visual media portray medieval warfare. It is a fun read with multiple examples from the author’s literature and history, focusing mostly on the French-British traditions as used in the 11th to 14th century Crusades, and peppered with some examples from the 21st-century Russo-Ukrainian War.
The book focuses mostly on the historical aspects, while invoking here and there fantasy elements, and would also be of interest to anyone writing historical fiction, especially if it is focused on Western Europe. Worldbuilding, cultural aspects, and how to integrate magic are all present and discussed, but the main body of the work is historically focused. That allows to use of real-world examples (an example for a “typical” medieval battle used to break down the phases of coeval combat is the 1187 Battle of Hattin between the Ayyubid Sultanate and the Crusaders’ Kingdom of Jerusalem) and juxtapose them with some depictions in literature (Tolkien and Lewis, commonly) or visual media.
This is not a tactical manual, nor is it an academic dissection of historical warfare. It is well researched (and avoids “classical” references such as Sun Tzu or Carl von Clausewitz) and detailed, while not being bogged down by those details. It is a light read, I would strongly recommend anyone wanting to get into the right mind space of writing medieval warfare.

[Patrick Samphire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write battles in my fantasy books. Battles are complicated, difficult, and quite frankly, I don't know where to start.

Or, I didn't. Suzannah Rowntree has very handily fixed that problem. How to Write a Fantasy Battle is a primer on all aspects of fantasy battles, based on Rowntree's own experience as a successful fantasy author. I've read several of her books, and the battles in them are extremely well done, so she knows what she's talking about.

The book covers the lead-up to battles, objectives, things to consider in battles, strategy and tactics, how battles can play out, the structure of armies, and a whole lot more, illustrated with examples from history, and, this being fantasy, with reference to magic as well.

This book is an introduction. It's aimed at authors who know relatively little about battles and warfare. It's not aimed at armed forces officers, military historians, or even amateurs with a long history of interest in the subject, although even they might find some use in the section on how to actually write a battle in a way that will be effective for readers. There are plenty of suggestions for further reading for those who want to dig deeper, too.

All-in-all, this is an excellent introduction to the writing of fantasy battles. If my next book needs one, I will at last know where to start.

Recommended.

The author provided me with an Advance Reader Copy. This was not provided with the expectation of review and it did not influence my review of the book.

[Rachel Ashera Rosen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite having exactly zero experience in any sort of war or military strategy (I don't even play Risk or Warhammer 40K!), I find myself having to write a bunch of battle scenes. This is the fate of all fantasy authors eventually. The good news is that this wonderful author, Suzannah Rowntree, is here for people like me. This short, incredibly accessible, and entertainingly written guide takes you through step-by-step planning for battle with a variety of settings, variables, and strategies. From the Crusades to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rowntree looks at real life examples and explains how fantasy authors can adapt these types of scenarios in their own work.

If you want your battles to be more like Lord of the Rings and less like, say, Rings of Power, this book will prevent pitfalls that will get you roasted on the internet by people who actually know their stuff. It's a wonderful act of generosity towards the entire fantasy writing community.

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[The Book Dragon's Hoard by A.V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super useful introduction to all the things one needs to keep in mind when writing battles, and I'd say it can be a helpful tool for writers of any epic-style story involving large-scale battles because such things are not limited to the Fantasy genre. I enjoyed the author's style, which made reading this really easy and I appreciated the examples used to illustrate the author's points. There's enough here to get you started and provide a solid grounding as well as some tips on where to go for more detailed, in-depth information specific to whatever you're writing.

Considering I read a lot of fantasy and get my fair share of epic, battle-focused tales, I certainly agree with the author that this book is highly necessary. Far too many reads of late have felt like poor attempts at describing the overly visual and hyperbolic fight scenes of the gaming world or the over-the-top ridiculousness brought on by CGI. I sincerely hope more authors follow the suggestions in this wonderful little book, because it would make a world of difference to the reading experience.

[A.F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource to help guide writers through essential steps of planning your fictional battle scenes, such as what types of things you should consider including and errors to avoid. And while this is more of a general overview of writing fantasy battles, it provides useful real-world examples and an array of points and suggestions for crafting good battle scenarios.
The book is also well laid out, with each section covering different issues and topics; I especially liked the section on adding magic and the real world parallels the author used. Plus, the author includes a list of further reading, which was appreciated.
So if you are a fantasy writer that struggles with those epic battle scenes, this book provides beneficial tips and tricks and is well worth a read. Highly recommended, and it's going in my pile of resource books.

[Kyrie Wang · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just what I needed as a medieval fantasy author to finally plot the climax of my next book, which I had been trying to figure out for years. I love how the author talked about battles from literature (like LOTR) as well as real history to give me a primer on battle tactics. Until I read this book, I did not know I will be so interested in military strategy!

The book does not promise to be a thorough discussion by any means. However, my brain took what it gave me and hrs later I had a climactic battle planned complete with character arcs. Voila! I hope it does the same for other authors!

[Andrew Claydon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For authors who have never written a fantasy battle before this book gives a great overview of where to start and how things work. It covers all the basics and backs it up with examples from classic fantasy literature.

Already having a knowledge of the basics, I was hoping for something more in-depth, possibly with an examples of how to actually build the battle across multiple chapters. Maybe a battle the author had written herself with annotate notes as to why she had added certain bits. So for me, I didn't learn much from it and felt it was a bit short.

Still, for authors new to fantasy battles it will be a great resource and help guide future research.

[C.A. Morley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you have enough understanding of warfare to write that story? This short book is a crash course for authors into the how and why of writing battle scenes. It gives just enough information without bogging you down in the details. And it gives insightful direction to help you figure out what's important and what's not when telling your story. Suzannah Rowntree also points you to resources where you can do further research. But if you don't want to do all the research that she's done over the years, then this could be the perfect amount! I received an ARC, and my review is voluntary.

[Nathan Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful mini-read that gives a great overview of battle considerations. I read the whole thing on a flight and was making notes the whole time for my current WIP.

I also appreciated that the author was upfront about their limitations of their knowledge and the ‘further reading’ suggested.

The tone of the book was light and conversational, making it an easy and enjoyable read. Five stars.

[Day Leitao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring, intriguing, clear, and concise, How to Write a Fantasy Battle is an incredible little guide on how to think about battles and battle strategy and how to apply that to your writing.

A must read for fantasy authors.

[Alyssa Jhones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent reference book! While it does not go into exhaustive detail, it is still thorough and gives plenty of framework to built a good fantasy battle with. The writing style is approachable and doesn't leave you bogged down with a lot of technical jargon either. Highly recommend!