History of Warfare Since Magic
Unit Types
Infranty
- Infranty were and still are the primary fighting unit. These are split into three groups light, standard, and heavy infantry. Light infantry is equipped with minimum armor and rifle which are used for screening and for harassing. Standard infantry is better armed and armored then light infantry and is the most common, these units are also equipped with swords as a side weapon later. Heavy Infantry was introduced in the mid 21st century as armor became light enough and are equipped with the best armor, later power armor, these units are shock units and used to break fortified enemy positions and make frequent use of melee when in range when not they will use ranged as other infantry.
Artillery
- The use of Artillery was revolutionized by Napoleon and later expanded in power enough to destroy most fortifications. Artillery's primary roles have stayed the same to be used strategically against fortified positions, although new materials and later shields have made this difficult giving an edge to most fortifications since the 21st century. Artillery has countered by building bigger and longer-ranged guns, although these are often difficult to move with the largest protecting cities from ships in low orbit.
Cavalry
- Cavalry were still in use in the 20th century as harassers and flankers, but later become faster light infantry. Calvary was largely phased out as armies mechanized in the 21st century, although small amounts remain today in the 26th century as scouts and ceremonial units.
Armor
- The use of Armor was largely experimental in the 20th century and never saw any combat until the 21st. During the Yokai raids armor evolved into fast flanking units and units which could take advantage of breaches fast in sieges. Light tanks for flanking, standard tanks for exploiting breaches, and heavy tanks for creating breaches in fortifications.
Expermantal Use of Magic(late 19th and 20th centuries)
Logistics
- The primary method of transport of equipment and artillery in 1900 were horses, as the use of horses neared their limits in the 1914 war militaries found in the alternative in magic which through various abilities enabled far easier transport though ofter still in connection with horses. This status largely went unchanged for the entire 20th century.
Battles
- Prior to mages armies in 1888 fought using loose infantry formations with support from artillery and supplemented by calvary for flanking and harassing. With mages, armies used them in specific roles: mobile artillery, medics, communication officers, military engineers, and later assault units. The biggest problem with using mages in the early years was the lack of numbers, in most cases, mages weren't going to make a difference.
Sieges
- Before magic and supernatural elements of spirits and ghosts sieges were becoming obsolete and were proven as such in the 1914 war when artillery destroyed many fortresses. However, this did change when spirits and ghosts could freely cross over which incentivized the creation of walled settlements as simple but effective solutions when mages were still rare. When assault did happen against them, the previous strategy of heavy artillery bombardment and then infantry storming the rubble was the standard.
Standardazation of Magic in Armies(21st and 22nd centuries)
Logistics
- Militaries at this point begin to be mechanized, speed up by the fact transportation of vehicles is easier than animals in space. The introduction of high-speed rails also greatly speed up sending troops to the front lines. The use of drones as aerial scouts and fire support and transportation of equipment and others began. By this point, mages began to fully replace nonmages, as they were better all-around in most positions. The use of ai and later machine spirits as ai greatly increased the organization of logitics
Battles
- In the open field armies adapted to faster syles of warfare involving using tanks and mechanized infantry to encircle enemies, although this initial advantage wore off as armies were able to destroy infantry vehicles which came to close the front lines with magic or artillery. Warfare was still dominated by infantry skirmishing and advancing through experimentation with heavy infantry was started, however, these units were unable to maintain a fast advance as much as other infantry.
Sieges
- Early siege warfare mirrored the previous century, but the Yokai raids showed that many were actually unprepared for a siege. As such fortifications would be upgraded with the lastest guns and building materials available as well as extensive stockpiles of supplies. Sieges after this would use carefully artillery bombardments to create breaches that would be exploited by armor and mechanized infantry. Early on Orbital support was common and could greatly shorten a siege for the attackers, however, new longer-ranged guns introduced near the end of the period largely eliminated their ability to directly support in most cases.
Mages and the System-Wide Wars
Logistics
- The Logistical needs of armies expanded as wars grew far lager, armies needed to create networks of supply ships to keep scattered forces supplied which were made easier by faster ships then previously available. 3d printing came into its own at this point and was widely adopted which greatly simplified supply networks by allowing ships to craft some of what they needed away from their home port.
Battles
- Open field battles become rare as sieges took president with the introduction of shields which helped increase the survivability of fortifications. The biggest change was the extensive use of heavy infantry, made possible with power armor which allowed be used far more.
Sieges
- Due to the new advantage of the defender in sieges, attacking armies begin utilizing extensive networks of field fortifications and trenches to slowly better position their tanks and artillery against the enemy walls. The defender in return also built said networks to delay the enemy. Sieges were extremely slow and could take up to a year if the defender was determined. If the attacker could disable the enemy anti-ship guns, the siege would be over in a couple of weeks with an orbital bombardment.
Post War of the Four Emperors
Logistics
- Increased speed of ships and more efficient shipbuilding has allowed ships to be far more common. Most militaries martian decorated transport ships for no garrison units and will utilize these and shuttles to transport civilians away from sieges. New communication technologies have eliminated the few seconds to several minutes of delay in cross-system communications. The creation of nanomachines using materials made using magic has begun to make production chains more efficient as well as greatly enhance medical technologies further increasing survivability.
Battles
- The massive number of mages killed in the War of the Four Emperors changed how warfare was fought, in addition to the introduction of personal shields. Feild battles became more common as armies tended not to dig in as much and preferred to give the land over risking too many lives, and also began using non-mages more for some postions. Smaller shields also made appearances in vehicles from tanks to infantry vehicles which is another reason for war moving towards a war of maneuver.
Sieges
- Sieges do still happen but tend to be shorter as shields made assaulting the walls less dangerous, as such sieges take a one to three months for well-fortified locations. Most sieges since the war involve an unbalance of naval powers and often can utilize orbital bombardment which speeds up sieges into a week or so.
Naval Doctorne
When space navies were first introduced they were used primarily for transport, and later for support in sieges. Over time this evolved into single ships that engaged each other although this engagement of a flotilla or fleet sized were rare until the lager wars of the 24th and 25th centuries. IN the 26th-century ship speeds and numbers allow them to effectively operate in flotilla formations, although large scale fleet action rarely has happened due to the lack of any major war.
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