So, I'm working on a story and I've hit a wall. I need some advice on war tactics with a medieval setting. The situation is this: The King has very much neglected the land and a count with support of the people and a claim to the throne has risen up and started a revolt. The King has the tactic of staying in the castles. Works well in the colder season but poorly in the warmer ones. At this point, his battle trained wife has had enough and takes command. By now the count has most of the land and a bigger army. She should win but I want the battles to actually be smartly planned out instead of the, typical stuff you see around.
What kind of tactics should I look to and what kind historical events should I look to for reference? What situations are similar to this one?
I am not familiar enough with medieval tactics to write an answer up to this sub’s standards, but I did want to drop by and say you may also want to try over at r/warcollege. They also have requirements for sourcing (though not as tightly moderated as here), and as the name suggests they’re focused on military questions.
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your story, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for authors, based on past experience: some authors have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.