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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 2268068" data-attributes="member: 26473">I'm sorry, Steel_Wind, but saying that the fantasy battlefield is like WWI doesn't make sense to me. WWI was hardly a war where dispersed units dominated the tactical thinking. Morever, I don't see trenches in fantasy warfare except to lay or break sieges.The idea of magic being so prevalent on the battlefield flies in the face of even the poor demographics generators of the DMG. There simply aren't enough casters of sufficient level to cast the really big spells in such a way as to stop an ARMY dead in its tracks, and for lower level spells counterspelling and dispelling are very much options. Most fantasy generals (and all miniatures gamers?) seem to overlook the fact that outfitting 'shock formations' of wizards or clerics requires more wizards and clerics than most regions can provide or produce dozens or scores or hundreds of magic items, at least if the GM makes an attempt to portray a world in which not every spellcaster is at the beck and call of the marshal of the king's army (or whatever). Personally I think about 90% of the fantasy armies I've seen generated over many years of gaming could never exist in a world in which even a modicum of thought is given to applying appropriate demographics constraints.And by the way, whatever happened to abjurers? All those fireballs that folks seem intent on raining down on the enemy army completely overlook protection from fire. Personally I think the most powerful spells on the battlefield are divinations and illusions - good intelligence (including misdirection) is a significant force multiplier.Massed formations survived the advent of the crossbow, the longbow, the arquebus, the cannon, the rifle, and the machine gun. Again, armor/cavalry takes ground, infantry holds ground - for every dramatic breakthrough there are foot sloggers that protect the flanks and hold the ground. This is why even wizards need foot soldiers.</blockquote>

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