Need ideas - Writers Forum

stoner · 08-20-2007, 11:52 PM

I need some ideas. I'm looking to do a something about a historic battle. I would prefer it be something where a force was outnumbered (wether they win or lose isn't of importance) but any battle will do. All I ask is the battle not be one that is too famous or popular. Country or era isn't of concern.

Any ideas? Here's some I came up with.

- Battle of New Orleans (War of 1812)
- Battle of the 300 Champions
- Battle of Leuctra (marked the decline of Sparta)
- Battle of Changping
- Battle of Julu
- Battle of Tao River
- Battle of Vercellae
- Battle of Kunyang
- Battle of Guan Du
- Battle of Chibi
- Vikings (sometime between 800-1050)
- Something to do with Spain encountering vicious South American tribes.

Any good ones I may have missed?

Edgewise · 08-21-2007, 12:25 AM

- Battle of the 300 Champions

^
Thermopolae?

stoner · 08-21-2007, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgewise

- Battle of the 300 Champions

^
Thermopolae?

Negative. Thermopalae was 480 BC. This battle was in 545 BC.

The Spartans and Argos decided not to send thousands among thousands of soldiers off to die. Instead they both sent 300 of their best soldiers to fight to the death. 2 from Argos survived as well as 1 severely wounded Spartan. The 2 Argos soldiers claimed victory and left but the Spartan stayed in the battlefield and since he was the last one there he claimed victory for Sparta. He then built a small shrine showing victory and killed himself for shame of returning without having killed the 2 Argos soldiers.

Shortly after both armies met with full forces and Sparta decisively defeated Argos.

Later during the Peloponnesian War Argos challenged Sparta to a rematch but Sparta declined.

Hodge · 08-21-2007, 12:48 AM

You should do the Celtic rebellion against the Romans that was led by Queen Boudicca. The Romans were pretty outnumbered, but the Celts were very unorganized, and so they lost.

ClancyBoy · 08-21-2007, 02:20 AM

Do the Battle of Bach Dang River. Pretty sure it's never been done before in English.

Quyen anticipated this plan and brought his army to the mouth of the river. He had his men plant a barrier of large poles in the bed of the river. The tops of the poles reached just below the water level at high tide and were sharpened and tipped with iron. When Hung-ts'ao appeared off the mouth of the river, Quyen sent out small, shallow-draft boats at high tide to provoke a fight and then retreat upriver, drawing the Chinese fleet after in pursuit. As the tide fell, the heavy Chinese warboats were all caught on the poles and lay helplessly trapped in the middle of the river. Quyen attacked vigorously. More than half the Chinese were drowned, including Hung-ts'ao.

stoner · 08-21-2007, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ClancyBoy

Do the Battle of Bach Dang River. Pretty sure it's never been done before in English.

Quyen anticipated this plan and brought his army to the mouth of the river. He had his men plant a barrier of large poles in the bed of the river. The tops of the poles reached just below the water level at high tide and were sharpened and tipped with iron. When Hung-ts'ao appeared off the mouth of the river, Quyen sent out small, shallow-draft boats at high tide to provoke a fight and then retreat upriver, drawing the Chinese fleet after in pursuit. As the tide fell, the heavy Chinese warboats were all caught on the poles and lay helplessly trapped in the middle of the river. Quyen attacked vigorously. More than half the Chinese were drowned, including Hung-ts'ao.

That is an awesome one, ClancyBoy. I'll definitly add that to my list of candidates and do some more research on it. I would definitly want to dramatize it a bit perhaps adding a few land battles or conflicts. It's a great idea. Thanks.

I like the era a lot, too. I was hoping to do something BC or at least before 1000 AD.

lin · 08-21-2007, 02:44 AM

Network battle of the soap opera sluts was pretty interesting.

Destroyer · 08-21-2007, 06:29 AM

Battle of the 300 champions ha already been done. It's called 300.

stoner · 08-21-2007, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Battle of the 300 champions ha already been done. It's called 300.

Negative. Go back and read one of my previous comments. They are 2 completely different battles that happened 65 years apart.

lin · 08-22-2007, 12:02 AM

Yeah, like that would make a great title.

Edgewise · 08-22-2007, 01:36 AM

Delium. Socrates fought there for the Athenians. The Athenians were crushed, though Socrates managed to travel hundreds of miles back to friendly territory.

ClancyBoy · 08-22-2007, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoner

That is an awesome one, ClancyBoy. I'll definitly add that to my list of candidates and do some more research on it. I would definitly want to dramatize it a bit perhaps adding a few land battles or conflicts. It's a great idea. Thanks.

I like the era a lot, too. I was hoping to do something BC or at least before 1000 AD.

The Vietnamese army repeated this stunt in the 1200's against the Mongols and it worked against them too. So you have a ready-made sequel.

Stupid Mongols. Fool me once, etc etc.

lin · 08-23-2007, 04:41 AM

300 2?

Non Serviam · 08-23-2007, 06:34 AM

Do one of the Norse-Saxon battles of 1066 -- not Hastings, but Stamford Bridge or Fulford Gate. Or for a longer piece, you could do the St Bryce's Day Massacre of 1002 followed by the Norse invasion of Britain in 1003 (I quite like that idea because there's a bit more meat to it than just a battle -- there's an atrocity followed by revenge).

Mike C · 08-23-2007, 07:04 AM

I'd suggest reading Falkenberg's Legion by Jerry Pournelle. It's an SF novel but features many battles with a small, well organised force using superior tactics to overcome a much larger army. The real point of interest is that all the battles are based on historical ones and so the tactical manouevers are accurate, rather than a novelist's guesswork (I seem to remember he cites all the battles too, so you can look them up).