Dragontiarna: Schwerpunkt

A reader had a few questions about the inspiration for the military strategy of Warlord Agravhask in DRAGONTIARNA: LEGIONS. (No spoilers for the book follow.)

Agravhask is a big believer in the concept of “schwerpunkt”, which is a German word that means “strong point.” It was an idea first articulated by a 19th century Prussian general named Carl Von Clausewitz in his “On War” book of military theory. To simplify it down, the concept basically means that the enemy has a “strong point” or a “center of gravity”, and to win, you identify and break the strong point to destroy their ability to make war. A lot of significant people in the 20th century were heavily influenced by Clausewitz’s writing, and it’s still mandatory reading at most military academies around the world. (And argued about at tedious length on the Internet, as are all topics.)

Anyway, that’s a historical digression. Back in the realm of fiction, Agravhask usually follows 4 steps in his military strategies:

ONE: Act, forcing the enemy to react.

TWO: Anticipate how the enemy will react to Step One.

THREE: Respond in such a way that the enemy’s reaction does them more harm than good.

FOUR: Use the chaos of the reaction to find the strong point and shatter it.

This is precisely what Agravhask does in LEGIONS. He generally doesn’t follow any particular tactical plan, choosing instead whatever tactics are best-suited to achieve his four-step strategy. That said, unlike many orcish warlords, Agravhask is very, very interested in logistics, and his army is extremely well-organized and well-supplied. This is what gives him the flexibility to change tactical plans on the fly – his army is organized enough to handle that.

I often say that I get ideas for my books from history, and if you’re looking for an example, this is one of them.

-JM