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I am currently writing a story about an interstellar war. Here is the general idea:

  • this war is taking place in Jupiter, the largest planet and one of the main areas of conflict
  • everyone in this universe takes the form of a human, but they do have superpowers, depending on where they originate (for example, one of my characters are from Mercury and he has fire powers).
  • The main cause of this war is that there are social classes, and they are extremely wealth prioritized. The lower classes decided to rebel against that. -This war has been going on for decades, and the current soldiers(for lack of better term... they’re drafting from 15-20 y/o) don’t exactly know what they’re fighting for anymore.

How does war work? (I couldn’t find anything on the internet??) Do they march in lines and shoot? Do they have resting periods? If so, how does each side know that they are on break? Any info regarding war strategy will be incredibly helpful, because I honestly have no idea how any of this works.

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  • How does war work in real life, or how should it work in your story? If the former, I'm surprised you couldn't find anything on the internet - where did you look? Also, there are many, many books and films about various real-world wars. If the latter, it might be more of a question for worldbuilding.SE :) – DM_with_secrets Jul 25 '20 at 7:22
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    I think this is way too broad, unfortunately. You could fill several books with information on how war works. The fact your war is specifically an interstellar war complicates things further, as we have never actually fought one and therefore don't really know how to fight one. – F1Krazy♦ Jul 25 '20 at 8:28
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    Details how the war works depend on your world building. Maybe some alien species don't need breaks. There are several types of war, e.g. a trench war like at the western front in the Great War. Or guerilla fighting like in the Vietnam war or a Blitzkrieg like the invasion of Poland in WWII. Ancient Greeks fought entirely different. In medieval wars there was often a siege involved. That are just some starting points for your research. You have to decide what works best for you. – Matt Jul 25 '20 at 9:19
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    @Serendipity You claim that various human characters come from various planets in our solar system. You might want to read Habitable Planets for Man, Stephen H.Dole, 1964. 2007 rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/commercial_books/2007/… and see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_outer_Solar_System and here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_inner_Solar_System And you might want to look at what the Atomic Rockes site says about space wars projectrho.com/public_html/rocket – M. A. Golding Jul 25 '20 at 16:30
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    I’m voting to close this question because it belongs on worldbuildinbg – ArtickokeAndAnchovyPizzaMonica Jul 26 '20 at 7:16
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The question is, why do wars occur? Some would say that we as a species are inherently violent and have no choice but to fight. Some would say that the motivation is economic and that war is a way to obtain resources (land, gold, slaves, etc) that is easier than through peaceful means. Some would say that war springs from intellectual, philosophical and religious differences; might makes right and all that. The list goes on.

You propose to have an interstellar war. The questions that you must answer must include (but are not limited to):

  1. Who is fighting? Are they all humans? Is one side populated by aliens? Perhaps both sides?
  2. Why are they fighting? See the introductory comments above.
  3. What are the logistics of the situation? How do the mechanisms of war get to the battlefield? How expensive is it to move these mechanisms and support them throughout the continuing conflict? What impact do these expenses have on the civilian population (presuming that such a concept makes sense)?
  4. How does the conflict end? Perhaps, the money runs out. Perhaps, one side is exterminated. Perhaps, adult leadership shows up and boxes ears. Perhaps, ...
  5. What does the winner (presuming that winning is possible) get from the victory?

War of any kind is a HUGE subject. I find it difficult to believe that you could find nothing about war on the internet. An interstellar war takes it up several more levels. The comments and questions that I listed above are just the merest beginnings of what you must think about before you write about such things.

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