Battle Extraordinare

Some time ago, a reviewer of To Defend the Earth called my battle scenes 'ridiculously detailed'.

He got that right.

I love writing big battle scenes with whole battalions of tanks advancing on a position, artillery bursting around them, missiles flying to a fro, air support hammering the target. I want the reader to feel like he's seeing a great battle epic from a big movie.

I love great battle sequences. What do I mean? Well, among my favorite are the Battle of Hoth and the big helicopter extravaganza from Apocalypse Now. Those are both rather obvious. How about the French commandos storming the village of Ouisteram in the Longest Day?

Lots of details there. Honestly I think the big factor for me is being able to see the background, troops running too and for, an MG that simply fills in a bit of open space.

Last night I was watching Lion of the Desert and was surprised by how much I liked it. Here's a great battle sequence (skip to 1:20):

That scene where the Bedouins are waiting for the Italian tanks on the reverse slope of the the wadi is particularly striking, I think.

Actually, one of my favorite battle scenes that I wrote is in To Defend the Earth:

When the Jai came out of Reykjavik that afternoon the entire north face of the mountain range came alive with fire. They were met by withering artillery and missile barrages. Once more groups of tanks and other vehicles flung themselves at the advancing Jai. Form my perch I saw several Jai vehicles explode. They called in their own air support but the heat and steam from the open geysers played havoc with their sensors, hiding us better than any camouflage could. Between the withering fire from the mountain range and the Marine’s kamikaze style armored charge the Jai were forced to pull back. It was the first time they’d been stopped cold.
The Jai doubled down on the attack and that evening sent an even larger force. One half of their armored thrust broke off from the main group and came right toward us. I counted 44 armored vehicles of various types. They lashed the mountain range with cannon and laser fire. Even so the Marines stayed put and fought back and once more unleashed a torrent of missiles and machinegun fire. It looked like the main thrust down the coast road was going to break through when General Lutch sprung  a little surprise in the form of a flight of tank busting A-10 Warthogs. The ugly jets came in low and unleashed hell from their chain cannons. Denny zoomed and got a great shot of a Jai take as if was hammered by depleted uranium rounds and enveloped in a cloud of dust. When the cloud lifted you could smoke billowing from several bullet holes. Of course the Warthog pilots were on a suicide mission and not one made it back. But their appearance seemed to stun the Jai and retreated. The group facing us on the mountain range withdrew as well.

Lots a detail there, a ridiculous amount.