How to Be a Great Game Master has released another video for their World Anvil Series!

Today’s worldbuilding inspiration from Guy covers the Formations template, a relatively newer template compared to some of the others. This template fleshes out how military powers organize their units and resources when heading into the battlefield. Now people may just accept that the big bad armies in a world simply clash with each other. In turn, he proposes going into greater detail about an army’s formations can enhance the narrative of a world.

Composition

The first section he covers is the Composition tab. He specifically highlights the ability to unpack the heftier command structure and training prompts. Enthusiastically, he goes into greater detail about the Roman Legion. Interesting information can come from looking at their armor, ranks, and names.

Centurion Helmet

The position of a Centurion’s plume helps his men see where he is in battle!

Logistics

He asks some engaging questions throughout the video, making us think about logistics and history to make an army feel alive. Imagine having to support thousands of troops! What does that look like? How much food do armies consume? Guy highlights the Logistics tab to help answer these questions! He even calculates an example how much food is needed to upkeep a legion of fighters (average 2 lbs of food per day * 5,000 people = 10,000 lbs per day!). This brings to light even more questions! How much food can one wagon carry? What is required to pull these wagons across the land? Mind blown yet?

History

Finally, he emphasizes how the history of the unit is so important to understand why people join this particular formation. He goes into Star Wars as an example of units bringing their own weight and impact to the conflicts that occur. Basically, don’t dismiss this template serving people only writing about war stories! Watch his inspirational video below and learn more!