05 December 2015

FWS Top Ten: The Most Interesting Wars of Military Science Fiction


1. The Cylon Wars from BSG

2. The Four Year War from Star Trek

3. The Bugboys/Bebops/Wantabes of the ALIENS Universe



5. The Jedi/Sith Wars from Star Wars 

6. The War Against the Machines from the Terminator Universe

7. The Off-World Conflicts from BLADE RUNNER

8. The Eternal War from The Forever War

9. The Human/Forerunner War from HALO

10. The Butlerian Jihad from the DUNE Universe

Next Time on FWS...


  1. Sean Robert MeaneyDecember 5, 2015 at 3:36 PM

    Bug-boys seemed an early reference to the predators.
    Captain Picard declares he is not with the 'eastern coalition' in startrek:first contact.
    No battletech universe?
    space 1999 had a timeline that included terrorists using nukes. Not sure if that constitutes a war though.

  2. I thought about including the Post-Atomic horror era of the ST and I am interested in that period of Trek history.
    I also wrestled with including some of the unseen wars in the BT universe. This was not an easy list.
    I never talked too much about the Space:1999 universe...need to change that

    1. There is cannon for both the Post-Atomic horror era of the ST, and the Space:1999 universe, that implies that their nuclear wars had extra-terrestrial causes.

      The Khan Noonien Singh Cycle implies that Earth had interstellar capability prior to the war. After all, the SS Botany Bay, a DY-100 vessel modified as a sleeper ship, was found in interstellar space.

      Then there is Colonel Green. According to a source that I believe was cannon, Green was in command of a base on the moon, which had nuclear weapons for planetary defense. He used those weapons to attempt to black mail the Earth. Because of the time frame, the only weapons available wound be those that were not used during the war, and if Green had enough to significantly threaten the Earth, then there had to be a hell of a lot of them that were “Not Used.”

      I have a personal “Fan Theory” about the ST-Post-Atomic horror era that says that 85% of historical documents from that era are still classified because the word “Unknown” is used to often.

      In the Space:1999 universe, the series was originally intended to be an extension of the UFO series, and S.H.A.D.O. was involved in action against an extra-terrestrial threat. Then there is the MK IX Hawk. That must have been an expensive weapon system for a world, which was recovering from a global war, to develop. Another is the combat capability of the Eagle. If it was just a utility workhorse, it would not need to be armed.

      Lastly, what do you mean by “The Unseen Wars in The BT Universe?” (I’m assuming that you mean Battletech.) Do you mean “Interstellar Players?”

  3. Interesting article.
    The Forerunner war and the Terminator war are the most interesting to me, although the Star Trek nuclear holocaust sounds interesting too.

    Sometimes i try to understand why the war against the machines wasn't explored, i mean, it was the most logical evolution to the series, first you got a slasher movie with a relevant backstory and plot (T1) then you got a more light almost family flick movie (T2), then why reusing the same concept? "If you already explored the same universe two different ways, then why showing the same thing again?" I think myself.

    Speaking of nuclear holocausts, what do you think about the Fallout series as a whole? "The Great War" was worth mentioning here. Both pre-war and post-apoc aspects of the Fallout series are very well written and deep, all with a 50's styled POV of the future. Super Amazing blog;

    ~Rafael F.M

  4. Sorry to see no Horus heresy, but good list anyways.

  5. While I found the recent exploration of the Forerunners history before their downfall to be interesting, I and a good Halo fanfic writer Katsuhiro believed that the Ancient Human and San Shyuum part of the universe was completely unnecessary. And the exploration into the Forerunners ruined quite a bit of the mystery regarding them and the Precursors. We preferred that they remain unknown because what remains unknown it the most tantalizing and mysterious.

  6. I'm assuming that since theirs son hint in aliens 3 or 4 of some government turmoil or something wrong with the government, the bug boys are colony insurgents. This theory also comes from the post Vietnam look of the colonial Marines makes me think that the bug boys are a nod to the Vietcong in Nam especially since the name has some connotations to underground tunnels like in Vietnam. Just a thought though and don't forget killzone. If this was a top 11 list I would put it somewhere ( higher than star trek)

  7. No nod to the Berserker or Bolos?

    Then there is the works of H. Beam Piper that used actual historical events as models for his novels and short stories, with the two largest ones being untold (The System States War and The Fall of the Federation)

  8. The order that I put the "Top 10" Blogpost is no order of importance, and if that were so, the Four Years War would have way down the list.
    The War against the Machines seen in pieces in T1 and T2 should have been explored and given a 3rd film...but I have no answers way. T3 did not even come out until 2003, 13 years, 12 years after T2, and they could have made the backstory Terminator film. Too late now, they've already ruined it.
    I nearly put the Horsey Hersey on the list, but it has been well explored in the novels.
    I have mixed emotions about the deepening of the HALO universe. You are correct that there did not need to be anymore explanation of the Flood/Forerunner War that what existed prior to HALO 4, and adding humans is odd...I think it would have been just has interesting to have the Didact reap prehistoric humans for the knights and avoided the whole advanced human civilization...HALO crossed over into Stargate territory there.

    1. Definite point about the Horus Heresy, it has been covered fairly extensively as of late. I used to love the old snip bits and small narratives that built up scraps of 40k history. As you rightly stated in the Flood/Forerunner War comment, sometimes its better to not to have as much explanation. The concept of Lore can be just as enticing if not more so.

  9. I am surprised no one has talked about the unseen Clone Wars...

  10. I was going to be mad if you didn't mention #8. The Eternal War absolutely deserves mention here.

  11. No mention of the brown coat rebellion of the outer planets in the Firefly series? For shame.

  12. How about the Unification War of firefly verse?
    Heavy borrowing elements from American civil war like the alliance's purple bellies &independents' brown coats…

    If someone can make a C war in space and base it on the dark tune of Firefly deleted scenes:
    And Serenity last deleted scene, from 13:25
    It will be pure solid gold!


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  14. The Cylon war is so underrated imo. And of course the Firefly rebellion is cool but I think the off world conflicts from the Blade Runner and Soldier universe give an even cooler vibe, replicants man.