1 - What's their attitude?
I'm only really interested in warrior-women, so they key thing for me is that all the parties have more or less chosen to be there: I prefer brave, determined warriors, over frightened victims. Of course, I like the idea of scared conscripts facing a suicidal charge as much as honour-bound veterans willing to sacrifice their lives- just no helpless civilians being murdered by a powerful killer- that's not my thing at all.
2 - What's their uniform?
Well that depends on the setting. If you've seen any of my artwork, you'll know I find variety to be the spice of life, and I've depicted everything from leopard-skin-wearing cave-girls and armoured paladins to space-girls in fish-bowl helmets. If I'm honest though, the uniform does have to steer to the sexier side of practicality: I know from experience that body armour is clumsy and bulky and boob-curves are a shot trap, and that (almost) nobody can run in high heels: But I like my warrior-women to look good as they put their lives in danger. After all, as Napoleon famously said; "Dress a (wo)man well and (s)he'll fight well."
3 - What weapons do they use?
Again- my artwork and stories run the gamut from stone spears, through crossbows and longswords, to assault-rifles and lasers. There's a special place in my heart for arrows though. And in the stomachs, lungs and livers of my warrior-women.
4 - How skilled are they?
So you may have heard I like variety. I like armies clashing, so there are toughened veterans alongside frightened teenage virgins, killing and dying together. The experienced warrior who takes a stray bullet or an arrow to the chest during the charge is every bit as sexy as the inexperienced youngster in her first battle who goes blade-to-blade with a more skilled opponent and falls at her enemy's feet with a piteous cry of regret and denial.
5 - Do they survive?
Well some of them have to. I like battles, and I like a narrative arc, so some of them are going to make, it if only to take part in the next battle. If you've seen my Amazon stories though, or any of my photo-stories on Deviantart, you'll know there's a pretty high attrition rate. I don't like contrived scenarios where absolutely everyone dies though- and I don't like contrived scenarios where nobody dies either. It's a battle- there's going to be bodies.
6 - What's their age range?
So the age of consent in the UK is 16, but I started writing Amazon stories when I was well younger than that, so my orginal characters were fighting and dying as young as I was- which has meant a bit of retconning for some of my older works. These days as a middle-aged man, I tend to aim a bit higher, but in general, what you might call 'military aged'. That means some of the fighters will be nervous seventeen and eighteen-year-olds fresh out of training, while others will be in their late thirties. Forty is my ceiling most of the time, but that's mainly because war is a young person's game.
7 - Do you care about their background?
Variety. An Amazon foot-soldier brought up on a farm, who can't read or write and who's formative life experiences involve shagging the farm-hands in the hay loft? Or a noble-blooded Amazon Knight clad in the finest gold and jewellery that her rich daddy could buy her, convinced that her aloof beauty and aristocratic blood will protect her from harm? A council-estate gang-girl covered in tattoos and piercings and wearing a faux-leather mini-skirt and slapper heels from primark? Or a prim ex-public school girl in a starched white silk blouse and heels by Loubotin?
I think I tend to gravitate to two broad archetypes: The sexy, slutty, commoner who's willing to risk her life because it's a way out of the gutter, and the elegant and beautiful but proud and haughty rich girl who's looking for adventure, and who's privileged upbringing makes her think she's too special to die (she isn't).
8 - Describe your perfect zako scenario?
Again, I hate picking favourites, but if I think about my most memorable stories and artwork, it would have to be the 'at all costs' assault. Basically there's a macguffin, and they absolutely have to get it. Maybe there's a nuke they have to seize, or a VIP prisoner they have to rescue, or a bandit lair they have to take. For whatever reason, there's no time- or their commanders are arrogant- or it's a trap- but the only way in is a frontal assault: Two up, lots of smoke and bags of aggression. The enemy defend in depth, there's lots of choke-points, and the only way to break through is to keep throwing bodies at the problem. The fighting is bitter, brutal and uncompromising and there's lots of casualties on both sides. Maybe they win, and the survivors get to stand over final citadel amidst the scattered bodies of their slain sisters: Maybe they lose, and the survivors retreat, leaving their dead behind them to be looted by the victorious enemy.
