SeaQueen -> RE: Three Moves Ahead Review on Command (2/18/2018 4:40:54 PM)
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WWII was really the beginning of what's there today. There was such a thing as combined arms then. Blitzkrieg was definitely about bringing together the disparate arms of armor, infantry, air power and artillery. The thing is, people were just starting to get a sense of what might be possible. Communications technology was just starting to take off, radar was a new thing, aircraft were just starting to be more than wood and fabric kites with engines, precious guided weapons were highly experimental secret weapons. Aircraft carriers were new, and carrier tactics were still a little experimental. Guided missiles were experimental and just barely entering service by the end of the war. Jet power and really long range bombers didn't appear until the end of the war. Back then the aircraft attacking strategic targets (e.g. B-17s or B-29s targeting industrial complexes) were distinct from the aircraft attacking tanks (e.g. P-47s, P-39s, B-25s). The tactical, operational, strategic levels of warfare remained distinct and the platforms which sought to achieve victories in the various levels of warfare remained distinct. Today we're seeing the logical consequence of what was envisioned then, because the technology has advanced to keep up with the doctrine. Now, a few F-16s or F-15s might be tasked with attacking a strategic target like an industrial complex, or attacking tactical level targets providing close air support or battlefield interdiction. The numbers of troops involved are also so much smaller. During WWII, a third of the American population was in uniform. Now, only tiny a fraction is in the service, and of those, you could probably fit everyone who is trained to actually close with and destroy the enemy into a mid-sized stadium. Now a days, a recon or SOF platoon (a tactical level formation) might provide laser designation against a strategic or operational target (headquarters, C3, early warning radars) to be struck by tactical aircraft (F-35, F/A-18). You couldn't do that kind of thing in WWII. In fact, these days, coordinating air and ground forces often seen as essential to the success of air power. So yeah, everything works together in a way that was only being hinted at in WWII, and I don't think they really grasp that in that review. quote:
ORIGINAL: DrRansom SeaQueen - you get at a very interesting problem. I have seen that friends of mine with a lot of experience and history from WW2 and earlier games have a very hard time conceptually approaching modern warfare. The mindsets are totally different in a way that is hard to explain. WW2 nerds famously know everything about every vehicle and weapon, but there knowledge ends there. In modern warfare, you have to know everything about each unit and then know how to integrate them into a coherent package.
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