How to make a strategic plan?
Hey guys, as a History student I study a lot of these maps, but not in the detail I would like to:
Now I understand the significance etc of them, but how do you go about planning them? Are there any PC simulators for this kind of thing? I'd love to do a few test runs on places I know or similar and see the outcome.
Now I understand the significance etc of them, but how do you go about planning them? Are there any PC simulators for this kind of thing? I'd love to do a few test runs on places I know or similar and see the outcome.
Comments
Well yeah, but I suppose you'd need a Military mind and use your options. I'll give it a go, but was wondering if there were programs you could use or more info.
If you're planning a campaign you have to consider logistics, relative strengths, tactics, local opinion, politics, a billion other factors, and probably most importantly, you need a fuckload of luck. There's no formula for military success.
This is pretty close to reality.
There is no computer sim that is comparable to experience and knowledge.
Military tactics and training vary quite widely by country, and obviously man power is a huge factor. Regardless in any ideal situation you want a large force head to head, and then a smaller flanking force. Flaking is really what wins wars. That has been the case since pretty much forever. That also accounted for so many of our casualties in Vietnam. We didn't have a handle on the the terrain or night combat, and got slaughtered by inferior weapons due to a logistical advantage.
A head to head battle is pretty much always a bloodbath unless you have ridiculous technological might, and severely overpowering numbers. Even if so, it isn't ever ideal. The optimum situation is to get the jump on the enemy. But if you can't ambush them, then the next best situation is to stall them with a head to head firefight, and immediately hammer them on the flank. The crossfire will confuse, disorient, and butcher the enemy. My squad was nearly always used as a flank attack, and I'm glad for that. It was very dangerous, but it didn't feel like you were stalled waiting to be saved. If you could get to your position, pour on the fire, and get out quickly you were golden.
No sim will really do that for you. There is a good reason you never trust a green lieutenant, and instead listen to your senior sergeants. But a Captain is usually a safe bet. Same reason a PFC isn't given a squad leader role, less experience. Experience is everything in the .mil.
What looks good on paper, can be a complete massacre on the field. The only way you can know how to fight, is by experience. Thus why west point grads still get shit on. They think they know the way combat works, and they very quickly learn to count on their 1st and senior Sergeants. Paper rarely equates to what happens on the battlefield, and when it does, you usually go home with major losses. West point is still a joke as far as I'm concerned. We had an LT that busted to a rear company because he couldn't break the habit of thinking his west point schooling taught him everything about war. It doesn't. I've always enjoyed school, but it rarely if ever actually trains you for the job you eventually will seize. And that is not just military, that's pretty much everything you will encounter in life.