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  1. - Top - End - #1471
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Sep 2008

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Quote Originally Posted by hymer View Post
    I think fusilier and Storm Bringer are saying that new ideas did develop, and that there wasn't a whole lot they could have done differently, broadly speaking. Well, strategically, there was plenty they could have done differently, but tactically they were rather locked in on using massed infantry to dislodge massed infantry. Nothing else could.
    Not that even Lee and Grant didn't foul it up on occasion and simply wasted lives, but once the situation had become bloody clear, tactics did change. Pickett's charge and Cold Harbor became exceptions, throwbacks to the handling from early in the war.
    But it seems obvious to me that both sides took time to learn their lessons, and were not up to tactical speed from the very beginning by a long shot.
    I would argue that those changes were due to strategic considerations, and not tactical responses to "new" technology. By late 1863 the Confederacy was losing - it lacked the resources (and to some extent morale) to sustain the casualties that large open battles entailed. Increasingly, they became more defense oriented; trenches and breastworks help mitigate losses. The Union also had it's problems, although not to the same extent -- fortifications have traditionally always been an effective force multiplier, and when throwing men at them didn't work the Union also had to get creative, or just wait it out.

    This was not a response to the new technology, it's actually a fairly well established theme. How did the American Revolution end? Cornwallis's army was holed up in trenches on the Virginia coast. The Peninsular War during the Napoleonic Wars, involved a lot of sieges too. When one side is tired and losing, they dig trenches and try to hold onto what they have. Possibly, they regroup, reorganize, and can take to the field again (which happened in the Peninsular War). However, if they're supply lines are cut, or not sufficient, they may not ever be able to take to the field again (like Cornwallis at Yorktown). A sharp aggressive campaign like the Franco-Austrian War might avoid this situation, but it was a very short war.

  2. - Top - End - #1472
    Ettin in the Playground
    Join Date
    Feb 2012

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Thanks for the elaboration. I certainly hold no claim to be an expert on the American Civil War. And I understand your position better now. As you probably know, I merely repeated the standard thing to say. It’s very commonly stressed that technology had run ahead of the methods. As I’ve written a little above, I agree there wasn’t much of anything that the commanders could have done to dislodge massed infantry than to send massed infantry at them. We also shouldn’t forget that the major killer in armies was disease, so the extra casualties from a swift resolution should be balanced against that.
    I was merely curious to what extent you disagreed, and about the reasons. Thanks again.
    My D&D 5th ed. Druid Handbook

  3. - Top - End - #1473
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    Chimera

    Join Date
    May 2010
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    Indonesia
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Quote Originally Posted by HeadlessMermaid View Post
    I'll suggest thaumarxis, which would literally mean "the beginning, the origin of a wonder". Not quite what you asked for, but the closest approximation I can think of. ("Power source" is a modern concept, you can't get an exact equivalent in an ancient language. )

    Hope that helps. :)
    That was a very cool word. Thank you very much for the help
    Quote Originally Posted by Gharkash View Post
    Let us be enlightened by the wisdom of urban dictionary:
    2. opinion
    immunity to being told your wrong

  4. - Top - End - #1474
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Sep 2008

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Quote Originally Posted by hymer View Post
    Thanks for the elaboration. I certainly hold no claim to be an expert on the American Civil War. And I understand your position better now. As you probably know, I merely repeated the standard thing to say. It’s very commonly stressed that technology had run ahead of the methods. As I’ve written a little above, I agree there wasn’t much of anything that the commanders could have done to dislodge massed infantry than to send massed infantry at them. We also shouldn’t forget that the major killer in armies was disease, so the extra casualties from a swift resolution should be balanced against that.
    I was merely curious to what extent you disagreed, and about the reasons. Thanks again.
    No problem. I know that the new weapons/old tactics argument is often played up, so I didn't mean to sound accusatory. In general I think that technology tends to be overrated, not that it doesn't make a difference, but that the difference is often exaggerated. As I said above, differences in technology are easy to see -- what's difficult is to determine if that difference is meaningful, and to what extent. Sometimes it even runs the other way around: Side X lost the war, so side X's technology must have been inferior. Which can further obscure the real reasons for defeat/victory.

  5. - Top - End - #1475
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    SwashbucklerGuy

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    Aug 2010
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    127.0.0.1
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    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Page 50, should probably start a new thread soon…
    Proud owner of: 0.36 0.43 0.99 2.00 Internet(s), 2 Win(s), and 3000 Brownie Point(s)

    Quote Originally Posted by Welknair View Post
    *Proceeds to google "Bride of the Portable Hole", jokingly wondering if it might exist*

    *It does.*

    What.

  6. - Top - End - #1476
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    DwarfBarbarianGuy

    Join Date
    May 2013

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    I am working on a campaign that deals with large scale armies fighting each other for control of a continent.

    Where can I learn about war related things like this?

    Battle formations, psychological aspects, logistics of running a large army, training, war eddiquite, etc.

  7. - Top - End - #1477
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Mar 2013

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Depends how deeply you'd like to learn them, I suppose. I'd recommend the Battlefield series, which closely examines WW1, 2, and Vietnam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlef...ies_Six_-_2002
    The WW1 episodes are listed somewhere else, I think.

    If you want deeper information on any of those aspects than that, then you'll need to look at sources that investigate each aspect more individually or to look at a lot of documentation about war and piece bits together. You can also try out the Got a Real Weapon or Armor Question? Thread on this board to ask questions you have (you can also ask them here, I guess).

  8. - Top - End - #1478
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Roxxy's Avatar

    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    California
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    Male2Female

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    Quote Originally Posted by bcg737 View Post
    I am working on a campaign that deals with large scale armies fighting each other for control of a continent.

    Where can I learn about war related things like this?

    Battle formations, psychological aspects, logistics of running a large army, training, war eddiquite, etc.
    http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Life-Dur...ss+world+war+1

    It's overpriced new, but the used price is pretty reasonable. I own it, and it's a very good book if you want an overview of defense heavy industrial warfare. It covers every single point you raised to come degree, but it focuses mainly on the experiences of the individual soldier and civilian, so you will find little in the way of grand strategy, biographies of major figures, or historical timelines.

  9. - Top - End - #1479
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Yora's Avatar

    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Germany

    Default Re: Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

    We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.

    Spriggan's Den Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying

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