Teflon Billy Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Re: How not to fire your weapon in Dark Champions... I won't start in on the Mogadishu situation, yeah, several thousand of them are very dangerous. artillery This is exactly what I realized was missing from Somalia and why in a real battle (not a peace keeping mission) a single brigade with artillery support and moderate air assets would likely have demolished Mogadishu. A few artillery barrages with bracketting would have cleared a path through the city within minutes to the downed choppers (it would still likely have taken a couple of hours to get their and back due to potshotters, but not anywhere near 18+ hours that it took) TB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Re: How not to fire your weapon in Dark Champions... Yeah... I figure with shooting stances like that, everyone is big on emptying the magazine but not actually hitting anyone. The technical term for that is "Spray and Pray"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Re: How not to fire your weapon in Dark Champions... A few artillery barrages with bracketting would have cleared a path through the city within minutes to the downed choppers (it would still likely have taken a couple of hours to get their and back due to potshotters, but not anywhere near 18+ hours that it took) TB Nah. Such a barrage would give us the "cassino effect" - mounds of rubble, impassible to the US vehicles, so they would have had to make a detour through exactly the same urban terrain they crossed anyway - just via a *longer* path. Meaning it would have taken longer to get to the Rangers perimeter, longer to get out *and* have increased the chance of casualties along the way. In addition, it would have certainly drawn all the other militias into the fighting - increasing the number of hostiles pitched against US forces and it would have generated thousands of completely needless civilian casualties - a lose/lose/lose situation all round. The Russians used this approach on Grozny, only to find all they had done was restrict their own mobility. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Re: How not to fire your weapon in Dark Champions... The allegedly amusing captions are almost as distressing as the photos. I just found myself shaking my head for a few minutes... then suddenly thinking: "Do these guys get full clips free with their breakfast cereal?" Actually, nearly. One way that warlords keep their guys in line is by giving them ammo and cheap weapons. I haven't seen it in real life, but I have seen photos of guys standing in pick ups full of amo basically shovelling the stuff out with their hands to the guys pressing all around. Often they don't supply food or pay - the idea is that if you give your men weapons they can use *those* to get their food and pay - and you have to give them weapons so they can fight. Of course, in such a situation, the only way to survive is to hook up with one or other militia. That's one reason that so many countries in Africa are so f***ed-up. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark_claw Posted March 24, 2006 Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Re: How not to fire your weapon in Dark Champions... Nah. Such a barrage would give us the "cassino effect" - mounds of rubble, impassible to the US vehicles, so they would have had to make a detour through exactly the same urban terrain they crossed anyway - just via a *longer* path. Meaning it would have taken longer to get to the Rangers perimeter, longer to get out *and* have increased the chance of casualties along the way. In addition, it would have certainly drawn all the other militias into the fighting - increasing the number of hostiles pitched against US forces and it would have generated thousands of completely needless civilian casualties - a lose/lose/lose situation all round. The Russians used this approach on Grozny, only to find all they had done was restrict their own mobility. cheers, Mark Lots of good points. Also it should be remebered this was a humanitarian relief mission in dangerous territory not a war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted March 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2006 Re: How not to fire your weapon in Dark Champions... Lots of good points. Also it should be remebered this was a humanitarian relief mission in dangerous territory not a war. Which is why the tank and gunship requests were turned down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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