Talk:James Ironwood/@comment-162.197.96.15-20150706055748/@comment-24891101-20150706233438

An army that is largely robots. So yes, robot scouts in first, followed by units sweeping consisting largely of robots. There is no guarantee, however, how the enemy force is concentrated. So the units one sends in to clear out the enemy from a particular location must be supported, which entails significant force.

Really, I think we've been looking at this hypothetical too closely as a mark of potential incompetence. All he really suggests is reconnaissance followed by decisive military action. We have no idea of the precise operational art that would be employed. What I'm drawing from is my knowledge of urban warfare to propose a fairly reasonable plan of action.

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Obviously they don't have anywhere near infinite robots. And obviously one should preserve them. But they're expendable in ways humans are not, by design. I'm not suggesting just marching them through, heedless of casualties. I'm saying that one is more free to commit large numbers of ultimately disposable assets to an overwhelming assault. With no morale to break, those robot units could even be employed in wave tactics, though that is indeed profligate. I am suggesting that for a relatively small number of humans in mixed units committed, one can achieve significantly greater force concentration, and thus a more decisive engagement, with the robots sent into the breach first. If robots are inferior combatants to human soldiers (not hunters), then doctrinally that deficiency is compensated by numbers. If they are superior, then lower numbers can be used, of course, but greater concentration yields a safer engagement anyway.

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No one has suggested not scouting at all. Not even Ironwood. His words were:  We send as many troops as we can to the southeast, find out exactly what's going on, and ''eradicate any forces that stand in our way. ''This presupposes intelligence gathering as part of the operational plan. Likewise, I wasn't suggesting committing everything. Merely that any military solution would be larger than you give it credit for, and involve more people and assets, and that a hammerblow using overwhelming force (manifested in lots of AK-200s) is not unreasonable.

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I have no idea why Ironwood feels he needs a battalion with him. But Vale's government is apparently cool with it.