Re: OT - favorite era / theater of war
It's hard to say that any ONE of the many eras and areas of human conflict can hold your attention constantly. There are too many variations in the course of history for any one era to be the "best". But there are some that are more interesting than others. I have to agree that the WW II Pacific Theatre was one of the most epic wars of all time. The scale in terms of distances and kinds and numbers of combatants of all sorts is just staggering. The German-Russian front in Europe was also quite epic, though. It's rarely studied in the West for some reason. The Russians and Germans fought a completely different war than what is explained in the average textbook in the US. Also one of the biggest wars of all time. That both of these were going on at once is just incredible.
But getting out of our own historical times, which we perhaps have been too much absorbed in, I think the tale of the Roman Empire is quite fascinating. This is almost the 'opposite' of modern warfare. They fought on foot and took centuries to reach their greatest extent of power. Roman Imperial forces were never very good with either archery or cavalry, and they had to find a way to turn sea-combat into land combat with boarding bridges before they were very effective at sea. They were just dogged, determined, and skilled sword and shield troops with excellent logistics and siege engineering to back them up. Yet they were the most powerful military in the world for centuries.
The age of "Wooden Ships and Iron Men" is also quite fascinating. The scale of warfare was still very 'human' and it was possible to pull off some incredible stunts. You could send out a ship and not hear from it for YEARS. Think of Sir Francis Drake in "real' life or Horatio Horblower (modeled at least in part on Drake) in fiction. It was possible to beach your "warship" on a South Pacific island for reprovision and extensive repair, and then set to sea again. All you had to return to your homeland for was ammunition and possibly your pay if you were ready to go back to civilian life and spend it. Even those could be sent to you at an advanced base, though.
[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 16 August 2001).]
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