| Logistics might not seem as romantic and heroic | | | | His argument is essentially about logistics, although |
| as combat, but the fact is that campaigns can | | | | it tends to be in the field of economics that he is |
| often be won or lost purely on the basis of | | | | remembered most vividly. Economics and |
| logistics. | | | | logistics are very closely intertwined. |
| If you have much knowledge at all of logistics and | | | | The reason that I have chosen FreeCiv as my |
| military history, you will probably find that the | | | | example is that one finds that, even in |
| more such knowledge you have, the more wars | | | | single-player (against artificial intelligence |
| and battles you can think of that would not have | | | | opponents) mode, a very fundamental logistic |
| been necessary at all if logistics had been better | | | | problem turns out to be such a fundamental |
| handled. | | | | factor that combat is somewhat secondary. It |
| To avoid the risk of bringing up any historical | | | | turns out that the majority of impressive |
| controversy I shall use simulated gaming and | | | | "improvements" that one can build in one's cities is |
| hypothetical examples rather than using examples | | | | also secondary. It turns out that the logistics is |
| from Earth's history. | | | | such that small is better. It is better to build lots |
| Take for example the strategic eXplore/eXpand | | | | and lots and lots of unimproved cities than to |
| eXploit/eXterminate (4-X) game FreeCiv, which is | | | | develop your cities. A player who spawns more |
| reasonably characteristic of a whole family of | | | | cities in preference to improving existing cities |
| games known Civilisation Games. These are | | | | gains such a production advantage that bothering |
| games which offer a wide range of | | | | to develop one's cities puts one at a |
| civilisation-building tools but which in practice tend | | | | disadvantage. Thus logistics rules. This simple |
| to become shoot-em-ups when played by multiple | | | | logistic fact outweighs everything. It is in fact a |
| players. | | | | fundamental problem of the game, a defect as it |
| When a number of players try to play such a | | | | were, which causes all of the colourful details and |
| game together the logistics of trying to find | | | | interesting artefacts provided in the way of |
| enough time for enough players to all play at once | | | | possible city-improvements to be somewhat of a |
| tends to be an incentive to go to war. That is | | | | waste of time, a red herring. Protagonists |
| because going to war can be a lot faster than | | | | whose attraction to the simulation is that it |
| trying to build a civilisation, carefully with attention | | | | provides a large range of interesting things that |
| to detail, and taking full advantage of all the many | | | | one can build, are led astray by their quest to |
| colourful options that are available for making | | | | improve their cities and they get wiped out by |
| large cities, full of impressive cultural artefacts. | | | | hordes of "barbarians" infesting the world with |
| The difficulties involved in trying to co-ordinate a | | | | huge numbers of puny, undeveloped |
| number of players are logistical difficulties. Can | | | | population-centres. |
| they all take sleep breaks and meal breaks and | | | | I am not at all implying that such a simulation is |
| breaks to go to work and so on yet still stay | | | | accurate. In fact I could easily have chosen an |
| co-ordinated? Usually not. So the logistics of | | | | even more abstract simulation as an example |
| trying to fit playing time into people's lives tends | | | | because the point I am trying to make is nothing |
| to lead to a desire for short fast games. | | | | to do with the accuracy of the simulation. My |
| In the real world, the people enacting these kinds | | | | point is that logistics can be so extremely decisive |
| of scenarios tend to be provided for in such a | | | | that whether, and how, one decides to go to |
| way that their activities are part and parcel of | | | | combat, and how one conducts one's combats, |
| their career. Volunteers and conscripts might | | | | can become totally secondary. If you are |
| share some of the kind of "lets get this over with | | | | predisposed in favour of a particular logistical |
| so that we can go do something else instead" | | | | course, such as spending resources on |
| pressure that players of simulation games often | | | | improvements to one's population-centres, you |
| have, but there also tend to be career-military | | | | can find yourself following a foredoomed course. |
| people too who might not only have plenty of | | | | If you are predisposed to go to war, you can |
| time to devote to furthering the objectives, but | | | | likewise be foredoomed because building more |
| even have a vested interested in have it take | | | | and more and more cities can be much more |
| plenty of time. | | | | important than building combat units. |
| Let us put aside the logistics of actually running | | | | Logistics is so important that you really should |
| the simulation and look at the simulation itself and | | | | thoroughly investigate the logistics of the situation |
| what it is simulating. There is exponential growth, | | | | and the factors that affect the situation before |
| and that has a powerful logistic effect. A small | | | | jumping ahead into other military considerations |
| economic advantage, a small difference in | | | | such as weaponry and troops and so on. Get |
| productivity, tends to have an ever-growing | | | | the logistics right and you might be able to get, |
| effect. That is actually typical of 4-X (eXplore | | | | and stay, so far ahead of any potential opponents |
| eXpand/eXploit/eXterminate) in general. You | | | | that even if they do choose to go to combat |
| might remember the infamous logistic predictions | | | | they will be foredoomed to lose to you. In real |
| of Malthus, that although population increases | | | | life that might well lead to their seeking to avoid |
| geometrically, resources increase arithmetically. | | | | going to war with you at all. |