Watching Avatar with these guys and a realization occurred.Has the small elite unit, with tons of money thrown at it, ever actually led to a single war being won?
>>65258666The decent ones see action before the war starts. Their primary tasks would likely be preventing war when the method to do so is violence.If they reached the point of war, their usefulness becomes rather blunted. Basically just a set of tools to pick up when the primary hammer isn't working.
>>65258666HVT elimination never stops being useful anon. The issue with units like that is usually more with the people picking the targets than the guys eliminating them.
>>65258666No hard examples off the top of my head, but SOF raids played a key role in ending Panama (though they were backed up by like 20000 marines) and if SF had caught bin laden at Shahi khot or Tora bora then the GWOT would never have happened.
>>65258666We literally just conquered Venezuela with a single elite raid
>>65258666>Force multipliers are a spookwhat are you a russian general from 1930
Special operations aren't supposed to win wars, they're meant for...you guessed it, special operations. Special targets, assassinations, sabotage, etc...
>>65258776>We literally just conquered Venezuela with a single elite raidYeah never mind the combined air power of the navy, marine corps, and air force pushing over 150 aircraft with a blanket of cyber and electronic warfare preparation One flight of blackhawks with some delta guys in it did all the heavy lifting by themselves
>>65258666You're sort of conflating three different questions:Special operations: No. No example ever.Elite conventional: Sort of.Generically does overresourcing certain small units let them win battles and wars despite lower quality etc line troops: Not since elite shock cavalry dominated the battlefield.For elite conventional, the units, battles and wars you'd point to weren't specially chosen and trained units with higher standards of selection, training or equipment, but rather they were regular units that were battle hardened veterans that eventually got to the point of seal clubbing vastly larger quantites of regular forces sent againtst them, to the point that there are clear instances where they prevented catastrophic defeat or secured victory. A good modern example is the 27th Commonwealth Brigade in Korea preventing the pursuit, encirclement and destruction of routed UN forces and capture of Seoul during the Chinese Spring Offensive at the Battle of Kapyong. Ancient history has many examples, but probably the best known that isn't usually totally mistold in modern accounts is Julius Caesar's Legio X Equestris who carried some battled against the odds, maybe most notably Battle of the Sabis.
>>65258666>Has the small elite unit, with tons of money thrown at it, ever actually led to a single war being won?Probably not.But they have led to battles being won, campaigns being won more rapidly, and operations succeeding.And their existence forces the enemy to take precautions.
>>65258666Not that I'm aware of. The only example that springs to mind that is somewhat related is that a small army of elite troops is more logistically efficient than a large army of average troops, which is why such an approach was favored by maritime powers like the British Empire, followed by the US.
>>65258666The Rwandan paratroopers literally conquered congo by themselves. No support of any kind.
>>65258666here's a weapon idea: have a bunch of earthbenders combine strength to push a slab of rock really hard against a cylinder with a gunbarrel on the other end, put another shaped rock (or metal, if they have enough of that) projectile in the barrel. boom, you know have a massive telekinetically powered potato gun.
>>65258951>Special operations aren't supposed to win wars, they're meant for...you guessed it, special operations.Special... military operations?
>>65259862this is now a bending powered weaponry thread.
>>65258666The trick is mass-producing the small elite unit so that it becomes the majority. This has been done so many times it's completely normal and you don't even notice it. Ancient heavy infantry/cavalry, medieval heavy cavalry, modern first world militaries etc. The difference between the combat-arm spec ops and an ordinary soldier is mostly in specialization, the ordinary soldier is already as highly trained and well equipped as you can get. It's the same with all the other examples from history. For example that Roman legionary with mail, shield and sword? Would had been considered an aristocratic elite unit against the enemies it was fighting during the Republican period. Except there's entire legions of them. You can't put any more money into them so you just get more. Same with cataphracts/knights etc.Putting that aside, there have been plenty of times that an comparatively tiny cavalry unit charged a flank or hit someone by surprise, caused a massive panic and cascading rout, and won a battle. But those tiny cavalry units wouldn't had been anything special, it was just the standard cavalry of the day, because again there's a limit to how much training and equipment you can give someone, and the real trick is making your entire army like that.
>>65258666The Yu Yan Archers were overpowered as shit, they basically dominated whenever they appeared and then peaced out of the entire series.Bending ain't shit against ninja archers.
>>65258666Yes, Satan, SF have generally punched way above their weight and given their militaries great advantages over the enemy, without which the war would have been much harderLike with any other part of the army, they need to be used as part of the wholeRemember: combined arms, alwaysTheir primary battlefield contribution in the Cold War was recon, not direct action
>>65259044Why are you butthurt? Of course the tail is longer than the tooth, you dumbass.
>>65259945In this case its more like the jaws, the neck muscles, the back and the legs.
>>65258666>Has the small elite unit, with tons of money thrown at it, ever actually led to a single war being won?Venezuela 2026Grenada 1983
>>65259044>Yeah never mind the combined air power of the navy, marine corps, and air force pushing over 150 aircraft with a blanket of cyber and electronic warfare preparationRamirez cannot defend burgertown without killstreak bonuses. That's still pennies compared to the cost of a full invasion. Still pennies compared to the 2026 Iran campaign.
>>65259950Okay? Did you think that post would make you sound smart?
>>65259866or just give them all firearms and watch earthbenders dominate land warfare for the next hundred years
>>65258666Does Xenophon's 10,000 count as a victory?
>>65259857That’s not saying much Anon.
>>65258666Rwanda paratroopers single-handedly salvaged the reputation of paras as a legitimate force of arms.
>>65261121Yes, but they don't count as elite. They wouldn't even qualify as trained by modern standards.
>>65258666>watching avatarFucking manchild
