Maneuver Warfare by William Lind

[noxnoctum]

Has anyone read this? I was thinking of picking it up since I'd like to have a deeper understanding of military doctrine and I just find this kind of stuff fascinating as both a fan of history and all things military-related.

But how readable is it? Is it basically just something for people actually in the military or can it be read by "laymen" too? Also how applicable is it in wargames? (not just CM but other types as well) Also is more purely strategic in approach or can it be applied to low level tactics too?

[JonS]

It's a bit dated now, isn't it?

"The Maneuver Warfare Anthology" editted by Hooker, might be more practical use to you, since it consists of writings about the doctrine, rather than being the doctrine itself. Especially good is Dan Bolger's essay.

http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/jfq_pubs/2909.pdf

[Andrew H.]

There's always this interesting thread: http://www.battlefront.com/community/showthread.php?t=13323&highlight=lind

[JonS]

hehe - fun thread. It appears that Henri bought fully into the mythology that Manoeuvre Warfare is "anything that works," while Attrition - that evil, stupid, simplistic attrition - is anything that doesn't As if they were two exclusionary principles

Meanwhile, in the non-theoretical world, manoeuvre is what good commanders use to enable or threaten attrition while attrition is what good commanders use to enable or threaten manoeuvre. An approach that works as well in CM as it does in meatspace.

[Vanir Ausf B]

Steve seems to have had a lot more free time back in those days.