#area denial

[kvornanthelafesta]

Area Denial

Engie + Team Fortress 2 © Valve

[warsofasoiaf]

How common was fire as an area denial asset on the medieval battlefield. Fire arrows aside fiction seems to love baiting armies into a trap and then encircling them in a ring of fire and smoke and as fictional tactics go it actually makes a whole lot of sense but how practical and common place actually was it?

Not very. Fire attacks are difficult to organize and execute. They're better for smoking out targets from flammable fortifications than creating a ring of fire. You can burn down a forest to burn out guerillas or force enemies to flee, but you also deprive yourself of valuable resources and deny yourself the area, and fire is an indiscriminate attacker that can easily burn your own men. This means that you have to be conscious of the wind and the presence of flammable materials that can spread the fire in directions you do not want it to go.

This is a benefit of dragons, you can use fire attacks very easily, avoiding the need to assemble and transport materials and ensure the fire gets lit and gets large enough to be useful. Since dragons fly, you can start a fire and fly off, significantly reducing risk of friendly forces being caught in the blaze.

Sharpened stakes are easier area denial weapons to defend critical chokepoints. Even without mass production techniques, you can make stakes anywhere trees are present.

Thanks for the question, Flag.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[radiofreealbemut]

[defencecapital]

India signs deal to arm Pinaka rockets with key munitions to boost army fire power

By N. C. Bipindra India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed contracts with its state-run companies and a private sector firm to boost the firepower of its army’s Pinaka air defence rockets. An MoD statement on Feb. 6, 2025, said the deal, worth Rs 10,147 crore (~US$1.2 billion), will enhance the range of the Pinaka Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) to strike deep inside the enemy territory…

India signs deal to arm Pinaka rockets with key munitions to boost army fire power

[primnull]

Terminator turret concept mockup for a mobile game. It never went anywhere, typical. 2016-8