if they have the training, but they wherent trained to be independent thinkers within a group.

history shows every time a legion was caught unprepared for battle, they where slaughtered Hannibal did it, the Huns and then the Gauls all learned to beat the Romans, you cant let them form up.

 

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this type of story has been done before. look up S.M. Stirlings' island in the sea of time,(island of Nantucket ends up back around 1000-1500 BC) or john ringo's 1632.(redneck mining town winds up in 1632 germany).
you start by saving what high tech gear you have for when the defecation hits the oscillation. gear down to a tech level equal to about the 1860's. black powder percussion cap weapons, early breach loading black powder cannon and the like.or, if they can find the materials, early self contained cartridge weapons like the cold peacemaker. marines aren't ALL idiots. in a MEU you can bet there are a wide range of skills, from knowing how to make a still to how to make caps for the black powder guns, and the black powder. the medical personnel will know how to treat and prevent disease. there will be someone who knows enough chemistry to make biodisel for at least some of the vehicles.

then, first, you don't piss off the locals when you are building your tech base. if you find yourself heading in the direction of a war with someone, start recruiting their enemies to fight with you.
you don't use your troops as just fighters. they have brains and training. use it. one good squad could be used to train a platoon of locals armed with black powder guns. same the good stuff for when it can make a real difference in a battle.

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something else to think about. the average "big tall strong legionary" was about 5 foot 2. what is the reaction going to be when they see soldiers coming at them that are anywhere from 5 ft 6 to over 6 feet, firing things at them that they can't even see flying, from distances that their best slingers can't see much lest shoot( depending on the era, rome used old fashioned slings not archers)

Well you are probably right, the Romans after seeing lines decimated by a howitzer once would probably never change tactics to use the immobility to their advantage... They did have some of the best generals in history after all. You are the military expert after all. They'd probably have just stood there 2 miles away and waved the shells in instead of moving and using the horse speed and their sheer numbers and knowledge of the terrain to their advantage.

 

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Any army caught unprepared is at a severe disadvantage, regardless of formation. The cause of defeat would not be their formation tactics.

 

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no that is war there is no rules that say hey I am going to let you form your army up so you can just use zerg tactics.

ask the British how mass formations worked out for them.

 

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2 miles

cutt arty has a range of 20 miles.
they would die before they even saw what shot them.

 

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And how exactly oh great general and military mind is artillery going to aim at anything from that far out with no communications, no GPS. They just going to plant it and randomly fire? Even better for the Romans if thats the case. You are making this easy for them.

 

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well, they likely have fallback comms, like UHF or VHF radios that span dozens of miles. all an artillery battery would need is a forward observer and a radio to walk in the rounds from a good distance from the firing line

 

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The vast majority of the time the army would be prepped with battle lines, and soldiers would be close enough to get into battle formation within a very short time. You use scouting and see the thousands of men in the distance.

Properly forming an army up is little issue with the quality of command they had. Victory/defeat would result from other factors. And saying they just used zerg tactics makes you sound really ignorant.

 

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a spotter with a set of binoculars a compass and a map with a grid system.
like they did in the old days.

you act like the military has to have gps to fight a war.
seriously you are the fool in the thread.

 

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