This day in history

[Mister D]

Custer's men, BTW, didn't even bother to bring their sabers on the Little Big Horn campaign.

[del]

or their gatling guns

military genius

[Mister D]

or their gatling guns

military genius

lol Yeah, that might have made a difference. Not sure how reliable they were in 1876 but the British used them or a similar weapon to good effect in the Zulu War of 1879.

[Peter1469]

Hand to hand fighting (i.e. melee) has been relatively rare for centuries. By the time of the American Civil War, edged weapons were primarily used for psychological effect or were entirely ceremonial. Cavalry sabers, for example, were close to useless.

It is extremely common in modern urban warfare.



Bad ass SMG saves his troops by taking out the enemy hand to hand.

[Mister D]

It is extremely common in modern urban warfare.



Bad ass SMG saves his troops by taking out the enemy hand to hand.

It happens in modern urban warfare but it's extremely uncommon. I doubt it accounts for more than a handful of deaths and injuries.

[Mister D]

One of the salient features of modern warfare is its largely impersonal nature. The overwhelming majority of killing and maiming is done at a significant distance and often completely out of one's sight.

[Peter1469]

It happens in modern urban warfare but it's extremely uncommon. I doubt it accounts for more than a handful of deaths and injuries.

It has not been uncommon in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Mister D]

It has not been uncommon in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm willing to bet that only a tiny fraction of US servicemen have been killed or wounded in close combat. Probably less than a 1%. If that's correct then that would suggest it's extremely rare.

[del]

or that they're better at it than the enemy

[Mister D]

or that they're better at it than the enemy

If by better you mean the level of skill seen in 1980s ninja craze movies, yeah. But that's not realistic. Close comba just isn't a common thing. We tend to focus on it because it's so dramatic. It undoubtedly happens. All I'm saying is that it's the exception of modern warfare.