Media with futuristic warfare?

[shadow_archmagi]

So, because it isn't actually the future, writers often have to take their best guess as to what a war looks like in the year X. Unfortunately, many of them think it looks exactly like what they remember from watching WWI or WWII movies as a kid.

What books, movies, video games have portrayals of war that incorporate the march of technology? I'd like to read/watch some things where the authors sat down and thought long and hard about how things like augmented reality would come into play.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Come to think of it, *I* mostly learned about war from WWII movies, so if present-day tech is really cool, let me know about that stuff too.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

It starts small, but Schlock Mercenary (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-06-12) has intergalactic warfare based around massive advances in technology. Lots of cool technical detail and even maths. Most definitely not WWII with lasers.

Also, it's Schlock Mercenary: comedic hard sci-fi space opera.

[Science Officer]

I recommend the novels The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds. They're really just one book that was split into two because... ?
It's got cyborgs, nano-drones, intelligent missile swarms, and relativistic space combat.
No idea how technologically sound it all is, but it makes sense, is very awesome, and not much like historical warfare.
I don't think I've described it very well, but it is really great.

[FLHerne]

Dropped in to nominate Schlock Mercenary, but CarpeGuitarrem did already. But yeah, it's good.

In particular, a game-changing technology gets invented by one of the protagonists within the actual timeline, so you get to see warfare getting revolutionised in front of you. :smallbiggrin:

Previously the size of warships that could travel over interstellar distances was (relatively) limited, and they could only move between fixed locations, now mercenary commanders being caught out by unexpected Battleplates is getting to be a running gag... :smallwink:

[shadow_archmagi]

It starts small, but Schlock Mercenary (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-06-12) has intergalactic warfare based around massive advances in technology. Lots of cool technical detail and even maths. Most definitely not WWII with lasers.

Also, it's Schlock Mercenary: comedic hard sci-fi space opera.

Eugh. Every time I try to read Schlock Mercenary I find myself deriving no joy whatsoever from the writing or the art. Definitely not the comic for me.

[The_Admiral]

You sure? The art has improved, dramatically.

[Tavar]

Relatively Modern-Books:
We Were Soldiers Once, and Young-a moderately famous battle in the Vietnam War(though, it should be noted, this is not how the Vietnam war was fought, and should not be considered the normal situation in said war). The book also contains a second, less well known battle.
The Bright And Shining Lie-Story of a man who was involved in the Vietnam War from beginning to end. Gives a decent reporting of the methods of each side(North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, US).
Black Hawk Down-Story of a primarily US operation in Somalia. Almost pure focus on the tactics of the situation. I believe the movie has garnered some praise, but the book is probably the better resource.



Far Future warfare/battles
The Lost Fleet Series- Science Fiction, about a star-fleet stranded behind enemy lines(FTL uses wormholes, which limit where you can go), and their journey home.

If you really want more futuristic warfare, there's quite a bit in Military Scifi, though it tends to put less importance on groundside troops as a genre. There are some authors who buck the trend, though.

[Soras Teva Gee]

I think Starship Troopers has an interesting take on futuristic technology changing war. I don't know if it actually invented the concept of a powered, armoured exoskeleton but it definitely popularised it and codified a lot of the conventions surrounding its use in military fiction. It looks at why it works with the military and political philosophy of the culture employing it, and also notes many of the drawbacks.


Considering its 1959 publication date I think what Heinlein really predicted was the model of a highly technologically small professional military in contrast to the mass conscription early modern model.

And unlike almost every sci-fi in existence he actually addresses why a space based military doesn't just practice the Ripley Doctrine so he gets bonus points.

[Tavar]

Considering its 1959 publication date I think what Heinlein really predicted was the model of a highly technologically small professional military in contrast to the mass conscription early modern model.

And unlike almost every sci-fi in existence he actually addresses why a space based military doesn't just practice the Ripley Doctrine so he gets bonus points.

Actually, quite a bit of SF does address that. Or, at least, most Mil Sci Fi that I've seen does so.

[Hiro Protagonest]

The Bright And Shining Lie-Story of a man who was involved in the Vietnam War from beginning to end. Gives a decent reporting of the methods of each side(North Vietnamese, South Vietnamese, US).
Black Hawk Down-Story of a primarily US operation in Somalia. Almost pure focus on the tactics of the situation. I believe the movie has garnered some praise, but the book is probably the better resource.

I'll have to read these.

[Impnemo]

http://well-of-souls.com/outsider/

Arioch has an excellent take on space combat with lots of supporting ground work establishing his setting. Fantastic stuff. About the pacing though...

[CarpeGuitarrem]

You sure? The art has improved, dramatically.
Most definitely this. What the art looks like now. (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-09-06)

[Soras Teva Gee]

Actually, quite a bit of SF does address that. Or, at least, most Mil Sci Fi that I've seen does so.

Well if "most" in strict mathematical terms perhaps, but for you know the stuff people have actually heard of and have a fair chance of recognizing or being brought up. Even (or perhaps especially) in your nerdy circles you get more attention towards say ...40k or Star Wars then something that really dives into reasoning out its "futuristic" conflicts.

Generally speaking I tend to go in expecting future settings to have outdated notions of warfare based more in the pop-culture image of WWII then even actual modern warfare. Given this is probably more exciting and relatable.

Even Heinlein is probably marginal here just makes clear its power armored infantry who are also really good at their job and can say match at least our modern vehicles mobility on the bounce while just also kinda ignoring terrain.

[HamHam]

Peter F Hamilton does a pretty good job with it I think. In the Night's Dawn series we get to see a couple ground actions and the logistical absurdity of interstellar land war. The Mendel series is pre-spaceflight so it's just near future small scale fights, although it has some good use of energy weapons and such.

In Judas Unchained (I think) we finally get a proper interstellar invasion with the Starflyer War and it is epic.

[Killer Angel]

If we're going down on books, all I have to say is: Joe Haldeman - The forever war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forever_War).

Just a hint: The soldiers depart for action, traveling via wormhole-like phenomena called 'collapsars' (Black Holes) that allow ships to cover thousands of light-years in a split second. However, traveling to and from the collapsars at near-lightspeed has massive relativistic effects...

[Forrestfire]

Oh man, I was about to suggest The Forever War.

Another fairly neat one is the Vatta's War (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatta's_War) series, which I felt portrayed space combat fairly well (if I'm remembering right, that is).

[Eldan]

The second part of the primaryRevelation Space trilogy series had a pretty interesting space battles. Two ships racing each other at near c, both trying to squeeze out a bit more acceleration without killing their crew and trying to trick each other with various improvised weaponry.

[DaedalusMkV]

Debatable Space has a very interesting depiction of interstellar warfare at the absolute far end of technology that is theoretically plausible with our current model of physics (the only allowance made, technologically, was the presence of FTL communications using quantum entanglement, which the author acknowledges in the postscript).

Because there's no sort of FTL travel, all interstellar travel takes years, though humanity having long ago mastered just about every form of biotech conceivable means that human being basically don't age. Adding in their easy access to nano-assemblers, a typical attack fleet starts off extremely small, towing a planetoid or ten behind it for raw resources, and begins manufacturing new ships and breeding new crew members to pilot them as it makes the often decades-long approach, which is kind of a radical concept IMO. It also addresses the effect that sort of timescale has in combination with FTL comms, which means that both sides have massive time frames where they can use their entire scientific base to analyze and replicate any new technology or what have you used by either side between engagements. I found the book's depiction of far-future warfare quite interesting. Plus, where else are you going to find a hostile race composed of sapient, malevolent quantum states that attack by propagating into the atoms composing your matter? Okay, yeah, the book gets weird at times.

The Unincorporated X series does a depiction of a nearer-future space and ground war, set in a human society that spans the solar system but hasn't bothered to expand past the Oort Cloud quite yet. It's a lot more down to earth, and primarily functions based on careful application of nanotechnology and fusion power. It also depicts

a covert network-based war between AIs accidentally invented by humanity and which have done an excellent job of concealing their intelligence from the human race as a whole, which is fairly interesting in itself.

Of course, the first book is more of an exploration of Future!Economics and Post-scarcity (sort of) society, while the military action starts in the second book and won't make much sense if you haven't read the first, and the whole thing can be soul-crushingly depressing at times, so I don't think it's necessarily a good pick for a casual reader.

[Killer Angel]

I could also say that Masamune Shirow shows an interesting cyberpunk approach to futuristic "urban" warfare. See Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed.

[Brother Oni]

I'll have to read these.

May I also suggest Sniper One, which follows the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment deployment to Iraq in 2004 and Stryker: The Siege of Sadyr City which follows a Stryker unit during that battle in 2008.

I haven't finished Stryker yet, but the writing styles are very different, with Sniper One following the much more 'relaxed' style of soldiering the British Army is known for (not to mention a fairly frank viewpoint of life on deployment).


I could also say that Masamune Shirow shows an interesting cyberpunk approach to futuristic "urban" warfare. See Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed.

GitS mostly covers counter-terrorist ops with operatives far beyond human capabilities, rather than outright warfare. The manga and the SAC series does cover cyber warfare in some detail though; the first SAC series especially with a prime antagonist being a master hacker, able to disguise his identity from anybody with cybernetic enhancements (which are commonplace among the populace now) while a pair of unenchanced homeless guys are unaffected since they're all natural.

Appleseed again focuses on counter terrorist ops, but with no emphasis on cyberwarfare and more on powered personal armour. To be fair, when Appleseed was written, the internet was still in its infancy, and its massive uptake was only hinted at (the author addressed this with GitS).

Another series that may be of interest is Gasaraki, demonstrating how powered armour could be of use in modern warfare, especially urban warfare.

Other media with how futuristic warfare would be the Culture series, specifically the book Excession. Massed land forces are pretty much obsolete, with only special operatives being used. Most combat is handled by uncrewed ship AIs with individual engagements lasting fractions of a second due to relativity and AIs being that bloody fast.

[Brother Oni]

Liffguard, in your avatar picture, is that Eddie with a Royal Marine beret on?

I'm not very good with cap badges, sorry. :smallredface:

[Killer Angel]

As a matter of fact it is! Technically it's the drill beret rather than general duties but who's counting?

A "somewhere in time" version, would be very appropriate for the thread... :smallbiggrin: