[Code, Algorithms] The Lanchester Attrition Model

Without looking too much at the actual content, I noticed that this article is a) very small and b) similar to JohnBolton's article in GPG5. John's article, however, has some real practical examples. If I were to read this on the site, I'd be asking where the examples were in this article. From reading John's article in GPG5, I realised that this algorithm is fairly complex and can be used in many scenarios - I'd like to get that impression from this article.

We would have to be careful that it's not ripping off John's article too if we decide to take this further with the author.

I agree, most of the potential behind using Lanchester attrition seems to be obliterated by the simplifications presented in the article. A rewrite is definately in order.

I can't seem to find an e-mail address associated with this one in the article.

It's wrathnut@hotmail.com

Request for rewrite sent, bcc'd to editor@gamedev.net. Contents as follows:

Quote:

Dear Andrew Mentges, We greatly appreciate your submission of "Applying the Lanchester Attrition Model to Video Games" for publication consideration. While the article shows promise, there are a number of outstanding issues. The primary issue is that, while the article presents a basic coverage of the Lanchester attrition model, the simplifications used remove most of the richness of the underlying model. The result is a simplified system that has no appreciable difference than the resolution system used in many present war games. Furthermore, the logic behind the simplified attrition rates, while appropriate for military actions in the last few centuries, does not lend itself well to earlier eras where conflicts also involved a non-negligible melee component. Also, from the article it is not clear that the coefficients used would depend on additional factors make the proportions themselves dependent functions. Should it be possible to resolve any of these outstanding considerations, we would be happy to review your content again. You can submit a revised copy of the article to me at this e-mail address. For a more detailed explanation of the aforementioned reasons, or to answer any of your questions in general, please contact the Editor-in-Chief at editor@gamedev.net. Thank you for your submission, and we hope that you will again choose GameDev.Net for future content you wish to share with the game development community. As you might know, GameDev.Net receives a large number of article submissions and I do apologize for any delay in getting back to you. Howard Jeng, GDERB Editor