Weapons that changed war..

Honestly I would have to say gunpowder and the tank as the defining moments when the nature of war changed.

it used to be a battle of generalship and training of individual soldiers that copuld make or break a battle but with the inclusion of guns and tanks into a battle it became more of a give the body a gun or give the dozer driver a tank and you suddenly have a semi effective fighting force.

the list is from post WWII until present
 
Honestly I would have to say gunpowder and the tank as the defining moments when the nature of war changed.

it used to be a battle of generalship and training of individual soldiers that copuld make or break a battle but with the inclusion of guns and tanks into a battle it became more of a give the body a gun or give the dozer driver a tank and you suddenly have a semi effective fighting force.

well guns were around long before tanks and until the advent of motorized vehicles horses were as much of a crucial advantage. but generalship and training of individual soldiers is still extremely important in modern warfare. it takes a lot of training to use a rifle properly against someone else that's trained to use one. it's not like swords were these magical devices that only the truly gifted could master

and tanks..jesus, they take a LOT of training. you wouldn't be able to just hop into one and drive off let alone be an effective fighting machine without the proper instruction. you can just hand people guns and tanks and have an effective fighting force, they need to be trained. tactics have changed a lot over the years so the idea that these devices have simplified combat from the days of horses and swords is contrary to what has actually happened. war is a science unto itself, it's gotten a lot more complex