# Military Principles ... where to find good websites ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-principles-where-to-find-good-websites/216060 "2003-11-30T14:17:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-principles-where-to-find-good-websites/216060/1 "2003-11-30T14:17:44Z")
So I am trying to train a friend of mine some higher aspects of military principles so that he might improve his wargaming. He is a specialist in political science and knows very little of military history and ideas. By military principles (sorry if I misnamed or got this wrong) are those like: Economy of Force, avoiding division, balanced use of resources, main strategic maneuvers, concentration for attack, lines of communication… etc… etc I have read this stuff over the years in dozens of different books… but I want a website or refernce where I can get a good (thou not too shallow) summarized overview as an introduction to these. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-principles-where-to-find-good-websites/216060/2 "2003-11-30T14:44:02Z")
Some of my favorite ‘military’ websites. It will take some digging around at them to get precisely what you are looking for, but they are a good start. [http://www.strategypage.com](http://www.strategypage.com) -Run by several historians, my favorite being James Dunnigan. His books, _How to Make War_ and _Quick and Dirty Guide to War_ are outstanding basic primers. [http://www.globalsecurity.org](http://www.globalsecurity.org) -All sorts of neat info. Takes some digging around to get to the good stuff, IMO. Of particular interest is [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/](http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/) which is a free source for many of the US Army field manuals. [http://www.fas.org](http://www.fas.org) Maybe not so much what you are looking for, but they do have some great documents on NBC warfare. Over at [http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/](http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/) you can read _The Art of War_, which is still pretty relevant. They also have some Clausewitz, but some of his work has been disproven over the years. Still not bad, though. I would try to get your friend to pick up a copy of Talonsoft _The Operational Art of War: Century of Warfare Edition_. Very intuitive, decent AI, and does a good job (IMHO) of reinforcing the concepts of basic strategy. Wargaming is a noble pastime… ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-principles-where-to-find-good-websites/216060/3 "2003-11-30T16:09:42Z")
I would also point you to those fine sites. That being said, the MIlitary Principles are not universal. They change over time and vary from nation to nation. Further, they (arguably) differ at levels of command. I seem to recall that the Soviets called “annihilation” a basic tenet. Many an argument can be had over what the heck “economy of force” means. Like the Constitution or the Bible there are many interpretations of this stuff ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/military-principles-where-to-find-good-websites/216060/4 "2003-12-09T02:36:34Z")
Thanks guys 🙂 Will check 'em out. Some basic concepts are always valid… these are the ones I want to find in a easy to digest way.