This is the primary reason retaking Wall Maria would take decades: Getting a couple dozen scouts to the breach would be easy enough, but getting the construction materials necessary to repair the breach requires supply lines that the titans would constantly harry.If this production stopped for any reason, the protagonists would be defenceless as soon as their supply of blades ran out. It is mentioned in the design documents for the gear that the extremely sharp but brittle steel used for these blades are manufactured in only one location within the most interior wall. Both the gas canisters for propulsion and the blades for chopping Titan limbs/necks are limited resources. This is normally averted in Attack on Titan the extremely specialised equipment the protagonists use to fight the Titans is prone to malfunction, and on-site repair is treated as impossible.A major part of the story is bringing the plans for the first human-producible anti-Fog weapon from the nation that designed it to a nation with the industrial capacity to produce enough of them that they can equip a fleet with them. A key plot point of Arpeggio of Blue Steel is that even though humanity has weapons that can fight the Fleet of Fog, they are in highly limited supply.The latter part includes repairing an attack helicopter hovering over the repair unit. These little buggers can fix a heavy tank from near disintegrated state in a matter of seconds with any needed spare parts being pulled out of hammerspace (otherwise the unit would be carrying an entire tank in spare parts around) without making the repair crew actually get out, or even immobilizing the repaired unit for a short time. Some of the most egregious examples are repair units. This is for both stylistic and balance reasons: it would be overpowered to have an infinite bombing run, and the aircraft carriers have to do something. Sometimes, however, this aspect is portrayed in an egregiously unrealistic fashion, with the forces depicted being mostly or entirely liberated from logistical constraints.Īirplanes will normally be the exception, if anything is, as chances are they'll be restrained by their fuel capacity or their ammo once one of such is depleted, they usually have to return to a nearby landing strip (or, if the military is advanced enough, provided with in-flight (mid-air) refueling, which then means they have to have additional bases capable of providing for tanker planes along the way). In games with a military theme, save the most serious wargames and grand strategy games, this aspect is usually dealt with in the background without the player having to worry unduly about it.
Therefore securing supply lines is a vital part of any military operation. In some types of combat, such as air-to-air, ammo and fuel supplies can even set an absolute hard limit on how long an engagement can go on combat airplanes, for instance, may well expend all their munitions in a single pass. There are countless examples of armies being fatally weakened or even dissolving completely due to insufficient supplies.
If the day-long battle and hundreds of men that fought it stupefy you, figuring out the much greater amounts of time and individuals it took to get those men there will really send your jaw to the floor.Īny modern armed force in Real Life must receive a steady supply of fuel, ammunition and other provisions in order to be able to operate.
Napoléon Bonaparte, explaining how important logistics are