Har bloody har :stare:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cod_Wars

Fish and chips, srs bsns. :yep:

-Proxy war

2 sides fighting with the blessing of 2 stronger opponents, that aren't in direct conflict.

Robot Wars

Junkyard wars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTIpd9FYAzg

The COD war is interesting. I had to read up on it. Doesn't fit precisely into any of the other categories. Similar to a 'warm conflict' (#2), but differs in that rather than involving hand-wielded small arms, the 'small arms' were those of ship-borne guns, ramming, and sabotage (net cutting).

Given that the psychology of limited engagements, posturing, and constraint to force are similar to a warm conflict (both sides claiming self-defense), overall could probably be fit into a modified definition of a 'warm conflict', whereas the pot shots and small arms are to include their ship borne equivalents albeit the resource cost considerably more.

Very interesting indeed and nice reading. Underscores the benefit of a strong navy.

Two sides trying to 'batter' each other into submission :)

What about the daily War of the Roses?

LOL

I disagree with guerrilla war/insurgency: in most every case one side has a notable technological and/or military advantage and one side has a decided disadvantage which brings about the need to fight in a guerrilla/insurgent manner and the other side to attempt to fight a counterinsurgency.

I also disagree with the "over match" this category can not exist if the category of guerrilla war/insurgency is on the same list.

To me a war is a situation where two opposing sides in some manner deal death towards each other with some ends to be gained usually it is land or control of land.There are wars fought on every street in America (or any other nation for that matter).A three way war between gangs and the law for control of territory. One to enforce the the law the others to gain control of turf for the purpose of selling drugs and other illegal products.

That's a real good question and one tough to answer.

I wonder if "cyber warfare" is closer to espionage than war??

Good point as a lot of it is about intelligence gathering. but hacking into things like power grids is in order to disable or take control of them. That's more than just spying.

That might fall under sabotage, which I don't know how it fits in the war discussion. :hmmm:

Operations prior to war? OPW? :D

It is. I every war a country send their soldiers or special units behind the enemy line to conduct sabotage

That what the allied and the axis did during WWII and I think they did it in WWI.

Markus

I see your point. Both categories can be seen as one and the same in a lot of respects. No country intentionally fights a guerrilla war unless they are facing an overmatch. Overmatches that are not ultimately guerrilla wars can be seen as combined arms matches that just turn out lopsided (albeit sometimes after the fact).

Its probably a point of simplification to eliminate the overmatch category. Albeit, I do feel what legitimizes it as a category is the political attitude and willingness to fight that lopsided combined arms represent to military powers and the common 'bully tatics' that military powers use as the result. The best example I can think of off hand is the USA strikes on Kosovo in the 1990s. Far from a guerrilla war, the US used technology mismatch to overwhelm without fear of heavy losses on its own part. Something that it wouldn't dream of on a more capable opposition.

Good points.