66 articles
Trench warfare
Trench warfare: static combat from fortified trench systems, defined by the Western Front of WWI (1914-18), where artillery and machine guns forced digging in, producing stalemate, horrific casualties, and weapons like gas and tanks designed to break the deadlock; reappeared in Ukraine after 2022.
Vanguard
Vanguard (military): the van or advance guard, the security detachment moving ahead of an army's main body to prevent surprise, reconnoiter, and cover deployment; distinct from Project VANGUARD, a 1990 US Army cost-reduction study.
Viking Age arms and armour
Viking Age arms and armour (c. 793-1066): spears, swords, axes, bows, round shields, helmets, and mail. Spear was the most common weapon; the sword marked the elite; most men seldom bore arms.
Wagenburg
The Wagenburg, Czech vozová hradba, is a field fortification formed by linking war wagons into a defensive circle, perfected by Jan Žižka's Hussites in the early 15th century.
War pig
War pigs were pigs reportedly used in ancient warfare, mainly as incendiary animals against war elephants, notably at the siege of Megara in 266 BC per Polyaenus and Aelian; historians rate the flaming-pig story only half true.
War pigeon
War pigeon: homing pigeons (Columba livia domestica) used as military messengers, notably in the Franco-Prussian War, both World Wars, and the US Signal Corps Pigeon Service (1917-1957).