IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/operea/v21y2021i4d10.1007_s12351-019-00513-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A bottleneck combat model: an application to the Battle of Thermopylae

Author

Listed:
  • Anelí Bongers

    (University of Malaga)

  • José L. Torres

    (University of Malaga)

Abstract

This paper proposes a Lanchester-type combat model to simulate battles in which one or two of the opposing sides cannot use all the forces simultaneously due to some physical restriction (i.e., topographic constraints, transforming the battlefield into a bottleneck). We show that this model, when the bottleneck restriction applies to both sides, leads to the Lanchester’s linear law for both aimed- and unaimed-fire, but the rate of change over time is a constant. The main characteristics of the bottleneck combat model are the following: (1) the topographic constraint makes the quality (fighting effectiveness) and size of the restriction the more relevant factors for the outcome of the battle, reducing the relative importance of quantity; (2) the bottleneck transforms the Lanchester’s square law into the linear law under direct-fire; and (3) if quality is similar among foes, the topographic bottleneck restriction is irrelevant for victory. The model is used to simulate the Battle of Thermopylae and shows that if the bottleneck restriction had persisted and was not removed, the Persian army would have been defeated.

Suggested Citation

  • Anelí Bongers & José L. Torres, 2021. "A bottleneck combat model: an application to the Battle of Thermopylae," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 2859-2877, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:21:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s12351-019-00513-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s12351-019-00513-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12351-019-00513-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12351-019-00513-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hirshleifer, Jack, 1991. "The Technology of Conflict as an Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 130-134, May.
    2. Israel David, 1995. "Lanchester modeling and the biblical account of the battles of gibeah," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(4), pages 579-584, June.
    3. Kjell Hausken & John F. Moxnes, 2005. "Approximations and empirics for stochastic war equations," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(7), pages 682-700, October.
    4. Flores, J.C. & Bologna, Mauro, 2013. "Troy: A simple nonlinear mathematical perspective," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 392(19), pages 4683-4687.
    5. Jerome Bracken, 1995. "Lanchester models of the ardennes campaign," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(4), pages 559-577, June.
    6. S. J. Deitchman, 1962. "A Lanchester Model of Guerrilla Warfare," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 10(6), pages 818-827, December.
    7. Kjell Hausken & Gregory Levitin, 2011. "Shield versus sword resource distribution in K-round duels," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 19(4), pages 589-603, December.
    8. Shanahan, Linda & Sen, Surajit, 2011. "Dynamics of stochastic and nearly stochastic two-party competitions," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 390(10), pages 1800-1810.
    9. Ronald D. Fricker, 1998. "Attrition models of the Ardennes campaign," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 1-22, February.
    10. N. C. G. Campbell & K. J. Roberts, 1986. "Lanchester market structures: A. Japanese approach to the analysis of business competition," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(3), pages 189-200, May.
    11. Kress, Moshe & Caulkins, Jonathan P. & Feichtinger, Gustav & Grass, Dieter & Seidl, Andrea, 2018. "Lanchester model for three-way combat," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(1), pages 46-54.
    12. Wayne P. Hughes, 1995. "A salvo model of warships in missile combat used to evaluate their staying power," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(2), pages 267-289, March.
    13. Hausken, Kjell & Moxnes, John F., 2002. "Stochastic conditional and unconditional warfare," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(1), pages 61-87, July.
    14. Miltiadis Chalikias & Michalis Skordoulis, 2017. "Implementation of F.W. Lanchester’s combat model in a supply chain in duopoly: the case of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in Greece," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 737-745, October.
    15. Michael J. Armstrong, 2014. "Modeling Short-Range Ballistic Missile Defense and Israel's Iron Dome System," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1028-1039, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gerardo Minguela-Castro & Ruben Heradio & Carlos Cerrada, 2021. "Automated Support for Battle Operational–Strategic Decision-Making," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(13), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Kress, Moshe & Caulkins, Jonathan P. & Feichtinger, Gustav & Grass, Dieter & Seidl, Andrea, 2018. "Lanchester model for three-way combat," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(1), pages 46-54.
    3. C-Y Hung & G K Yang & P S Deng & T Tang & S-P Lan & P Chu, 2005. "Fitting Lanchester's square law to the Ardennes Campaign," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 56(8), pages 942-946, August.
    4. Patrick S. Chen & Peter Chu, 2001. "Applying Lanchester's linear law to model the Ardennes campaign," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(8), pages 653-661, December.
    5. Kjell Hausken & John F. Moxnes, 2005. "Approximations and empirics for stochastic war equations," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 52(7), pages 682-700, October.
    6. Chad W. Seagren & Donald P. Gaver & Patricia A. Jacobs, 2019. "A stochastic air combat logistics decision model for Blue versus Red opposition," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(8), pages 663-674, December.
    7. Ian R. Johnson & Niall J. MacKay, 2011. "Lanchester models and the battle of Britain," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(3), pages 210-222, April.
    8. Michael J. Armstrong, 2013. "The salvo combat model with area fire," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(8), pages 652-660, December.
    9. Kolebaje, Olusola & Popoola, Oyebola & Khan, Muhammad Altaf & Oyewande, Oluwole, 2020. "An epidemiological approach to insurgent population modeling with the Atangana–Baleanu fractional derivative," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    10. Michael J Armstrong, 2014. "The salvo combat model with a sequential exchange of fire," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 65(10), pages 1593-1601, October.
    11. Moshe Kress, 2020. "Lanchester Models for Irregular Warfare," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-14, May.
    12. Donghyun Kim & Hyungil Moon & Donghyun Park & Hayong Shin, 2017. "An efficient approximate solution for stochastic Lanchester models," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(11), pages 1470-1481, November.
    13. M.P. Wiper & L.I. Pettit & K.D.S. Young, 2000. "Bayesian inference for a Lanchester type combat model," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(7), pages 541-558, October.
    14. Younglak Shim & Michael P. Atkinson, 2018. "Analysis of artillery shoot‐and‐scoot tactics," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(3), pages 242-274, April.
    15. Thomas W. Lucas & Turker Turkes, 2004. "Fitting Lanchester equations to the battles of Kursk and Ardennes," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(1), pages 95-116, February.
    16. Ronald D. Fricker, 1998. "Attrition models of the Ardennes campaign," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 1-22, February.
    17. Hausken, Kjell, 2019. "Governmental combat of the dynamics of multiple competing terrorist organizations," Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (MATCOM), Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 33-55.
    18. P.S. Sheeba & Debasish Ghose, 2008. "Optimal resource allocation and redistribution strategy in military conflicts with Lanchester square law attrition," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(6), pages 581-591, September.
    19. Michael P. Atkinson & Moshe Kress & Niall J. MacKay, 2021. "Targeting, Deployment, and Loss-Tolerance in Lanchester Engagements," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 71-81, January.
    20. Fatema, Naureen, 2019. "Can land title reduce low-intensity interhousehold conflict incidences and associated damages in eastern DRC?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:operea:v:21:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s12351-019-00513-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.