| Army Staff College
|
| Category: |
Army
|
| Level: |
5
|
| Turns to build: |
7
|
| Building cost: |
6000
|
| European
|
|
| Indian
|
|
| Middle Eastern
|
|
|
| Requires
|
|
|
| Technology
|
| Platoon Firing
|
This institution educates soldiers in more advanced aspects of warfare, not just in the theory of tactics.
Tactics may win battles, but wars are won thanks to information, strategy and, above all, supply. An army that is unfed and lost is no use to anyone. An army staff college produces officers with the skills needed to deal with the many details involved in keeping an army in the field. Apart from an understanding of strategy, officers are taught military illustration (the vital skill of producing accurate sketch maps and diagrams), some surveying, military law, how to behave like a proper gentleman (regrettably necessary in some cases), horsemanship, weapons handling and given character-building instruction. The end product is a man who can be an aide to a general in all situations.
Historically, the British, for example, had an inherent distrust of armies as tools of tyranny, and this may have contributed to the low priority given to raising professional standards. Pupils had to fund their studies from their own pockets at the Royal Military College! This had an additional advantage, of course, in ensuring that only candidates from the “right” social classes could afford to attend. Other nations were not so suspicious of giving soldiers necessary military skills.
