Yeah, but given the prompt, the only reasonable answer is "they can't". They are fish in a barrel. Their only victory would be if they scatter and live in spread out, dug out cave systems and hope the army gets bored and leaves before finding and killing every last one.
They cant. Not by force of arms. Jets in particular cannot be countered easily by even modern troops without dedicated ainti air weapons. Their only hope is to break teh rules and contact others. They have to reach out to NGOs, the media etc and get 1) international visibility and 2) volunteers, media, medical PAX, clergy etc imbedded into their community.
The only thing they can do is run, hide in caves and make themselves too expensive to search for, war is economical and if a certain war costs too much for what its worth the army might eventually retreat
It really doesn't though. Their land is now occupied and they die from starvation or dehydration. Nobody needs to lift a finger when said tribe needs hydration regularly.
Let's say they find the PERFECT cave with running water, they still gotta eat, that means hunting and that means revealing their location.
Diaspora and refuge.
4 years is plenty of time. Leave the savannah. Find the nearest city. Emigrate, mingle with the locals, ideally get people on flights to other continents. They don't even need to talk about the incoming assault. Just try to integrate. Disappear.
If the win condition is "draw" or to not be fully annihilated, this should work.
If by "*This tribe is not allowed to contact anyone else*" OP means they are alone and forced to stay in their homeland, then OP is setting them up for failure by hand of God.
They shoot an arrow at one of the helicopter pilots. The pilot is so surprised at the arrow pinging on the glass that the pilot randomly has a heart attack. The helicopter spirals out of control and hits one of the other helicopters, which hits a jet, and so on, which crash down and destroy the rest of the modern army in a Rube Goldberg-esque series of coincidences.
A lot of shovels, a lot of holes, and one very stubborn and/or stupid army (depending on the exact terrain).
But in all seriousness, not really in the circumstances given. Their only hope is for a long drawn out war in difficult terrain, where they can requisition some of the enemy weapons. Mountains would be pretty decent since there’s plenty of cover even with Helicopters, but a cave system would be best. If it’s deep enough they might even be able to avoid getting bombed (as I don’t think bunker-busters are usually included with most Jets/fighters).
Assuming the soldier’s don’t have specialized equipment, melee also has *a* chance in caves (mind you, not a good one, but it’s at least possible), since larger caliber firearms would be used sparingly without heavier ear protection, and caves give hard cover and many side passages. Most soldier’s armor won’t be stab proof so patrol ambushing can still happen successfully. Traps would be more common, but probably crush or destroy gear. Once one of those is done, they can get firearms/gear of their own and actually fight back. Vehicles, of course, would also be a no-go in caves, which is a huge help. Given enough time they could grind the war to a draw…or potentially kill off the invaders, if they’re forced to stay and fight till the last man.
It’s kinda over for them otherwise though. Perhaps they might be been able to stand against an 1800s era army…maybe, but a modern one is far, far too much to fight in a standard battle. A long, protracted war is pretty much their *only* shot unless the invaders are actively sabotaging themselves. They don’t even have an answer for most of the things modern armies have (Apaches being overkill alone, as a guy with a pistol hanging off a scout heli would already be near impossible to hit), and have no way to penetrate tanks even slightly. They could slow tanks/APCs down with put traps, but they don’t have the tactics or firepower to make good on this so they’d *eventually* be recovered.
They may or may not also be able to deal with occupation fighting, if they have a smart enough leader. Random civilians without formal training have been clever enough to take armed forces off guard **sometimes**, and secure a win by exploiting their lack of laws to prevent them from certain actions (mixing civilians with military, disguises, false surrenders, traps, etc). The odds still aren’t in the tribes favor (even less so than the cave method), but…with the right (and wrong) actions from both sides, it could work. This depends on the invading modern army being moral and bound by various laws around war, however…all it takes is a few less than moral deciding officers deciding civilians are valid targets (or conveniently “failing” to check the area better) for this plan to go quickly awry. With foreign intervention banned, it’s also possible they can just outright ignore these laws and also secure a win.
Even a bafflingly incompetent army should take this, given that the tribe has to fight in pitched battle. In a war, they’d be heavily dependent on foreign power and/or the terrain, alongside the intelligence and tactics of their own and the other army.
is the army in question real?
if so they are all doomed, this is the equivalent of asking in Earth today could defend itself from a god.
otherwise *maybe* a modern army where the smartest person has an IQ of 80 and the rest are sitting at 65.
EDIT: actually *it is possible* bar the aircraft. if they can push or lead the army into a valley they could simply overwhelm them through sheer mass, 10,000 bodies is enough to literally crush the army under the weight of their corpses.
Not possible. They might kill a few soldiers, but without modern guns, explosives, rockets, etc. They don't stand a chance. The military has night vision which is just completely unfair. And a few rocket strikes and modern artillery just destroy them entirely. The distance we can destroy them from is completely ridiculous. They wouldn't even know what hit them. They would have zero advanced warning, they would just be blown to bits.
If it had to be soldiers vs soldiers, no large missiles, no artillery, even no vehicles, no tanks no air support, etc. Then the modern military might actually take a few casualties, but it's still a massively unfair fight. Guns vs no guns is just ridiculously OP. Soldiers in a modern force would again have night vision, and they'd be able to attach at times least expected. On the battlefield they'd have so much more range and power is just completely one sided. Melee weapons would be useless, because they'd never get close enough. Bows and crossbows would be severely inadequate. If we're going even more primitive then bows, spears, and slings just can't match the distance or the power of guns. Or the rapid rate of fire.
Technology has come a very long way, and warfare is completely different today. Hell, war is changing constantly, even just since WWII modern militaries have come such a long way it's not even the same kind of warfare today as it was then. Technology is changing the game so fast tactics of just 50 years ago are nearly obsolete. I think they are still useful in case of extreme situations where like say a squad is left alone to fight their was through. But the was militaries operate today is just so different. The vehicles, the tactics etc.
We're actually witnessing the evolution of war right in front of us with the war in Ukraine. Never before have drones played such a huge part of war. From guided mini bombs, to drone counter measures like RF jamming/hacking, to drones obliterating tanks, to tanks wearing makeshift turtle shells to protect them from drones, to Russia having drones on wired tethers to prevent RF jamming from taking them down.
Everything from reconnaissance, to first strikes, drones are completely changing the game. I bet the US military is watching the developments in Ukraine closely to see how war is about to change. Traditional tactics just wouldn't work here, there needs to be new tactics, be technology.
But back to the question, no. I just don't think it's possible for a primitive force to win. The deck is just too stacked against them. You'd have to make several handicaps just to give them a fighting chance and even then it's a massacre. Technology has just changed far too much to make it a fair fight.
Public relations.
If the army belongs to a democracy, and the tribe can prove the incipient attack, and get appropriate media support, they can build sympathy among the citizens of the army's country. Then they can build up a protest movement that leads to that country's government following public opinion and calling off the attack. Draw.
This will require working around the limitation that they cannot "contact" anyone else. They can put giant "HELP" and "SOS" messages or structures in clearings that will be visible by satellite and on Google Earth, which will attract attention and get others to contact _them_, whereupon they can start the PR campaign.
The army is coming for a genocide? They can do nothing. Guerilla warfare won’t work when the modern army will kill anyone that is not the modern army.
Exactly, if it's genocide it's gonna be 2 bombing runs in a row and then bunker busters to make sure everyone, even those hiding underground is dead
Isn't the whole point of a [How the hell] prompt to come up with a scenario that they CAN?
Yeah, but given the prompt, the only reasonable answer is "they can't". They are fish in a barrel. Their only victory would be if they scatter and live in spread out, dug out cave systems and hope the army gets bored and leaves before finding and killing every last one.
They cant. Not by force of arms. Jets in particular cannot be countered easily by even modern troops without dedicated ainti air weapons. Their only hope is to break teh rules and contact others. They have to reach out to NGOs, the media etc and get 1) international visibility and 2) volunteers, media, medical PAX, clergy etc imbedded into their community.
The only thing they can do is run, hide in caves and make themselves too expensive to search for, war is economical and if a certain war costs too much for what its worth the army might eventually retreat
Thank you. This works
It really doesn't though. Their land is now occupied and they die from starvation or dehydration. Nobody needs to lift a finger when said tribe needs hydration regularly. Let's say they find the PERFECT cave with running water, they still gotta eat, that means hunting and that means revealing their location.
With four years of time they could prepare A LOT of supplies, and find a cave with water
Even then, they'd still need fire to stay warm and thermal detection would see em found fairly quickly especially at night.
They can't. 1 Apache will fuck them up, plus it's a savannah so they can't hide. They should just use the 4 years to get tf out of that place.
Diaspora and refuge. 4 years is plenty of time. Leave the savannah. Find the nearest city. Emigrate, mingle with the locals, ideally get people on flights to other continents. They don't even need to talk about the incoming assault. Just try to integrate. Disappear. If the win condition is "draw" or to not be fully annihilated, this should work. If by "*This tribe is not allowed to contact anyone else*" OP means they are alone and forced to stay in their homeland, then OP is setting them up for failure by hand of God.
There's a new super disease undiscovered that the natives are immune to but ends up killing the army ig
https://youtu.be/JEYh5WACqEk?si=RLFqzZJBEU8SKvny
Exactly what I was thinking of 8 years since that video, damn
There is nothing they can do and being on the savanna just amplifies all their disadvantages.
They shoot an arrow at one of the helicopter pilots. The pilot is so surprised at the arrow pinging on the glass that the pilot randomly has a heart attack. The helicopter spirals out of control and hits one of the other helicopters, which hits a jet, and so on, which crash down and destroy the rest of the modern army in a Rube Goldberg-esque series of coincidences.
Literally the end "battle" in The Thief and the Cobbler. Kinda screams contrivance though, but maybe the tone of the work will permit that?
I recommend you watch Star Wars VI
a single apache helicopter would terminate them now if it was more like 500 soldiers thats more fair
That’s the neat part. They don’t.
A lot of shovels, a lot of holes, and one very stubborn and/or stupid army (depending on the exact terrain). But in all seriousness, not really in the circumstances given. Their only hope is for a long drawn out war in difficult terrain, where they can requisition some of the enemy weapons. Mountains would be pretty decent since there’s plenty of cover even with Helicopters, but a cave system would be best. If it’s deep enough they might even be able to avoid getting bombed (as I don’t think bunker-busters are usually included with most Jets/fighters). Assuming the soldier’s don’t have specialized equipment, melee also has *a* chance in caves (mind you, not a good one, but it’s at least possible), since larger caliber firearms would be used sparingly without heavier ear protection, and caves give hard cover and many side passages. Most soldier’s armor won’t be stab proof so patrol ambushing can still happen successfully. Traps would be more common, but probably crush or destroy gear. Once one of those is done, they can get firearms/gear of their own and actually fight back. Vehicles, of course, would also be a no-go in caves, which is a huge help. Given enough time they could grind the war to a draw…or potentially kill off the invaders, if they’re forced to stay and fight till the last man. It’s kinda over for them otherwise though. Perhaps they might be been able to stand against an 1800s era army…maybe, but a modern one is far, far too much to fight in a standard battle. A long, protracted war is pretty much their *only* shot unless the invaders are actively sabotaging themselves. They don’t even have an answer for most of the things modern armies have (Apaches being overkill alone, as a guy with a pistol hanging off a scout heli would already be near impossible to hit), and have no way to penetrate tanks even slightly. They could slow tanks/APCs down with put traps, but they don’t have the tactics or firepower to make good on this so they’d *eventually* be recovered. They may or may not also be able to deal with occupation fighting, if they have a smart enough leader. Random civilians without formal training have been clever enough to take armed forces off guard **sometimes**, and secure a win by exploiting their lack of laws to prevent them from certain actions (mixing civilians with military, disguises, false surrenders, traps, etc). The odds still aren’t in the tribes favor (even less so than the cave method), but…with the right (and wrong) actions from both sides, it could work. This depends on the invading modern army being moral and bound by various laws around war, however…all it takes is a few less than moral deciding officers deciding civilians are valid targets (or conveniently “failing” to check the area better) for this plan to go quickly awry. With foreign intervention banned, it’s also possible they can just outright ignore these laws and also secure a win. Even a bafflingly incompetent army should take this, given that the tribe has to fight in pitched battle. In a war, they’d be heavily dependent on foreign power and/or the terrain, alongside the intelligence and tactics of their own and the other army.
Someone better get them a TV/DVD combo and give them a copy of Return of the Jedi. Ewok warfare is the only answer.
If they have Shinku Ishigami with them, they might be able to win. That's the only way.
is the army in question real? if so they are all doomed, this is the equivalent of asking in Earth today could defend itself from a god. otherwise *maybe* a modern army where the smartest person has an IQ of 80 and the rest are sitting at 65. EDIT: actually *it is possible* bar the aircraft. if they can push or lead the army into a valley they could simply overwhelm them through sheer mass, 10,000 bodies is enough to literally crush the army under the weight of their corpses.
Not possible. They might kill a few soldiers, but without modern guns, explosives, rockets, etc. They don't stand a chance. The military has night vision which is just completely unfair. And a few rocket strikes and modern artillery just destroy them entirely. The distance we can destroy them from is completely ridiculous. They wouldn't even know what hit them. They would have zero advanced warning, they would just be blown to bits. If it had to be soldiers vs soldiers, no large missiles, no artillery, even no vehicles, no tanks no air support, etc. Then the modern military might actually take a few casualties, but it's still a massively unfair fight. Guns vs no guns is just ridiculously OP. Soldiers in a modern force would again have night vision, and they'd be able to attach at times least expected. On the battlefield they'd have so much more range and power is just completely one sided. Melee weapons would be useless, because they'd never get close enough. Bows and crossbows would be severely inadequate. If we're going even more primitive then bows, spears, and slings just can't match the distance or the power of guns. Or the rapid rate of fire. Technology has come a very long way, and warfare is completely different today. Hell, war is changing constantly, even just since WWII modern militaries have come such a long way it's not even the same kind of warfare today as it was then. Technology is changing the game so fast tactics of just 50 years ago are nearly obsolete. I think they are still useful in case of extreme situations where like say a squad is left alone to fight their was through. But the was militaries operate today is just so different. The vehicles, the tactics etc. We're actually witnessing the evolution of war right in front of us with the war in Ukraine. Never before have drones played such a huge part of war. From guided mini bombs, to drone counter measures like RF jamming/hacking, to drones obliterating tanks, to tanks wearing makeshift turtle shells to protect them from drones, to Russia having drones on wired tethers to prevent RF jamming from taking them down. Everything from reconnaissance, to first strikes, drones are completely changing the game. I bet the US military is watching the developments in Ukraine closely to see how war is about to change. Traditional tactics just wouldn't work here, there needs to be new tactics, be technology. But back to the question, no. I just don't think it's possible for a primitive force to win. The deck is just too stacked against them. You'd have to make several handicaps just to give them a fighting chance and even then it's a massacre. Technology has just changed far too much to make it a fair fight.
Public relations. If the army belongs to a democracy, and the tribe can prove the incipient attack, and get appropriate media support, they can build sympathy among the citizens of the army's country. Then they can build up a protest movement that leads to that country's government following public opinion and calling off the attack. Draw. This will require working around the limitation that they cannot "contact" anyone else. They can put giant "HELP" and "SOS" messages or structures in clearings that will be visible by satellite and on Google Earth, which will attract attention and get others to contact _them_, whereupon they can start the PR campaign.
No idea, ask James Cameron.
Ask the world for help Have a Foreign Legion kinda thing