Sitting down over pints of beer with MadDog after an airsoft CQB skirmish game, he explained to me why he wants to go into more CQB and Urban Assault skirmishes rather than woodland. "Mate, the 21st Century warfare is about urban combat, wars are fought in cities as the world population is getting more and more urbanised," before gulping down his glass and ordering another one. "And I want to learn and be more skilled in this as this is the way to play airsoft --- just like how soldiers are fighting terrorists and insurgents in the Middle East."

He really drove a point on this, and I do agree. As cities/urban areas are thriving in people, technology, politics, and economic activity, they become backbones of nations' economies and even the world economy. The 7-7 attack on London affected financial activity, being the world's financial center, the 911 World Trade Center bombing is a symbolic attack, but also weighs significance as New York is another world economic center. Terrorists and organised military organisations value the economic impact of cities, and as such planning heavily goes into high value economic, political,  and communications targets. Target London or New York or Tokyo, hit these cities hard, and the repercussions are felt hard world wide.

Furthermore, as more world's populations are getting more concentrated in urban centres, they become centers for winning and terrorising the hearts and minds of people. Just an effective terror attack on even a small busy section of an urban centre can paralyse city services and bring the whole city and its surrounding areas to a stand still. Even tackling crime requires an intense doctrine in clearing rooms that may have hostages that happen in kidnap and robbery cases.

Those are the political and economic implications of urban warfare that military and law-enforcement planners need to consider nowadays. But from a pure military standpoint, it's something that has to be avoided, but no one can get away with as urban warfare is now a big part of military planning. And as the dangers in urban warfare are just too many, the risks to soldiers and civilians are just too great to imagine.

Even the best laid plans, the best technology, and even the best trained people in the world falter in urban areas (remember Black Hawk Down?). As one of the documents I have read online says in its introduction:

"One of the deadliest and most decisive forms of combat is urban warfare. Urban warfare can nullify the overwhelming advantage that high-tech militaries have (in terms of firepower) and shift the advantage over to small, well armed infantry squads. Casualties for forces involved in urban combat are often extreme, usually bordering 40-50%, this is mostly due to the nature of close-in urban combat and the effects of modern mega-damage weapons."  From Urban Combat Tactics

Now, do I get your attention? If you do agree with me, then it's time to do some reading before planning your next airsoft skirmish. Here are some suggested articles that I found online for you to go over. You can just google your way if you are not satisfied with this and want more reading stuff.

• Urban Warfare: A Soldier’s View, Major General Robert H. Scales, U.S. Army, Retired
• Realistic MOUT Training
  
• Guerilla Warfare Tactics in Urban Environments
  
• Urban Combat Operations Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures
  
• City Fights: Selected Histories of Urban Combat from World War II to Vietnam
  
• Russian Urban Tactics: Lessons from the Battle for Grozny
  
• Infantry Tactics In Built-Up Areas
  
• Wikipedia Entry on Urban Warfare