RE: Looking back from a Designer's view:
"The differentiator in the game quite honestly would have to be morale and leadership. And I don't think you have to guess where the edge was in that regard."
Indeed. The differential will have to be carefully developed to replicate historical performance. But given the remarkably one-sided British performance, I expect the differences in morale and leadership must be profound.
"Although the only speakers I heard at the time were royal navy, there was not much talk about artillery or support weapons. Most discussions I heard at the time were of course about the exocet and air power even from them."
Re: artillery and support weapons. As a USMA cadet in the early 80's, I was among those cadets (considering becoming Infantry officers) who followed the Falklands Campaign very closely, with the Dept. of Military Science maintaining a campaign map and frequent situation updates.*
That said, after the campaign was over, Dept. of Military Affairs secured a presentation by MAJ Kris Keeble (XO, 2 Para) and MAJ John Crosland (CDR, B Coy, 2 Para). The focus was on military professionalism, leadership, and the infantry fight as experienced by 2 Para at Goose Green and Wireless Ridge (first and last battalion-level battles). I cannot over-emphasize how useful such a talk was for those of us headed to combat arms.
And all that said, one of the significant points MAJ's Keeble and Crosland made was the crucial role the limited amount of fire support played in preparing and isolating the battlefield, and then suppressing the Argentine positions as the Para's went in. 2 Para had a half-battery of 105's in support at Goose Green, its own 81mm platoon (with limited ammo carried forward by its own men), and briefly - until its 4.5-in naval gun jammed, naval gunfire support.
IIRC, at Wireless Ridge, 2 Para took casualties from its own artillery support as the attack went in. Ultimately, it was still a section-on-section, infantry battle.
*Note: Support for the UK was not universal among the Cadet Corps. We had a number of foreign cadets, many from Latin America. So the Academy's position was purely from a current military affairs perspective, with no sides taken.
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