Destruction of Weapons.

[kato13]

In another thread Eddie brought up the concept of "meat" (human) causalities being larger than "metal" (weapon) causalities. I have always considered that this would lead to (at least at in appearances) an increase of firepower at every level.

Those who might have been carrying pistols or SMGs would upgrade to Assault rifles from their fallen comrades or the enemy. Civilians would gather up (or trade for) weapons they would never have been able to have pre war. Ammunition would be a different matter, but in a t2k world I might want a M4 with 4 rounds over a pistol with 30.

IMO there would be three factors reducing weapons availability.

1) Combat Damage
Even though "metal" is tougher than "meat" there will still be many situations where armaments are destroyed by combat. This is due to the fact that pressures that would kill a man a dozen times over are common in combat.

2) Lack of maintenance
The west really takes a hit here when compared to Soviet armaments, but with a minimum effort I expect that most weapons would maintain some degree of reliability.

3) Purposeful destruction of weapons.
This was the one variable I cannot really wrap my head around what the combatants would do.

My first thought is that during the early stages of the war, destruction of a majority of captured small arms would be the norm. As supply lines get a little more shaky it would be reduced, and by the end everything would be hoarded unless it could not be carried.

Countering this is the Soviet theory of never throwing anything away and the West's need to reequip elements of the East German army. Both of these might lead to hoarding earlier than I expected.

I am wondering what people would think would happen at a macro level in regards to captured weapons.