Tell me /his/, were War Elephants a meme?

>>3275637
How do you mean? Were they actually used? Yes, in several countries and during many periods. Were they effective? That I can't really answer honestly, someone else will have to chime in on that. I just want to clarify the nature of the question.

they stopped alexander the great

>>3275637
Against competent opponents like the Romans, yes.

>>3275637

They were a mainstay of Indian armies. In the West they were somewhat memeish, yes they were used and yes they were effective, but the elephants used in the West were much smaller than Indian elephants, and the big problem with them (beyond feeding the fuckers) was that they are too intelligent to easily control, and often rampaged thru their own side when panicked / injured. Also, the Romans hunted them to extinction for their bloodsports.

File: ff6e1ed3ace5a7d6ea0e96e849afd6f7.jpg (83KB, 500x393px) Image search: [Google]

83KB, 500x393px

>>3275637
Southeast Asians used them correctly, grouping an elephant with a squad of infantry to act as the "squad heavy", while still being supported by infantry. In this way, the strengths of one are offsetting the weakness of the other, and the infantry gets a very bad ass member of the team who could easily pancake the strongest human, and the elephant gets an armed entourage to protect it.

The way that classical westerners used them, however, was the wrong way. Europeans and MENA city states were apt to group them into squadrons and attempted to field them as a hyper specialized unit of cavalry. In this manner the problem with elephants is magnified: a squad of elephants gives skirmishers a nice fat target to throw their missiles at, which was often enough to spook the elephants (they don't like a cloud of javelins raining down on their heads any more than you would). The line infantry could also open up travelling lanes that would funnel the elephants, allowing the infantry to swarm them on all sides.

Elephants are also notoriously fearful of pigs. Romans were known to scare away squadrons of battle elephants by herding a bunch of pigs together, coating them in pitch, pointing them at the charging elephants, and lighting them on fire. That's two things that terrify elephants, coming right at them.

The biggest problem with fielding elephants is that they are extremely intelligent and emotional animals. Strange, odd things spook them, but the melee flat out terrifies them. Imagine being locked in a claustrophobic room with a bunch of vicious dogs ripping each other to pieces, and you have a vague idea of what's going on in the elephant's head. Sure, you could trample one of the dogs by itself, but all of them together would rip you to pieces. Elephants were just as likely to run screaming for their bloody lives trampling through your own ranks as they were to stand and fight and trample your enemies, so they're not much of a force multiplier.

>>3275736
>>3275713
Very nice detailed. Thanks.