Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
Sentry removal has happened in the real world, but like many other swashbuckling tricks that WWII commandos were fond of, it is much, much rarer now.
Part of it is that we no longer have hundreds of thousands of soldiers in lines of battle facing each other, with nightly raids on the enemy lines. Running the numbers, it is very probable that both WWI and WWII each had an order of magnitude (or more) more commando raids on static posts patrolled by regular soldiers than the half-century since they ended.
Another part is that with new technology, it is become increasingly unlikely that even a perfectly successful use of Stealth + combat skills to disable a sentry will actually allow a team to infiltrate what he is guarding. It is much easier now to hide static sentries with NVGs where they see other guards, use video cameras to the same end, have sentries periodically check-in with an all-clear sign and so on.
In fact, against any kind of competent opposition, it is very dangerous to assume that stealthy infiltration will even be possible.
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There do remain some incompetent oppositions: insurgent and terrorist forces, pirates etc. with grab-bag equipment, improvised doctrine and organisation, and theatrical training. No, they are not as numerous as the armies of the Axis, and neither are the specialists trained to deal with them. The skills of silent sentry removal are doubtless rare now as you say, but I imagine that they have their place in special hostage rescue.