There is a saying in military circles that "amateurs study tactics while professionals study logistics." Simply put, you can have an army of the bestest super-ninja-warriors EVEAH dude, but if you can't get them to the fight and keep them in bullets and bacon while they're fighting, your army is useless.

This was brought to mind by a couple of things. First, I read that the French are relying on US air transport to support their troops in Mali. Google tells me that it's just over 2,000 air miles from Paris to Timbuktu, but apparently the French Air Force doesn't have sufficient planes to get and support its force over that distance.

The second thing that brought this to mind is the ongoing writing work. The aliens in Pamela's Ghosts are on the wrong end of a light-years-long supply chain, as are the humans. I've just written the scenes where the aliens have launched their big "shock and awe" -style knockout attack on the humans. Perhaps it's a bit of a spoiler, but the knockout attack didn't knock out the humans. Now, both sides will be settling into a longer-term struggle, and logistics are about to become even more of an issue.