Sand tables (whether purpose-built, or hurriedly scrawled in the dirt) have long been used within the military to provide a graphic representation of enemy positions and demonstrate an intended attack plans to troops—even, it seems, in Syria.

The still picture above (taken from the video below) shows members of the rebel Kita’ib Ahrar al-Sham (“Free Men of Syria Battalions”) planning a successful attack upon a Syrian government S-75 (SA-2) surface-to-air missile battery near Aleppo using a sand table, blocks, toy vehicles, and identifying labels to depict the SAM garrison.

h/t @LizSly and  @CrispinBurke