As the Artificial Intelligences grew more and more sophisticated, there were more and more areas where they could perform as well as humans - or better. The doctrine of Hardwar was born from the fact that human crews became the most problematic part of any war machine: they were vulnerable, had various special needs, and suffered from psychological impact the war had on them. When the AI entities became smart enough to act independently in combat situations, ordinary humans were quickly withdrawn from the frontlines and reduced to command and support roles (if any). Such was the beginning of the Hardwar Era, where robotic combatants battled among themselves, while the organics mostly watched from the sidelines.