EU space combat is a mix of WWII Pacific carrier combat and WWI battle of Jutland combat. The Bacta Wars has massive missile spam and capitol ships rotating (spinning) to present new shields to targets. Thrawn books have strategies in them, like reading their art and magically winning battles, no real explanation. Although there are some cute tactics in them, like the cloaked ship shooting under a shield to make it look like an uncloaked ship above the shield can shoot through it. Lots of mention of the Acbar slash, which is supposed to be all cool and shit, but is little more than two units maneuvering to encompass the enemy.

What Anguirius Described is not the Ackbar Slash, but the A-Wing Slash developed by Garm Bel Iblis. Which involved distracting defenses with fast A-Wings so they were out of position when X-Wings attacked.

A variant was shown in the NJO which is the reverse. With the slow X-wings mixed up with Coralskippers. Allowing A-Wings to slash through the dogfight scoring easy kills.

I thought the Ackbar slash was driving in amongst them so they shoot each other... Sort of like crossing their T, but more dangerous for them... There's a picture out there somewhere...

There it is

Since I haven't seen the Clone Wars stuff, I'll just comment on the close range ROTS fight. It's worth noting that the close quarters slugging match was forced on both sides as they were trapped under the planetary shields. So it wasn't a conscious choice but rather what circumstances dictated.

Those newer shows are about events ~25yrs prior to the events of Return of the Jedi. How many people who were captains/admirals during the Clone Wars were still around by Return of the Jedi?
No doubt many who were lower ranked during the Clone Wars would have been but would they have had the same experience/lessons learnt as those who were in command?

The comment isn't about the stupidity of close range combat. Rather, its based off Calrissan statement that the Imperials have little experience at fighting at close range combat.

The newer shows show that they did.

But Calrissian doesn't say anything about the Imperials have little close quarters experience. To the best of my recollection, this is the exchange:

Lando: "Yes I said closer! Get as close as you can and engage those Star Destroyers at point-blank range!"
Ackbar: "At that close range we won't last long against those Star Destroyers."
Lando: "We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star, and we might just take a few of them with us!"

No comments on experience there. Lando was picking the lesser of two evils; get in close and get pounded but hope the DSII will limit it's fire while the fleets are merged.

Desperately, he was shouting into his comlink, over the noise of continuous explosions, talking to Ackbar in the Alliance command ship. "I said closer! Move in as close as you can and engage the Star Destroyers at point-blank range- that way the Death Star won't be able to fire at us without knocking out its own ships!"

"But no one's ever gone nose to nose at that range, between supervessels like their Destroyers and our Cruisers!" Ackbar fumed at the unthinkable- but their options were running out.

"Great!" yelled Lando, skimming over the surface of the Destroyer. "Then we're inventing a new kind of combat!"

"We know nothing about the tactics of such a confrontation!" Ackbar protested.

"We know as much as they do!" Lando hollered. "And they'll think we know more!" Bluffing was always dangerous in the last hand; but sometimes, when all your money was in the pot, it was the only way to win- and Lando never played to lose.

"At that close range, we won't last long against those Star Destroyers." Ackbar was already feeling giddy with resignation.

"We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star, and we might just take a few of them with us!" Lando whooped. With a jolt, one of his forward guns was blown away. He put the Falcon into a controlled spin, and careened around the belly of the Imperial leviathan.

With little else to lose, Ackbar decided to try Calrissian's strategy. In the next minutes, dozens of Rebel Cruisers moved in astronomically close to the Imperial Star Destroyers- and the colossal antagonists began blasting away at each other, like tanks at twenty paces, while hundreds of tiny fighters raced across their surfaces, zipping between laser bolts as they chased around the massive hulls.

The Ackbar slash made sense, if starship combat were routinely conducted at long range, something supported by Lando Calrissan comments in ROTJ.