You'd think that. One of the biggest takeaways from WWI (and undeniable takeaways of WWII) is that complex weapons work better. Chemical attacks could kill thousands of men without risking a single life on the behalf of the attackers. Tanks and armored vehicles were protected from any of the simple implements that infantry could carry, and forced a complete rethinking of battlefield strategy. The concept of air superiority began to define who advanced on the ground, and the modernization of naval forces revolutionized the tactics used in standoff warfare.

It's comforting to repeat humanist aphorisms like "war never changes" but the reality of the matter is that 100,000 people had never died so quickly in any age before the atom bomb.

This is a silly statement given that guns beat arrows and arrows beat rocks. I believe you meant something more specific. What we are seeing in Ukraine is a war of attrition.

Has it? Small drones be they for surveillance, dropping munitions or for suicide runs seem like they've been quite effective in Ukraine.