Redaction: In contrast to his father, Abinadom apparently wrote some time after receiving the plates. The brevity of his text and the brusqueness of the conclusion suggest that he is writing near the end of his life, possibly at a single sitting, immediately before turning the plates over to his son.
History: Abinadom notes that he has seen “much war and contention” between Nephites and Lamanites. Significantly, “much war” and “much contention” suggest more than two or three incidents. In addition, Abinadom feels it important to describe himself as a warrior who has killed Lamanites “in the defense of my brethren.” While “in the defense” might be formulaic, it seems more probable that he means it literally and that the wars are defensive rather than offensive.
Assuming the correctness of the social model I have described, it seems that the Lamanites made a significant incursion into the land of Nephi in 276 B.C., although the city survived and could be rebuilt as defensible. However, its relations with the surrounding towns diminished, making it more vulnerable to attack.
The wars Abinadom describes do not sound like large-scale military actions. Furthermore, if the Lamanites with their numerical superiority had been so motivated, they could have organized a large army and overwhelmed the Nephites. Instead, the Nephites’ defensive strategies succeeded, suggesting small-scale military actions, probably targeting specific surrounding towns. As already noted, any enemy of the Nephites was a Lamanite (Jacob 1:14), and there is no evidence, at this point, of a “Lamanite” nation. More likely are smaller towns or cities who act against the Nephites. A single town or city might not keep up a multiple-year action in which it is repeatedly repelled, but a number of towns might try for the same prize sequentially, retreating to lick their wounds while the next one takes its chances. The Nephites, however, would have seen near-continuous warfare. That the Nephites were able to fend off the multiple attacks suggests a fairly large population, even after the destruction of the “more wicked part” of the people.