I've been meaning to post this for awhile, it's something I've always found incredibly interesting and it makes me appreciate Runewars all the more for how much I feel these principles apply to this game more so than many other war games. That, to me, makes for the mark of a truly excellent war game that isn't just a fire and forget game of chance. If you want to play it that way, you certainly can, but I feel there truly is some incredible depth to this game for those who want it.

As background, I was a Cavalry Officer (tanks, we don't really have horses anymore unfortunately) in the US Army for 6 years, and as officers are prone to do, we sat around and talked tactics...A LOT. Since I was in the US Army, I'm most well versed in their accepted principles of war, however for the most part they are very similar internationally. Most of it seems like common sense, but I've learned over the years that the more deliberate thought and consideration you put into these principles, the more you ensure they actually are represented in your actions, and not just "oh yeah well I'll think about that when the time comes". Anyway, without further preamble:

- Objective : Every mission must have a clearly identified, attainable objective that can be collectively understood. Besides this game accomplishing this literally and not just being a free for all fight by using objective cards, I believe there's a greater lesson to be applied. Understanding your army, what its win condition is, what its loss condition is, and what specific actions you need to take to achieve that end state greatly improves your potential for victory. There's a time and place for allowing the situation to develop and adjusting your strategy accordingly, but without a clearly defined objective that you are developing toward its incredibly difficult to maintain cohesion within your army. This game truly does reward players who are flexible, but maintain focus on achieving a definitive win condition they have established for themselves.

- Offensive : Simply put, action always beats reaction. There's lots of different concepts out there like "OODA Loop" and disrupting the decision making process, but it mostly boils down to seizing the initiative (not the round initiative, in this game) and maintaining it throughout the battle. The person who dominates the battlefield, forces the opponent to abandon his/her original strategy in order to adapt and react to theirs, and then exploits and capitalizes on openings and weaknesses that appear due to the enemy's continuously reactive state, is more often than not winning the battle. Delaying key decisions until the enemy commits to a certain course of action is situationally tactically sound, But the real danger is waiting too long and never retaking the initiative from the enemy. I think we see it universally that armies who take the offensive and maintain it throughout the fight have a much higher probability for success in this game than not.

- Mass : Attacking the enemy with overwhelming combat power at a decisive point and time in the battle. Achieving local superiority to overwhelm the enemy in a particular area to rapidly defeat them and then allow for a sweeping numerical superiority across the battlefield. Think the "oblique" deployment; done correctly the army with their forces massed can have an incredible advantage over the enemy if they deploy more spread out attempting an envelopment. The key is understanding when and where that decisive point is to capitalize the battlefield. Maybe it's in a massive frontal assault by turn 2 to obliterate a vulnerable or unprepared unit, or maybe it's you pick an early game favorable 1v1 match up, knowing that by turn 4-5 you'll have that unit freed to then flank and overwhelm the enemy's key unit. The converse is also very important to consider: since these games have armies of equal strength, your mass of forces or decisive favorable match up inevitably leaves the opportunity for the enemy to mass on your vulnerable position. The delaying action of your unit(s) can be the crucial part of this; if they cannot hold or delay the enemy sufficiently, the enemy can quite rapidly reverse the advantage in their favor.

- Economy of Force : Ensuring that each unit is being optimally used to the greatest extent possible on the battlefield. This includes assigning the minimal adequate force for a given task. For example, you need the correct unit(s) in sufficient strength to hold your flank, however not so great that your main effort is at risk of failing (unless of course your plan was to press the flank and envelop all along!) This isn't to say that your army shouldn't be adaptable and have units ready to assume nontraditional roles as necessary or as opportunity arises, but typically that should not be your initial battle plan. Just always ensure that every unit as a defined purpose (deception and delay/retrograde movement are still purposes) and aren't just moving for the sake of moving.

- Maneuver : Movement in relation to your enemy in order to gain a positional advantage. This game allows for some pretty great options for maneuvering your forces, both individually and as a larger part of your army. Understand the terrain, how you want to place it, and then how that translates to the battle ahead and how your army wants to utilize it in order to accomplish the objective. It's movement in relation to the enemy to give you an advantage, so taking terrain that doesn't serve a larger purpose does nothing for you in this game. It may seem counter intuitive, but often outmaneuvering the enemy and overwhelming them on multiple fronts can in fact protect your force better than consolidating your force and allowing the enemy to focus his/her attack.

- Surprise : Attack the enemy where and when they are unprepared. The dials in this game allow for some pretty incredible unforeseen actions, utilize those when prudent. Don't do something unexpected just for the sake of it, it has to serve a greater purpose. Understanding your opponent's capabilities and dials will help reduce their surprise actions against you. The appropriate application of surprise can lead to units considerably outperforming their baseline value, so it can be extremely productive when done correctly.

- Simplicity : I often view this as the counterweight to surprise. Your plan isn't brilliant if it's un-executable. You can create this elaborate trap for your enemy where you will obliterate their army when it reaches this one very specific point. You can build your army around a gimmick where one unit assigns the banes, then the other unit gets the perfect charge, and then your third unit executes the perfect flank, etc. For every moving part and added piece you have to your plan, additionally is added another potential point of failure. You mitigate this by keeping the plan simple overall. You can still perform brilliant maneuvers and completely unexpected attacks, but the more complex you make them the more opportunities you offer your enemy to counter them.

- Unity of Command : These last two are less directly applicable, but still have some relation. For unity of command, the best way to consider it is similar to objective. Your army should be working in concert to that defined win condition and objective. Each unit may serve a different role but each of those roles contributes to the overall mission success.

- Security : Always remember your enemy has a vote. Try to identify their courses of action, identify your own weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and do whatever you can to mitigate those weaknesses. Sometimes you have to gamble and leave a weak unit vulnerable in order for the rest of the force to capitalize on the objective, but make sure you are considering those options and outcomes. The more opportunities you seize and the less you give, the more consistently successful you'll be.

Sorry if you guys don't find this stuff interesting, I love it and it's being able to utilize these kinds of concepts that make me really enjoy a game like Runewars all the more. Really interested in anyone else's take on this, and applying principles like these in their games and their wargaming communities. Anyway, just my thoughts, let me know what you think.

Cheers

8 hours ago, jcshep19 said:

- Surprise : Attack the enemy where and when they are unprepared. The dials in this game allow for some pretty incredible unforeseen actions, utilize those when prudent. Don't do something unexpected just for the sake of it, it has to serve a greater purpose. Understanding your opponent's capabilities and dials will help reduce their surprise actions against you. The appropriate application of surprise can lead to units considerably outperforming their baseline value, so it can be extremely productive when done correctly.

This is one that I really gravitate toward. I using delaying shifts and the various initiative values on actions to adjust the timing of engagement. It's a very dynamic part of the game. Surprising an opponent with an unforeseen shift-stall can make all the difference in who wins the first engagement.

I have a tendency to engage quickly, even without charging, so that I can take archers out of action for at least one round. It has definitely backfired on me, but I'd rather be engaged with a panic, than take another volley of arrows.

Yep just like Air Force Doctrine! I would add a hidden principle though and that is flexibility. In the Air Force we have a saying that is “Flexibility Is the key to air power”.

With flexibility you can adapt to an ever changing situation which allows you to overcome any threat. With flexibility you can apply maneuver and mass in tangen which also correlates to the use of economy of force based on your threats. Also having flexibility can both provide security and deliver surprise to your opponent.

One of the reason I argue that the US is the most dominant military in the world historically speaking is our very American mentality promotes independent thought to the standard grunt on the ground to the top level officer. We more than any other nation put a lot of time and money into training the enlisted force because we see value in each individual.

Case in point WW2 nazi’s would shoot our officers but our unit’s still carried on their mission while when we sniped their officers their units would shut down as the enlisted force of our opponents were more trained to do what they were ordered to do, while our common soldier was raised and trained to think for themselves. Our command structure has always been a centralized command, but decentralized execution. This gives our forces the ability to adapt to an ever changing chaotic situation which is the ultimate flexibility.

The Germans sort of gave us a backhanded complement because of this:

”war is chaos and Americans practice chaos on a daily basis”