| Re: Going to war |
Fri, 05 June 2009 12:32  |
|
 Thorby |
 | Civilian |
Messages: 1
Registered: June 2009
Location: Eastern North America | |
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| Mark Hewitt wrote on Tue, 02 June 2009 21:02 |
What should you have when you go to war? Or preparing to withstand it?
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Mark,
Maybe you've already looked at the "big picture" and are just looking now at different responses about the details. But I'd like to stress my belief that the big picture determines the details.
If you are in a war because you're being attacked/invaded, you must respond, obviously. But what are your objectives? Resistance/counter-attack so that you can negotiate a peace treaty based on the status quo ante? Or do you need to wipe the offender out of the whole space/time continuum? Or maybe something in between?
The main thing about any war is to know your strategy.
What exactly, in detail, do you need to accomplish?
When deciding whether or not to initiate a war, it's probably as important to think about what you do not have, as what you do have.
#1 Do you have a choice?
Is it absolutely essential that you attack a particular player at this time? Why? What factors have taken away your freedom of choice?
#2 Do you have active allies in this plan --or at least passive ones? A "passive" ally is one that at a minimum will not attack you while you're busy, and even better, will trade you tech/minerals/intel to help in your war.
If you do have a choice, then you also have the time and ability to fine-tune your intelligence gathering operations and to craft battle plans to meet your strategic objectives.
If you don't have any allies in this war. . . why not? If your neighbors think you're a bigger problem then your prospective enemy, maybe you need to make love, not war. At least for a few more years.
Race design plays a big factor in the details. For example: If your race's success is predicated on taking advantage of a high growth rate, then the details of your current planets and the availability of new worlds to colonize will strongly influence Question #1.
Usually, all the details in your list are highly dependent on the big picture:
What is my strategic objective?
What does my enemy currently have with which he can oppose me? [Hint: You need accurate INTEL, not guesswork!]
What will happen if I can't achieve my strategic objective by the date [fill in the blank].
After all, if you start a war in the "pre-cruiser" era and can't end it, maybe you will never have the research resources to make it to the BB or Nubian era. . . while you're slugging it out with clubs & arrows against tribesman #2, the other players will be peacefully researching & advancing.
all the best,
Thorby
Just another Citizen of the Galaxy. . .Report message to a moderator
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