Won the battles... but lost the war. |
Thu, 01 April 2004 19:32 |
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"A Pyrrhic victory."
Something from history to think about because it can apply to Stars game.
Pyrrhus was a famous leader. In one situation, he was fighting against the expanding power of the Romans. He won costly victories, but his side grew weaker and the Romans kept coming. A famous quote after one big battle:
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When someone congratulated Pyrrhus on this victory [279 B.C.], he said: "One more victory like this will be the end of me."
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It is possible to win the battles but lose the war. You can grow weak, while your opponent keeps growing.
Interesting to read the whole history of Pyrrhus, his many victories and how he didn't really get anywheres in the end. (You can search the internet)
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Re: Won the battles... but lost the war. |
Thu, 01 April 2004 21:13 |
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I think this is a very common theme.
Many people have spoken about the art of diplomacy as being a tool to avoid war until the late BB or early Nub era in order as to avoid slowing economy growth or to tie up limited mineral resources in obselete (or destroyed) ships.
Of course the actual approach is more complex than this. When considering starting/avoiding conflict you must evaluate the potential future gain against the immediate cost and cost in slowed ramp up times.
Example:
HG and -f races commonly make early war as effect of the slowdown for these races is comparitively low so are usually offset by the long term gains they make through increased territoy (assuming they win...)
HP races often suffer greatly from early war, even if they win, as it takes them far longer to offset the impact on their ramp times.
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