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« on: January 16, 2016, 11:11:21 am »
I thought this episode was just as good as the previous two; keep it up!
I have something of a rebuttal to your stance on how much strategy factors into a wargame. Everyone employs strategy in games; war games in particular. It's important to understand you can have a Tactical Stagegy and an Operational Strategy, as well as an over Grand Strategy... It's generally a matter of scale and perspective.
Strategy
Strategy is simply a plan. First and foremost, you need one goal. Defining your goal is the most important part of the strategy, as it shapes everything else, so it's really important to define the best goal. The goal is simply a desired end state you wish to achieve; an achievement. Once you have a goal, a focus, you can develop your plan with objectives.
Objectives tell you how to achieve your goal. They are very specific, measurable, attainable, relevant (to the goal), and timely: SMART. Goals are not Objectives, but people often conflate the two... Probably because an Objective for an overall strategy generally becomes a goal for the next echelon down. Also, Goals generally are not specific or timely; they may not even seem attainable.
For example, a video game may have two achievements:
- Beat level one on Hard difficulty without dying
- Kill 100 enemies with a certain weapon
The first achievement is a goal, as it does not inform you in anyway on what to do or how to do it. Each player will probably develop their own way to achieve this goal.
The second achievement is an objective. It is specific (use a certain weapon), it is measurable (kill 100 enemies), it is attainable (every player should think they can do it). However, it isn't exactly timely, as there is no time limit; it is merely up to the player to determine when they wish to do it. Also it isn't specifically relevant, because it is not supporting a given goal; again, it is up to the player to create this goal. If the player has the goal to to actively complete the achievements in the game, then it becomes a relevant Objective. If the player doesn't care about this achievement, then it does not align with their goal, and they will not pursue it.
Most players only have the goal to kill their opponent; this is pretty much the worst goal you could have, as it is a non-strategy... It does not help you with developing your game plan.
This is a better strategy, even when the scenario only calls for you to kill your opponent:
Goal: Maximize game points while minimizing losses to obtain a winning condition
Objectives
1. Destroy enemy units to gain points
2. Prevent opponent from gaining points by protecting units
3. Control game tempo by baiting/forcing enemy to make certain moves
Our objectives are in priority order is well. First priority is to kill units, because that is how you get points, which is what you need to win. The secondary objective is to buy your opponent opportunities to gain points; this is how you keep from losing. It also gives you future opportunities to do damage and score points later.
Controlling the game tempo can be difficult, and it doesn't directly equate to achieving the end goal, but it makes it easier to accomplish.
Finally, think about how these Objectives would re-align if the goal changes from winning to not loosing. Which is the most important Objective now?
Hopefully you found my first post here useful.
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