Waging War - The Art of War by Sun Tzu - Part Three
This is third and final part of an article which examines the texts of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, and its relevance on the video gamer.
These three parts are an examination of the single chapter "Waging War" "A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy.
One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.
" This very much builds on the last point that the cost of stealing units, buildings and resources from the enemy is nowhere near as costly as creating them your self.
I have seen in some games where you can capture not only the resource building but the collectors as well.
If you wait until they are returning with a full load, then you can gain a more valuable bonus.
"Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
" Whilst you can not reward a computer unit, most war games will have an element of morale attached to a unit, the higher the morale the better the unit will fight and vice versa.
You normally gain morale by successfully attacking units or by having veteran units joined together.
Morale goes down quickly as a unit looses strength.
So watch it closely and when it gets low withdraw the unit and rebuild it.
It is more costly to replace a unit than to bring it back up to strength.
"Use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
" When you do capture buildings or units, get them into your forces as quickly as possible.
Most computer units are balanced so that no one unit can dominate the battlefield but can instead be countered by another.
If you have some of the same units as the enemy you will be at an advantage.
"Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.
" Ultimately you are the leader and the fate of your computer nation rests in your hands.
If you win the battle then you will feel the emotions that go with bettering your opponent, and similarly defeat will leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
These three parts are an examination of the single chapter "Waging War" "A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy.
One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.
" This very much builds on the last point that the cost of stealing units, buildings and resources from the enemy is nowhere near as costly as creating them your self.
I have seen in some games where you can capture not only the resource building but the collectors as well.
If you wait until they are returning with a full load, then you can gain a more valuable bonus.
"Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
" Whilst you can not reward a computer unit, most war games will have an element of morale attached to a unit, the higher the morale the better the unit will fight and vice versa.
You normally gain morale by successfully attacking units or by having veteran units joined together.
Morale goes down quickly as a unit looses strength.
So watch it closely and when it gets low withdraw the unit and rebuild it.
It is more costly to replace a unit than to bring it back up to strength.
"Use the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
" When you do capture buildings or units, get them into your forces as quickly as possible.
Most computer units are balanced so that no one unit can dominate the battlefield but can instead be countered by another.
If you have some of the same units as the enemy you will be at an advantage.
"Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people's fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.
" Ultimately you are the leader and the fate of your computer nation rests in your hands.
If you win the battle then you will feel the emotions that go with bettering your opponent, and similarly defeat will leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
