Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Section I: Laying Plans

  1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
  2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
  3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
  4. These are:
    1. The Moral Law;
    2. Heaven;
    3. Earth;
    4. The Commander;
    5. Method and discipline.
  5. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
  6. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
  7. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
  8. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.
  9. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.
  10. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
  11. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--
    1. Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
    2. Which of the two generals has most ability?
    3. With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
    4. On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
    5. Which army is stronger?
    6. On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
    7. In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
  12. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.
  13. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!
  14. While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
  15. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.
  16. All warfare is based on deception.
  17. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
  18. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
  19. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
  20. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
  21. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.
  22. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.
  23. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
  24. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

This will be the why section. Why we fight.

Before a shot is fired, we have to ask ourselves, why do we play MAG? It is a team-based shooter. It depends on discipline, teamwork and communication. It has a leadership system. Let's say you are that leader. You are given the abilities to give out orders. In about 30 minutes, you have the most influence over your men. But why should the men follow your orders? You're just a stranger with a mic.

Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

We play MAG to have fun. But why MAG? I believe we want something deeper than simply point-and-shoot. We want something epic. Huge. To get this we are willing to put up with inferior graphics, frustrating lag, weird knife mechanics and some broken balance issues. We want the feeling that we are part of something bigger than ourselves; 1up summarises it perfectly: "This is one of those rare shooters built around a dream -- some would say a pipe dream -- that players will voluntarily adhere to the sort of command structure you need in a military operation". Eight months down the road the MW f-tards are gone, kicked or verbally abused back into their 8v8 shell. We are left to build our own empire.

The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
These are:
The Moral Law;
Heaven;
Earth;
The Commander;
Method and discipline.

Understanding these factors is the key to victory.

The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

The Moral Laws means how inspiring an OIC is on his broadcast. How it is that the soldiers and their squad leaders will fight for the common cause. They will not be cowards and snipe, but rather will charge in, taking down bunkers and capturing objectives.

Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

In literal terms this denotes the relationship between the weather and the terrain. In esoteric terms, it is a balance of yin-yang. Balance is the key to smoothness. Smoothness is efficiency. Efficiency means victory.

The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.

This in fact is not a call for you to think of yourself as a Great Commander. It is a call for humility. The virtues are listed as a call for potential leaders to look inside themselves and ask, "where do I lack these qualities?"

By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

In otherwords, the ability for squads to fight and traverse the map as a group.

These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:--
Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
Which of the two generals has most ability?
With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
Which army is stronger?
On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

The OIC has control over:
Moral law, meaning how empassioned an OIC is for victory, and how well he displays this to his men.
Ability; the timing and efficacy of his command abilities.
Heaven and Earth, as in how well he uses his resources in terrain and tactics.

The OIC does not have control over:
Discipline - how many retards and rambos make up your army - the less the better
Strength - individual skill of your men - the greater the better.
Officers - SLs and PLs

Above, an OIC needs to define REWARD and PUNISHMENT.

Or, how well you keep up morale. Good rewards almost always means making the right comments with your company broadcast. Good punishment means kicking ineffective SLs and PLs, and declaring standing orders that snipers will be shot in the back. Bad punishment includes yelling at noobs and calling them retards for being noobs. This does not apply to cussing experienced players who do idiot things :)

The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!
While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.

Keep to the basics of attacking strategy and defending strategy. Learn from good SLs, PLs and OICs. Discard bad leaders. However, sometimes even a 10man bunker flank continuously fails. BE FLEXIBLE.

All warfare is based on deception.

I'm sorry. Did you miss that?

ALL WARFARE IS BASED ON DECEPTION.

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.
If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.
Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

The direct way is never the best way. Go indirectly to the direct way...

These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

...but don't make it too obvious what you're trying.

Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose

Before you apply for leadership formulate a plan. Learn from the successes and mistakes of other leaders. Form plan A for unique situations, but also plans B, C and Y. It is then a matter of execution given the correct tactical situation.

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