Section II: Waging War

1. Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand mile, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.
2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
3. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
4. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.
6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.
9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.
10. Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.
11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people's substance to be drained away.
12. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.
13. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated;
14. While government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.
15. Hence 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.
16. 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.
17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.
18. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.
19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
20. 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.

MAG is a shooter like no other. While we have spent our years refining our skills for twitch-FPS skills, it is imperative that the leaders drive their soldiers to where they will be most effective. The greatest army is the one that strikes the enemy where he is vulnerable; it is only possible with precise and overwhelming force.

Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand mile, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

All war has a cost.

1. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

1. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

Always mark the progression of time.

1. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

1. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

1. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

The minds and hearts of men will continuously shift as the minutes tick by.

1. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

MAG is a virtual battlefield. Infinite respawns and resources are the order of the day. What is not limitless is the morale of the men. You must fight strongly and swiftly. Your responsibilities as a leader call for an exerted strike. Your words should be "mark your targets" and "be aggressive". Your orders for the platoon is to attack "in overwhelming force". Should an attack falter for any given amount of time, your men will lose heart and will no longer fight for you.

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The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.

Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

The single most important aspect of an effective fighting unit is their ability to spawn close to the objective. The closer a soldier can spawn to the fight, the greater the chance for success. Spawn points must be sustainable. No individual soldier is more important that his spawn point.

The following actions are very common. They yield unsustainable spawns and thus is an indication of a feeble-minded soldier:

In attack:

Sacrificing an APC hoping to break down a gate/roadblock - keep them safe yet close to the fight.

Destroying a AAA before at least two bunkers have fallen - helicopters and paratroopers are vulnerable.

In defence:

Pushing up to the red line leaving the bunker undefended.

Repairing fallen bunkers in a fallen front-line one-by-one - repair them partially so that you can swing back across the line and get all four of them up within 60 seconds.

A successful attack is completed only when a platoon can use the resupplies behind the bunkers without the risk of being shot or mortared.

A successful defence is only possible if the defenders can reliably resupply from the bunkers.

A successful counter-attack from the objectives back to the bunkers can only be achieved if the full platoon is able to push up in unison. It is a must that all bunkers are there waiting for them, and that the objectives are BLUE and SECURE.

Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.

The message is clear. Break the enemy's ability to spawn and you break a platoon. But this only applies if, once again, it is sustainable. Destroying/repairing a lone AAA is pointless and futile.

On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people's substance to be drained away.

When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.

The average soldier is a quitter: he has a weak emotional resilience to the scent of defeat.

With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated;

As their leader, you must understand the mind of a soldier when he is under stress. Whereas a common soldier becomes weak, a warrior is to be a pillar of strength in service of his men.

While government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.

Being overrun by an enemy's forces is simply demoralising. Many of the more experienced shooters will spot a defeat and rage-quit. Remember, fighting cannot be effective without morale.

In MAG, destroying the enemy's spawn will destroy their morale. Victory shall soon follow.

Hence 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.

The feeling of a crushing victory over your enemies....

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.

Your men must be aggressive for the win.

Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.

Remember, supplies and spawns win the day.

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

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.