Sun Tzu Revisited

I have been going through Sun Tzu once again, and have found his chapter on the offensive strategy to be both interesting and related to wargaming.

Normally a wargame is conducted with both players having equal forces. Our battles are fought on a points system and each player has an equal number of points to compose his force. Thus both armies begin with equal combat power.

As a result it can be difficult to win a game using tactics such as encirclement or flanking, because both players have armies of equal size and strength.
Sun Tzu states that you should outnumber your enemy by 10 to 1 in order to be able to encircle him, and by 5 to 1 in order to be able to defeat him. If you only outnumber him by 2 to 1 then you must divide him before you engage him. Sun Tzu obviously never played Warhammer.

He also said that the best generals get no credit. This is because they defeat the enemy without fighting. Hence, if there is no battle then there is no glory. And no glory means no PR for the general. In fact, he specifically said that you should always take your enemies army intact without fighting – which is the epitome of skill.

However when we wargame we are assuming that the situation has reached a critical stage and battle is inevitable. Yet, historically, generals loathe engaging on 1 to 1 terms because that risks their entire army being defeated.
By recreating historical battles, however, we can experience the skewed odds that Sun Tzu mentions.

Unfortunately though, it can sometimes be difficult to find an opponent willing to take on the outnumbered side, especially when they are the historical losers. In fact, such scenarios can be rather unpopular simply because many wargamers dislike taking the side of the army that traditionally lost. Hence, there is no shortage of budding Roman generals, but those representing the Gallic tribes are rather thin on the ground.

Still, playing a wargame where you are outnumbered 5 to 1 would be a real challenge and a real test of your generalship. Yet Sun Tzu has quoted this ratio, no doubt, because such odds were considered to be insurmountable and thus an army such outnumbered had no chance of winning, which meant the general did not risk his army when engaging such inferior forces.

But trying out a scenario where you are outnumbered 2 or even 3 to 1 could provide a lot of fun and really stretch your tactical muscles. Normally, such outnumbered forces would be on the defensive and would often have occupied terrain that facilitates this – many defensive battles are great examples of this.

Next time you wargame, give it a try and see how it feels to be desperately short of troops. After the game, switch sides with your opponent and game the scenario again.

Doing so will give you a unique appreciation for the use of your forces and their combat abilities, as well as how terrain can dramatically affect the outcome of a battle.