Military Strategies

[Baiae]

What the F**k you forgot Stonewall Jackson, you shall die!!!

I was trying to just include Generals who commanded major armies

He understood what must be done, and like a pit bull, would not deviate from it.

Isn't that the mark of an exceptional commander?

[Red Harvest]

Isn't that the mark of an exceptional commander?

Not in my book, but it is a subjective judgement. A good commander? Yes. To me an exceptional commander is able to take inferior forces/situations and regularly win with them (Jackson, Lee, Forrest.) Grant had larger forces, better supply, and a much better artillery arm. He made mistakes frequently enough, but he recovered from them. He was reliable, and a fighter--the right man in the right place at the right time. His strategic vision was exceptional, but he was not an exceptional field commander--although he certainly had some of the traits of one.

[Baiae]

...And we're back to the tactical/strategic discussion again.

[drone]

...And we're back to the tactical/strategic discussion again.

Exactly.

I've seen several posts by players saying they have huge fields of crossed swords in front of heavily contested cities. "The enemy just keeps coming and coming, and I keep slaughtering them". That is all well and good, but a really good player is going to get a troop stack together, sneak it into the enemy's backfield with some spies for scouting, and do a little "strategic bombing". Find the weak points and start damaging the enemy's ability to create these suicidal stacks. Take a city, loot it, destroy the buildings, and move on. Blockade ports, sit on trade routes. Attack small stacks before they can assemble into hordes. Destroy or seige cities that can create elite troops. You can do a lot of economic damage with dirty tricks (assuming the AI doesn't cheat with the cash).

That is the beauty of a game like TW. You don't need to be exceptional, just competent, on the combat map, if you know to exploit the strategic map. And vice-versa.

[Didz]

In my book an exceptional commander is the one who achieves his goals without fighting. Any commander who has to resort to military action has in my opinion already failed.

[Khorak]

In my book an exceptional commander is the one who achieves his goals without fighting. Any commander who has to resort to military action has in my opinion already failed.

Tell that to Eastern Europe when the Mongols arrived.
"Hello, welcome to Pola-"
*fwip* *fwip* *fwip*
*drops dead with half a million arrows in him*

[Didz]

Tell that to Eastern Europe when the Mongols arrived.

You mean they're coming back

[zhuge]

In my book an exceptional commander is the one who achieves his goals without fighting. Any commander who has to resort to military action has in my opinion already failed.

Well, in real life, I suppose I can agree. After all, Sun Tzu did say:
"to subjugate the enemy's army without doing battle is the highest of excellence."
But hey, what would R:TW be without battles, so I say, ignore the exceptional, on with the fighting and make more head soup.

[Baiae]

But hey, what would R:TW be without battles, so I say, ignore the exceptional, on with the fighting and make more head soup.

Admirable sentiments