Sun Tzu's Terrain

[Einar Gen.]

I know Sun Tzu's Art of War has been brought up before, but this one's a little more specific. So, sit tight, ya know?

So, if you've read Sun Tzu's Art of War, you already know that it's divided into sections. If not, you know now. One section, Terrain, really stood out to me. Most of it, particularly the beginning, is easily applicable to 'Scape. That said, here's how it starts off.

1. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit:
(1) Accessible ground;
(2) entangling ground;
(3) temporizing ground;
(4) narrow passes;
(5) precpitous heights;
(6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.

2. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is accessible ground.

3. With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies. Then you will be able to fight with advantage.

4. Ground which can be abondoned but is hard to re-occupy is entangling.

5. From a postition of this sort, if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if your enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

6. When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporizing ground.

7. In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.

8. With regard to narrow passes, if you can occupy them first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.

9. Should the army forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly garrisoned.

10. With regard to precipitous heights, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should occupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.

11. If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away.

12. If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle, and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

13. These six are the principles connected with Earth. The general who has attained a responsible post must be careful to study them.

...Then it goes into a crap load of other ones. Most of it's common strategical sense, but it's actually very useful when thought about on a deeper level. I might post a little more later, if anyone wanted to see anything, but for now, I just wanted to know what everyone else thought about this.

[Kroc]

Nice idea, Einar Gen., two comments.

First of all, try to figure out how to turn off that stupid "automatic numbering" in MS Word. I thought the numbers in the main body coincided with the types of terrrains, but they don't. Confusing.

Second, why don't you give examples from Heroscape? Which type of ground is entangling, which type of ground is a "narrow pass." Examples from BOV maps would be great, and if you can't find any that would be very interesting.