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The Art of Confrontation - MirageK | ||||||||||||||||
The Art of PsychologyThis is as much about sportsmanship than it is about pushing your opponent's buttons. The best analogy is a game like Texas Hold'em. There is a fine line between gloating and taking advantage of the flow in the game. One is percieved negatively and the other neutrally. You can't be positive about getting crushed. I'll leave it up to you and your personality to decide how best to act. Just remember a few things. In actual confrontations, there is no real balance to speak of. Traditional tactical doctrine is about bringing a superior force to crush your opponent's lesser force while minimizing your own loses. The idea that a lesser force should defeat a superior force, numerical and/or technological, is an unlikely event. Even though there are plenty of historical examples, it is important not to overlook the circumstances of such an upset. Like a full house getting beat by 4-of-a-kind...In Confrontation, each player is giving an equal force value. The idea of army preservation isn't a factor since you always start with a fresh army of the same value. Ideally, the outcome of the game is determined by the skill and the luck of the players. Skill is something which comes with understanding and experience. Luck, well, is just luck. Good army management can minimize the effect of luck to achieve a more consistant result each time. There is one other thing which is overlooked. It is the state of mind of your opponent and yourself. How many times have you done something you would normally not have in the fervour of the game? Losing steam because of a bad dice roll? Underestimated range when trying to desparately make something happen? Your opponent just crushed your flank and things looks hopeless? What I am saying is don't forget the mental confrontation off the board. It's like Texas Hold'em. Besides what is on the table once your have the momentum, you want to also try to read your opponent and crush his will to resist. Even with the best possible hand now, you do not want your opponent to catch the River. I know this is an abstract concept for a tactical game. I find that it takes a few games to figure out the mentality of a player. It is being able to anticipate their intentions, and whether or not they would make certain choices to allow you to take advantage. It is about the activation sequence and the fray splitting. These two are like your two pocket cards. You don't want to give out that information. Keep the offensive pressure on the board. It is not necessary to say anything about your opponent's impending doom, true or speculative. As long as he thinks it is hopeless, he will act desparately and make mistakes he cannot afford. Remember in a tournament, you want the goal average once you got the victory points. For those in a position of disadvantage, my advice is focus on the objective, preserve your fighters (run away), deny your opponent as much VP & goal average as possible. Plan to not being defeated, take any opportunity for victory. Sun Tzu, Art of War, Chapter 4, section 2: "To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself". Next: The Art of Reconciliation | ||||||||||||||||
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