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The Art of Confrontation - MirageK | ||||||||||||||||
The Art of FormationEver wonder why your forces are getting chopped up to pieces? Has your fighters been overwhelmed by your opponent? Why aren't your fighters giving you the results typical of their stats?A very overlooked factor is the formation of your army. What's the big deal? Part of the allure of Confrontation is the lack of formation requirements. However, there are practical reasons to consider. The issue here is using your troops to their maximum potential in terms of synergy with other troops. A poor formation causes 3 things: time, efficiency, and weakness. You need to spend the movement within the limited rounds to correct. If you keep the same poor formation, it may force you to be in combat with less favorable opponents or take more difficult shots against less valued targets. A weak formation exposes your fighters to your opponent's melee and ranged assaults. There are three phases to consider for your formation. Deployment, Maneuver, and Sweeping. During Deployment, it is the optimal setup your army is spread out to cover the various situations. If you find yourself taking an extra turn to bring your fighter to the correct position to threaten your opponent, then you should consider your initial tactics more. Maneuver is the trickier, since it takes into account of your army's strengths & weakness vs your opponent's. Sweeping is just that, moving to secure objectives and clearing the field of your opponent's fighter. Now we won't go into discussing Sweeping since if you get to this stage then the game should be decided. None the less, this is mentioned to be complete. Deployment could be the most important phase, since it will dictate the rhythm for the rest of the game. Maneuver phase is where your ability to estimate distance, to bait your opponent, and to cover your own advances while harassing your opponent, becomes important. First of all, let me paraphrase a few things from the Sun Tzu's Art of War. 1) Concentrate one's forces. 2) Attack with numerical strength. 3) Avoid what is Strong, Strike what is Weak. It is unwise to separate your forces without the ability to support each other. Splitting your forces opens them to the concentrated effort of your opponent to be overwhelmed by their numerical strength. If your opponent has scouting forces, it allows them the ability to pick off your isolated group and run back to join the main body. Similarly, by maneuvering a group outside the coverage of the main army, you open yourself to the same situation. Unless it is tactically necessary, the proper setup is a concentrated formation for mutual support. There isn't a standard setup which apply to all armies in all circumstances. However, I will describe a few deployment schemes for consideration: Line Formation - maximum frontage to attack and be attacked Echelon Formation - can offer maximum frontage, but needs a good grasp of all member's movement range. A formation which requires proper timing in order to bring the force of the entire army against the small force that assaults one of the flanks of the formation. Wedge Formation - could split opponent's force, problem with restarting momemtum once lost. Box Formation - risk against artillery, steady movement forward, great support but not flexible for ranged support. Staggered Formation - allows easy ranged support and melee support as the army advances. One thing I thought up after being shown the Roman fighting formation is how perfect Paladins would work with it. 6 paladins in a tight box formation while being able to heal each other as they advance forward. This is just an example of how some troops can be readily adopted to a formation. Next: The Art of Terrain | ||||||||||||||||
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