Difference between revisions of "100 Unorthodox Strategies"

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* Punishments must be prompt, impartial, and consistent to ensure that unsupervised subordinates still follow their orders.
 
* Punishments must be prompt, impartial, and consistent to ensure that unsupervised subordinates still follow their orders.
 
* Punishments must be proportionate to the infraction. While the “broken windows” approach of severely punishing small infractions to prevent large infractions works, the resentment it creates is counterproductive.
 
* Punishments must be proportionate to the infraction. While the “broken windows” approach of severely punishing small infractions to prevent large infractions works, the resentment it creates is counterproductive.
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| 17 || The Host|| Fighting on your home turf is actually a disadvantage; it splits your forces’ energy between saving their homes, and destroying the enemy
 
| 17 || The Host|| Fighting on your home turf is actually a disadvantage; it splits your forces’ energy between saving their homes, and destroying the enemy
 
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| 26 || Night || Deceive spies at night by setting extra campfires and sending false communications and signals to non-existent forces to exaggerate your numbers and conceal your true location.
 
| 26 || Night || Deceive spies at night by setting extra campfires and sending false communications and signals to non-existent forces to exaggerate your numbers and conceal your true location.
 
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| 27 || Preparation || Preparation is the key to avoiding defeat. However, the level of paranoia needed to guarantee safety inevitably leads to fatigue and burnout, which creates laxity and openings. Focus on minimizing exposure and being aware of your weaknesses, since neither of these can be truly eliminated.
 
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* Standoffs are won by whoever is the best-supplied.
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* Hungry, sick, wounded enemies without ammo or fuel are easily defeated.
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* Defend your supply lines at all costs.
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* Over-extended units need more time, and risk, to resupply.
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* Devote your most elite troops to destroying or disrupting the enemy’s supply chain.
 
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| 29 || Local Guides || The local people must be consulted when devising strategies, because their life experience makes them experts on the local terrain features.
 
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| 30 || Knowledge || Preparation means manipulating the enemy into fighting on your terms, at a time and place which you choose.
 
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Revision as of 16:17, 29 April 2022

Ancient China | publisher = Westview Press | year = 1993 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=N3z6OwIIf-IC | isbn = 0813312280 }}</ref>

Since these seven books comprised the core of Chinese battle doctrine, they were the basis for the Ming Dynasty civil service exams required for admission to officer candidate school. This page is a gloss-of-a-gloss, listing the core concepts for quick reference. English translations of the 100 Unorthodox Strategies are available for those wanting to read the additional commentary and historical examples.


100 Unorthodox Strategies
# Title Explanation
1 Estimates You must know what you’re up against to make a strategy. The first order of business is always assessing the enemy’s alliances, short-term and long-term goals, terrain features, strengths, weaknesses, intelligence, ability, unit size, and supply cache.
2 Plans
  • Instead of attacking enemies, ruin their plans.
  • It is best to prevent enemies from ever wanting to fight, through intimidation, awe, economic superiority, or surpassing virtue.
3 Spies Using spies is the most crucial aspect of planning. Without determining the enemy’s numbers, condition, abilities, etc., you can’t plan for the right things.
4 Elite Forces Vanguards must consist of the fiercest troops, to strengthen the resolve and mitigate the enemy’s awesomeness for the less-skilled inexperienced “clean-up crew” which follows.
5 The Infantry
  • Infantry is uniquely capable of operating in mountains, ravines, forests, and wetlands. Infantry can exploit these terrain features as natural ramparts to defend against chariots and cavalry.
  • Infantry can operate on broad, level, open terrain, provided that they establish a perimeter of ramparts, trenches, caltrops, etc.
  • Infantry is best used in wedge formations and amoeba-like enveloping pincer maneuvers.
  • Infantry should not chase after retreating enemies; cavalry is better suited for high-speed clean-up tasks.
6 The Cavalry Cavalry requires broad, level, open terrain to operate. They cannot operate in mountains, ravines, forests, wetlands, or bodies of water.
7 Amphibious Strategies
  • Being upstream offers the same advantage as being uphill.
  • Do not enter the water to attack river-fording enemies, since you will also be at a disadvantage.
  • Attack as enemies emerge from a river, making it a bottleneck.
8 Chariots Land-based vehicles require broad, level, open terrain. They cannot operate in mountains, ravines, forests, wetlands, or bodies of water.
9 Trust People will only fight and die for an absolutely trustworthy leader.
10 Instructions Sending untrained people into battle is the same as abandoning them. Even the simplest training of responding to the most basic marching orders (e.g., advance, retreat, halt, hold) is 10:1 force multiplier.
11 Large Numbers Numerically superior forces are an advantage, but only when they:
  • Unflinchingly respond to commands (especially to advance and halt).
  • Operate over large open terrain (to avoid forming useless bunches).
  • Utilize enveloping tactics.
  • Are not hampered by logistics and supply issues.
  • Do not overextend and/or spread out to thin, like in Risk.
12 Small Numbers Use guerrilla tactics to overcome numerically superior enemies (i.e., night raids, ambushes, and intercepting them at bottlenecks).
13 Love People will only fight and die for those who they truly care about.
14 Awe People will only fight and die for those who inspire awe, which is a 40/40/20 combination of reverence, admiration, and fear.
15 Rewards
  • Rewards can make subordinates prioritize your urgent concerns, since personal gain appeals to everyone.
  • People are most committed to causes which they directly benefit from.
  • Reward returns the will-to-live to despondent people, who must be alive to enjoy their rewards.
  • Only publicly-issued, merit-based rewards are effective motivators.
16 Punishments
  • Threats and/or fear are often necessary to goad others into fighting.
  • The mutual accountability which emerges between group members trying to avoid punishments creates group solidarity.
  • Punishments must be prompt, impartial, and consistent to ensure that unsupervised subordinates still follow their orders.
  • Punishments must be proportionate to the infraction. While the “broken windows” approach of severely punishing small infractions to prevent large infractions works, the resentment it creates is counterproductive.
17 The Host Fighting on your home turf is actually a disadvantage; it splits your forces’ energy between saving their homes, and destroying the enemy
18 The Guest Fighting on enemy turf is advantageous, since you will always be in desperate “back-to-the-wall” situations against a dispersed enemy.
19 The Strong Feign fear and weakness to lure enemies into fighting your stronger and/or numerically superior forces by throwing off their assessments.
20 The Weak Deceive a stronger and/or numerically superior enemy by exaggerating the size and power of your forces, to throw off their assessments
21 Arrogance
  • Treat exceedingly strong enemies whom you cannot certainly defeat with excessive obedience, humility and servitude. This fosters arrogance; an engineered character flaw to exploit later.
  • Strong enemies should be handled politically, rather than militarily.
  • Leaders must strive to balance confidence and pride, so they avoid hubris without repressing their potential.
22 Alliances
  • Bribe your enemy’s neighbors to secure a position for pincer attacks.
  • If you cannot thwart the enemy’s plans, disrupt their alliances.
    • Since most plans involve conspiracies and team-ups, the enemy’s power is limited when they can’t draw upon the strength of others.
23 Disposition Coax a numerically superior enemy into spreading out too thin, like in “Risk.” Breaking a large powerful force into many small forces spread over a large area negates their numerical advantage on a local scale.
24 Strategic Power
  • All tactics should focus on creating positional advantages.
  • Create strategic power by imposing constraints on your enemies. Capitalize on the momentum these create to attack the enemy’s weak points.
25 Daylight In daylight, always set up extra tents, pennants, and equipment to exaggerate your numbers and deceive spies.
26 Night Deceive spies at night by setting extra campfires and sending false communications and signals to non-existent forces to exaggerate your numbers and conceal your true location.
27 Preparation Preparation is the key to avoiding defeat. However, the level of paranoia needed to guarantee safety inevitably leads to fatigue and burnout, which creates laxity and openings. Focus on minimizing exposure and being aware of your weaknesses, since neither of these can be truly eliminated.
28 Provisions
  • Standoffs are won by whoever is the best-supplied.
  • Hungry, sick, wounded enemies without ammo or fuel are easily defeated.
  • Defend your supply lines at all costs.
  • Over-extended units need more time, and risk, to resupply.
  • Devote your most elite troops to destroying or disrupting the enemy’s supply chain.
29 Local Guides The local people must be consulted when devising strategies, because their life experience makes them experts on the local terrain features.
30 Knowledge Preparation means manipulating the enemy into fighting on your terms, at a time and place which you choose.
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