Deeper Strategy: Battlefield Fluidity

Today we continue our look at the USMC War Manuals, this time discussing the principle of Fluidity.

Last time we discussed the role of chance in wargaming, and a discussion of battlefield fluidity is a natural extension of the previous discourse. Before we defined chance, along with how its impact can be negated or exploited by the players. Fluidity deals with the processes, both mental and physical, that are used to bring your plan to fruition as the winds of chance change the course of the battlefield.

“Each episode in war is the temporary result of a unique combination of circumstances, presenting a unique set of problems and requiring an original solution.”

-Marine Corps Doctrine Manual on Warfighting, p. 9

One of the biggest potentials for failure comes in reducing a particular gaming scenario to the pieces involved. I’ve done an article previously on this very topic, which can be found at:

http://enterthemaelstrom.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-erroneous-nature-of-theoretical.html

The following principle is very simple, but bear with me for a few moments. Consider the difference between a solid and a liquid. A solid will find it much more difficult to reach the opposite side of an obstacle. To reach the desired point, our solid object must find a way to drive through the obstacle. If the obstacle in question has sufficient mass to block the solid object, or if it can somehow arrest the force so that the object never reaches its intended destination, then the attack has failed, its energy spent. Of course this is a simplification, but stick with me as we continue to explore the idea.

Instead of looking at all of our wargaming problems with the intent of battering our way through, let’s consider them alongside some of the properties of a liquid. Along the way, we will discuss the aspects of Fluidity as defined in the USMC Warfighting Manual.

Fluid seeks the path of least resistance.

“Since war is a fluid phenomenon, its conduct requires flexibility of thought. Success depends in large part on the ability to adapt…”

-Marine Corps Doctrine Manual on Warfighting, p. 9

On its way to the rivers and oceans, water will always follow the contours of the ground. Rather than spending extra energy rising over high land, it simply follows the lower paths until it reaches its destination.

It should be our goal as tabletop commanders to emulate this aspect of water. Shattering our opponent with frontal assaults and grinding wars of attrition can work swimmingly, but it is almost never the most prudent and efficient option open to us. Soldiers slain in taking an objective cannot add their force to endeavors later in the game. Armor lost in a point-blank slugfest cannot dictate the course of battle in later turns. There are almost always alternative directions to prosecute the flow of battle, and they should all be considered before committing to a war of attrition. Anything you can do to retain battlefield initiative and preserve your own forces will ultimately be detrimental to the opponent.

I’ll use a recent scenario with my Space Wolves as anecdotal evidence for what I’m discussing here. The game comes from a tournament a few editions past, when my Space Wolves were facing off against an Ork force with four Battlewagons and a handful of Trukks. The goal of the Ork army was overwhelmingly simple; push through the frontline of the enemy and destroy them in one massive melee. My opponent was a skilled player, and he had trounced plenty of foes with this force.

I had no illusions about facing the Orks in a head-to-head battle of attrition. Skilled though the Sons of Fenris are, their numbers would surely wear me down before the game was over. Furthermore, there was the matter of battlefield control. As much as I didn’t want to, I would have to move out and exert force over the center of the table.

As I had first turn, I dropped my two tank-hunting Grey Hunter squads in Drop Pods onto the table, one to each flank of the Ork formation. My Long Fangs quickly dispatched the Trukks, ending the threat of outriders pinning my armored advance in place. The Grey Hunters destroyed the Battlewagons on the flanks, killing half the Boyz inside and leaving the surviving two vehicles with a difficult decision.

These intact forces could turn out and assist their comrades against the Grey Hunters, as ten Orks would certainly have trouble defeating ten Grey Hunters. To do this they could either split their forces, or turn into one of the squads to ensure its defeat, leaving the other squad to continue their armored killing spree.

To my opponent’s credit, he abandoned his deployment zone and pushed on toward the bulk of my army. One remnant squad of Orks was joined by some Trukk Boyz, and over the course of a few combats they were able to clear one squad of Grey Hunters. Their counterparts, however, were soundly defeated and then cut down when attempting to Fall Back. This left my Grey Hunters free to consolidate and destroy another Battlewagon in my own turn.

These circumstances were unique, and may never happen again as long as I play Warhammer. However, they serve the purpose of making my point. Working around a problem will almost always be more effective than pushing through its center. By dropping to the flanks, I forced the Boyz into lateral movement, costing them a minimum of one turn that may have been spent closing with me. By dispersing their mass of force, I was able to whittle them down a piece at a time, ultimately helping me to achieve victory.

If momentum changes, a fluid plan changes with it.

It is physically impossible to sustain a high tempo of activity indefinitely…”

-Marine Corps Doctrine Manual on Warfighting, p. 10

If you turn a half-filled bottle of water on its side, all the water runs to the bottom. If you then turn the bottle half a revolution in your hand, the water continues to follow the bottom of the bottle. It does not cling to the side, but instead maintains its path of least resistance against the encroaching forces.

Eventually, your forces will run out of steam. Learning to read this event before it occurs has been the hallmark of great commanders throughout the history of warfare, and those who have been unable or unwilling to acknowledge this fact have seen their reputations forever tarnished by the ignominy of defeat. Understanding the momentum of your forces is a form of art, and it will take experience to read when it is taking place. Seeing it coming is the first step, but once it is acknowledged you must act upon that knowledge.

Tyranids are one of my favorite factions in Warhammer 40,000. I’ve always liked the prospect of the faceless swarm of insects, devouring everything on a planetary level. As those of you who follow our video battle reports on YouTube know, one of my favorite approaches with Tyranids comes in the form of a raging wall of Hormagaunts and Carnifexes, pouring into the enemy lines to wreak havoc.

With Tyranids more than any other faction, I’ve come to respect that moment when your momentum flags and things turn against you. Sometimes the momentum can be restored by pressing more bodies into the weakened enemy, but in other instances you’ve simply missed your chance to break through. Perhaps you suffered a devastating round of Overwatch, or missed a critical charge that left their shooters free to wreak havoc for one more turn. No matter what the case, your chance to push through on the current vector has faltered and vanished.

This is the moment when fluidity dictates that you change to accommodate the tempo of the battlefield. You can push against it, railing and hoping that some other matter of chance will tip things back into your favor. Or, you can modify your plans and actions accordingly.

This is usually the instant when I consign the things left in melee to their eventual fate and consolidate to hold the objectives. If all has gone to plan, my opponent is still floundering in their deployment zone, pushing against a flood of bodies that they will ultimately overcome. The trick for Tyranids in this instant is to provide just enough force to prevent them from breaking out too soon.

I find this tactic is regularly required against my Ork opponent. Their Overwatch is too powerful and the Boyz themselves are too resilient and numerous to be swamped. In these cases, my tactic is to withdraw to the objectives, attempting to bait the Orks into charges of my choosing. By sacrificing some of my frontline Gaunts, I can then overwhelm the targets of my choice in melee with slower-moving, stronger Tyranids, defeating them a piece at a time. Again, the goal is to think like fluid, rolling around the centers of strength and weakening their support until they can no longer claim strength.

Fluid is much harder to contain that a solid.

“A competitive rhythm will develop between the opposing wills with each belligerent trying to influence and exploit tempo and the continuous flow of events to suit his purposes.”

-Marine Corps Doctrine Manual on Warfighting, p. 10

It is much easier to contain a baseball within your hands than it is to contain a pool of water. While the implementation of tools may control the flow of this water, it remains true that an unaided, empty hand can easily contain the baseball.

On the tabletop this principle holds true as well. The fluid-thinking commander can make things much more difficult for his opponent, even during the lulls of combat. If both commanders are seeking this aspect of fluidity, then the game becomes a cat-and-mouse attempt to catch the other player in a mistake. If only one commander is committed to this line of thinking, he will quickly dismantle his opponent’s forces.

Constantly seek for ways to manipulate the ebb and flow of battle. Pull your opponent off his pursuit of objectives, and seek to influence his decision making. Don’t be afraid to change direction during the course of battle, but do it with enough certainty and conviction that you can be reasonably certain of success in the end.

This point ties into the other two, because it is very much the essence of fluidity. Your goal when considering this aspect of warfare is to make the opponent continually guess where your next action will fall. If he is unable to plan for your actions until they’ve been completed, you are one step ahead of his game plan.

As an example, Drop Pods are often seen as an incredibly offensive weapon in nature. Their purpose is overwhelmingly to deliver Marines safely on target, where they can cause damage to the foe and disrupt his ability to advance and impose his will. However, if his center of strength remains strong they may be thrown away in such an action. Instead, use their infinite initial mobility to deploy on some far-flung objective. If the enemy is truly focused on a point of strength, he will most likely lack the ability to oust you from this position.

Conclusion

At its simplest, battlefield fluidity is the attempt to think around your problems, rather than through them. By searching for these less-than-apparent approaches to victory, your chances of maintaining the initiative will be greatly improved. Seek out every opportunity to approach a problem from a new perspective, for contented generals become predictable generals.

Stay tuned for more Deeper Strategy articles, coming (hopefully) each Saturday!