Decisive Unconventionality - Tactical Theory Article

[DX]

Decisive Unconventionality

Subject Type: Abstract SuperConcept

Subject Level: 5 [Highly Advanced]

Recommended Progression Level Range: Any Progression Level

Recommended Caliber Range: Any Caliber

Recommended Game Type Families: Any Game Type

Know how a good magician never reveals his tricks? Ever wanted to know how this Tactical Theory came to be? Well there are no tricks behind it. The whole thing is powered by a single idea. Master Decisive Unconventionality and you could derive any part of the Theory at will. In fact, you don't even need the Theory. It is such a powerful concept that you could create your own far superior method of fighting. While that scenario is not likely, it is entirely possible and I'd be scared as hell to fight a person capable of that. Here's the concept that started it all:

Unconventionality.

Doing unconventional things in a water war is nothing new. People have long known that you could try the same ambush twice, then change it up the third time and surprise the enemy. Faking a retreat to lure an enemy into a trap has been done for ages. Advanced fighters have even figured out that new and strange ideas can intimidate the enemy in the right situations. However, these are things that most do in a battle only now and then.

If you watch football [American football that is], you'll notice that teams using trick plays rarely use more than 4 in a game. The vast majority of formations, play options, and other actions follow an extremely, extremely conventional pattern. Football strategy remains roughly the same year in and year out. Texas Tech once picked up a glimmer of Decisive Unconventionality, but unfortunately didn't follow up with it. One year [recently at that], they used a highly unusual offensive line and a lot of receivers. The result was blowing out opponent after opponent. Later in the season, opponents came up with a counter and shut it down. This is when Texas Tech should have dug deeper into their unconventional line of thinking to counter the counter. Instead, they appear to have totally retreated by reverting back to a conventional game plan. What a grand shame.

Decisive Unconventionality.

The major difference between regular unconventionality and Decisive Unconventionality is that in the latter, you change your fundamental wars attitudes from the inside-out. Decisive Unconventionality flips your entire mind upside down and throws all of the old rules out the window. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people are afraid to take the plunge. It is much safer to stick to the tried-and-true ways of doing things, most opponents of unconventionality will say. That is just basic human nature. But for those willing to boldly travel into new realms, the rewards are monumental. Decisive Unconventionality may seem unsafe until you start subverting the now inferior tried-and-true ways of doing things. This is truly taking the Initiative. You can leave everyone in your wake, for you are free and untouchable, that is as long as you choose to stick with it. This really is ultimate enlightenment for a tactician. I get goose bumps just writing about this idea! Decisive Unconventionality can turn the darkest pessimist into a radiant optimist, a born loser into a natural champion, and has changed the course of human history time and time again. It has influence over the smallest of soaking duels and the largest of world empires, hurting someone as weak as your water war enemy and as powerful as Bill Gates.

When parents and colleagues comment about how you shouldn't be playing with plastic squirt gun toys at your age, you show them this. Out of all the water war ideas with life applications, this one can literally make or break you. I could write a whole book on what you can really do with Decisive Unconventionality, or you could just look at the world. Many of the most successful kings, emperors, generals, politicians, billionares, and others high in the pecking order have employed Decisive Unconventionality at one point of another. If I were a coach, this would be my game plan. If I were a CEO, this would be my business model. If I were a national leader, this would be my ideology. Now religion is another story, as it involves conformity to beliefs which are rarely subject to change, but now I'm getting sidetracked, so back to water wars:

What you can do with Decisive Unconventionality in water warfare.

Well, you can win. Every battle, regardless of the odds. Screw the odds and what are considered "advantages" and "disadvantages". You have now eliminated those, they now cease to exist. There's just more and less, not better and worse. This is a fundamental change which may be difficult to apply. You are never "outclassed", even if your enemies all have guns with 100 ft of range and 1000x output. There is no longer such a thing as a "physical advantage", only a physical stat. You can always have more, but never better. When applying Decisive Unconventionality, "better" and "worse" have been relocated to the mind. Your abstract ideas now are the ones being weighed. Knowledge is Power! That old phrase is something you probably laughed off at one point of another because everyone says it to act smart. Mere ideas can indeed control physical actions though, laugh it off now and get owned later.

Recognizing that everyone fights differently.

This is very basic. What works for you doesn't work for everyone else. Fighting water wars is totally relative to each individual user. Before you can plan anything, you've got to know the strengths and weaknesses of your players and those of the enemy. You then want to eliminate the weaknesses and optimize the strengths, but in ways unique to every user. This is where the Calibers and Progression levels of the Tactical Theory come from. When everyone improves in the way that works for them based on experience, age, physical ability, .etc, you've got a very dangerous team indeed. This also helps you give others wars advice. Without taking their own fighting contexts into account, your advice won't be of much help. Those not using Decisive Unconventionality tend to think that all users are one or two dimensional. Some recognize that there are three dimensions to fighting contexts, but in Decisive Unconventionality, there are 4 dimensions of course. If that doesn't make sense, go read about the Tactical Theory's Caliber and Progression levels. The 4 dimensions is supposed to be a joke, though I could be semi-serious, you never know...

Tactics and Counters.

Decisive Unconventionality is heavily reflected in your tactical choices, especially when countering. There are no "rules" for what to do in a given situation. Many users impose their own limits on tactics, such as refusing to attack when outnumbered. You can do ANYTHING that falls within Natural Limits, so don't hold back any options, regardless of how far-fetched they may seem to be. Attacking when severely outnumbered once seemed suicidal, but it produced the extremely potent Outnumbered Defense/Offense. No matter what situation, you want to be open to try new things. If the usual tactic isn't working, go ahead and invent something new. This is the step that many don't take when fighting water wars. If you are in command, then you are empowered to invent tactics from scratch, so do it when necessary. If facing a problem, be creative in the solution. Say the enemy has been making kills on you when you run away. Next time you retreat, you should leave a guy behind to ambush them, aka a Sprinters' Ambush. That will cause them to think twice about pursuing so closely.

Use trick tactics! Make fake attacks, fake retreats, utilize Distraction Ambushes, etc. There are some amazing Distraction Ambush variants, especially when combined with other tactics. If your enemy is getting cocky, throw in a trick. There is no better way to answer verbal arrogance than by physical cleverness.

Design your own unique combos! There are hundreds of thousands, if not more, tactical combinations. There is not a single Natural Limit that says a certain tactic MUST be used in a certain way. You could use the Outnumbered Offense/Defense against an Outnumbered team, you could pair up a False Charge and a Hill Blitz, you could even give away your own ambush on purpose and then have a hidden unit hit the enemy in the rear while they're not paying attention. A creative tactician can go wild here. You might even create a brand new, never-before-seen tactic by total accident. Just keep the enemy guessing. If you are constantly changing up your tactics and using bizarre combos, even the most experienced of enemies cannot possibly read your intentions.

Attack and retreat for absolutely no reason! Few things are more confusing to an enemy than an action performed for no apparent reason. Suddenly cutting off a successful attack may cause an enemy to delay their next move if they suspect something fishy. Give them something fishy, like a Flank Blitz, or even better, a Flank Blitz followed by a False Retreat, a Sprinters' Ambush, another False Retreat, and then an Adrenaline Charge. If it makes no sense, it's gold. You also may be able to detect a pattern in how the enemy responds. In football, a team may run a few plays just to see how their opponent counters. This can help you read the enemy while making it difficult for the enemy to read you at the same time.

Decisive Versatility.

Decisive Versatility comes hand-in-hand with Decisive Unconventionality. In order to exploit the vast options at your disposal, you want to be as versatile as possible. Hence the Ubiquitous Position, Full Fluid Command, and the Natural Limit called Battle Practicality. You also probably don't want to have a base or forts. Having such things gives the enemy easy targets and offensive abilities. Not having them forces the enemy to engage your team directly. Make the entire battlefield your base! There's more on Decisive Versatility in another article.

Use benign concepts and objects maliciously.

Concepts like Time and objects like bushes are generally benign. You can, however, use these as weapons against your enemy. If you have a lead toward the end of a war, you can force the enemy to make certain moves and act in reckless ways. You can also take some control over Natural Influence. Usually, Natural Influence works against all players, since it belongs to the battlefield. If you ignore malicious Natural Influence, you can often force it upon the enemy. Let's go with the bushes example. If you fight in a heavily vegetated area and hit the enemy with a blitz of ambushes, they may become kind of paranoid when passing by bottlenecks. When the wind blows through the bushes, shaking stuff around, that will intimidate the enemy, for they'll take every motion seriously. There's Natural Influence used in your favor!

Keep thinking beyond these guidelines.

I'm done writing about this because readers get scared away by long articles. I've given you plenty to think about so far, but obviously don't stop there. Never stop creating new stuff. Innovation is the name of the game. Since this is Decisive Unconventionality, I won't tell you to always stay one step ahead of your enemy. Get a freakin mile head start and go pwn some n00bs!

-Join the Revolution and Soak On!

[forestfighter7]

Great article. I like the idea, it's very interesting concept. I personally enjoy long articles.

[SilentGuy]

Nice article! It should inspire people to combine tactics in interesting ways.

It's definitely a concept I've got a half hold of, but I might never use the rest. I love creative tactics, but I generally use tactics in a logical, solid way--using one to directly follow through on or counter another.