Who's on the ball?

[Schattenmann]

In discussion we hear about the battles of old and the proficiency and mastery of their generals, or of the economic feats of olden bankers. But I, and many, now lament the dumbing-down of Bob. I place a lot of the "blame" on the proliferation of alliances; with so many, the talent gets spread thin, and in their zeal to fill gov spots, the vast majority of alliances turn ministries into beaurocracies headed by beaurocrats rather than economists, strategists, or planners.

We know, though, that there must still be those out there who know what they're doing. But who are they? Another effect of the proliferation of alliances and alllll those beaurocrats is the sea of faces where no one stands out.

So, who is really on things? Who actually understands the war system and can run an alliance military? Who has studied the numbers and can really grow an alliance's nations? Present-tense, please, I already know the legends of old.

(A note: This is not the Open World Forum. Please check your autofellatio at the door and reply seriously; there are already plenty of threads where you can hurr [my best friend] reply durr in that forum)

Edited December 26, 2009 by Schattenmann

[Caesar833]

I think some of the problem is the people who do know what to do and how to run an alliance have just retired. There are plenty of great militarists and economists out there but they just no longer put the effort into their alliance

[Schattenmann]

I think some of the problem is the people who do know what to do and how to run an alliance have just retired. There are plenty of great militarists and economists out there but they just no longer put the effort into their alliance

That's also true; that's why I edited-in the part about present-tense. People say how awesome Starfox is at military, but with all due respect Starfox hasn't led an alliance military in over a year, maybe 2. Rebel_Virginia's NPO war guide is still one of the most comprehensive, but it's 3 years old, you know what I mean. Or, I know ChairmanHal did a good job with Browncoats' forces, but that was two years ago, you see.

Edited December 26, 2009 by Schattenmann

[WarriorConcept]

It just seems war nowadays is just about building warchests, so there's probably less effort and emphasis on actual basic fighting tactics which in the past helped a ton such as The Initiatives tactics in GWIII.

[Caesar833]

That's also true; that's why I edited-in the part about present-tense. People say how awesome Starfox is at military, but with all due respect Starfox hasn't led an alliance military in over a year, maybe 2. Rebel_Virginia's NPO war guide is still one of the most comprehensive, but it's 3 years old, you know what I mean. Or, I know ChairmanHal did a good job with Browncoats' forces, but that was two years ago, you see.

Yeah I know what you mean. Thing is with the exception of the navy and maybe the MP, not much has changed in the war system. Sure nations are larger now and have more resources to use but as WC said that just leads to larger warchests. The navy is pretty ineffective too so adding that in a guide or strategy isnt that important.

[LJ Scott]

Theres no real complexity to this game. The math has all been worked out. The only challenge these days in terms of war is how to manipulate the treaty web to best suit your "side". That is to say, sitting down and working how to either neutralise the entrance of undesired alliances, or minamising what they can do.

[New Frontier]

Theres no real complexity to this game. The math has all been worked out. The only challenge these days in terms of war is how to manipulate the treaty web to best suit your "side". That is to say, sitting down and working how to either neutralise the entrance of undesired alliances, or minamising what they can do.

This.

Basically, there are people who can run a military and people who can't. Most alliances have at least one of the former. After that, it's just a question of "sides" and warchests.

[Mixoux]

I'm not sure that military can be strategical anymore, like others said. Back in the day, global wars were much smaller, and even the 'unbalanced' wars were never more than 2:1. This meant that alliances could actually coordinate attacks against the other side. The one that immediately comes to mind for me is GW2 when FAN/TOP took on a much larger legion. (Was it GW2? who cares you get the point)

It's harder to accomplish that today, with so many more alliances being drawn in.

[supercoolyellow]

My thoughts are that there has been a lot of stagnation in this game. Newer members face a rough learning curve and aren't give then opportunity to learn and step up in a meaningful way, so they become bureaucrats, and not masters of their position.

[D34th]

Penguin is very good at economics, Kung Fu of GPA was very good too.

[Cheshire]

I would say, tech raiders, know the most about military. There the ones who collectively use and reuse tactics. The constantely learn new ways to get tech and land. When to use agressive, planned, or conservative attacks on there targets. Planning quads using the airforce. Finding out you can have more land and less tech/infra and still handely beat someone. Sure they may not fare in a real war because there not used to taking a beating for thier alliance, but there the ones who most actively use the war system.

[ty345]

As some have said, I think it's a combination of everything already being figured out and a lack of a need to use actual military tactics anymore. We've reverted ourselves to a "numbers" fight instead of a "tactics" fight.

[Doitzel]

Battle in the lower ranks is still about strategy (unless you run into those crazy nations that are 20k NS with eight military wonders and a $1 bil warchest). It's a shame that wars aren't won down there.

[Goldie]

I know he is not your cup of tea Schatt, but Impero is a fantastic military leader, and I would hold him up against almost anyone.

[Electric Mango]

Matt Miller is the god of economics, there is none higher.

[Gopherbashi]

Get lots of money, declare war, launch lots of nukes, buy more nukes, repeat.

Welcome to modern warfare.

[Owned-You]

Raasaa is the resident Vidian economic guru.

[The Feather]

I definitely think that TE has helped to pacify Planet Bob. Now instead of raiding or declaring small wars, players are encouraged to go fight over in TE. This then creates a system where everyone is only building up their economies, preventing newer players from getting ahead. I also think it'd be beneficial if we got rid of nukes as a whole. They defeat any actual strategy and encourage funneling all military funds towards MPs instead of strategically putting it into air force, tanks, and army. Spies are pretty much the same except with less impact, everyone just buys tons and hopes not to be spied on. If we actually had to pit militaries against each other, warfare would become a much more intriguing expenditure. It also seems that there hasn't been a truly well done war since possibly as far back as GWIII. Starting with the UJW, it's been largely one side overwhelming and pounding on the other. Without any chance of victory and with treaties being canceled as soon as war starts, much of the respect and strategy has been removed from warfare.

[SiCkO]

I'm not sure that military can be strategical anymore, like others said. Back in the day, global wars were much smaller, and even the 'unbalanced' wars were never more than 2:1. This meant that alliances could actually coordinate attacks against the other side. The one that immediately comes to mind for me is GW2 when FAN/TOP took on a much larger legion. (Was it GW2? who cares you get the point)

It's harder to accomplish that today, with so many more alliances being drawn in.

that was GW3 and we got dog piled by a bunch of other alliances iirc :/

then again, our military was not completely prepared so im not surprised

Matt Miller is the god of economics, there is none higher.

i agree, IRON has an excellent Econ guy

maybe additions to the war system?

[TehChron]

Anthony is on every military-related ball that has ever existed.

[Ardus]

We live in a unipolar world. Now, the general idea is that our current Bob is multi-polar with all the influential blocs, but the fact of the matter is that Citadel, with its vast upper ranks, is able to command a peace both actively, via standing up alongside allies, and passively, as alliances who may dislike each other suffer offenses for the sake of not giving their mutual foe another war it doesn't have to fight in.

[Eden Taylor]

We live in a unipolar world. Now, the general idea is that our current Bob is multi-polar with all the influential blocs, but the fact of the matter is that Citadel, with its vast upper ranks, is able to command a peace both actively, via standing up alongside allies, and passively, as alliances who may dislike each other suffer offenses for the sake of not giving their mutual foe another war it doesn't have to fight in.

You, sir, are on the ball.

[Prime minister Johns]

We live in a unipolar world. Now, the general idea is that our current Bob is multi-polar with all the influential blocs, but the fact of the matter is that Citadel, with its vast upper ranks, is able to command a peace both actively, via standing up alongside allies, and passively, as alliances who may dislike each other suffer offenses for the sake of not giving their mutual foe another war it doesn't have to fight in.

Karma War.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Nothing changed except the management.

Edited December 27, 2009 by Prime minister Johns

[Schattenmann]

Anthony is on every military-related ball that has ever existed.

I remember being pretty frustrated that I was too new to "get" why it was so funny for Anthony to be the "Supreme Allied Commander for UJP" in the UjW (and of course no one would explain it).

[Arcades057]

That's also true; that's why I edited-in the part about present-tense. People say how awesome Starfox is at military, but with all due respect Starfox hasn't led an alliance military in over a year, maybe 2. Rebel_Virginia's NPO war guide is still one of the most comprehensive, but it's 3 years old, you know what I mean. Or, I know ChairmanHal did a good job with Browncoats' forces, but that was two years ago, you see.

Rebel Virginia did not write that guide, he edited it. The actual writer used far too many expletives, as it was originally a guide written for GOONS, but they had disbanded.

Since then other have added to it, but the original writer currently sits at #1 in offensive and overall casualties and coaches "war" tactics to established members of the CN community. Funny no one has mentioned him yet...