Mastering the Art - part 3

(Read the rest of the series here)


Greetings fellow tacticians and strategists! 

I'd like to present you with the 3rd issue (part 2 is here) in the "Mastering The Art" blog series, containing 3 quotes from Sun Tzu's masterpiece, The Art of War, as well as my applications of them to the game that we're all here for, StarCraft:


It's no secret that deception plays a massive part in Starcraft, from using cloaked units and hiding your tech buildings; to making false pushes with your army and simply by preventing your enemy from scouting you.  The possibilities for deception within any battle, strategy, conflict or engagement are endless.  Hence, the seemingly endless amount of references made by Sun Tzu to that all important tactic; the art of deception.  The following quote, in contrast to many of his famous remarks on the subject (including the one where he stated, "all warfare is based on deception"), is one that I'd like to apply to two very specific aspects of strategy in StarCraft:


Quote #1 -

"When you are going to attack nearby, make it look as if you are going to go a long way; when you are going to attack far away, make it look as if you are going just a short distance. Draw them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion."


1.1 - Taking this statement at face value, as it were, the advice given here is that we should be seeking to deceive our opponent in regards to our intentions with an attack, by making it seem like we're attacking in one place, when our real aim is to attack another.  This is fairly straightforward in essence, but not always easy to achieve against a smart or quick-witted opponent.  A player who knows, or at least has a good idea of, how many troops you have at your command at a given time will not be in a rush to commit his whole army to defend an expansion that you are attacking with only 10% of yours.  No, he should and will be expecting an attack at another location, particularly if he can ascertain that the rest of your army isn't sitting idle protecting your base(s).  

Does that mean that you can't fool a smart opponent in this situation?  You most certainly can.  In a situation like this the average opponent might move a sufficient force to take care of the small group of units you sent to his expansion; while keeping the bulk of his army in a more effective position, awaiting your attack in another location.  You can be confident that the force he sent to protect his expansion will be large enough to take care of yours with minimal losses on his part.  With this in mind then - by moving up an even larger group of your army in a flanking position to his response-group, you can catch your opponent off guard, disposing of a sizeable chunk of his army in the process.

So how have we followed Sun Tzu's advice in this instance?  Well, we've made it look like we were going to attack a far-off location, when really we were only interested in taking out his nearby expansion and a decent piece of his army with it.  Attacking a "short distance" while appearing to be gearing up for an attack, "far away".  We've used our opponent's intelligence against him, drawing him in with "the prospect of gain" and taking him "by confusion".


1.2 - In another example of how we could put this most excellent advice into practice, let's step into the shoes of a Terran player: 

The formidable Terran 'hard-push' is an impressive sight to behold for any opponent.  The vast amounts of Siege-Tanks, Vultures and possibly Goliaths too, combined with SCVs building Missile Turrets can slowly, but surely, establish extremely strong map control that is very difficult to break.  But what has all this got to do with deceiving your enemy?  Well, in the first example we looked at how a player could appear to be attacking far off, while actually attacking only a short distance away.  Let's see how, as a Terran player, we can do exactly the opposite.

By setting up the beginnings of a 'hard-push', we can trick our opponent into thinking that we are only going to be moving our troops a short distance, or, at least, one short distance at a time.  An opponent might respond to this in a number of ways.  I'm nowhere near experienced enough with this game to be able to state all the most effective ways of responding to the hard-push, but it's my assumption that there are basically only really 3 ways of doing this:  1) Attempt to fight off/break the push right away, 2) defend, macro, then break it later, or 3) ignore the push and counter-attack the Terran's base/expansions, possibly while harassing/delaying the push.  Of what benefit is it to you, that your opponent thinks you are committing to a proper hard-push, when you aren't really?  Well, if he takes any of the 3 options listed above, his attention will be largely spent on stopping or circumventing it, leaving you free to move all of the troops that he would assume to be tied up in such a push towards his base on a much quicker time-scale than he would have expected.  You could build a couple of missile turrets on the front-lines with some Siege-Tanks and a few Vultures, just to give the 'right' impression, while pushing the bulk of your army forward, un-sieged towards the enemy base; either on the ground, via Dropship, or both.


1.3 - Physical distance isn't the only thing that is implied in Sun Tzu's statement.  "Far off" and, "nearby" are measurements that can both be applied to time also.  And, seeing how time, or 'timing', plays such an integral part to any strategy or tactic in StarCraft, it's essential to know how to manipulate what your opponent learns about your timings.  

There are many builds and strategies that involve getting a certain amount of units or a certain technology 'fast', or, at least, faster than your opponent is able to counter it.  Any one of these strategies or build orders will lose there effectiveness if their timing is discovered.  So, by concealing your tech or by distracting your opponent from finding out the exact details of your plan, you can attack them in a much shorter amount of time than they would normally expect. 

The opposite is also true.  Making your opponent think that you are going for a 'rush' or 'fast tech' strategy can significantly disrupt their plans, enough to make your relatively normal strategy (in contrast to their expectations) far more effective in the long run.



Quote #2 -

"Use humility to make the enemy haughty. Tire them by flight. Cause division among them. When they are unprepared, attack and make your move when they do not expect it."

If there was ever a statement made by Sun Tzu that I think could be directly applied to micro in StarCraft; this is it. 

The key to good unit micro is, as with any other area of StarCraft strategy/tactics - minimising losses/cost to yourself, while maximising the same for your opponent.  With that said, then, how can the above quote help us with our micro?  The key parts to it, in my mind, are these: "Cause division among them", "when they are unprepared" and "tire them by flight".

In any encounter (particularly those where the enemy forces outnumber your own), the aim is to divide your enemy's units into manageable 'chunks' so that you can destroy them with minimal casualties to your own.  By achieving this division, you are catching them when they unprepared for your attack.  To achieve this, you can "tire them by flight", or "use humility to make the enemy haughty" by constantly approaching their army and withdrawing again; luring them out of position and causing them to chase you.  Because no one want's to devote all their attention on a 'minor' engagement, or to be drawn out of position completely, there is a chance that you can divide his army when he sends some of his troops to clean up your seemingly 'humble' army.  This is when you can attack in the most efficient way.



Quote #3 -

"When the laws of war indicate certain victory it is surely appropriate to do battle, even if the ruler says there is to be no battle. If the laws of war indicate defeat it is appropriate not to fight, even if the ruler wants war."

This is such an excellent reminder for those of us, myself included, who all-too-often let their emotions get in the way of the game.  Whether we would like the game to be over quickly, or we're not feeling ready to attack at a given time, it doesn't mean that we would be right in either course of action.  Whether we, "the ruler", in this analogy, like it or not - what we want rarely guides the course of game.  On the contrary, "the laws of war" do.  What are these "laws of war"?  Well, a simple way of looking at it would be to call them, "the state of the game".  So, if the state of the game indicates certain victory, it is surely appropriate to do battle, even if we say otherwise.  

Sun Tzu was, it seems, pointing out the dangers of letting your emotional state, or your wants, get in the way of logical, strategic thinking.  To achieve victory we must look for it wherever and whenever it can be found, not just where or when we want it to be found.



Hopefully this has been a helpful and thought-provoking read for you, even if the applications aren't as advanced or specific as your skill level might be. 

Thanks for reading.