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Battlegame Postmortem | Credits | FAQ | Light Weapons | Rules Lawyers | Rulebook Purpose (Originally published--and still available--on Sir Corbin's excellent Amtgard Combat web magazine) 
In the field of Amtgard War there are winners and there are losers. Over the past five years I have been witness to most of the altercations between EH and CK held at Burnet County Fairgrounds. For the first few years I reeved Spring War; lately I've been organizing (as General) the EH side. In the past, EH has emerged victorious in nearly every case (The "Good, Bad, and Ugly" war being a notable exception). I hope the following analysis of battlefield tactics and strategy will help improve the effectiveness of both parties in the future. The intent is not to belittle or denigrate the efforts of the losing side, but to point out past shortcomings so that we may learn from them. No one enjoys lopsided battlegames. Note: The following commentary works best when applied to larger games with 40 or more on a side; the actions of individual participants can too easily sway the dynamics of smaller games. (Typical small group strat: "I get Lief, Corbin, Spyn, Bolt, and those other two sword knights. You can have everyone else.") Don't forget the game goals! 
I'll start with the game EH clearly lost. This game was intended to be Good vs Evil; but thanks to the machinations of Forest turned into "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (EH was, of course, "The Ugly.") Three approximately equal sized teams were formed out of 300+ players. The goal was possession of opposing flags for 20 minutes. I was a reeve for this game. This particular game was unique in that political guile and trickery were the keys to the Good victory. Before the game even "laid-on" Good had talked with Evil and convinced them to team-up against Ugly because Ugly was crashing their party. In the first push Ugly was thoroughly squashed and Good acquired BOTH opposing flags. More importantly, the Ugly and Evil teams forgot that it was a flag battle and continued to fight one another to the exclusion of all else while the time ran down. Most of the Good team spent the next 20 minutes watching from an excellent vantage point off to one side, as the other two teams beat the snot out of each other. Healers are your friends! A funny thing happened while setting up the Good, Bad, and Ugly game that I didn't realize the immediate importance of (as EH actually lost that game). When making sure the number of spell casters on a team didn't exceed legal limits, it was discovered that 21 (that's right, twenty-one) out of 110 Ugly players wanted to play HEALER. The slightly smaller Good team could only muster 6; several of which were not even 6th level. At the time I thought it was hilarious that the Good team couldn't muster their limit in healers. Subsequent battlegames at Clan and Spring War revealed it to be no laughing matter. Healers are a game's primary support unit. There is very little the other team can do to limit the effectiveness of an opposing healer--Sever Spirit is about it. The ability of Resurrect to extend the usefulness of one-life per game abilities, such as enchantments and the Paladin's extended immunities, while at the same time putting the player back into the game immediately is arguably the most useful effect in the game. Summon Corpse gets those once enchanted corpses out from behind enemy lines. Mend negates the Fireballing of equipment, repairs normal armor, and maximizes Stoneskin abuse. The list goes on and on. I've seen a 15-player line steadily move forward with players not having time to move out of the way before being resurrected. It's quite a kick for a wizard to Curse someone to death only to find out that the victim is back alive before the wizard is even sure he "took it." Even more important, the line never gets weaker. Without resurrection, it's normal for both sides to gradually wear each other down, each side losing players and/or equipment. But, when one side uses their healers more effectively than the other, their group stays at full strength while the other side gets weaker. This creates a "snowball" effect that leads to the now overpowering group crushing its enemies. It's also important to note that the surviving side will regroup with very little loss to its initial equipment and magic arsenal, while the crushed team will almost certainly have to recast most everything--if it can. This is the primary reason that many EH games have mid-game checks for "cheating" because they always seem to be at full strength with all original enchantments; while their opponents are nearly shattered. Abuse your Stoneskin. Stoneskin, when used correctly, is the most powerful magic in the game. If you don't believe me, think back to the number of complaints you've heard: Where did they get all those Stoneskins? What other magic has gotten so much "special" attention and comment? Unfortunately, Stoneskin by itself is not a cure all. Just putting it on your "best," and setting them free to do as they will, does not maximize its use. Tips for abusing Stoneskin:
Note: In some cases there are more tanks than healers. In such a situation a druid makes a good substitute for a healer. Recovering the body is a little riskier as it requires touching the corpse and using Pass Without Trace or Pass Plant. Killing Lief! Otherwise, known as identifying the problems on the other team and eliminating them. In nearly all games, there are one or two opponents who just have to go. You can often spot these players by listening to your team gripe after being smooshed. Normally one or two names will be heard more often than the others. (Sounds kind of obvious, don't it? I don't know how many times I've seen this type of information ignored.) Once you know whom you need to neutralize, it's time to actually do it. Most tactics at this point are self-evident; those without magical protection are easily killed by magic; those who have magical protection often fall prey to arrows; etc. (At clan, I once had a player killed and shattered after spending less than 3 minutes TOTAL alive in the midst of his team.) A Good enemy Tank is a special case and deserves special attention (i.e. stoneskined Lief.)
Nirvana is not a good place to rest! Meet your opponent in the middle and keep on going forward! Taking 3 steps forward and waiting for him to come to you is NOT a good idea. It cuts your options and leads to flanking. If your opponent controls more of the field he has the advantage. He has room to maneuver. When he turns to go somewhere else he doesn't bump into teammates. When triage is needed the wounded can find a "safe" place to go. When someone breaks through his line, the opponents are more spread out--minimizing the damage. I realize that if you don't stray too far from your base there is very little room for your opponents to get behind you; but putting your "back to the wall" has a not so obvious drawback...you are on the INSIDE of a circle. "Circling the Wagons" works great for projectile-based combat with a solid defensive perimeter but is a liability in Amtgard melee combat. Those on the outside of the circle can apply a larger amount of force to a given location than those inside. Normal flanking takes advantage of this by using a squad to eat a line from the end, eliminating a player at a time with an overwhelming force. Let's play a thought game. Picture 10 guys in a tight defensive circle. Now picture how many guys can comfortably surround them? What do you visualize happening when someone inside swings at someone outside? While this example exaggerates the large game-dangers of being contained, it is still a tangible disadvantage. If you ever find yourself in such a position, you MUST break out. If done correctly you can even turn the game around, as your "tight squad" begins to end run the "spread out" opposition. Finding Victory in your Numbers. In many games one side has the advantage in numbers (more people), but fails to take advantage of it. If your team has more lives, more magic and just plain more stuff than the other side you have advantages that must be exploited. A team with more players and lives needs to take advantage of ATTRITION. That is, as the game progresses, both sides loose "stuff," but because you have more to begin with, eventually you will outlast your opponent. "Reset" games are BAD for you! They shift the balance of power back toward the smaller, more experienced team. (For those who don't know, Reset games are those in which the game essentially starts over from the beginning after each push or completion of a game goal. Most reset games are also played as "last life" scenarios so barbarians get a chance to go berserk.) In a Reset game, the smaller, more experience team no longer has to conserve or ration their abilities and magic. They can put 4 Stoneskins on a single player because if they don't use 'em now, they will be wasted. The recoverability of per life spells becomes moot as the more powerful per game magic becomes too cheap to use in moderation. The more experienced team is better at using its resources and a Reset game gives them unlimited resources. (In most reset games EH has been in, we've run out of people to cast enchantments on before running out of enchantments.) Avoid Reset games and abuse your advantage in numbers. Another thing to think about. Since a Reset game negates any advantages a team may have won in the previous round, if you don't "adjust" the sides between rounds, what sort of result can you expect in subsequent rounds? While on the topic of lives and death, I'll let you in on a little secret. Most good spell caster's don't want to cast their per game ranged spells! They want to use them over and over again to break up your team. An opponent who runs from a spell is someone who is not a threat and I'll kill his friends while he's gone. Used correctly, a single death-magic can influence the behavior of an entire team over the course of a game, UNLESS it gets used up. So make him use it! Let him finish it! Put some suicidal Barbarians in his path. Do anything but run again and again. Your team has more lives than your opponents have death magic. (Your team should also have more resurrects too, but we already talked about that.)
Leadership. Every good team needs one or two players who make sure everyone is "maxed out." Someone to apply the strategies in this article and shore up the weaknesses of the various tactical squads. Someone to say, "We need more Stoneskins, can anyone else play druid?" These Leaders/Generals/Captains look at the battlegame as a whole. They research their team's capabilities and know how many healers, wizards, stoneskins, death magics, anti-paladins, etc. are on their team. They turn a group of individuals into a team that works together. Look around, if your team doesn't have at least one of these Leaders, become one. Leader's try to do everything outlined in this article and then some. Before the game they should also: 
During the game, the leader should try to oversee the team. Watch the overall flow of the game, spot problems and FIX them:
Do This...Not That! What follows is a list of things that I've seen on the field that should either be avoided or encouraged:
Note: I'm aware that in certain, narrowly defined situations, the blanket statements scribbled herein may be inaccurate (exceptions to the rule and all that). However, in most games, it's good advice. Not a Cure-All. This writing is far from complete. It doesn't mention squad formation, squad tactics, general improvements in fighting techniques, or any number of other related topics. Adopting all the advice I've spouted will not guarantee victory. In the course of writing this document I discovered several things that even I don't do consistently. I can only try to do better in the future. This document edited in May 2001 for content and grammar. Battlegame Postmortem | Credits | FAQ | Light Weapons | Rules Lawyers | Rulebook Purpose |
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