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1. Wars are not won, they are lost.

“One may know how to gain a victory, and know not how to use it.”

The simple yet sad fact of war, or indeed any conflict in this game or the real world, is that people rarely win wars. There is rarely a stroke of brilliance which scatters the enemy, some cunning reserve committed to break a superior enemy. Usually it is a failure the loser which makes the victor, whether that is poor communication between elements of the army, surrender of the initiative or (in some memorable cases) attacking the wrong place at the wrong time.

Not many leaders will give the enemy credit for their wins, or take the personal blame for their failures. When I was CP many moons ago, two events happened which represented incredible mistakes on behalf of my enemies Norway and Ireland. Firstly Norway elected a CP who was untrustworthy and willing to sell his country. Secondly Ireland antagonised their own CP to the point where he attacked the UK out of spite. All I did really (as a general) is last the month without making any mistakes. There was no tactical brilliance, just basic organisation and a healthy dollop of micromanagement.

On the other side of the coin, we can see the recent mistakes in ONEs campaigns in North America and vs Croatia which have left us in a rather poorer situation than we would have been otherwise. I’ve lost count of the number of failed NEs, lost initiatives and minibattles lost by 10 points. And yet the sad thing is that this is not unique, and the reason the playing field remains relatively balanced is that Terra and EDEN have made as many-if not more-stupid mistakes as we have.



2. Strong leadership brings results

“Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”

Which brings me to the second law. This game lends itself towards military dictatorship, and as all subjects in dictatorships know, the cunning and ruthlessness of the leader is paramount in ensuring success. In a genuine political system in the real world, every leader is surrounded by hundreds of talented generals, bureaucrats and advisers. In eRepublic, each leader effectively stands and falls alone. This is something we all recognise, yet we too often elect leaders based on how likeable they are, or whether they are good at making you feel like a friend. On the contrary, you are selecting a general- and some of the best Presidents in erep history have been grumpy, disreputable and sometimes downright nasty bastards.

So what do you need in a leader, a general? Someone who knows how to organise primarily. Someone with lots of free time to study formulas and maps. Someone who not only knows what his Ministers are doing, he can do it better than them. Yet of late we are seeing the opposite tend. In how many countries around the world have I heard people say- in twenty different languages- “it is alright, he has a strong cabinet”. It is impossible to rule a country using a cabinet. At the end of the day, the cabinet are half-advisors, have chief lackeys. Their role is to learn enough to (hopefully) one day be a decent CP, or at least occupy some useful function. Their role is not to run the country, or the army. People need a leader and a figurehead, someone who can get shit done. Yet the tragedy is that people who are like that rarely get elected due to unpopularity, lack of political support or (most frequently) self-destructive tendencies.

So what you need is- in short- someone who can make things happen. Contact the right people, prepare an organise armies, direct troops and most importantly direct people.



3. Wars are won before the first mini opens

”The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes but few calculations beforehand.”

Which conveniently brings me to the third law, which is that good organisation wins wars. When the war begins, you should already be in a position to win. Most people seem to attack war the same way they play video games- which is to say they start one, work out how to play, and count on the time to improvise. The truth is that in war, you can’t take those chances. Early defeats not only increase the difficulty of every future battles (especially with night round defeats always on the horizon for ONE countries), but they also damage the morale of soldiers. Saying that, sometimes a Pyrrhic victory for the enemy in the first round (always the hardest fought til the last round) is good for the defender as it saps their manpower.

A good commander should be ready before the war opens, and before the battle opens. Look to your advantages. On the attack, ONE always opens battles between 5pm and 7pm CET, TEDEN always opens battles between 11pm and 1am CET. What does this mean? It means that each side has a very predictable timetable to work around. That is a huge advantage- especially for ONE. They have the entire evening- ONE primetime- to charge their armies. To do what I consider the very basics- warn all soldiers to hold max fights to last login. Arm them, open rooms to arm civilians. Try and find out where countries are fighting and co-ordinate them. Plan RWs and diversionary tactics. Finally, when the strike occurs, they face a well organised and well defended enemy.

The last point I want to make, and one which we should come to accept, is that a good leader needs to know how to lose. Every country has limited resources, and a single nation cannot defend against many. Sometimes, the enemy will be stronger everywhere. There are two outcomes in that situation- lose everywhere, or sacrifice regions to protect others. It is hard sometimes to order your army to fight for a foreign country when your own is under attack, but initiative will never be gained without sacrifice. That is something we knew in the age where people could push retreat, but it seems to be something modern leaders have forgotten.



kind regards,

Iain