War Gaming: Mobility

I realized that after posting on Friday that there was a common theme through all three of the points I made: the ability to move. Through mobility a player can seize objectives, strike at his weaknesses, and avoid his strengths.

Objectives tend to be fairly static in most war games. Occasionally you need to kill some VIP or leader type dude, but most of the time you'll be trying to get to a specific point. Mobility lets you do that faster. And the less time it takes you to get to an objective, the more time you can spend somewhere your opponent doesn't want you to be. A highly mobile unit can seize an advantageous position in the first turn, cause havoc for the next few, then on the last turn swoop down and take/contest an objective.

Striking at your opponents weaknesses is extremely easy a mobile unit. If you have a unit capable of flanking the entire opposing force by the second turn, you can basically choose whatever target you want. Target something squishy and expensive.

Avoiding strength using mobility seems like it would be the most straightforward of the three. For the most part it is. However, keep in mind that strength is relative. If your opponent charges one of your units that's weak in close combat (James T. Shootsalot) with something big and nasty (Johnny MacStabstab), he's in a strong position. However, if you counterattack with two of your close combat specialists (The Evisceration Twins), suddenly his world isn't so rosy. It's important to recognize the difference between counterattacking and the twins into a meat grinder, though. If you have more to lose from attacking him in that situation than he does, don't charge in to the rescue. A better thing to do might be wait for the engaged unit to break/die messily, then blow Johnny off the face of the table with a rocket launcher. Sorry, Jim, sometimes you have to take one for the team. Mobility is helpful here because it helps you get your shooty units into place to perforate Mr. Macstabstab.

And that's mobility. Some factions in a game have more options than others when it comes to moving fast, but everybody can take something that can move fast. Make sure you do.