Taking the Initiative

Topics about water war tactics, water war planning, and past water war stories.
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DX
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Taking the Initiative

Post by DX » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:04 am

I'm going to write up articles on some of my favorite concepts. Of course, I'm starting with the most complex and difficult to understand: The importance of the Initiative. Here goes:

Type: Fighting Concept
Works best with: Hardcore 1HK teams, although a watered-down version applies to any kind of fight, not just with water!

You are a commander of a team. You have retreated to a fortified position and intend to wait for the enemy to attack it. You chose to move there on your own, the enemy did not force you back. Well, you just gave away the initiative and will pay for that loss!

The initiative in a water war is a somewhat abstract concept. Dictionary definitions include:

A term that describes an advantage held by player who has the ability to control the game. The player without the initiative is often left no choice but to play defensively.

If your opponent's first priority is responding to you, you have the initiative. It's the dynamic element of being the Agressor instead of the Defender and is not necessarily a factor of positional or material advantage! Getting the initiative is the trick - consider the point below: Attacking - Attacking is a sure way to seize the initiative, just make sure the attack makes sense!

Nothing is more important than the initiative in a water war: not range, not output, not troop strength, nothing. Taking the initiative wins water wars, wins chess matches, wins lots of things. Think about the impact of momentum and intelligent aggression in football games! The initiative has even decided the outcome of famous battles throughout history such as the likes of Gettysburg.

As the dictionary definitions say, the initiative is basically the ability to control the battle, often via a [smartly made] showing of offense. It also involves control of the momentum of the battle and causing the enemy to react to you.

Suppose you have scored kills, driving the enemy from a position. You attack again, and the same happens. The momentum is well in your favor, and you have the initiative. You are setting the battle's tempo and have all the momentum. Of course this can change, if the enemy rallies and stops your advance, then you will lose the initiative. If the enemy starts making a stiff defense, successful counter-attacks, etc. they can shift the momentum and take back the initiative. This will get them back into the war and increase their chances of winning.

Sitting in a fort when you don't have to is bad, "camping" in one spot when you don't have to is not great either. When you have the initiative/want to take it, you should actively seek out the enemy and force a fight. When you have firm control of the initiative, your enemy is more likely to run and/or retreat. If they see that control of the battle is contested/contestable, they will fight harder and more lively. The initiative is really an extension of the physical battle into the brain, you don't think about it too much, but it determines the battle more times than not. The way you react in a given situation can be traced right to the status of the initiative.

When two teams try to control the battle with equal might, you get one crazy war! It is filled with offense, fighting, kills, and chaos. Those are the most fun type of wars, and you post scores like 8-7 unlike battles where one team has the initiative much of the time and crushes the other. Such as some 5-0, 5-2 victories we've had.

As stated in the dictionary, attacking often helps get the initiative if you don't have it, and helps you to keep it if you do. If you can get the enemy to do nothing but defend and try to counter your actions again and again, you have succeeded to great effect. If they are just reacting to you, they will most likely lose. Of course, you need to attack wisely and execute your offensive tactics well. Keeping the initiative is easy as long as you don't trip up or let early success go to your head. Arrogant teams tend to lose the initiative quite a bit due to underestimation of the determination of a team desperately fighting momentum against them.

Momentum and the Initiative are not interchangable ideas. Momentum is merely a piece of the Initiative, a big component however. Control of the battle requires all of the things that come with the Initiative. You can clearly tell if you don't have all of them: the battle will be even.

One last thing about Tempo. Another important component and one that anyone can control in the beginning of the battle. You can fight a slow, easy-going, lackadaiscal style war, or you can fight an intense, action-packed one, or a slow moving action-packed one. The choice should depend on the situation, like going easy if you are way ahead, or trying to slow the battle down if you lack momentum.

So there you go. Food for thought, especially if you never considered how complex a water fight could be. War is waged in the mind as well as on the battlefield. In the abstract as well as the real. So if anyone asks you what the most important thing to have in a water fight is, you will respond...a water gun of course! :rolleyes: But in all seriousness, you can vastly improve your chances of winning armed with the concepts of the initiative. When you start fighting with these in mind, you've discovered a whole new world and a whole new level of the hobby!

Join the Revolution and Soak On! B)
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

2004 Red Sox - World Series Champions
2007 Red Sox - World Series Champions!

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:48 pm

This is well worth reading.

We don't have a section specifically for Tactics, which will mean that posts like this will get lost in the sea of ideas.

Perhaps we should have one?

Retreating can be part of a plan - I tend to see initiative as:
  • The percentage of your plan where you take offensive action
  • The percentage of your plan where you control the enemy - i.e. getting them to perform a certain action
  • How closely you follow your plan
The real art of the initiative is to make your enemy believe they have it when they don't.
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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DX
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Post by DX » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:58 pm

When you have the initiative, there are some particularly crippling tricks you can play on the enemy. However, I can't mention them here, especially ones using retreat as a weapon, basically because I am certain that members of the enemy team read this forum. ;)
Mess With the Best, Get Soaked Like the Rest!

2004 Red Sox - World Series Champions
2007 Red Sox - World Series Champions!

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:59 am

Man, I can't believe that I missed this article earlier! It's a great read (and thanks for sharing the retreating ambush in your other thread).

YES! We need a Tactics forum! There are people who may argue that this is a Tactics forum, but it isn't good enough. Great suggestion, joannaardway!

I'm going to create a poll in Feedback right now to create a Tactics forum.

WaTer FigHt NoOb
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Post by WaTer FigHt NoOb » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:16 pm

I agree we do need a purely tactics forum. That would be nice...

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Mon Apr 24, 2006 8:52 pm

@ WaTer FigHt NoOb: You must've missed everything else that happened yesterday. At my poll in the Feedback forum and in some other thread, we basically decided that another forum is pointless. But you and joannaardway should vote, just in case :rolleyes: .

WaTer FigHt NoOb
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Post by WaTer FigHt NoOb » Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:19 pm

Well i have to use the school computers so i mainly just stick to the "water fights" forum. (i usually don't view others because of time)

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joannaardway
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Post by joannaardway » Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:42 pm

waterfightnoob - if your time is limited, rotate through the forums over time - read different threads occassionally.

How do others define Initiative? - it would be nice to know - it's an abstract concept to me....
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

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Silence
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Post by Silence » Wed Apr 26, 2006 8:31 pm

Well, in chess, initiative is pretty important...but that's really only in very advanced play.

If you only want the water fights forum, try SM--they have a lot of stuff about that. iScF might also be good.

When you're at home, and if you have internet access, make sure to check out the other categories. Many of them are useful too.

I wish I could use the internet at school--most of the time it's just work.

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