Tactical Theory Invades SSC!

[DX]

I actually haven't ever posted about Tactical Theory here at Super Soaker Central. I've given snippets of it via articles, but all of those articles are long out of date. Little of what wars articles I've posted here still hold true. Also, SilentGuy wanted the scattered parts placed together in one topic, so I'll do my best:

Tactical Theory is the study of fighting water wars. It consists of 4 main concepts set about a powerful reasoning/logic base. The scope of the Theory is massive and the untapped power of it even greater. Unlike other "guides" and "advice", Tactical Theory applies to everyone everywhere, at all experience levels, team situations, and regardless of age, skill, numbers, firepower, etc. The potential and knowledge within the Theory is both universal and unparalleled.

The 4 "pillars" of the Theory consist of Progression of Tactical Evolution, Caliber of Teams, War in the Physical Reality, and War in the Abstract Reality. The first two give you a context, the last two give you the tools to crush your enemy in that context.

Tactical Progression places your ability, experience, and/or attitude on a scale. This can be individual or team-based. The scale goes as follows:

Team-Building Stage/Level
Fort-Building Stage/Level
Firepower Stage/Level
Progressive Stage/Level
Fluid Stage/Level
Professional Stage/Level

Each stage/level comes with a set of tactics, attitudes, etc. which are commonly used within it. A team/individual may start anywhere, end up anywhere, skip ahead, or slide back. It may take a few wars, it may take a few years. Depends on you fight and who you fight. For an example of the Progression, here's a short summary of what you might expect at the highest level, the Professional:

Professional Stage/Level:

-Naturally strong positions that are open or semi-open have been ditched
-Actual bases and forts have been ditched
-The ubiquitous position and ubiquitous rank are used [all others have been ditched]
-Stock guns are very effective
-Modded guns are very effective [due to high battle practicality, especially the mid-size CPS's]
-Small homemades are somewhat effective, large homemades have been ditched
-All but the most practical water balloon launchers have been ditched
-Water Balloons have been ditched
-No engagements take place in the open, except by accident
-Outnumbered teams should decisively win most if not all of their wars
-Traps have been ditched
-Effective defense requires man-to-man coverage, and often is not so effective
-Ambushes are very common, but not very effective
-Trick tactics are linked with others to create deadly combos
-The role of "Commander" is ubiquitous
-Teams are able to invent their own tactics or new uses for old ones to solve new problems and counter enemy tactics
-Battle Action can be broken down into action-reaction pairs, such as your move, enemy's counter, your counter, enemy's move, your counter, enemy's counter, etc.
-Teams have the experience and permission to directly modify Tactical Theory itself to improve its concepts and keep them up to date.
-Cheating is totally unheard of and Parley is not necessary

Caliber of Teams, like the Progression, places your team on a scale. However, it only applies to teams, although it doesn't matter how informal or organized your team is:

Developing
Informal
Novice
Average
Advanced
Hardcore
Extreme or Professional [2 different, unrelated options]

Again, teams may start anywhere, end up anywhere, skip ahead, or slide back. And again, it may take a short time to advance, or a long time. Some teams are happy with where they are and choose not to advance.

Once you have a context [a team of a certain caliber in a certain stage/level, you are ready to move on to the more interesting part of Tactical Theory.

War in the Physical Reality is the actual fighting portion of the Theory. The manuevers, tactics, and other fun stuff is here. Tactical Theory currently recognizes ~74 tactics:

Flanks:

Flank
Diagonal Flank
Hill Oblique
*Double Envelopment
*Lightning Double Envelopment
*Diagonal Envelopment
*Progressive Envelopment
*Lightning Oblique/Fast Flank
**Triple Envelopment/Full Encirclement

Ambushes:

Basic Ambush
Split Ambush
False Ambush
Defenders' Ambush
Positioning Ambush
Troll Ambush
Ambushers' Retreat
*Trap Ambush
*Flank Ambush
*Artillery Ambush
*Progressive Ambush/Multiple Ambushes in One
*Sprinters' Ambush/Pursuers' Ambush
*False Trap Ambush
*Staggered Ambush/Echelon Ambush
*Distraction Ambush
**False Base Ambush
***Real-False Ambush
***Armageddon Ambush/Firepower Ambush

Charges:

Charge
False Charge
Sprinters' Pursuit/Running after retreating enemies
Adrenaline Charge/Running Riot
Lightning Ford
Positioning Charge
Kill Exchange/Suicide Charge
*Push/Punch-Through
*Progressive/Echelon Charge
*Swinging Gate Charge

Pincers:

Basic Pincer
*Ambushers' Pincer

Trick Tactics:

False Retreat
*A Light in The Dark/Light Trap and Ambush
*False Front Line
*False Primary Guns
**False Commander
**False Confusion
**False Positioning
***Commander Roulette/The most bizzare tactic of all time

Artillery Tactics

Snipe/Pick Off
Artillery Bombardment
False Bombardment
*Mortar Bombardment
*Strategic Bombardment
**Ambush Bombardment

Defenses

Mirror Defense
*Split Defense
*Swinging Pendulum Defense
*Anti-Artillery Defense
*Russian Defense
*Offensive Defense
*Outnumbered Defense

Manuevers:

Advance
Retreat/Fall Back/"Advance in the Opposite Direction"
Tactical Evasion
Sweep
Cut
Cut and Run/Tactical Retreat/Get the hell out of there
*Hit and Run/Guerilla Campaign

Instant Reactions:
Counter Charge
*Counter Bombardment
**Counter Flank
**Counter Envelopment
**Counter Ambush
**Counter Pincer
***Counter Trick

Others:

Rotative Refilling
*Defensive Offense

That's a pretty exhaustive list. However, to be a true master of tactics, you've got to be able to combo these when necessary. Quadruple combos are not unheard of. Linking trick tactics with ambushes and others can be extremely effective. Switching up your combos and linking totally unrelated tactics together can throw even an experienced enemy into chaos. There are thousands upon thousands of possible combos. No mortal man can possibly counter all of them. Which brings me to the last part of the Physical Reality. Counters are of vital importance. When your enemy throws something at you, you've got to know what to throw back and how. Sometimes complex attacks have simple counters, sometimes simple attacks require complex counters. Most counters are other normal tactics. A few are "reactions" designed to counter any of a certain type of tactic. For example, a Counter Charge works against charges, regardless of the type of charge [provided that it is executed well in the right situations]. An example of a normal counter is a Sprinters' Ambush, which is deadly against a Sprinters' Pursuit or Adrenaline Charge.

The last part of Tactical Theory is the most difficult to "grasp". War in the Abstract Reality is in your head. This covers tactics of the mind. You can't exactly execute these like a physical manuever. Stuff like the Initiative, Tempo, Momentum, Morale, Preemption, Instinct, Pressure, Enemy Reading, Timing, etc. This is without a doubt my favorite concept within the Theory. The ability to control and manipulate these non-physical ideas is what separates the boys from the men. If anything in water warfare is capable of leveling the playing field, this is it. If you want victory against a tough enemy, you'd better be just as proficient at waging war in the mind as on the battlefield.

All of Tactical Theory applies to everything, with the only exception being the Soakfest Gametype and most of its variants. Only half the Theory can apply to a soakfest because those have no intellectual component. You may think I'm being unfair in making that judgment, but it is true. There is no comparison. Fighting for score/kills actually teaches you many non-warfare-related life skills along the way. You are forced to rely on your mind more than your gun and your physical traits. Society in general looks down upon the score-based water war, but it can be so much more than just a game. Tactical Theory on the highest levels builds leaders out of wimps, boosts your ability to think creatively, forces you to come up with solutions on the spot, even improves your self-esteem and confidence. We're talking about deep stuff here.

So there's my short summary of the Theory. I probably missed something, but whatever. You'll get the full details of Tactical Theory when my book comes out in a year or two!