The Tao of the Empire
The genesis of
The Tao of the Empire was a new poster’s idea (FriscoEmpire) on starting a Tactica for the Warhammer Empire. The Tactica would be a collection of our best tactics, maneuvers, and formations- basically the tricks of our trade.
So it got me to thinking about the things I do and the way I play and how I could describe that to other people. Unfortunately, being a good General is less about taking certain forces and playing a certain way, it is more about understanding what is happening “above” the game, the mechanics, the flow, and the application of power. This is usually gained by experience- and honestly by playing people better than you.
However, there are a few things I have learned in my studies that can be directly applied to strategies and tactics in Warhammer. And if someone took the time to think about them, it may open up their mind to look at the game in an entirely new light. I fully understand that some people reading this will have
no idea what I am taking about. I also understand that only a subset of the Warhammer population really cares about strategy and tactics and are more interested in painting models and enhancing the fluff.
But for those of you that care, and want to potentially raise your game, read on.
Outline
--Getting Started- Making the link between Tao and Warhammer (below)
--Shih- The Art of War and Relationships
--Space and Movement
--Node
--Formlessness and Wu Wei
--The Way Forward
Other Related Resources
--The Principle of Balance & Infantry Based Armies
--The Griffon Formations
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Let me make this statement right off the bat- I am not claiming (and never will) that these thoughts and theories are anything more than thoughts and theories. It is not the “end all and be all” of Warhammer. My goal is to generate DISCUSSION so that your thoughts and ideas can be added to mine to enhance the larger body of knowledge.
If you read many Warhammer army forums, I think you will notice that most of the skilled Generals out there do not give up their “tricks of the trade.” Calisson, Seredain, and a few others are the exceptions to the rule on other sites. It is unfortunate. I think most of the good Generals are so competitive that they want to keep their edge in tournaments and against newbs. And a few that do post, do so out of arrogance.
The net result- instead of thought-provoking discussions filling up our tactics forums…what you normally see are posts from new people on “spears or swords?” or “what kit should my Saurus Oldblood take?” etc and then everyone and their brother chimes in.
These conversations are on the surface. Most are not asking the right questions and we are not providing the right answers. I would like to see our site go deeper. FriscoEmpire has received very little input on his Tactica. Hopefully we can change that.
A couple more disclaimers before we begin.
--This is not going to be a religious discussion. Much of Sun Tzu’s Art of War was based upon the philosophy of
Tao (usually pronounced DAO)- so the references to it are from a military mindset, not a religious one.
--Also, I am far from an expert in Eastern thought. My interest lies primarily in the military and sociological truths that it exposes. I think it is especially pertinent to linear thinkers born in the West (
insert most of us) who can’t see the world above and beyond logic and reason. West and East both have something to offer.
--I borrow heavily from books and internet sources, especially from the
Denma translation of The Art of War, and the intro to one of the chapters titled Taking Whole (
starts on page 65 for those that want to buy the book- it is about $11 bucks on Amazon). I will annotate text when I directly quote something. The only thing that I can claim as my own is the connection of these principles to Warhammer and how I think they apply.
Color coding is all me.
Getting Started- making the link between Tao and WarhammerTo start off, let me quote Lao-Tzu’s first two lines in Tao Te Ching, which is regarded as the founding text of Taoism:
“The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”Therefore, everything I am going to attempt to explain is going to fall short of the mark. Actually, words cannot express it. My examples will be weak comparisons to the actual concepts. Why try this impossible task then? Because if we can even catch a glimpse of it, or gain a small amount of understanding, then our game will be raised. While it cannot be fully defined or expressed, it can be
known or
experienced and its
principles can be practiced.
Tao, in the most basic terms, it known as “
the way,” “
the channel,” or “
the path.” Everyone probably has seen the Yin and Yang symbol that symbolizes two sides, intertwined, action and counter-action. In ancient China, most philosophers and religious schools shared a set of assumptions about how the world worked. Different schools of thought emphasized different aspects but the foundation was the same. For instance, Confucians sought to seek order through ritual and virtue while Taoists attempted to go with its flow. For the purposes of our discussion, “using
Tao” means entering into the moment and accepting or conforming to these realities and working within them, not against them.
What does this have to do with Warhammer? While not real, miniature games are based upon military strategy and tactics. Soldiers fighting side by side as a unit, mobile cavalry, archers, war machines, terrain, morale, leadership, etc all combine together to give a General options on the battlefield. Because strategy games are an abstract of real war does not take away their direct connection to it. In fact, because most of the principles I am going to talk about are also abstract, it even enhances the connection. These principles probably help non-military game strategists as well, especially popular games like Chess and
Go (a game I will reference below).
Seeing things as a whole, as
Tao, with many shifting, interrelated aspects we can start to sense their
form. If we can dive into the details and our actions become united with the
Tao in any given situation, we can enhance our understanding and our control. “Being connected to the details, moving with their shapes and conformation, we can find victory.”
As Taking Whole points out:
Each one (detail or element) is relevant, everything that is part of that world all have weight in situations of combat… Everyone one of them also effects all the others. Altering a single piece, the movement of the whole also shifts. Everything is in touch with everything else, always in movement. Because all things are interconnected, you must know each one, and how each one affects and effects every other… Only then can you plan effectively.