Strategy has played a crucial part in the history and development of war. Some of the greatest generals recognize the importance of strategy. Dwight Eisenhower famously claimed that campaigns have been lost or won primarily due to logistics. The ancient general Sun Tzu believed that the best strategy is to subdue the enemy without ever fighting them. The saying lays out the importance of strategy in a philosophical way. Many writers and philosophers today hold that life itself is a kind of war. Naturally, strategy can help us in our daily lives just as much as it can help clever generals on the battlefield.
It isn’t always about planning the course of our entire life. Strategy can often be useful when you just want to have fun. Fun is what tabletop games are all about. The recent success of Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer 40,000 clearly shows us that. What both games share in common is their status as war games. Though Dungeons & Dragons may have moved in a more roleplay-oriented direction, Warhammer remains primarily about the battles. Combat remains a huge component of either game, regardless.
What is true for real life is true for tabletop gaming. Strategy is not just useful in combat or war. It is a big part of any encounter in D&D. The players must constantly think about Saying the right things and taking the right steps to achieve the goal. What is that if not the most basic form of strategy? That is why we are going to talk about the art of strategy as it relates to both gaming and real life.
Strategy in Daily Life
Strategic thinking can certainly help us in daily life as well. The art of strategy is something that everyone should be familiar with if they want to improve their daily life. Barry J Nalebuff argues just that fact in his seminal work; The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success. Nalebuff explains how the average person can incorporate winning strategies in their daily life in order to make it in the world.
The book argues that game theory plays a valuable role in strategy. That may be the reasons that certain gamblers have found a lot to love about the book. The link between game theory and gambling has been studied many times. Poker players seem especially prone to taking advantage of it. The classic card game is one of the casino games that stands to benefit most from strategizing. If a player has an awareness of a clear ranking of poker hands they can then make a winning strategy for each one. There is no guarantee that each strategy will be an instant success. But it is better than nothing.
What few understand is that the strategies involving game theory laid out in Mr. Nalebuff’s book are exceptionally useful in daily life as well. The economist talks about the different approaches to strategy and the terms non-ubiquitous nature. He mentions the importance of cooperation and credibility. By the end he also talks about the complex subject matters that many don’t like to think about, but do affect our daily lives regardless. Voting systems and ethical considerations for example. The book serves as an excellent guide for those who don’t understand how strategy is more than just about business and war. The concept can come in handy when making even the most mundane decisions in our daily life.
Strategy in Combat
Combat is a major part of many tabletop games that have found success. There is even an entire sub-genre of such games that bear the name “war games.” War games involve each player building up an army and utilizing it in the best way possible to conquer the field. Risk is the most prominent war-oriented tabletop game that most will have heard of. You likely have an idea of what the game is about even if you’ve never played Risk. The goal is to build up an army and conquer a bulk of the field.
Doing so requires approaching the game with a level head. A strategic approach is the only way to play Risk. But no player can know what strategy is going to be most effective when the game first starts. Some strategies may call for an aggressive play. Building up your army and attacking the opponent as soon as possible may make you seem rash. But it is the only way to get yourself out of a pickle sometimes. Other players may like the slow and steady approach. They carefully build up their army until the time has come to advance.
There is no right or wrong approach to risk. The question is how do these strategies relate to daily life? Most of us are not generals plotting the course of a grand war. While that is certainly true, many of us do study martial arts. The approaches to war and gaming that we’ve discussed can also work for combat. Knowing when to attack the opponent and when to hold back and observe their moves is key to any combat sport. Strategy can work in all aspects of life as we’ve clearly demonstrated. But we hope that we’ve managed to convince you that strategy is not about war. Planning several moves ahead is a great way to improve your daily life as well.