The Principles Of War: Military Doctrine

Some of the principles of war overlap. Some of them seem to contradict each other. That's because in different situations some principles are more suitable than others. As Sun Tzu said, the wise commander will adapt the principles to the specific situation. Every military operation must have a single, attainable and clearly defined aim which remains the focus of the operation and towards which all efforts are directed.

If we try to group those principles into a shorter generic list, this is what we get:

Concentration - concentrate your effort, decisively and efficiently, and on what you want to achieve. There should be a sound military reason for everything that you do or plan.

Activity - prepare well, take the initiative, surprise and deceive the enemy, secure your positions, move, attack, and follow-up (or pursue).

Simplicity - clear and simple objective, battle plan, and commands, and one good commander in chief.

Psychological Factors

The largest army, the best weapons, and the brightest generals, are not enough if the soldiers don't believe in what they do, or in their ability to achieve the objective, so much that instead of fighting bravely and decisively they just want to get back to safety as soon as possible anyway possible. Low morale doesn't always means losing the war, but it's a major factor. To ensure high morale, the war objective, or even battle objective, should be perceived a reasonable, achievable, one that the soldiers will identify with, or at least accept.

The series of great successes of Japan's assault in South-east Asia between December 1941 and February 1942 eroded the morale of British defenders in the strategically important Singapore to such a level that when they were eventually attacked, they quickly surrendered. General Yamashita who captured Singapore said after the war that his attack was a bluff, a bluff that succeeded. His force was very low on water, ammunition, and fuel, and the Japanese estimated that if the defenders held for one more week, and they could, the Japanese attack would have failed.

A lack of morale in a larger scale was seen in the French military and political leadership in 1940. The German attack was a great victory not just because of the Blitzkrieg tactic and the quality of the German military which was then at its best, but also because of the paralysis and inactivity of the French generals. They thought there will be no war in their time, they didn't think that kind of modern war was possible, they were not prepared for any scenario other than the one they expected, and therefore they were totally shocked when it came to them at such force. A classic example of being mentally unprepared for war.

Application of the Lessons

We have the ability to study the many good and bad examples of these principles in action as applied to the thousands of historical conflicts since the first was mentioned in written history. While this may not be everyone’s “cup of tea”, developing a useful approach to tabletop games is definitely advantageous if one wishes to do more than be a participant in the game. This is one of the reasons that Tactical Hints were included in the AW and MW army lists, and the Tactics section in the Saga rulebooks.

It has been said that while weapons and technology have changed the way we fight wars, the tactics, strategies and doctrines have remained basically the same. I have provided some historical examples to illustrate the principles listed above. Some illustrate that commanders have not learned the lessons experienced in previous conflicts. The French generals did not consider the idea of “if you want peace, prepare for war” in the years before 1940. We do not have to repeat such mistakes.

We have access to the best books on doctrine and the campaigns of the commanders. From these pages, we can select those things that are readily applicable to our tabletop armies.

You may have decided to pick a particular army for a number of reasons and not necessarily because it is viewed as a killer army. Once it is painted and assembled into its components, it is useful to select tactics and strategies that can make it effective on the tabletop. We are not limited to the doctrine of its historical counter-part, except when rules demand adherence.

Many generals have expanded on the basic historical training that is usually part of basic learning for commanders. This is why the many books entitled The Art of War remain popular. Field Marshall Montgomery chastised one of his subordinates for not knowing that a specific area was subject to certain weather patterns during WW2. Napoleon, Frederick the Great and other commanders took the time to study how their famous predecessors conducted operations. Hannibal’s battle plan at Cannae was a blueprint for the German plan used in the Battle of Tannenburg, despite the separation of time. Twice in WW2 the Germans used the Ardennes from which to stage major offensives. And both times a measure of surprise was achieved.

I could go on, but this has already become a lengthy article. Hopefully, it will be enough to inspire gamers to incorporate historical models in their tabletop education. Not everyone may be driven to win every time and all the time, but our hobby is steeped in competitiveness. There is a lot of information out there that can be beneficial. Try looking for it beyond the pages of the rulebooks and hobby magazines; you might even enjoy the process.