Questions tagged [strategy]
This tag should be used when planning the overall, broad, and long term objectives for an organization or individual. Depending on your needs, this can be used with economic, military, political, or other objectives.
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Is it possible to fight a CONVENTIONAL war against an enemy who can win any direct confrontation?
I have an empire, let's call it X, that has access to (very few) superhumans with extremely destructive powers. For instance, one of them has near-complete control over fire and can burn down entire ...
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Magically created duplicates with limited autotomy. Is this spell too much or just enough to work?
I have come up with a spell usable by some of my Alendyias characters: Crimson Clone. This spell was inspired by the Semblance of Blake Belladonna from RWBY and the Substitute move from Pokemon, and ...
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Where would pirates go to operate?
In my world, there are pirates who steal and raid. They are not just the stereotypical kind with parrots, but also other kinds like the ones in Somalia or Barbary pirates. When trying to implement ...
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Muggle military tactics against mind-controlling wizards
Spoiler: Wall of text incoming, TL;DR provided.
Once upon a time there were two worlds, separated by some kind of dimensional veil. One world is populated by WW2 level industrial civilization, the ...
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Why would the devil give someone immortality in exchange for them maintaining a diary? [closed]
So bear with me on this
So I'm working on constructing a world for a DnD game that I am going to be running. I have a general idea of the world that I would like to develop, but am getting stuck on ...
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How to build roads in a windy desert
The world is a desert, and it's awfully windy. The wind is as unpredictable as possible with an average speed around 150km/h. It's usual to see wind reaching 300km/h once every three days.
The human ...
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War strategy between cities on the coast of the same inland sea? [closed]
I'm working on a fantasy story where a major empire collapses into a civil war, and many of its most important cities fall in a region called the Cradle—a fertile region of floodplains and woodlands, ...
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How can these people fight these monsters? [closed]
On an alternate earth, lethal Pliosaurs size creatures infest the ocean, making sea travel impossible. Their cousin species tries to invade the surface every five years.
The advantages of this ...
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Mermaids: Dealing With Predators
Mermaids have it rough. Being a marine species, they lack the means and quite possibly the inclination (as mermaids, like people, get used to what they have) to create fire and work metal, and ...
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How does one defend a military depot against Nazi-ish Sasquatch-vampires in a continent-sized post-apocalyptic wasteland?
There is a lengthy background to this, which I feel is relevant. Yes, the title is supposed to be somewhat B-movie-esque.
For some reason, there are Sasquatch-vampires (more on their biology later) on ...
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In an age of aircraft and long-range missiles, what justification is there for battleships?
The title says it all: in an age of long-range force projection, why would battleships still be a thing? Clearly, they're rather obsolete in our world, but I'm not talking about our world; what ...
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How to defend a kingdom without killing anyone [duplicate]
What resources, schemes, and strategies does a medieval king need to protect their power without killing or torturing?
user86331
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Medieval fantasy world, rebel forces against an empire, how can the rebels win? [closed]
So I found myself in this situation:
My characters are in a land composed mainly of city states with some degree of recognition of common nationality (a la greeks at the time of the persian wars), the ...
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how can angelic mercenaries protect themselves from their clients while fighting for every side?
When the council of angels threw Lucifer out of heaven after rebelling against him, God assigned a group of angels the task of watching over humanity to guide it along the righteous path. This group, ...
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Dealing With Cuckoo Dragon Eggs
There are many species of dragon, but the cuckoo dragon is the worst of all. You see, when normal dragons reproduce, they expend life force to create new life. The most powerful dragon species expend ...
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Finding Nymphs Before Predators
In this case, Nymphs means not immature insects but beings born of the life force of nature itself. When magic entered this world from an alternate universe, that magical essence combined with the ...
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What Are Some Good Example Cases of How Middle Ages / Medieval Period Armies Occupied Conquered Cities?
For narrative purposes I need to have a city conquered and occupied by a neighboring empire whose eventual goal is to conquer / absorb the entire kingdom. The setting I'm aiming for is roughly ...
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How to protect a secure compound breached by a small modern military?
I am trying to work out some of the final details of a modern urban compound, surrounded by perimeter walls and a gate. A battle (modern urban warfare with firearms and grenades mainly) takes place ...
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Why would a regiment of soldiers be armed with giant warhammers instead of more conventional medieval weapons?
What are real advantages of using big hammers(BIG) that these soldiers have been trained with for years (some since children)? There is a heavy cultural aspect to it, but right now I need only focus ...
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Best way to defend against a army of 100 thousand? [closed]
So our protagonist city-state is a decently sized, rich in resources, and populated(think 100 thousand people) kingdom with Early Medieval Dark Ages technology(no gunpowder or cannons). The attacker ...
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How does my 'Free Fall Corps' fight? [closed]
For whatever reason(I don't really care why), there is a portion of the military dedicated to combat while in a free-fall from varying heights. They are well trained at what they do and seem to always ...
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Day/night cycling energy in modern weaponry
Hia, I was wondering how warfare, tactics and strategies would change if energy sources were varying greatly over a single day. Especially modern, contemporary wars, since they have much more energy ...
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How could a single dragon pose a threat to more modern human settlements?
Don't get me wrong, my dragons squarely fall into the player races, and definitely don't pose the same threat as real monsters.
You see, using Lobotomy Corporation as an inspiration, I created several ...
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How would randomly interacting humans change the battle strategies of 2 inch tall figures?
There are two teams, green team and tan team, who are fighting each other for some reason that's not super important. Both teams consist of human shaped plastic figures about two inches tall and ...
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Arena strategy on Tron bikes on the interior of a sphere? [closed]
A group of humans have been transported to an alien arena, where they are forced to duel in many different arenas(I've asked about one of them here). This time, the characters have advanced from hand ...
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How can I streamline the process of a voodoo black market?
I, Marie Leaveau, am an alternative voodoo occultist entrepreneur from Louisiana and run an underground black market called Grimm Fairy artifacts Inc. Dubbed "The Bitch Queen" by naysayers, ...
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Military strategy in a world of fixed opaque wormholes [closed]
(This is based on the old wargame Starfire... but don't bother providing answers based on newer versions of said game.)
Spacecraft travel by inertialess drive -- that is, beyond mere reactionless ...
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WW2 Era Soviet Rifle Squad, Time Travels to 1066 England, attempts to take over [closed]
(This part is pretty hand-wavy, and only exists to provide context for a fun thought-experiment/fictional story. Feel free to skip to next paragraph) In 1943, the Soviet Union has developed what they ...
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How can a hive mind society controlled by an alien destroy human civilization?
I want to create a story where an alien had the power to telepathcally control the collective choices of human society (example controling how we feel about certain events , morals and political ...
user72048
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What is the best way to defeat a enemy of superior numbers but inferior technology?
Our protagonist civilization is based on a large island in the middle of the pacific(think half the size of Australia), has a population of 100 million, has abundant resources and is totally self-...
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How could a pre-emptive attack on dragon make sense?
So, one part that stayed consistent with my story drafts regarding one of my dragon characters is the pre-emptive strike.
You see, the dragon, Gyvaris, is supposed to have a bad attitude. He can ...
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How can tengu avoid being conquered?
So, I decided to replace elves with tengu, a race of six-limbed humanoid birds.
Firstly, because I'm tired of seeing Legolas everywhere. Second is that compared to a bog-standard human-elf romantic ...
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How could necromancy allow for widespread filibustering without making it too strong?
In the (roughly) D&D based world of ..., The Abyss, which birthed magic, gives men the power to fulfill the deepest and darkest desires of their hearts, unleashing great suffering upon their ...
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Lightning strikes a medieval army. What happens?
In a battle, a mage uses a spell that summons a bolt of lightning from the heavens to strike whatever the mage desires.
The lightning lands smack dab in the middle of a tightly packed formation of ...
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Why keep killing a reincarnating enemy? [closed]
Emperor Evulz has a worldwide empire of tyranny, and only the Chosen One™ has the magic to have a chance of stopping him. So he kills the Chosen One™, but the thing with prophecies is that they must ...
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My characters have been killing the same demons over and over again. How come the demons never adapt to them?
There are three "worlds" in this setting: Heaven, Hell and Midgard, Midgard being Earth and the entire Milkyway galaxy.
When a demon or an angel enters Midgard, they can't just walk there, as they ...
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Modern military through a portal logistics
Background: It's 2020 and the US military needs to invade an alien planet for freedom purposes. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is through a Stargate-esqe, non-moveable wormhole located at ...
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The curious case of tengu, the "geometric anomaly" of their human disguises and how they can overcome it
Tengu are humanoid creatures with many avian features, including wings and beaks. Now, this is a problem when it comes to disguises.
Disguises in this setting work by covering one's body in utility ...
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Poison needs time to affect a creature (especially large ones). What strategy would dragonslayers use then?
The first step of dragon slaying is pretty established:
First you locate a place that the dragon frequently visits (i.e: considers it to be safe) and place an offering. This is a combination of ...
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Would there be any advantage to employ once enemy mercenaries to fight in a medieval war?
Imagine 2 kingdoms are constantly at war and both sides would hire mercenaries for this cause, usually they will hires mercenary soldiers from the adjacent villages but this time one of the King's ...
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How can pole vaulting in medieval battle be useful?
I'm thinking of an elite stealth forces consisting of a handful of soldiers from the medieval times with the sole purpose of carrying out sneak attack on enemy camp especially to destroy important ...
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How would magic users be incorporated into the military?
My magical world is getting into the medieval age and plate armor is becoming a thing. My magic system is simply drawing runes in the air(sometimes)/ground. A skilled person could draw a simple rune ...
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How would a roughly medieval military be changed by flying couriers?
Aial is one of the most renown and sought after couriers in the world, that partly has to do with his work morale and partly with the fact that he's an aarakocra (I have to change that name because it'...
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How to adapt premodern warfare to area-of-effect magic?
This is the enemy infantry line.
This is our archmage casting fireball.
Area of effect spells can be found in most magic systems. However, whatever the exact effects of the spells are, hitting a ...
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Aftermath of the "Were plague": Dealing with "Strays"
One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into Legosi from Beastars. He felt a dull pain a bit above his behind, as he ...
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How can my 1.2 km long aircraft carrier catch ships like "Queen Anne's Revenge"? [closed]
Rod Reiss is the name of my fictional aircraft carrier. It's a 1.2 km long, 180 meters wide and 90 meters high slab of metalic foam of an alloy of aluminum, designed to withstand high temperatures. It'...
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To catch a mocking dragon [closed]
So, you've decided to be a dragon slayer. There are less convoluted ways of assisted suicide. However, if you aren't here to end it all and genuinely think you will be hailed as a hero, well, you won'...
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How can baseline humanity survive on its own in the future?
In the future, baseline humans are joined by gene-hacked humans, cyborgs, uplifted animals, and digital consciousnesses (synthetic or uploaded minds). Most states are either autopias (automated ...
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Do lightweight blockade-runner transports make single-seat space fighters obsolete?
The overall background and setting of this question: a mashup of Star Wars and the Freespace video game franchise.
Note: There's a comprehensive reference wiki on Freespace (easily searchable on ...
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What would be a reason for taking over the Washington Space Needle in a Post apocalyptic world battle [closed]
In the last battle of a story I am working on the last battle to be over the Space needle in Seattle Washington and I need a strategic reason why...
The Set up:
Two groups are fighting over the Space ...
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