This includes developing all the requisite background knowledge: What's the battlefield going to look like? What are the victory conditions? No, seriously what are the damned victory conditions? Who's on my side-- I mean, do I have ? Who's commanding them right now? What are we up against? Not just numbers, but units-- 30 Atlantians from Southern Cross is a different tool than 30 AEthelmaercians from Debatable Lands: neither one is inherently better than the other, they're just different tools (yes, we're ALL tools!) and they need to be put to different uses.
This first step ALSO includes (even WHILE gathering intel) developing several possible plans for winning, and selecting from these the one that (a) has the best chance to work and (b) will be fun for your guys (yes, that IS important-- in terms of long-term planning, crushing the enemy without having fun loses you guys in the long run!) Note that I don't care about the enemy having fun: that's their general's job, and I have my hands full enough, thanks...
This planning may include doing things that will change the answers to those questions-- if I can get some more of my guys to turn out, I'll do it! If I can make adjustments through training for what things my units are ready to do (changing the function of my tools), I'll do that, too. This is, I think, part of the first step...
This includes developing all the requisite background knowledge: What's the battlefield going to look like? What are the victory conditions? No, seriously what are the damned victory conditions? Who's on my side-- I mean, do I have ? Who's commanding them right now? What are we up against? Not just numbers, but units-- 30 Atlantians from Southern Cross is a different tool than 30 AEthelmaercians from Debatable Lands: neither one is inherently better than the other, they're just different tools (yes, we're ALL tools!) and they need to be put to different uses.
This first step ALSO includes (even WHILE gathering intel) developing several possible plans for winning, and selecting from these the one that (a) has the best chance to work and (b) will be fun for your guys (yes, that IS important-- in terms of long-term planning, crushing the enemy without having fun loses you guys in the long run!) Note that I don't care about the enemy having fun: that's their general's job, and I have my hands full enough, thanks...
This planning may include doing things that will change the answers to those questions-- if I can get some more of my guys to turn out, I'll do it! If I can make adjustments through training for what things my units are ready to do (changing the function of my tools), I'll do that, too. This is, I think, part of the first step...
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