Fortune Magazine

General
#1

While I know there are players who wish this game to move even more towards a chesslike/strategy game, it was designed and intended to be a wargame. My fellow wargamers might find of interest a recent Fortune Magazine issue. It deals with decesions, good and bad, and how they are made.

Included in the magazine is the U.S. Marines’ doctrine on decision making, which parallels my experience in the U.S. Army and, indeed, in other large organizations. They can be applied to the wargame called “middle Earth”.

  1. Use your initiative. If you have to constantly seek guidance/approval of others/superiors you are a limited asset. Work within the mission but make your own decisions.

  2. Make decisions quickly. In ME we have the luxury of one to three week decision cycles, so this is less applicable. The military commander might have one to three seconds to make a decision. Still, don’t dither.

  3. Do something rather than nothing. Or as we use to say in the Army “do something even if it is wrong.” Constantly reacting will lose the game for you.

  4. Seventy percent is good enough. Perfect and complete information is impossible. If you think you know 70% of a situation it is enough to win, since it allows you to make good decisions.

  5. Team work. No body can do everything well himself. This is thrust home in the game constantly.

  6. Don’t fear making mistakes. In the game you only kill makebelieve characters and troops. Unlike the real commander who kills real men. So, why fear a mistake?

  7. Don’t micromanage. You kill creativity and initiative this way. More and more games/players are moving towards a fascistlike regimentation. Efficiency is everything. This will only work if your opponent is non-creative.

  8. Have clear objectives. Your ME team’s strategy should have a clear mission. IE, eliminate Rhuduar and then the WK.

  9. Share the lessons you learn. At least with your ME allies and friends.

#2

It’s when you #8 Have Clear Objectives and successfully implement #5 Team Work, that the “accountants” in the group descend into the lose-lose pit of #7 Micromanaging. First the suggestions with lots of smiley’s :slight_smile: :), then the frustrated “Hey guys, are we going with the (read: My) plan or what??” messages, then the private emails to the vocal dissenters, then the name calling… Been on both sides, t’is a fun game…

#3

ed,

great summation of the article. esp the points on initative, action, the 70% solution, mistakes and #8( too many times you miss the objective chasing targets of opportunity).

sm

#4

capless one…are you and shimel members of what harly-uk calls “Marc Pinsoneault”'s team…?

#5

In WotR game 239 I think they are called “Darrell Shimel”'s team.

#6

I take issue with #7. Micromanaging is quite important in this game. I would say that a careful reading of every teammate’s orders yields one major mistake a turn in a normal game. On the other hand, you could take it even further and call that micromanagement…

#7

veo…
yeah, thats the team. its ver 2.0 of the us 1 team, named such by harly from an old tourney we joined into as the first states team. its about 7-10 regulars, with 1-3 change in’s/ outs per game.
im shift key/ caps lock impaired.

dc… nice sarcasm, uk 239 should be fun.

sm

#8

That’s not micromanaging, that’s dedication to excellence, a clearing for which is a result of #5 Teamwork. Micromanaging is writing/changing those orders to suit #8 Have Clear Objectives without allowing for #1 Use Your Initiative and #6 Don’t Fear Mistakes. Somewhat of a grey area as every individual has their own “line” over which “managers” inevitably end up crossing, intentions notwithstanding.

#9

So by leveraging synergy we can value add options? A pro-active team naturally is action-oriented?