| Text | - To win a war, or even a fight, one has to discard certain ideals of nobility and honour. While honour is a noble concept it is less noble to let your soldiers die because you follow some lofty goal. As a leader it is your foremost duty to ensure that as many of your soldiers as possible return home, unharmed, in tact and preferably victorious. This can't be done by open battles that follow some sort of code. Battles have certain dynamics that makes any code obsolete after the initial clash anyway. Therefore, the surest tactic for success is to weaken the enemy as much as possible before you even think about engaging them in battle at all. A hit and run tactic is a wonderful strategy for achieving this aim. This requires the army to operate in small groups, making the maximum use of the terrain, traps and distance weapons. Let the environment cause as much harm as possible. Force your enemy to seek its way through treacherous countryside, lure them into the lairs of animals and monsters and don't give them the chance to restock supplies. Don't grant them the comfort of an undisturbed rest. Harass and attack them constantly from afar so they never feel safe. Bleed them out and wear them down and don't let them retreat to safety because then they might return, and be better prepared as they are wise to the guerilla tactics you use. The main goal is always to keep your own casualties low. If the enemy has no or little distance attacks you might be able to pick many of his soldiers off without any meaningful retaliation. Let your distance fighters aim for key figures first whenever possible. If you face enemies with numerous distance fighters attack them under cover of night using your own shooters spread out wide and roughly aiming for the enemy's camp. When forced to fight in close quarters, use an ambush strategy whenever possible. If possible, be prepared for a hasty retreat when things turn out nasty. She who fights and runs away will live to fight another day.
- The art of war by Brianna Bonecrusher
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