Quotes About Tactics

The art of diplomacy is the luck of knowing more of your rival's secrets than he knows of yours. Always deal from a position of power.

War later is almost always better than war now.

El arte de la diplomacia consiste en tener la suerte de conocer más secretos de tu rival que este de ti. Actúa siempre desde una posición ventajosa. Estas eran las máximas de Artimañas. Y Veraz las acataba.

It was a war requiring the use of strategy as well as of tactics - but, above all, it was a war that could only be won by the use of superior technology and superior skills in command.

There were not enough guns and, as a result, their fire was too widely dispersed. Gas, so useful in other attacks, not least to deter the enemy gunners, was not employed in this bombardment, except for a small amount from French 75 mm guns. Many British guns were outranged by many German guns. The ammunition was all too often faulty, either failing to go off or sometimes exploding in the barrels of the guns. The weight of shot was not enough to penetrate the deep German dugouts

the large numbers attacking in the early hours of 1 July - 64 battalions, mostly in line - was of no advantage, since they simply offered a large target to the enemy guns. As a result, this 'extended line' formation was blown away in a matter of minutes, after which the survivors advanced, if at all, in small parties, dodging from crater to crater, a tactic which should arguably have been adopted from the start.

The generals were now two years into this war and it should have been - and indeed was - glaringly apparent that the methods being employed to attack the enemy lines, be they British, French or German, were simply not working. Increasing the scale of the attack by the current methods simply increased the number of casualties

Von Falkenhayn's plan for Verdun, however flawed in execution, was at least possible; he did not intend to gain ground, penetrate the enemy defences or take Verdun. He simply wanted to kill soldiers, to bleed the French Army to death. The Anglo-French Somme plan, even if it had not been disrupted and reduced by the Verdun offensive, was a far more risky business, with little chance of achieving its objectives without new tactical ideas and new equipment.

most of the French generals were, indeed, totally indifferent to the welfare of the men, provided the attacks went in.

by electing to hold Verdun, de Castelnau was doing exactly what von Falkenhayn wanted. He was opting to hold a position that could only be defended at a great cost in lives. The fact that it was to cost Germany as many men as France would prove a poor consolation; Germany had more men to lose.

The British Army was learning how to fight the 'all-arms' battle by this stage of the war; no longer would the brunt be left to the infantry.

I plan everything. I set everyone in motion, and when the moment comes, I strike. I always win in the end. They never see me coming. Know why? Because I'm already there.

Don't you agree? Swordplay is a dance of sorts, an understanding of the logical, most sophisticated next step. Except that in a fight, one must take the unexpected step. In dance it is all about taking the right, expected step.

If you're trying to take a roomful of people by surprise, it's a lot easier to hit your targets if you don't yell going through the door.

The Imperial Service could win a war without coffee, but would prefer not to have to.

Miles added it to his life's lessons list. Call it Rule 27B. Never make key tactical decisions while having electro-convulsive seizures.

Leadership is mostly a power over imagination, and never more so than in combat.

Military intelligence was as nothing to military stupidity.

You know, if you're trying to take a roomful of people by surprise, it's a lot easier to hit your targets if you don't yell going through the door.

And right or wrong, what I also saw was that you made an enemy, and left him alive behind you. Great charity. Bad tactics.

I guess it just doesn't look very heroic to sneak up behind somebody and shoot them in the back. I can't help thinking it would be more efficient, though.

a skilled soldier kills your enemies, but a skilled duelist kills your allies. I

from the outside most people can't tell the rapid exploitation of a belatedly recognized opportunity from deep-laid planning.

exactly what Commander Cavilo wants. It's why she shipped me back