Outnumbered: Playing to Win
By: Duxburian
People always seem to complain about being outnumbered. In the minds of many, outnumbered means gloom and defeat. However, there are situations where being outnumbered can yield huge victory and massive lead margins. You could come out of a battle severely outnumbered, yet win with a lead, and without ever needing to control the Initiative! Here's how:
This is the most important part: You must be in the correct positions to accomplish victory. Meaning do not try to hold in the wrong types of places. Get out of the open and into any of the following:
A: Large, semi-dense woodsy area [best option]
B: Thick, dense grove of bushes, reeds, trees, etc.
C: Defensive Fortification [worst option]
Say you are a force of 2, with 6 enemies after your souls. Both teams are of great experience with similar weaponry, but the 6 enemies are getting arrogant due to their numbers advantage. I will explain what to do in each of the three option areas.
A: You have retreated to a semi-open forested area with large trees and small shrubs scattered about. Take up defensive positions and wait for the enemy. You don't need to hide or keep your location hidden. Those who give you that advice are outnumbered playing to lose. Here, we are outnumbered playing to win. Ths is not an ambush, this is a move in plain sight. The enemies will see you and rush up. Don't retreat. Let them come up, let them begin moving on a flank. Suddenly hit them, and hit them hard. Move around a lot, keep the enemies spread out. You are aiming to get at least 2 kills, and you are playing in a nothing-to-lose style. You are basically already dead. But if you get 2 kills, you are even, if you get 3, you are one up, etc. The enemy can only score 2 kills because there are only 2 of you! Say you do manage 3 in your bold, aggressive, all or nothing attack. You go off to respawn/come back in, then realize what you've just done. You are in the lead 3-2, severely outnumbered! Now, a few minutes go by, and you are back in. The enemy will come for you again. Repeat your past action. Attack, hit the enemy head on and go for those 2 or more kills. This is not a time for hiding, it is a time for aggressive attack. This is what really separates the boys from the men. Do you have the guts to attack in the face of a superior enemy? Do you have the guts to fight like you're already dead? If you do, you will start racking up kills, and each time, you cannot be more than 2 in the hole. So you see how you could build up a sizable lead? As long as you stay in the same kind of place, and refill during your grace period before coming back in, you should win a huge upset. Or you could move to either of the other 2 types of positions, as detailed below.
B: You have retreated to a thick, dense grove of something. Reeds are ideal. Make your presence known. Most enemies will be cautious, but you should be aggressive. Again, you are playing as if your 2 lives are already on the enemy's scoreboard. You MUST extract at least 2 kills in the reeds fighting before you both get hit. That way, you will be either even or ahead when out. Go refill, then use the rest of your grace period to find another dense grove or one of the other 2 good positions listed earlier.
C: You have retreated to a defensive fortification. Not a great choice, but say you were running under heavy fire and had no real choice. This doesn't have to be a fort, it can be any kind of defensive position. Preferably, something small on a high hill in a corner of the battlefield. You want your rear flank against something like a huge boulder, an out of bounds line, a big fence, anything. That way, the enemy is forced to approach on 2 or 3 flanks. It is easier to defend this way, and the same philosophy applies. You and your companion are already dead and the enemy is already up 0-2. Make that 2-2 or better before getting swamped. Even if you manage only one kill, that is still progress. While you are out for however many minutes are in your rules, refill and then try one of the other good outnumbered positions instead of defensive ones such as this.
So you see how you could rack up scores of 5-4, 6-2, even something huge, like 17-6? This has been proven to work. The Ridgewood Militia has real examples such as a 2v3 battle that we won 5-2 and a 1v4 battle that I tied 3.5-3.5.
You can win easily outnumbered, it can even be a big advantage for you, as long as you are playing to win, and mean business!
Posted: 20060531
