Why Ambushes are Deadly in Real-Time Strategy Games

Why are ambushes so effective in dispatching your enemies? Here is a brief summary of why you should consider setting ambushes when you play a strategy games.

Ambushing is very similar to how a hunter hunts their prey. They set a trap, and wait for their prey to fall into the trap, making the kill very easy. Ambushing is the art of hiding your troops, and waiting for your enemies to pass a favorable spot for a skirmish before attacking first.

Firstly, a proper ambush applies the element of surprise. After launching an ambush, your enemies would become disarrayed while your troops are carrying out their duties with the most deadly efficiency. This means that you will be able to cause a substantial amount of damage before your enemy gets their bearings. At this time, you should have already wiped out most of the oppositional troops before they can make a significant difference.

Let’s put ambushing into a scenario. You are hiding twenty infantry units in the forest. A small strike force crosses the forest path. The strike force composes of thirty-five infantry units. As get closer to your troops’ position, they exit their hiding spots and fire. The twenty infantry manage to neutralize fourteen infantry within the first bullet barrage. The enemy infantry are scattered and confused, randomly shooting. They manage to nick four of your infantry. Your infantry launch another barrage of bullets, taking out a larger amount of infantry now that they can aim for their target. They neutralize sixteen of the enemy infantry. The enemy is left with five infantry units. They are too small a force to do considerable damage, and surrender.

Of course in a video game, the rules and gameplay may vary. Nevertheless, the option to set an ambush is always a tactic that should not be ignored. There are games where ambush attacks would cause more damage, or may surprise an enemy unit and render it unresponsive for several seconds. There are even scenarios where you can place a few infantry in ambush and destroy tanks when they launch the surprise. No matter what ambushing does, do it.

In real-time strategy games, hiding your troops may literally hide your units! R.U.S.E., for example, allows you to place artillery and infantry in forests. This hides the units from the enemy’s eyes. Whenever a unit discloses their position to attack, they also gain a 30% damage boost, which allows less deadly units to do much more damage, especially en masse! On top of all that, and because this is a video game, the units go back into hiding, allowing them to use the damage boost until they exit the forested area or are destroyed.

If you haven’t gotten the gist of the article yet, use ambushes as much as you can. Depending on your game, your units can become stronger, you can make your enemy disorganized, you can make your enemy scared (actual factor in certain games), and many other kinds of advantages that a strategist like you appreciate.

Stay updated with Decent Gamer. In the near future, many examples of ambushes will be further elaborated and explained.