{"id":17503,"date":"2019-06-13T07:28:26","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T12:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?p=17503"},"modified":"2019-06-09T06:53:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-09T11:53:39","slug":"command-school-defense-in-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/","title":{"rendered":"Command School – Defense in Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"

“If victory is slow, men tire, morale sags. Sieges exhaust strength.”\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Sun Tzu, Chapter II: Waging of War, The Art of War<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m on a\u00a0Star Wars Rebellion<\/em> roll and see no reason to stop now. Last week, I used\u00a0Rebellion<\/em> to explain the concept of a spoiling attack<\/a>. Within that article, I mentioned in passing defense in depth. Today, I’ll dig into that topic directly while trying out a new toy for example generation. Don’t worry, it’s using\u00a0Rebellion<\/em> as an example.<\/p>\n

Defense in Depth<\/h3>\n

Defense in depth<\/strong> is perhaps best understood in opposition to a linear defense<\/strong>. The linear defense is the easiest to understand defensive tactic: line up all the defenders and hold the line<\/a>! This is your typical movie defensive and is indeed practiced in real life by forces which are generally\u00a0low on mobility, morale, or training. While this puts the strongest possible\u00a0defense, the most bodies and weapons, along a certain line, a linear defense is vulnerable to penetration and breakthroughs. One good punch can mean the end to a linear defense.<\/p>\n

So rather than rely on a single line, defense in depth<\/strong> layers defenses so that an attacker must assault across several defensive positions. Multiple, layered defensive positions, while less capable than a single major position, can sap combat power out of an attacker by making each step as costly as possible. This progressively weakens the attacker’s force, making victory at the final, decisive defensive position more likely for the defender. From there, a counter-attack or other active approach can be used to\u00a0shift into the offensive.<\/p>\n

Explanatory Example –\u00a0Star Wars Rebellion<\/em><\/h3>\n

I’m trying something new today. Rather than hope for a good board state from a Google search, I’ve replicated an actual board state from a recent game using Tabletop Simulator<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In this board state, replicated from a live game of Star Wars Rebellion, the Rebel player is using a layered defense in depth against the Empire.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here we can see the Rebels are using a strategy of defense in depth around Nal Hutta. Rather than mass forces on Nal Hutta, the Rebels are spread out. This allows them to fight disruptive battles. With\u00a0Rise of the Empire<\/em>‘s Advanced Tactics Cards<\/a>, the Rebels can inflict more casualties than their smaller numbers may otherwise indicate.<\/p>\n

Also note that given the strategic depth at play, the Rebels should have a chance to\u00a0build reinforcements on Nal Hutta at the end of this turn. By the time a battle comes at Nal Hutta, with an intermediate battle in between, the Imperial force starting at Rodia may not have enough combat power to win.<\/p>\n

Conclusion and Homework<\/h3>\n

Have you ever used or seen a defense in depth in your game? How useful is this concept for strategic versus tactical games? What about in non-war games?<\/p>\n

Until next time, class dismissed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“If victory is slow, men tire, morale sags. Sieges exhaust strength.”\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Sun Tzu, Chapter II: Waging of War, The Art of War I’m on a\u00a0Star Wars […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2256],"tags":[41,2397,2398,313,269,2252,204,1304],"class_list":["post-17503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-command-school","tag-board-games","tag-defense","tag-depth","tag-guide","tag-rebellion","tag-star-wars-rebellion","tag-strategy","tag-tactics"],"yoast_head":"\nCommand School - Defense in Depth - d20 Radio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Command School - Defense in Depth - d20 Radio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“If victory is slow, men tire, morale sags. Sieges exhaust strength.”\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Sun Tzu, Chapter II: Waging of War, The Art of War I’m on a\u00a0Star Wars [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"d20 Radio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-13T12:28:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1040\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"587\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Hunt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Hunt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christopher Hunt\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6dc9360533999dc957503e4a5996f085\"},\"headline\":\"Command School – Defense in Depth\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-13T12:28:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":488,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"board games\",\"defense\",\"depth\",\"Guide\",\"Rebellion\",\"star wars rebellion\",\"strategy\",\"Tactics\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Command School\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/\",\"name\":\"Command School - Defense in Depth - d20 Radio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-13T12:28:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg\",\"width\":1040,\"height\":587,\"caption\":\"In this board state, replicated from a live game of Star Wars Rebellion, the Rebel player is using a layered defense in depth against the Empire.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/command-school-defense-in-depth\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Command School – Defense in Depth\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\",\"name\":\"d20 Radio\",\"description\":\"Where Gamers Roll\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"d20 Radio\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/03\\\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":100,\"caption\":\"d20 Radio\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6dc9360533999dc957503e4a5996f085\",\"name\":\"Christopher Hunt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/52e77193b80d5f62ccedd213daf27a76cae0d3d113715e575b216ca8178c8cf3?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/52e77193b80d5f62ccedd213daf27a76cae0d3d113715e575b216ca8178c8cf3?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/52e77193b80d5f62ccedd213daf27a76cae0d3d113715e575b216ca8178c8cf3?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Christopher Hunt\"},\"description\":\"Christopher Hunt is a long-time gamer and has recently broke into the world of RPG freelancing. Chris\u2019 unofficial Star Wars RPG blog ran weekly on d20radio.com for the past three years. He has written for Rusted Iron Games, Raging Swan Press, and most recently Fantasy Flight Games\u2019 Star Wars RPG. Chris is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Political Science. Always the gamer, his thesis, which explores conflict short of war by uniting current threats to historical events, was inspired by a historical board game.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.d20radio.com\\\/main\\\/author\\\/zertz\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Command School - Defense in Depth - d20 Radio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Command School - Defense in Depth - d20 Radio","og_description":"“If victory is slow, men tire, morale sags. Sieges exhaust strength.”\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Sun Tzu, Chapter II: Waging of War, The Art of War I’m on a\u00a0Star Wars [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/","og_site_name":"d20 Radio","article_published_time":"2019-06-13T12:28:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1040,"height":587,"url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Christopher Hunt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Christopher Hunt","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/"},"author":{"name":"Christopher Hunt","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/6dc9360533999dc957503e4a5996f085"},"headline":"Command School – Defense in Depth","datePublished":"2019-06-13T12:28:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/"},"wordCount":488,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg","keywords":["board games","defense","depth","Guide","Rebellion","star wars rebellion","strategy","Tactics"],"articleSection":["Command School"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/","name":"Command School - Defense in Depth - d20 Radio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-13T12:28:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SWR_Defense_in_Depth_TTS.jpg","width":1040,"height":587,"caption":"In this board state, replicated from a live game of Star Wars Rebellion, the Rebel player is using a layered defense in depth against the Empire."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/command-school-defense-in-depth\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Command School – Defense in Depth"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/","name":"d20 Radio","description":"Where Gamers Roll","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#organization","name":"d20 Radio","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/cropped-gamernation_logo_siteheader-2.jpg","width":300,"height":100,"caption":"d20 Radio"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/#\/schema\/person\/6dc9360533999dc957503e4a5996f085","name":"Christopher Hunt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52e77193b80d5f62ccedd213daf27a76cae0d3d113715e575b216ca8178c8cf3?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52e77193b80d5f62ccedd213daf27a76cae0d3d113715e575b216ca8178c8cf3?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/52e77193b80d5f62ccedd213daf27a76cae0d3d113715e575b216ca8178c8cf3?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Christopher Hunt"},"description":"Christopher Hunt is a long-time gamer and has recently broke into the world of RPG freelancing. Chris\u2019 unofficial Star Wars RPG blog ran weekly on d20radio.com for the past three years. He has written for Rusted Iron Games, Raging Swan Press, and most recently Fantasy Flight Games\u2019 Star Wars RPG. Chris is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Political Science. Always the gamer, his thesis, which explores conflict short of war by uniting current threats to historical events, was inspired by a historical board game.","url":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/author\/zertz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17503"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17560,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503\/revisions\/17560"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.d20radio.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}