Chess (I'd describe myself as a reasonable player) has similarities in a lot of ways with World War One. The opening moves are usually about gaining space and development and can be carefully planned out in advance (vis AJP Taylor's history that WW1 was imposed on the statesman of Europe by railway timetables). Once battle lines are effectively decided, it is a vital importance to be able to move forces rapidly from front to front; breakthroughs can be decisive but extremely costly. And of course, no-one gives a damn how many pawns die, so long as Field Marshall Haig's drinks cabinet moves 6 inches closer to Berlin.
In this context, pawns = infantrymen and the pieces are more akin to field artillery, railways, air/ tank support and the like: they are vulnerable, but mobile and crucially can provide support from distance.
on the other hand, some games of chess are nothing like this :). As are some aspects of WW1, which was (initially) a multiplayer game.
The difference between Starcraft and real wars is that, in Starcraft, you don't need to make up an excuse for the benefit of your own hard drive components before killing foreigners to get at their scarce resources.
Does anyone else feel guilty when destroying game stuff?
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Chess (I'd describe myself as a reasonable player) has similarities in a lot of ways with World War One. The opening moves are usually about gaining space and development and can be carefully planned out in advance (vis AJP Taylor's history that WW1 was imposed on the statesman of Europe by railway timetables). Once battle lines are effectively decided, it is a vital importance to be able to move forces rapidly from front to front; breakthroughs can be decisive but extremely costly. And of course, no-one gives a damn how many pawns die, so long as Field Marshall Haig's drinks cabinet moves 6 inches closer to Berlin.
In this context, pawns = infantrymen and the pieces are more akin to field artillery, railways, air/ tank support and the like: they are vulnerable, but mobile and crucially can provide support from distance.
on the other hand, some games of chess are nothing like this :). As are some aspects of WW1, which was (initially) a multiplayer game.
The difference between Starcraft and real wars is that, in Starcraft, you don't need to make up an excuse for the benefit of your own hard drive components before killing foreigners to get at their scarce resources.
Does anyone else feel guilty when destroying game stuff?