AbdulAlhazred
Legend
I agree that this is the COLOR that is being gone for. It is simply important to understand that the campaign setup will not sufficiently constrain or define the logistics of the various groups, the resources needed or available to them, nor really define what sorts of information are available to them. It probably will not even clearly enough delineate the environmental factors. So all of these elements will be decided by the GM, and the decisions will be primarily gamist and tone-related.I think there are some misunderstandings in regards to combat as war, when it comes to game balance and encounter difficulty. Combat as war, simply means that some of the opposition in your campaign strategizes. They plan each attack against the players thoroughly with the intent to win (whatever the winning condition may be), while possibly working with finite resources and intel. It also means that the players need to strategize in order to be victorious. In other words, it is a different approach to running a campaign/adventure, with more focus on strategy.
What combat as war is not, or does not have to be, is a meatgrinder. It doesn't mean the difficulty of the fights is any harder or easier than normal D&D encounters. The same balancing should still be considered by the DM. Combat of war describes merely the approach to combat by the players and their adversaries.
Combat as War can be used on a grand scale, where both the players and their enemies command large armies, or on a small scale, where one villain simply commands a small band of minions. It can be used for a short adventure, or for a campaign that lasts several years.
A DM who runs their campaign with Combat as War, seeks a more realistic/strategic approach to combat. They probably will include a few key elements in their campaign:
-Acquisition of war assets / building an army / building ships / obtaining better weapons
-Conquest of land and/or import buildings
-Securing of alliances / diplomacy / politics
-Gathering of Intel / espionage
-Strategic deployment of all of the above
As a whole, every campaign is a game. So they all eventually dance to the same constraints. However, I agree that IN THE FICTION games (or parts of them, either way) can focus on your list of elements, and that this makes a fairly definable and coherent style. Calling that style 'CaW' is of course perfectly fine .