Battles and Wars are usually won by the commander and his forces that are operating in accordance with a strategic or tactical plan, either developed well in advance or swiftly formulated and communicated to adapt to changing circumstances. The higher the Headquarters formation, the further ahead in time the formation should be planning. While no plan survives first contact with the enemy, and a commander should be ready to throw his plan away to adopt to changing circumstances, a poor plan is often better than no plan

Strategy typically looks ahead months and years, and is often set by the government of the nation, civil or military, and higher formation staffs. Allied strategy in World War Two was set at the conferences held by Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill. German strategy, certainly after the defeat at Stalingrad, was severely limited because Hitler rarely looked ahead more than a few days during times of crisis, much to his commanders disgust.

Strategy also includes the use of forces needed to keep military units supplied and operational. Arms, armour, equipment, ammunition and food all need to be considered by a headquarters planning their next strategic move.

Tactics are often dictated by the nations strategy. The military forces may be equipped a certain way which dictates their tactical use on the battlefield. English forces during the Hundred Years war had a dominant Longbow armed force which meant they often adopted the tactical defence even when on the strategic offence, a lesson General Lee should have followed at Gettysburg.

Obsolete equipment has often lead to units following out of date tactics, such as Torpedo Squadron Eight's attack at the Battle of Midway, even when they knew they were at a tactical disadvantage. Alternatively, obsolete equipment has been employed well by forces either strategically or tactically, to the detriment of their enemies. The 1940 invasion of France by German forces using concentrations of technically inferior tanks to defeat scattered groups of often superior French and British tanks.

Some commanders have failed to change their tactics or strategy to reflect changes being made by their enemies forces and equipment. Many battles of the First World War had huge casualty figures created in part by commanders inability to recognise the dominance of the machine gun in the defence. The French Napoleonic tactics of attacking in column remained basically unchanged for twenty years, but the British army under Wellington perfected the Line formation to defeat it.

In This Category

• On Land