I've been thinking about this idea for a while, but just a week ago it finally came together into a usable system. During my 3 hardcore seasons of water wars so far, I've seen a huge amount of progression in tactics and changes in general attitudes toward various aspects of these wars. This new part of Tactical Theory will follow the Ridgewood Militia/Waterbridge teams through the progression of tactics, starting in the "Team Building Era" and terminating in the modern "Fluid Era". The progression has no time specifications, however, in this example, the teams hit various eras at various dates and years.

Each "Era" comes with a set of tactical beliefs and attitudes that can change drastically when that era terminates. Some can terminate abruptly, while others may transition gradually. It depends on your team. There is no one universal era for any date in time, since any team can be in any era at any time.

There have been 5 distinct "Eras" so far: [Again, dates only apply for the example]

The Team Building Era [2002-2003]
The Fort-Building Era [2003-2004]
The Firepower Era [2004-2005]
The Progressive Era [2005]
The Fluid Era [2006-?]

Waterbridge started as the quintessential team of the Team-Building Era [locally], which took hold throughout the community at that time. The RM, by contrast, was an innovative type of team formed during the height of the [local] Firepower Era. The impacts of this continue to date, as Waterbridge still uses some outdated Progressive Era tactics, while some RM members actually create new Fluid Era tactics.

Because much of the Fluid Era innovation comes from the RM/WB and is not documented yet, the community is largely in the dark about tactical progression. Many new members display the attitudes of the Fort-Building or Firepower Eras, in fact the majority of the community does.

I'm not going to bother describing these stages here and now, since I could ramble on for pages and pages. Descriptions will come slowly, one at a time.

Oh, there are exceptions to the natural progression. A team can slide backward in the progression, or skip one moving forward. Skipping in either direction is rare, although a team could start anywhere depending on caliber. Teams of higher caliber tend to have built up to the more recent eras, while lower caliber teams tend to still be in the older eras.

This is definately one of my stranger concepts, although it should make more sense when the descriptions come into play. This concept will be included in Tactical Theory and in the book.

I'm still wondering whether or not all teams have to go through each era. Do they have to or not?

It's all very well thought out, though. Tactics are indeed of utmost importance, past things like forts and all.

From what I gather they don't have to, but most teams do and it's uncommon for a team to skip an era. Also, a team could start out in any era depending on the player's concepts of tactics etc.

The whole system itself is very fluid-no team has to start in any particular place, and they don't have to hit every era. In fact, many teams stay in just one or two for whatever reasons. Those involved in the community often start in more advanced eras or are able to skip since they have access to new ideas.

Update: Progression of Tactical Evolution now uses two variables for better accuracy:

Progression:
Team-Building Era
Fort-Building Era
Firepower Era
Progressive Era
Fluid Era
Professional Era

Team Caliber:
Developing
Informal
Novice
Average
Advanced
Hardcore
Extreme or Professional [2 different, unrelated options]

So there are 48 different possible combinations of team and fighting style. However, the Progression variable does NOT apply to soakfest or free for all games. Those game types are not played for score, kills, or lives, and therefore do not have the same intellectual component that is developed in the later stages of the Progression. Team Caliber, and some other concepts of Tactical Theory still apply to soakfests.

I might as well reinstate my comments over at iScF. Adding the second variable really completes the entire concept, as it allows for different types of skill and different amounts of experience, or vice versa. Definitely removes all the confusion and potentially controversial analyses for some teams or individuals (like me).

Unfortunately for some, including myself, change in the Tactical Theory is relentless. The Progression has shifted again. The Progression of Tactical Evolution and Caliber of Personal Progression are now simply Personal and Natural Progression. The ranges remain very similar, with Novice, Normal, Advanced, Hardcore, Diehard, and Pro for Personal and Novice, Firepower, Progressive, Fluid, and Pro for Natural. However, now both Novice and Pro are temporary. Whatever elitism was present in the Theory before has now been struck out.