Via BigGator5 comes this rather epic video game battle.
I have no quibble with BigGator5’s analysis, but I think that the penguins wasted too many of their own troops. And not only by falling off of the cliffs; they easily had the numbers to hold back a little, get more of the Santas out from the bottleneck, fix the forming skirmish line on one end, then wheel another force around to flank the line on the other side and form a pocket. When you have that kind of numerical superiority, you use it to minimize your own casualties. The next force of Santas that you meet might be better at turning a chokepoint into a meat grinder.
Moe Lane
PS: If I had been running the Santas I would have sent two rapid-reaction forces to secure skirmish lines outside of the chokepoint and kept a reserve in place to handle breaches.
And then watch them all die, probably, thanks to the three to one odds. But it was clear that the Santas were poor fighters, so you might as well get them all on the board where they don’t have to wait their turn to engage the enemy.
“…I think that the penguins wasted too many of their own troops. […] When you have that kind of numerical superiority, you use it to minimize your own casualties.”
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Agreed. Sign of a inflexible plan and weak officer class. Still the high ground and the Santa Claus army’s start in a box canyon, gave the Penguins all the advantages.
No argument there. But, obviously, it’s just as critical to do an after-battle analysis after you win as it is to do so after you lose. Maybe even more critical.
The Santas’ biggest failure was not calling in air support from sleighs drawn by eight tiny reindeer. Bursting ornaments would have created havoc in the penguins’ rear ranks. The Santas could also have used a couple of battalions of elves armed with missile weapons to scale the cliffs and shoot down into the mob.
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Alternatively, I’d just have laid back and used artillery to give the penguins a whiff of grape-nuts.