History CombatPragmatist / RealLIfe

** One popular tale that shows up occasionally in media is the hyena versus the lion. If the lion brings down a kill, the hyena will want it. But the lion is a master of combat and can easily kill the hyena, and the hyena knows this. So the hyena gets a few friends together, and they harass the lion: surrounding it and attacking it from behind when it tries to confront another hyena or eat its kill. Eventually, the lion realizes that it can't defend against the hyena assault, and leaves, while the hyenas get the kill. Or, if the lion is particularly old or frail, the hyenas get two.

** If the enemy can't touch you, they can't hurt you. [[JavelinThrower Darts, javelins]], [[SufferTheSlings slings]], and the [[ArcherArchetype bow and arrow]] were the first weapons developed to [[LongRangeFighter kill from a distance]], where an opponent couldn't poke holes in you with their melee weapons. As time passed, people focused on ways to get more range than their enemies. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower Spear-throwers]] gave users more leverage to hurl their weapons, which resulted in greater range. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)#Staff_sling Staff slings]] functioned on the same principle, were easier to use than regular slings, and the stave itself - which was up to two meters long - made for a handy melee weapon if an enemy got close. Bows became larger and more powerful, while arrows went from little more than sharpened sticks to having fletchings for accuracy and stone or metal arrowheads for better damage potential. Then barbed arrowheads were developed which stuck in flesh and would cause further injury when pulled out.

* Youtuber and Content Creator, [[LetsPlay/UberHaxorNova UberHaxorNova]] (aka James Wilson) loves his "cheese" moments [[DitzyGenius (when they work anyway)]]. Like perhaps many Gamers, Nova would mess-around, extort and even outright cheat in order to complete a game. Glitches, bugs and repeating sequences, while hilarious are Nova's specialty of sorts to abuse. However, as clever and unorthodox as he is, sometimes the game (or it's mechanics) just outright kicks him around.

** Poison. Even if an arrow or blade doesn't kill someone immediately, the poison could certainly finish them off. Even if they just get sick they still can't fight you at their best, or at all, and their comrades will be spending time and effort on keeping them alive. Poison could also let assassins pick off enemy leaders with small, easily concealed weapons that wouldn't be very dangerous otherwise, or contaminate an enemy army's supplies and make them sick.
** If the enemy can't touch you, they can't hurt you. [[JavelinThrower Darts, javelins]], [[SufferTheSlings slings]], and the [[ArcherArchetype bow and arrow]] were the first weapons developed to [[LongRangeFighter kill from a distance]], where an opponent couldn't poke holes in you with their melee weapons. As time passed people focused on ways to get more range than their enemies. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spear-thrower Spear-throwers]] gave users more leverage to hurl their weapons, which resulted in greater range. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_(weapon)#Staff_sling Staff slings]] functioned on the same principle, were easier to use than regular slings, and the stave itself - which was up to two meters long - made for a handy melee weapon if an enemy got close. Bows became larger and more powerful, while arrows went from little more than sharpened sticks to having fletchings for accuracy and stone or metal arrowheads for better damage potential. Then barbed arrowheads were developed which stuck in flesh and would cause further injury when pulled out.

* Steppe nomads in general. While agricultural nations have fought war, they have usually attempted to outmaneuver the enemy and avoid wanton bloodshed. The nomads themselves saw war as battle of annihilation, and their tactics were similar to rounding up a herd of animals and culling it, wanton brutality optional.

** And if you want to start twirling your mustache as well, you can even throw some land mines in with the ordinance as well, further delaying the repairs to the runway as some unfortunate souls have to get out there and clear the mines while crossing their fingers that there aren't any more time-delayed bombs ready to go off, and potentially having their commanders threaten their own lives if they don't get the runway fixed faster. Needless to say, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JP233 JP233]] combined all of the above into one nice little device.

** There's a saying: "If the engineer wants to get you by the balls, he will". There are - for a lack of a better word - downright evil ways to booby trap objects. One memorable story was about a booby trap that was set under a kitchen sink. The electrical circuit to detonate it was set inside the drain, with two metal plates separated by a sugar cube. The moment you turn on the water to wash your hands - boom.
** Combat engineers exaggerate this trope. They are trained in mine warfare, booby-trapping, and improvised munitions. The classical booby trap is to tilt a picture on the wall slightly, then rig an explosive charge with a mercury trigger behind it. When an enemy soldier - usually an officer - attempts to right the harmless-looking picture on the wall -- KABOOM!

** On that note Radio Operators. "Request fire mission on coordinates XXXX-XXXX, full barrage, over." BOOM. "Thank you, TOC, out."
* Note, however, that adhering to certain rules in warfare can be a form of CombatPragmatism as well. There is a good reason for NOT allowing troops to attack civilian targets at will, achieve objectives through deception, treachery, and sheer terror, alter action plans unpredictably to increase personal safety at any cost, ignore command structure and loot their own army's supplies for additional resources. Arguably, in the course of the war, the troops must be kept controllable and sane. If methodical application of combat pragmatism turns one's own men into dangerous killing machines, and enemy's civilian population into desperate fighters for survival, the long-term perspectives are not very bright.

** Even closer to the enemy (often with areas they think well secure) is sabotage. Particularly of note is Brigadier Philip Toosey, the real-life senior officer of the British POW construction teams in Thailand. Far and away from Pierre Boulle's Lt. Colonel Nicholson (and in fact, Toosey was pretty much Nicholson's opposite in every way), Toosey actively encouraged sabotage of all kinds to slow down construction of the bridges.

** Add to this snipers' tactics that include: use of demolition charges for [[DemolitionsExpert different purposes]], [[TrapMaster booby-trapping]], mandatory [[StealthExpert camouflage and stealth]], good old sound-masking, taking full advantage of different electronics and computers (range measuring, satellite communication, thermal scopes for night shooting, lasers, video feeds, etc), strongly encouraged tendency to request for fire mission before demasking their position, [[DoubleTap double tapping]], [[ColdSniper injuring one of the group to bait others out the cover]] and [[ProperlyParanoid increase the pressure]], general AwesomenessByAnalysis (they even use [[EverybodyHatesMathematics math]], what can be more [[CombatPragmatist "anything goes"]]!) and quite real [[EagleEyeDetection Eagle-Eye Detection]] achieved by tough training, and you have the dirty fighter by definition trained that way by the army.
* [[UsefulNotes/TheGloryThatWasRome The Roman Army]] lived and ruled on this in general, and in particular [[DeathFromAbove throwing a brief but intense barrage of two shield-crippling javelins per soldiers on the charging enemy before counterchanging]] and [[WeHaveReserves switching first-line troops in the middle of the battle to allow their combatants to be always relatively fresh.]] The effect would be akin to a meatgrinder, with the enemy wondering why they're feeling outnumbered when they were the more numerous one before the start of the battle.
* Colonists in the revolutionary war took what they learned about warfare from the natives. For the most part, warfare as taught by the British were men lining up and marching, readying a hail of bullets for their foes. This, paired with their iconic red coats, led to the urban legend [[note]]The War of Independence was won through actual battles done just as the British were taught, though snipers, raiders, and asymmetrical warfare were used by both sides[[/note]] that it made them easy pickings for the colonist rebels who hid in the trees and foliage in dirt-brown clothing.
* Artillery in general. With most weapons, you at very least have to see who you are attacking, which in turn the enemy theoretically could see you as well. Artillery often doesn't even grant this small mercy, firing over obstacles or even over the horizon at grid coordinates on a map, detached from the horror experienced by the unfortunate target.

* This is the entire point of [[RedsWithRockets Soviet Operational Art]]. While combat is ''always'' just [[StrategyVersusTactics a means to greater Strategic ends]] in the Red Army's conception of warfare, the ''best'' way of making combat unequal is not to field better weapons than the enemy but to be as strong as possible relative to the enemy wherever your forces actually engage them. In theory, a force that is 10% more combat-efficient/'stronger' man-for-man than an enemy force of the same size will inflict minimal losses upon and be utterly destroyed in combat by a force that is twenty times stronger than itself ([[ZergRush numbers]] being the key to this greater strength, of course). All good in theory, but only works against a force that sits there and lets it happen, and has no reserve force or reconnaissance capabilities. In reality, throwing twenty battalions of tanks at one battalion will lead to overly entangled supply lines, bogged together troops heavily vulnerable to artillery and airpower, and comically large losses.

* Flowery flash aside, this is heavily emphasized when it comes to the practical applications of Kung Fu. Your basic Snap Kick, as well as Dragon Head Fist, is a GroinAttack, Tiger Claw involves smashing someone's nose while stabbing their eyes, one application of the Jap Hsiao Ma form involves breaking someone's arm, and so on.\

* Flowery flash aside, this is heavily emphasized when it comes to the practical applications of Kung Fu. Your basic Snap Kick, as well as Dragon Head Fist, is a GroinAttack, Tiger Claw involves smashing someone's nose while stabbing their eyes, one application of the Jap Hsiao Ma form involves breaking someone's arm, and so on.

* Some martial arts schools adopt this kind of thinking. When a fight is imminent, your training tells you to focus all on getting away from the danger and living another day. If you're in a straight fight, or your opponent has a weapon that can be more harmful than just fists and feet, there's no way to guarantee you will win, so your tactics should be to disorient, distract, or outright cripple your opponent if it comes to it, all so you can get an opportunity to escape.