History Main / HollywoodTactics

* At first glance, the Battle of Ostagar from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has this in droves. We see such gems as: archers only firing one volley before sending in the hounds and soldiers, the army lining up ''outside'' their fortifications, archers firing into a melee and having the entire battle plan rely on flanking the enemy... who aren't even attacking in organized regiments. That is until we learn that [[spoiler:Loghain Mac Tir, the King's greatest strategist, deliberately set up the entire battle to ensure that the Ferelden army at Ostagar would lose and King Cailin would be killed.]] Coupled with the fact that King Cailin himself is...[[IdiotHero not the brightest strategist]] and is focused on glory and storybook-style victories, and this actually becomes quite believable.

** The two cutscenes of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius'' that show actual wars being waged are both utterly ridiculous instances of GameplayAndStorySegregation, considering that using cavalry, infantry and archers/mages correctly is kind of ''the whole point'' of the series. Instead, Begnion's greatest commander has... one million-man box - no divisions or formation, just a box - of spearmen, plus himself, who has a sword. All of them are on foot. When they engage the laguz, it turns into an enormous brawl, with everyone spreading out to dance around ineffectively at each other. It did include at least one ballista and a few armor knights, though not in any discernible formation.

* ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'':

* Putting your general in the front lines. At least, so long as him fighting isn't a [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking major part of your strategy]] or a cultural component of how warfare is waged.

** All of the capital ships in Star Wars suffer from a severe case of ArbitraryMaximumRange. The Battle of Corsucant in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' shows enormous cruisers flying practically right beside each other and trading broadsides like ships of the line did in sailing days. ([[InvokedTrope Admittedly]], [[SpaceIsAnOcean this was probably the point.]])

* This is lampshaded, averted, and used as evidence that someone lied about his resume in the movie ''Film/{{Ronin}}''. In planning an attack on a convoy, Creator/SeanBean suggests putting guys on either side of the street. Creator/RobertDeNiro immediately points out that they'd be shooting at ''each other'' and calls him an idiot.

* ''Film/KingArthur'': You have a wall. A huge, fortified wall. Outside the wall is a horde of Saxon barbarians howling for your blood. Obviously, the most intelligent tactic in this situation is to ''open the wall's gates and allow the barbarians to march in so you could face them in a fair fight with your poorly armed and outmanned forces''. I can certainly see how [[Myth/KingArthur Arthur became legendary]].

** In the battle before the gates of Mordor, the heavily outnumbered and surrounded Army of the West break ranks and charge into the enemy, whereas in the book they hold their formations on higher ground and let the enemy come to them. Also, in the film version they arrive on war horses but inexplicably dismount and attack on foot.

** A giant lizard the size of a skyscraper attacks, and the military decides the best course of action is to attack with '''infantry soldiers armed with anti-personnel rifles'''. Heavy machine guns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, artillery, tanks, rocket artillery, any other form of armored fighting vehicle, bombers, fighters, gunships, battleships... basically ''anything else'' besides infantry are ignored almost entirely until the finale. Guided missiles are used early on, but not only are the missiles slow enough for [[FanNickname GINO]] to ''outrun them'' they [[FridgeLogic somehow]] can't lock onto him because he's exothermic.

* ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'':

** The Jem'Hadar also do the same "stand straight up and march like a 17th century Tercio" routine that ''StarWars'' armies love, while the defending Federation forces shoot at them one-at-a-time with single bursts from a phaser rifle, instead of throwing a grenade into the Jem'Hadar ranks.

* Strangely inverted in the opening movie of ''[[VideoGame/{{Civilization}} Civilization VI]]''. It depicts realistic WWII tactics like loose-order infantry advancing while firing on the run... except they're carried out by 17th-century Polish troops with muskets, who ''should'' be using old-school mass formations.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Transformers}}'' sometimes falls into this trap for large battles, especially aerial. For the most part it does squad-based action pretty well, if a bit static. (Thank goodness nobody ever thought to make giant robot-sized grenades a standard!) In the third movie, [[spoiler:some prototypes of anti-Cybertronian grenades, usable by humans, show up.]]

* The SEARRS troops in ''Anime/MaiHime'': Engaging targets on an open field without any attempt to use fire support, not even snipers. Knowing that the enemy has at least one air asset but not bringing your own air cover or even sufficient anti-air. No attempts made to locate and neutralise the enemy's headquarters to force a decisive victory. The list goes on.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg:
** The Confederacy and the Union had been duking it out at Gettysburg for about three days. The North's position was so well established, that the South had attempted two major flanking maneuvers and had been repulsed both times. The Union has better fed, better equipped, and better trained soldiers than the South. Still, both armies had inflicted a similar number of casualties on each other. It was anyone's game, but the Union could not be allowed to gain reinforcements or further fortify their position. Between the two armies lay a large, open field. As an act of desperation, Lee decided he should take the least predictable course of action possible... running straight up the gullet in a dramatic but moronic attack. Never mind that they had to run into cannon range whilst leaving their cannons at ineffective range. Never mind that this sort of attack can only succeed when outnumbers the enemy pretty handily, but the ''South'' was outnumbered by the ''North''.
** Early on the third day, the Confederates tried to use an artillery barrage to eliminate Union artillery. Henry J. Hunt, commander of the Union artillery, couldn't really see to return fire-- but he deliberately stepped down counterbattery fire slowly to give the impression that the Confederate barrage was working. (That is, that the Union guns were going silent one by one because they were being destroyed.) Alexander fell for it; Lee followed suit, even though it was quite obvious even under Napoleonic tactics that the defending side had to concentrate its artillery effort on fighting the infantry charge and that counter-battery fire was an "optional extra" at best, a dangerous waste of ammunition and exposure of one's owns batteries at worst. See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett%27s_Charge#Artillery_barrage here]].
** One factor that may have played a part was that not long before Gettysburg Lee had succeeded in sending an army that outnumbered his by a factor of 2 or 3 to 1 into full retreat at Chancellorsville, which may have led him to underestimate the morale of the Union troops and commanders, although after after ''two days'' of hard fighting he should have known better. Also worth remembering: Several charges every bit as foolhardy as Pickett's had been repulsed with ease by Lee's army at Fredericksburg a few months earlier. That a similar charges succeeded later that year as the Army of the Cumberland stormed Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga, could not be foreseen (it indeed happened without orders).
* The French commander at Minden (1759) thought that in view of certain peculiarities of the battlefield it would be a good idea to invert the standard 18th century formation of infantry in the centre and cavalry on the wings. This resulted in a large cavalry formation insufficiently supported by a little artillery running into the British and Hanoverian reserves (infantry supported by artillery). Said reserve was in line but presented no open flanks and thus it actually succeeded in pushing back the French cavalry.
* The battle of [[http://www.niderost.com/pages/Battle_of_Marignano.htm Marignano]] between the Swiss and the French. Granted, the Swiss pull this intentionally, to show the superiority of the pike over the cannon. And they might have too, if not for the Venetian reinforcements!
* The victors of the battle of Marignano would fall victim to this trope themselves--and by "the victors", we don't just mean "the French"; we mean "the exact same French people who were at Marignano"--at the battle of Pavia several years later. The French actually outgunned their Spanish/Holy Roman Imperial opponents in artillery by a wide margin; unfortunately, King Francois I [[HonorBeforeReason decided to end the battle with a glorious cavalry charge]]. A charge which put him, his royal guard, and the cream of the French nobility ''directly between the French cannons and the enemy''. Needless to say, firing was not an option. End result: The French are defeated, Francois becomes the first post-medieval French ruler to become a prisoner of war, and King of Spain/Holy Roman Emperor Charles V is supreme in Italy.
* As mentioned in the ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' example above, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Hattin Hattin]].
* The psychological attacks made by the Whites during the [[UsefulNotes/RedOctober Russian Civil War]]. Involved soldiers marching straight to the enemy lines, without ducking, ignoring bullets. Some generals added twists to the basic tactic: the Volunteer Army men smoked cigarettes while marching, General Slaschev's men ate sunflower seeds. The aim was to intimidate the Reds with the Whites' fearlessness. Usually it didn't work, but sometimes it did.
* Too many medieval armies to count fell into this due to chivalry. The Teutonic Knights fell victim to this during the battle of Lake Peipus. Abandoned by 4500 Estonian infantry, 500 Teutonic Knights failed to retreat as any sane commander would have ordered, instead charging straight into the centre of a balanced army of heavy cavalry, horse archers and Novgorod militia. 400 of the knights were killed, 20 of them members of the order, as their retreat was cut short by the ice underneath them giving way.
* The Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe also counts as this. The European armies at that time were centered around chivalry and honor. Tactics used were about as advanced as simply charging the enemy army, with the expectation that God would let the righteous win the battle. The Mongols on the other hand had very disciplined soldiers and excellent tactics. The Hungarians and the Poles had their armies completely annihilated through simple but brutally effective tactics. By the same force. ''On successive days''.
* The Iraqi Army in 1991 deploying in Kuwait with its right wing sticking out like a "kick-me" sign.
* The Battle of Flodden (1513), the Scots got the high-ground, but it was so high that they couldn't depress their cannons enough to actually hit the English, who made good use of their own cannons. Placing most of their officers[[note]]which is to say, ''the entire Scottish aristocracy'', most of whom - including ''the King'' - died in the battle, throwing that country into disarray[[/note]] in the front line didn't help either, and the slope of the hill was such that they struggled to maintain formations when they did eventually charge.
* Repeatedly, on both sides, at the Battle of Waterloo, mostly by cavalry commanders.
** Soult's initial attack on the British line was for some long-lost reason ordered to advance by division column, presenting a huge target which was promptly shot to pieces.
** The British cavalry under Ponsonby defeated the first French assault and, apparently under the impression that they could win the battle in the opening stages, surged across the field until they reached the artillery positions, which they couldn't disable as they hadn't brought any spikes. Exhausted and out of formation, they positioned themselves perfectly for a French counterattack which all but wiped them out.
** Not long afterwards, Marshal Ney on the French side attempted to sweep aside what he thought was faltering British resistance with a massed cavalry charge. The results were predictable to anyone who was not Marshal Ney. Later in the day Ney wanted to try the same thing again (with a better chance of success this time) and Napoleon told him where to get off.
** As the Prussian army arrived and defeat loomed for Napoleon, he ordered the Imperial Guard forward in a glorious last-ditch charge. Napoleon had crushed a similar last-hope advance by the Russian Imperial Guard at Austerlitz and Wellington did the same thing to him.
* Custer's Last Stand is to (Non-native) Americans what the Charge of the Light Brigade is to the British. The reasons why this turned into a CurbStompBattle instead of a CakeWalk are still being debated but several points are generally accepted.
## Custer decided to attack a force that outnumbered his significantly.
## This smaller force was split up into even smaller, separate units, inviting defeat in detail.
## The force with Custer was killed to the last man.
* The battle of Antioch in the first crusade. The crusading army was pinned down in Antioch, a city in Syria, where they had recently conquered the lower part of the city. What they did not conquer, however, was a fortress in the heart of the city, where the defending Muslims had retreated to. A relief force was sent by the ruling Turks, who controlled Syria and much of the rest of the Middle East at the time. This meant that the Christian army was not only outnumbered, but was forced to retreat into the city... where the Muslims garrison still hung on, even as the Turks were camped outside. To make matters worse, Antioch had fallen in the first place (save the city's fortress), because the Crusading army had starved the defenders into submission, meaning that there was little food in the city for the Crusaders, who now also starved. To make a long story short, the outnumbered and starving Crusaders charged the Turks in a straight-up frontal attack, and completely routed the larger army. Then the Muslim garrison surrendered in the city.
* The [[https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-i/the-battle-of-kovel-disaster-amid.html Battle of Kovel]] is a textbook example of the consequences of using Hollywood Tactics in real life.
** In 1916, the Russian Army decided to capture the city of Kovel, which the Germans then held. Responsibility for the capture of the city was given to the Russian Guards Army, an elite force composed of the best men Russia had to offer. Unfortunately, the Guards at Kovel were commanded by Grand Duke Paul, a pampered Russian aristocrat and personal friend of Czar Nicholas. The Germans had prepared the area for an assault, placing barbed wire and machine-gun nests along the front. The area around Kovel was a swampy marsh, and the only way to approach frontally was along three narrow causeways. Grand Duke Paul was ordered to take the Guards Army on a flank march. Complaining that a flank attack was below the dignity of such an elite force as the Guards Army, he disobeyed orders and launched a frontal assault.
** Two of Russia's greatest units, the Preobrazhensky Guards and the Imperial Rifle Regiment, marched down the causeways towards German lines, with predictable results. German machine-gun fire and aerial bombardment cut down tens of thousands of the approaching Guards. Many of the Guards tried to wade through the marsh, resulting in thousands drowning in the swamp. Making matters even worse, the Russian artillery had been ordered to bombard German positions in the center, on the assumption that the Guards would be attacking on the flanks as ordered. The Russian artillery opened fire, killing many of the misplaced Guards.
** The Guards proved their legendary reputation for courage; taking the German trenches with 70% casualties. Russian cavalry was now called up to exploit the breakthrough, but refused to advance in the nightmarish conditions. Without support, the Guards had to abandon the German trenches and retreat back to Russian lines under heavy fire. The disastrous assault had resulted in 55,000 Russian casualties, with nothing to show for it.
[[/folder]]

* Many examples in ''Film/StarshipTroopers''. The writer's intent seems to use the high casualties from battles to hammer home the message that WarIsHell, but it's poorly executed and instead the human characters just come off as TooDumbToLive. {{Averted}} by the [[ItCanThink Bugs]], who use combined arms tactics, stage ambushes, and effectively use expendable drones to soak up fire. The "battle of Klendathu" is the biggest offender:

** Now, to be fair, they did have the portcullis closed at the beginning of the battle, hence why Snow White sent the Dwarfs as an infiltration team to open them. They should still have paid attention to the notion that the portcullis was being opened as Snow White's army was charging the gates.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' doesn't have many battles at all, but there's one, in particular, that is just painful for any general worth his salt to watch unfold. The episode "Meltdown" has Rimmer be in command of a small group of freedom fighters against the "Cream of Evil", which included tactical minds like Napoleon, Richard III, Goering, Hitler, etc. Rimmer has to do with more pacifistic people such as Albert Einstein, Pythagoras, and Mahatma Gandhi. Rimmer makes the call of having them do drills in preparation, that's one thing. But then he reveals his plan: To attack under the cover of daylight. To quote the man: "It's the last thing they'll be expecting, a daylight charge over the minefield." Unlike most examples here, this one is intended to sound stupid by the writers and is very much played for grim laughs as the assault goes just as badly as you might expect.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'' doesn't have many battles at all, but there's one, in particular, that is just painful for any general worth his salt to watch unfold. The episode "Meltdown" has Rimmer be in command of a small group of freedom fighters against the "Cream of Evil", which included tactical minds like Napoleon, Richard III, Goering, Hitler, etc. Rimmer has to do with more pacifistic people such as Albert Einstein, Pythagoras, and Mahatma Gandhi. Rimmer makes the call of having them do drills in preparation, that's one thing. But then he reveals his plan: To attack under the cover of daylight. To quote the man: "It's the last thing they'll be expecting, a daylight charge over the minefield." Call this troper paranoid, but isn't a charge across a minefield in broad daylight somewhat... suicidal?