Fortress Strategy: A Discussion with Army Commanding General NXNW
![Australia](http://www.erepublik.net/images/flags_png/S/USA.png)
Aeros
Having heard so much of the tactical reasoning as to why it’s bad to implement reforms to our present retention efforts, I decided I needed to get some information right from the horses mouth. Today’s edition is a discussion I had with the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Commanding General of the US Army, NXNW.
Sir, You have spent most of your career out of the eyes of the general population. What has compelled you to come forward so publicly now?
”I think this is too important an issue to ignore. I have found a special niche in eRepublic and have stayed away from politics. Unfortunately, I see the present situation as a security issue.”
By issue you are referring to the present debate surrounding America’s fortress strategy?
“absolutely”
This is a bit strange coming from the Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs. Many of the arguments for the status quo are saying the military is 100% behind their stand.
“Well, the people saying that certainly have not spoken to me. I wonder who else they have missed.”
You say that the present strategy is a security issue. Would you care to elaborate?
“When I first started playing erep (almost a year ago) military forces were by and large relatively small groups of elite troops-think knights and squires. We have moved beyond that to a sort of industrial warfare similar to WW1 with large armies on the move. In this era of "industrial warfare" quantity has a special quality. It is no secret that the eUS is now the 4th most populous state in eRepublik. This is not a good trend.”
But I've been told our population trends are normal for the circumstances. Since you were active prior to the invasion, would you agree with that assessment?
“No. We have returned to pre WW3 doldrums. This might be acceptable to some people but in my opinion it is not "normal" for one of the most dynamic e-cultures to let thousands of citizens a month just fade away. Other nations would kill to have 300 new citizens a day.”
It’s been said that the reason for that is the Game and not for lack of effort on the Governments part
“I must take the chance to give high praise to the people who volunteer for the various welcoming groups. That is hard work and often thankless. I do not think anyone is to blame per se but it is obvious that the status quo does not work and it is time for new methods.”
What sort of new methods would you be in favor of?
“I think it is worthwhile to plant a couple Q2 hospitals in states with large RL populations. Max McFarland has graciously volunteered to provide the Q2s at cost. This is a low cost venture that could yield results. Even if it fails, we will have at least tried to do something.”
This has been brought up before as you know, but has been voted down by Congress because they believe it would weaken the fortress strategy. They have also stated for this reason they will never follow through with this idea. What are your thoughts on this?
“If we had even 3K “extra” citizens not in a Fortress state, we would not need the fortress because we would have the strength to go on the offensive against our enemies. You also have to ask yourself if anyone would be willing to tangle with us and 60,000 poles. The best defense is a good offense. Also, the mega fort in FL did not stop an invasion in the first place.”
Hold on, we've heard for months now that Fortress Florida saved America
“If PEACE had wanted to spend the money (which they had on hand) they could have overrun Florida. The reason they did not go for it was because they thought they had us beat and that we intended to sign a surrender treaty. Also remember that Canada and Spain had just been renewed as countries and were proving a distraction. You also have to remember that wiping us out would have been good for the eUS in many ways. We would have been able to come back with no open wars but all of our MPP’s. “
Going back to how war has changed since last year, would our Fortresses withstand a direct attack from a major phoenix power like Hungary, or a situation of the UK with MPP's?
“ If the other side is willing to spend the money any region can be taken. Look at Spain vs France & allies. Now Spain is pretty bad ass, but France had 2 fortress regions (and built a third); but the Spanish had the troops and the gold to go for it.”
So you are saying that at the end of the day, the size of a wall does not ultimately matter?
“A wall constitutes a moving target. Take Poland for example. 60k people hitting the same spot can lay down some serious damage. Also, check out the Huns. They had a baby boom. Not all those people stuck around but that "generation" has given them a huge core of generals & FMs. bottom line, if you have the money and the human capitol you can do almost anything. Not to toot our own horn but wins in Manitoba, Nunavut, Alaska, Liaoning & Karnataka back up that assertion.”
Any final thoughts on the debate that has currently swept the country?
“it is good to see that so many people care so much. And I applaud the fact that there has been very little in the way of dirty politics. But if the status quo isn't working it is time to experiment, see what happens. Isn’t one definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?”
Truer words could never have been said, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me sir
Comments
Vote!!
v
ILOVEAMANDACREWMAXXX!!!
Fourth!
Just say no to Q2 hospitals
I'm all for putting some Q2 hospitals in states we may see a big boom in, personally.
unsubbed because I'm fed up of this crap.
The General himself speaks!
7o!
Q5s in every state is ridiculous and impractical. But first aid stations (Q2s) in 10 or 12 populous states could help our retention. Why not try 2 or 3 and measure?
Q2 hospitals may not be the answer but not doing anything about failing retention efforts is not a option, something must be done. I expect retention to be a major issue in the next prez elections.
This debate about Hospitals is taking place in other eCountries (eSpain for example) and, it´s starting to sound a little logical.
1 or 2 Q2 might be interesting in eSpain or eUsa.
We'll never know unless we try.
General NXNW, sir! O7
~hyuu~
It still is not clear why we would build these Q2 hospitals which have for all intents and purposes 0 value to anything.
Anyone that would fight using a Q2 hospital is probably someone who doesn't know how to use a hospital in the first place.
Is this some sort of morale boost theory? No one is going to stick around because they got a Q2 hospital in their region.
Great interview and I totally agree that 3 fortress strategy is overrated. We need hospitals in states like Texas. Q2's are cheap and would serve well.
You must have gotten a dead horse for Christmas, because you have been beating it mercilessly since then.
Retaining citizens should be the prime goal. This new idea should be tried because we're losing so many people now doing the same old thing. Get people to stick around for a couple of weeks, learn how things work and get them hooked into staying.
People quit this game because it's really freaking boring the first week, not because they don't have a hospital in there state.
"I think it is worthwhile to plant a couple Q2 hospitals in states with large RL populations. Max McFarland has graciously volunteered to provide the Q2s at cost. This is a low cost venture that could yield results. Even if it fails, we will have at least tried to do something."
EVERYONE AGREES THAT RETENTION IS A PROBLEM. This argument is faulty because it WILL NOT WORK. How do Q2 Hospitals help with retention? AT ALL??????
pLEASE VOTE: http://www.erepublik.com/es/article/la-vida-real-y-erepublik-1154642/1/20" target="_blank">http://www.erepublik.com/es/article/la-v[..]1/20
Hail USA
Hail Spain
HAIL EDEN
When a bunch of Q2 hospitals cause this amount of drama, they should be built. If only for the lulz.
This argument now tops the list of wasteful arguments...if some clown wants to stay in a q2 hospital region he doesn't make a good citizen. And if he stays in the game solely because of that...send em to Phoenix.
Q5 or go home.
Excellent interview.
its nice to see that there are more people in the government that supports us on our efforts of building a stronger safer eusa.
If you do the same thing over and over, you should not expect different results. Either admin make the game better, less tedious for the beginner, or we try the insane ideas to see what will be the result.
Don't chicken out! Make every state a fortress! Michigan is surrounded by the Great Lakes - should be the next fortress! Michigan Militia needs a fortress!
Put one in New York just to shut people up
"EVERYONE AGREES THAT RETENTION IS A PROBLEM. This argument is faulty because it WILL NOT WORK. How do Q2 Hospitals help with retention? AT ALL??????"
A player in the wasteland doesn't follow the eUS guidelines for the new world, they listen to Plato. Plato never tells you to move to a fortress state but he certainly tells you to fight when a battle is available. A new player will listen to the game's BUILT IN HELP instead of the spam/propaganda/jargon in the top 5 news, at least until they get a more comprehensive understanding of the game and can make the informed decision to move to a Q5.
Great interview! Seems there is are some in the administration who agree that trying anything is better than sitting here with your thumb up your butt.
The Fortress Strategy was never perfect, and a lot of factors contributed to us being saved, but the high wall in Florida was definitely one of them.
This interview doesn't change the fact that what we need is better player retention, not more hospitals. Whatever resources we could put into hospitals should go into getting our fighting capabilities up so that we can defend our fortresses.
This used to be my favorite paper because of your military insight, one more damn hospital paper and I'm unsubbing.
Troy Roberts - im going to have to defend my friend here. The purpose of a newspaper is to give the people current information on current events. The hospitals just happen to be the main topic of discussion lately. The main topic here is player retention the hospital subject is one of the proposed solutions. So might i suggest if you dont like the hospital topic how about you come up with another solution instead of bashing someone.
voted¡ Q2 hospitals could work here with a fortress strategy. well done.
good job, -1 American Field Marshal, how's that for you penguin bowling retention??
If you are looking for a team that does not discuss strategy inside what amounts to a text based RTS, you might as well just quit eRepublik all together JPJ. Every country discusses strategy.
um...we've had q2s and q1s and q3s and q4s all before, it did nothing to retain citizenship. The entire eastern and western seaboards all nearly had a hospital or defense system of some sort before the invasion. You people don't seem to have any scope.
I agree that the fortress strategy is a faulty one, and that the eUS needs more q5s (in fact I think it should be a total nationalized market), but you shouldn't waste time with q2's 3s or even 4s.
You keep talking about trying something new, and breaking the status quo. But what you're suggesting and proposing was the status quo before the fortress strategy ever came into effect, and proved to be a wasteful and useless endeavor.
I understand that the hospitals are being provided at cost, but why not have the US government cover the difference between a q2 or a q5s. Or for that matter, if he's willing, have him provide fewer higher quality hospitals.
Bottom line, from someone who absolutely nothing to gain one way or the other, but who has seen all this before, it's just a waste of resources that can be used much more effectively elsewhere.
you know what if we didnt have a few more hospitals back then i guarnatee that we would not have as many players now as we do, so yes i think it did help with retention. But at the same time what i want to happen (along with very influential people) is a couple small hospitals and another fortress in texas with Q5 hospital and defense. we have plenty of people in florida and cali its time to start another and encourage new players and a few vets to populate it. thats what i think we should all be fighting for. it doesnt take away from the fortress strategy nor does it cause us to have 30 small hospitals everywhere with crappy patches of population scattered and weak.
NXNW, I am surprised. You were here when our hospitals did moot for retention. It's better now with NO low quality hospitals.
Why the Q2 crowd continues to advocate them with no numbers or evidence other than "it could," and disregard the personal experience and numbers provided by the Fortress Strategy crowd completly baffles me.
We are backpedaling as a country. Another month and we'll be back on the level of the UK.
Woxan i know your a influential person in the eusa but at the same time i must voice my opinion. Maybe closed mindedness and refusal to listen to the full proposal maybe just maybe... THATS WHY YOUR NOT PRESIDENT.
I am not close minded. In fact, I supported extra hospitals before the war, and then realized how stupid I was. Our retention rates soared as we LOST hospitals.
I refuse this proposal because it makes us weaker and is incredibly stupid. You people have forgotten our history.
Auguest 20, 2009. Look it up in the eRep map. Look at what our epic hospital for every state did for us.
@Woxan, Gates, etc: I am aware we had a pretty sizable lower Q infrastructure before the invasion. One difference between now and then is we have a certain amount of action, TWs in Baja don't cut the mustard but an invasion of Asia does the trick. We have also created a much more civil community--8 months ago this article would have been spammed to death.
My point is we now have an e-society that many new players would find enticing, if they can get over the 2 week hump. A few lower Q hospitals placed in wise locations might help us get more people over that hump. Think of the Q2s as a lifeline, not a permanent abode.
As Max Mcfarland is basically offering some Q2s for free I don't see how it could hurt to try. Bottom line: the status quo doesn't work. Taking a chance, especially if the cost is less than bargain basement, is worth the effort. If it yields low results then we can try another option.
@Johnpauljones: "good job, -1 American Field Marshal, how's that for you penguin bowling retention??" If you really are going can I have your stuff???
Woxan im sorry but you just validated my point. you didnt once even ask what the proposal that me and my fellow ecitizens are pushing consist of. So if your not closed minded how about you find out your facts then come back. Until you actually know what me and my many supporters are trying to acomplish dont call anyone stupid. And second of all as about 90% of the people that are in these discusions figured out that the "Q2 Hospitals in every state" article was just to get the ball rolling and gain a little interest and formulate a viable plan to not take away from what we have but to compliment it.
Great interview.
I love the unsub threats. I am sure it will just break Aeros' heart if he doesn't have 3000 subscribers. Those are additional tactics aimed at trying to shout down the opposition and limit debate and free speech.
Old arguments where the opposition fails to understand a couple points. 1:This is not the same as the status quo prior to the fortress strategy. We only want maybe 8-10 Q2s in some states and possibly an additional fortress in Texas. 2:Except in Texas the reason for limiting players to Q2 hospitals is to give them a lifeline, but at the same time still encourage them to move on to the fortress states. Q2s are not near as effective as Q5s and we like it that way. We don't want anyone leaning on them and staying in the wastelands. We want them to stick with the game, survive, and move on to fortress states.
Honestly I hope V2 makes it so fortress states are a non factor, we can live in our own state, and we can have a Congress that is truly elected and by the People so we all have a voice again.
I know what point you are working for Fallen. You think more hospitals will help retention, and are advocating them. This is a FALSE claim that has been disproved time, and time, and time again.
You want facts? James Harding saw who fought during the Invasion when New York had a Q3. It's population was 1,500. less than 10 people fought, and many didn't use the full fights.
Or I could show you our vote totals during war time and who they shot up when there was a battle going on every day and state after state fell to PEACE.
Or I could show you how most of our citizens fail to even work the first time.
Or I could give you comparisons of people who were born Pre-war and fought in a Q5, and one who fought in a Qx, and notice the tens thousands of damage in difference.
Now please, what evidence do you have to support your claim? Just because the mob clamours for it doesn't mean it is right. People brought this up because they saw our retention rates are falling, what they do not realize is this is because of a lack of fighting. The Asian campaign does not work for this. It was less than 10 battles with us swapping most of the way. We need a campaign where there are fights EVERY day.
This is my last comment to you Woxan first im going to point out a few people that i have personally been in contact with through email and given me their official support on a plan i laid out to them. And taking their input changed it accordingly. Hoamley, Aeros there are others. I have talked to serveral in congress who agree with me and my friends here and are willing to hear what we have to say on the matter. Other influential people that dont want to be named but will be involved have said they will use all their resources and contacts to help this project move forward. And like i said earlier you are not informed on the actual proposal you only know what has been publicly discussed. Now here is what I want you to do contact me i will be completely civil i promise and i will lay out the plan for you. And if that is not to your likeing let me know and i will lay out what i can publicly at the moment right here. Just let me fill you in on the real proposal we have before you start bashing us.
You are still dodging my question. What will you do when your idea for retention forces people away instead of gathering people?
All this will accomplish is you will get a bunch of lazy New Yorkers and Texans fighting twice. They will not fight where you want them to, they will will not move later, they will want a q5 hospital. You will oblige them because if you don't you will be branded an elitist.
People will flock to the new q5s, our enemies will attack. We will hand over high iron to our enemies, they will use it to re-conquer Asia, re-fill their coffers and re-invade our country. When that day comes I will consider you personally responsible. So when people ask, "how did this happen?" They will know the truth. But hey it's all good, you did it in the name of retention.
How about this I WANT EVERYONE TO QUOTE ME If WE can get the proposal we have pushed through and we get invaded and what not yes
I Fallen Exodus WILL TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY if this proposal leads to a horrible outcome.
With that said does that mean if it leads to a stronger better eUsa, my supporters and I get credit for the positive outcome.
When I was a noob, I was fighting from DC using its hospital. I did not move to Florida till after DC was conquered, and I got (after about lvl 7) two tickets from the Flying Unicorn Company. I didn't realize the importance of a Q5 hospital until I actually got to Florida. It was after that I started reading news heavily. If I hadn't had the hospital in DC for that period, I probably would have gotten disinterested and quit, before I realized where I should have gone.
Perhaps some of us were highly committed in there first few weeks or have forgotten what it was like to be noobs.
you write such BS now UK has now MPPS
@ Fallen Exodus, i am willing to bet that neither of us will be here when it happens 5 months from now.