Tactics

Here are some useful tactics for playing On Sight. Along with the name of a tactic there's marked the date when the tactic was written down. Oldest tactics are placed near the bottom of the page, new ones are added to the top. Some general advice can be found at the very bottom of the page.

Locked Duel (2001-09-26)

A locked duel is formed by two units of opposing parties. The units are positioned in diagonally adjacent squares and they are facing each other. The diagram shows a locked duel. The visible free squares (colored light gray) are the squares that the green unit can see. Clearly, the green unit can not back up. And if the green unit advances it will be converted by the red unit the very next turn. The situation is symmetrical for both units. A locked duel may be broken by other units (see Watchman below).

Watchman (2001-09-26)

It is useful to leave one unit (or several, if one is not enough) some distance away from where the action is. This watchman can make it possible for the other units to back up and generally move more freely. Because the watchman is far away, it can see a large area and is not vulnerable to opposing units. In the diagram, the unit to the south is a watchman. The other green unit may move to and fro freely.

Crossfiring (2001-09-26)

Two units on opposite edges of the game board may crossfire opposing units. In the diagram, the two green units are crossfiring the red unit. The red unit can't defend itself. If it faces southwest, the eastern green unit converts it. If the red unit faces southeast, the western green unit converts it. See also Defensible Edges above.

Covering Wall (2001-09-09)

A unit standing next to a wall square is covered by the wall effectively. In the diagram, the green unit can not be converted by any (hypothetical) unit in the north because the green unit sees all the squares it can be seen from. The green unit has a perfect defense position. Remember that also other units block visibility, so a solid line of units benefits from the covering wall effect as well.

Defensible Edges (2001-09-09)

Game board edges are good defensive positions when not blocked by wall squares. A unit positioned on a game board edge should look away from the wall as is shown in the diagram. Here, the green unit can not be converted by an opposing unit in the north because the green unit sees all squares it can be seen from. An edge possessed by a single unit may be conquered only by a minimum of two units. The units must surround the one unit and convert it by crossfiring (see Crossfiring above).

General advice

(2001-09-09) Don't rush. It might be a good idea to leave a unit hiding behind a corner. This may surprise other players later in the game. Remember that units may also be hidden behind other units.

Page updated on Wednesday 2002-01-16 by Ville Nurmi <ville@users.sourceforge.net>