This little-known technique is often employed by the top players, and is sometimes employed accidentally --unconsciously-- by lesser mortals. I will give examples as they appear in my own travels.

The definition of a Warlight mindfuck is as follows:

If you enter a position where all you assumed was true, was a falsehood, then you have been mindfucked. If everything you had assumed is now in question, and you are likely to lose as a result of your misplaced faith, then you have been successfully mindfucked. This happens more commonly in games where you have little intel on your opponent's position, but can also happen in other circumstances (i.e bordering a bonus that you have to assume your opponent has finished, and attacking it full force only to discover it was only partially finished, thus losing the game)

The first example is from a recent coin game:


https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=9164168

Turns 1-6
After getting picks 1, 2, 3 I was forced to assume my opponent went for something along the lines of SEA ftb + East Africa or perhaps Australia. So, I stack into Africa and stack into Georgia early to defend against a strike from SEA, and... he shows up in neither. Easily one of the most confusing moments I've had in a long time.

Unfortunately for my opponent, his mindfuck technique was not combined with other useful Warlight tactics, and the position swung my way.

Edited 7/25/2015 22:52:00

My favorite (and simple) variation of the mindfuck (or perhaps it's something else- I'm not up to date on my lingo or my strategy) is simply "expanding" in a bonus (that they know you have, or you suspect they know you have) so that from their border it looks like you control it. This works great when you border them in multiple places and they expect you to defend that major bonus but instead you deploy all your armies elsewhere and take out parts of their income. A bit expensive at times, though, since it still burns armies. I've just found it a useful option to go with for bonuses like South America or West Russia where you border smaller bonuses (Central America, Scandinavia) that make it not-really-worth-it to go after your bonus because your opponent is likely to break them.

Edited 7/25/2015 23:00:06

You also see this happening occasionally with first-turn bonuses: Let's say the first-turn bonus is picks A + B, with counter, C that gives limited knowledge. The player with the first-turn bonus could theoretically choose not to take the first-turn bonus on the first turn; the end result is that the other player sends a big stack into the first-turn bonus while player 1 sits there and grabs a quick lead in income, elsewhere.

Another example of bad picking is known as a self-mindfuck: when you assume you are countering an opponent's pick, when the opponent did not actually pick it; thus, you send a big stack into a neutral bonus for no reason and your opponent gets an early lead. This is why good picking is a must.

It's a bit risky to do with an FTB unless you're absolutely sure they've picked the counter and that the counter makes the FTB non-viable. Thinking about SE Asia-East China situations.

As for the wasted armies part, yep. Wasting armies or starts that early in the game is going to make it near-impossible to win unless your opponent trips up.

That is correct. In order to avoid being mindfucked, you must be able to read the position correctly. In picking, this equates to deciding what is important in the position, and what information you need to get from your picks; in post-picking tactics, you must be able to use what intel you have to read your opponent's mind and correctly guess his decisions.

More examples!

Another very powerful example;

It is often assumed that a person will move around. However, it is also true that defending kills more than offensive attacks; therefore, it is possible in certain positions to choose to not move a stack. The other player will normally assume it will move, and is likely to try to take the territory behind it -- thus running into the stationary stack, losing more armies than expected.



Note that your stack must not be in danger of being shredded. If your opponent has superior income, or a larger stack nearby, this may not be advisable. If both, I would not recommend it.

More

These things take time. Feel free to find some examples from your own games while I look through my collection. :)

Oh good, you won the first game. I was wondering for a moment if you'd actually lost to someone who made 3 picks that wasn't myhand or someone hardcore trolling you.

Turn 10 - I like how you broke blockade of 21 instead of breaking wasteland of 10 :P But don't worry, that happens alot. People making blockades of 30 next to wasteland of 10 assuming that "wasteland is impassable territory isn't it?" (like wasteland in Turkey, block in Iraq).

About sending big stack toward possible enemy bonus - It's always good to ask yourself: what if he don't have it? If you're not able to finish any bonus with all those units you just put there, it is wasted effort.

I had a similar reaction to the blockade munching. Wasn't game changing, but it made me go "Wait, what?" when I saw it.

It cost him only 7(8) troops more but gave him more possible opions to attack

Myanmar gives better access to Indonesia. I stack into Thailand and it's gg. Tibet gives a muddier position

the first example, your opponent only made 3 picks like an idiot.

^^

Educating people is the main reason I make threads like this.

https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=9153390

I'll win, it's been known for several turns because he wasn't where he needed to be to stand a chance. But boy did I screw myself hard chasing shadows.

Said mindfuck game is much closer than it should be. Got another ladder game atm that's similar. Knew two starts they had turn 1, incorrectly guessed where the third was, should work out fine for me, but was rather surprising.

So, how you like my own "Mind###" ?
https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=8322399

Edited 7/31/2015 20:08:09

Not bad. There are two problems to consider however: 1 is that he is able to see you move to Jiangxi by watching his history that turn; it was better to move into Jiangxi at a point he was unable to know. Second is, it might not amount to much if he chooses to expand into East China himself, stacking into Hong Kong.