Free-time activity: Solo tabletop command exercise. The situation below is invented; it records no actual operation.
A team has six turns to move three markers across a map and secure two objectives. A direct rush can reach both by turn four, but it leaves every marker spent. Holding one marker back costs a turn and keeps a response available if the route changes.
My first instinct is the rush. It is clean, fast, and satisfying. That is precisely why I must examine it. The objective is to hold two positions at turn six, not merely touch them at turn four. I commit two markers to the advance, keep the third ready, and check the route after each turn. If the way stays clear, the reserve joins the effort. If it closes, the reserve has room to act.
The exercise ends with both objectives held at turn six. The rush might have done better on an open map; this exercise cannot prove otherwise. It does expose the question I want to keep asking: What must remain possible after the bold move?
I told Jim that exhausted troops become slow troops. I meant it. Drive has a purpose, and spending people past their limit can defeat that purpose. Preparation, a clear objective, and a reserve give force somewhere useful to go. Then move.