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Potential Shortcomings
1) Changes with Modern Warfare
"These assumptions adequately describe warfare up to 1950, but not modern, more agile combat in which resrouces can
be deployed to multiple fronts, and in addition, success on fronts are not interdependent and victory need not be decisive"
(Golman 2).
With the advent of modern technology, Blotto is becoming more obsolete on the battlefield because commanders can now
react to what their opponents are doing. For example, if a commander sees the need for a bigger force, he can call for
reinforcements that will be there within hours. Blotto depends on players not being able to know what their opponents
will do, and this picks away it this model's validity.
2) Not winner-take-all situations
Blotto also relies on the assumption that if you win a front, you take its entire payoff; margin of victory does not
matter. In reality, there are many situations in which this does not apply. In electoral systems with proportional
representation, Blotto falls through. We discussed Blotto's applications to athletics, specifically basketball, on the
"Potential Uses" page. In reality, however, margin of victory on the "fronts" does matter. If a team beats a team
on the FG% front by 2%, victory on that front does not necessarily help that front's victor to a large extent.
Potential Strenghths
Colonel Blotto's complexity may be its greatest strength. It accounts for a number of hypothetical situations.
In addition, it can be easily examined (and potentially applied) to a diverse array of situations. They include, but
are not limited to, international relations, athletics, business, law, social relationships...
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