Terminology Question: When Buffing An Enemy Player Goes Wrong

[TTK Ciar 0]

Sometimes in a game it's useful to intervene in favor of one enemy so that they can more effectively fight your common enemy.

 

Sometimes, though, it goes bad and the enemy player you helped sweeps the game.

 

Is there a common gamer term for this kind of intervention gone bad?

 

A real-world example would be when the Greek cities distracted Philip V of Macedon to stop him from helping out Hannibal in the Second Punic War, and in return Rome, after defeating Hannibal, curbstomped Macedon and all other potential Greek resistance.

[Skywalkre 0]

I know the situation quite well as it's common in tabletop games but for the life of me I can't recall ever hearing a term used to describe it.

[Stuart Galbraith 0]

I recall during the Falklands war an apparent nuclear submarine was sighted off the Argentinian coast, long before a British SSN ever got there. But it kept the Argentine navy hobbled in its ability to manoeuvre. Shortly thereafter a Royal Navy Admiral bumped into his Soviet counterpart during an official visit. 'I trust our distraction was useful' he is reputed to have said.

 

What is the official term? Well I cant think that this ever came up in RAND simulations so Im doubtful whether it has an official name. It probably warrants one. Its certainly gaming the system.