Everything is harder if you must do it uphill. Walking uphill, riding a bike uphill, I even think twice if I have to talk uphill. Trying to mount an attack uphill exerts more energy, reduces weapon efficacy, and even small obstructions become difficult to overcome. On the other hand, the opponent with higher ground has the upper hand on visibility, fields of fire, and even small cover is very effective. When Star Wars Episode 3 came out, I found it kind of comical how Obi-Wan tried to declare his victory over Anakin in their duel when all he did was run a little bit uphill and say, “It’s over, Anakin! I have the high ground.”
Charging Uphill
As I mentioned, I don’t even want to look uphill, let alone charge. It’s like trying to attack while on a Stairmaster. No thanks. If you have a sword, you have to swing upward, which is harder to do, especially because your opponent’s vital parts are much higher than if you were fighting on level ground. Or if you have other types of melee weapons, you run into the same problem. Your once 5’9” opponent now seems like 8’6”. Nope!
Shooting Weapons and Throwing Weapons
Rounds that you fire at an upslope go subsonic faster and are, therefore, less effective. Shooting downhill doesn’t have this problem because, you know, gravity, as Patrick Newton discovered by that tree attacking him with apples from higher ground. Now if a gun will have a harder time at an upward angle, don’t think that your arm is going to be without this challenge. Plus, exploding grenades will blow their shrapnel downhill a lot easier than uphill, so you may want to think twice before throwing that knowing you’ll probably hurt more of your comrades charging up that hill. And a Molotov Cocktail wouldn’t work that great either, primarily because I already drank all the alcohol, so all you’d be doing is throwing empty bottles with flaming rags. Sorry.
Flanking Uphill
Yeah, flanking an uphill opponent is insanely difficult. Imagine you are a 4-year-old playing basketball against your 9-year-old brother and you’re trying to dribble around him. It’s kind of like that. I won’t say it’s impossible, but the odds are stacked against you. An uphill opponent can see what the downhill people are doing much better, can prepare better, can react better, and probably held back a few troops up the hill in case there was some flanking maneuver attempt. In this case, they’d simply send down some of the other troops to stop that flank before it got too far.
Where Does Attacking From Lower Ground Work?
Video games. That’s it.
