Thread:The Clanden/@comment-4704992-20140919214453/@comment-5365119-20140919221427

I'm currently on the move, so I can't answer this as thoroughly as I'd like, but here goes. Battles that end without a clear winner or loser are actually quite common, though nobody hears about them because they're usually followed by a decisive engagements. These tossups are usually the result of the following, though this is not an exhaustive list:
 * Neither side is willing to attack, so the opponents just stare at one another across the field, probing and bombarding here and there, but not actually attacking. This was quite common in times when pitched battles were still a thing. Armies would agree to walk up to one another, grab an easily defensible position in the field, and wait for the enemy to attack them. Turns out, the enemy did the same thing, and a rather boring standoff occurs. I have a few examples of this if you want me to fetch them for you.
 * A more interesting null battle can happen when two opponents attack one another and find that they cannot break each other's defensive line. Both sides take heavy casualties and very little ground is given or taken, making the engagement a draw. The entirety of WWI qualifies as this.