Madine's Rules of War were the standard operation procedures of Alliance ground commanders during the Galactic Civil War. They were created by, and named after, General Crix Madine, a famous leader in the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The three rules were summed up as "Hit 'Em Where They Ain't," "Attack the Enemy's Spirit," and "Use Your Brains."
Because of the numerical advantage enjoyed by their chief opponent, Alliance Army commanders were taught to avoid straight-up slugging matches against the Imperial Army, who could always guarantee victory by bringing in more reinforcements. Instead, commanders were to use speed and force concentration to overpower smaller Imperial forces and achieve decisive victory quickly. They were also taught to preserve their limited forces as much as possible; if a battle looked to be turning against them, retreating with an intact force was preferable to a pyrrhic victory
Rebel commanders were also taught to use psychological warfare to break the enemy's morale prior to battle. If the enemy was afraid of the Rebel's fierceness and unpredictability, they were more likely to make mistakes such as overreacting to a feint. Conversely, keeping morale among their own troops was seen as critical towards winning battles.
Imperial Army commanders were viewed as being uncreative by the Rebels, using outdated "by the book" tactics learned in the Academy. Alliance Army commanders were encouraged to take intelligent risks, to learn these same tactics and come up with unorthodox ways of defeating them. Most Imperial commanders could be more easily defeated if faced with an unexpected situation for which there was no conventional solution.