course of action vs stratagem

course of action

noun
  • A plan; a set of intended actions, through which one intends to achieve a goal. 

stratagem

noun
  • Specifically, such a tactic or artifice in military operation. 

  • Cunning and artifice in general. 

  • Military deception or artifice. 

  • A tactic or artifice designed to gain the upper hand, especially one involving underhanded dealings or deception. 

How often have the words course of action and stratagem occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )