All really excellent points, Eden. I'd like to elaborate on your last one:

Quote Originally Posted by Eden View Post
One last word - get some real experts to role play during the wargame. Best solution would be to get guys currently on the ground, but that won't happen. Indigenous personnel, guys with past experience, academics, State guys, NGO reps, smart-ass captains who think they are smarter than every field-grade they ever met - these are the guys you want in the room, particularly on the 'red' team.
There's two extrapolations that should be made here. First off, don't stick with Red and Blue teams; add in multiple additional teams, at a minimum add in one "team" for each lineage operating in the area, one for NGO's in the area, and one for the "press". On this "press" point, set up your game rules such that the press team gets points for "sensational" stories that make the administration and/or the military look "bad". That's not always the case by any means, but it's a factor to consider.

Second point, in addition to the types of people Eden suggested, get some precocious 12 year olds (a younger, more smart ass version of the CPTs Eden suggested), plus some old style, RPG gamers (preferably old DMs of the frakin' sneaky variety) who know a bit about current operations.

One final point, make sure that you have an umpire / ref who is not military. This is, actually, crucial - you want someone who can think totally outside of the doctrinal box. Personally, I'd suggest Rex !