Wargaming Small Wars (merged thread)

[Strickland]

I have two problems with gaming solutions and events such as Millenium Challenge and Urban Resolve. First, they are expensive, and in a battle of limited reosurces, eat up tremendous sums of money that could be used for less "whiz-bang" things like seminars, books, training videos, and staff rides with police-officers during community policing intiatives. Second, the outcomes and "findings" of these events are usually within the realm of the "i knew that entering the game" and make these events worthless. Clausewitz spoke of events that tried to replicate military actions being less than useful due to the lack of "fricition" present.

[Steve Blair]

This is why people need to reach for new solutions when gaming.

If you use a role-playing framework it is very easy to add in friction. A tabletop game isn't going to eat up the kind of money you're talking about and will always expose people to new things. They are also interactive by nature, which makes them more valuable than seminars or training videos.

People who haven't had much RP experience often underestimate the usefulness of the method, IMO. Properly managed, it's a very open environment that will allow all sides to learn something new.