Wargaming Small Wars (merged thread)

[BayonetBrant]

Some musings on uses for wargaming

http://grogheads.com/featured-posts/9720

The professionals talk about wargaming in very different terms than the casual hobbyists do. Don’t get me wrong, the professionals know the difference between a hobby or game and their jobs. Most of them also wargame for fun, and have a huge knowledge of the hobby. But for casual wargamers the professional uses of wargames mainly seem like two cases, and an occasional third.

(way more at the link)

[Rex Brynen]

Some recent wargaming posts at PAXsims that may be of interest:

• Developing a wargame of the 2017 liberation of West Mosul: https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/0...oming-nineveh/
• Trip report from a week of wargaming discussions at the UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory: https://paxsims.wordpress.com/2018/0...isdom-at-dstl/

[AdamG]

Good article, albeit two years old.

INTERWAR-PERIOD GAMING TODAY FOR CONFLICTS TOMORROW: PRESS ‘START’ TO PLAY, PT. 1
http://cimsec.org/interwar-period-ga...z_PCp4sYOUZW-c

“As the interwar period suggests, wargaming is one of the most effective means available to offer senior leaders a glimpse of future conflict, however incomplete. Wargames offer opportunities to test new ideas and explore the art of the possible. They help us imagine alternative ways of operating and envision new capabilities that might make a difference on future battlefields.”1

– Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert O. Work and General Paul Selva, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, December 8, 2015

Shoutout here -

Red “cells” and red “teams” are frequently confused for each other. A red cell is an entity typically led by a staff intelligence officer tasked with representing enemy doctrine and its likely courses of action. A red team is tasked with challenging perceived norms and assumptions made by a commander and his staff in order to improve the validity and quality of a plan.