War-Gaming Insurgency

[AmericanPride]

In another thread (on military staffs), I mentioned I'm involved with a project for MIOBC. After some consideration, I have decided to switch subjects from military staffs to war-gaming insurgency.

Here's the gist of my argument:

The Army requires a simple, flexible, and objective tactical decision simulator in order to enable officers at all echelons to study and understand the complex environment of counter-insurgency warfare. The Army should create a browser-based, common-access multiplayer COIN simulator.

My focus will be on practical questions: time, personnel, resources, and most importantly IMO, usability. Using a common-program language (such as javascript or PHP), the Army IMO will be able to create an user-friendly, inexpensive, tailorable, and effective COIN simulator for any officer or any rank.

Thoughts?

[wm]

In another thread (on military staffs), I mentioned I'm involved with a project for MIOBC. After some consideration, I have decided to switch subjects from military staffs to war-gaming insurgency.

Here's the gist of my argument:

The Army requires a simple, flexible, and objective tactical decision simulator in order to enable officers at all echelons to study and understand the complex environment of counter-insurgency warfare. The Army should create a browser-based, common-access multiplayer COIN simulator.

My focus will be on practical questions: time, personnel, resources, and most importantly IMO, usability. Using a common-program language (such as javascript or PHP), the Army IMO will be able to create an user-friendly, inexpensive, tailorable, and effective COIN simulator for any officer or any rank.

Thoughts?

I trust the inner quotation above summarizes the two conclusions you plan to draw from this analysis, not your thesis. By the way, without a significant amount of new argument, I do not see how you can infer your second, normative (should create . . .) conclusion from your first, descriptive one. I'm also interested in seeing what kind of premises you intend to marshal to show that the Army needs a "tactical decision simuilator" to train "officers at all echelons." Why do folks working at higher echelons, where they should be doing stuff at the operational and strategic levels, need training in tactical decison making? Ojne last point--no decision is objective IMHO. Each varies depending on the character of the decider and all the aspects of METT-TC knownto and/or understood by the decider at the time of the decision.

Good luck. But you seem to have predetermined your conclusion.

[MikeF]

American Pride,

At the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), in Monterey, CA, there are two Model and Simulation (M&sS) on-going projects focused on Irregular Warfare that are unclassified. Below is a brief description of each. They may peak your interest.

Furthermore, after you've done so time on the line, you could consider pursuing a master's degree at NPS (through Advanced Civil Schooling (ACS)) with your thesis work in wargaming IW.

Hope this helps.

1. CORE LAB (COMMON OPERATING RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT)
- DEFENSE ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT
-Methodology- Social Networking (think google earth and Anaylist Notebook)

http://www.nps.edu/research/CoreLab/index.html

2. TRAC Monterey and Operation Research Deparment
-Methodology: Wargaming using Values and Beliefs of indigenous population to model and simulate IW environment.

http://www.nps.edu/research/TRAC/

v/r

Mike

[Meh]

Not to sound too harsh, but doesn't Virtual Battle Space already fit the description? If not, then surely the most efficient solution would be to contact the developers, Bohemia Interactive Australia (BIA), in order to work with them on a COIN module?

Fully developed 3D simulators will always beat the living crap out of browser-based apps, both in terms of immersion and flexibility.

Every pogue and his dog is getting funding for simulations of questionable value right now. There's a myriad of different apps floating about within the DoD and abroad. Everyone's trying to reinvent the wheel. NiH, NiH, NiH! Why can't people just settle on something like VBS and then improve that?

Perhaps you could make it your life goal to unify these efforts instead of placing one more small, imperfect fish into the sea?

[AmericanPride]

I trust the inner quotation above summarizes the two conclusions you plan to draw from this analysis, not your thesis. By the way, without a significant amount of new argument, I do not see how you can infer your second, normative (should create . . .) conclusion from your first, descriptive one.

Yes. I also intend to build a demo version of this game over the course of the next several weeks. Anyone with knowledge of a common programming language can do so. And it can also be built to allow anyone to tailor scenarios to their own needs. My intent is not to design a simulator of a particular tactical engagement or theoretical framework, but to build a cheap, user-friendly, common access program that enables anyone to use it.

I'm also interested in seeing what kind of premises you intend to marshal to show that the Army needs a "tactical decision simuilator" to train "officers at all echelons." Why do folks working at higher echelons, where they should be doing stuff at the operational and strategic levels, need training in tactical decison making?

I think the Army could use a better training system for decision-making and war-gaming in a COIN environment. The program will be tailorable for the needs of whatever echelon is using it; the program will only provide the shells of actions, events, demographics, units, etc and how they interact with one another. Users will then be able to input/delete/modify the components of those shells to fit their needs. That 'kit' can then be saved and used elsewhere as necessary. This will allow battalions to model their AOs and combatant commands to model their theater.

Ojne last point--no decision is objective IMHO. Each varies depending on the character of the decider and all the aspects of METT-TC knownto and/or understood by the decider at the time of the decision.

I agree. Because the effects of all actions and events will have to be formulized, I think it would be best to allow the user to also modify the impact of those effects based on their own estimates. Before the start of the game, the same administrator (i.e. the S-2) that modified the enemy strength and composition can also apply his estimates of intangiable attributes and relationships.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Mike. I'll look into them.

Not to sound too harsh, but doesn't Virtual Battle Space already fit the description?

Not in my opinion. This is why: 1) It is not server-based. It has specific system requirements to support its engine. A server-based game would only require access to the internet. 2) It has limited tailorability. The idea I envision would allow anyone at any echelon to simulate any COIN scenario (local, provincial, national, etc). 3) AFAIK, it does not model the political, social, economic, and intangible aspects of COIN essential to decision-making. It will also be simple to use, commonly available, tailorable for any user, and objective in its results.

Fully developed 3D simulators will always beat the living crap out of browser-based apps, both in terms of immersion and flexibility.

In immersion, absolutely. In flexibility, I disagree.

[Meh]

Just to ballpark your ideas, what about this?

http://www2.aperianglobal.com/files/gssoldier/

What graphical representations will you use? 3D? Stickmen?

[AmericanPride]

Just to ballpark your ideas, what about this?

http://www2.aperianglobal.com/files/gssoldier/

What graphical representations will you use? 3D? Stickmen?

The Global Smart Soldier is a very interesting product. IMO, however, it seems more focused as a training tool than a war-gaming tool. By that, I mean it seems to support the idea that there is a right and wrong answer to every problem. The idea I have in mind is more sand-box, letting the users define the end-state and the appropriate method to get there.

As for graphical representations, that's a legit question, and one to which I have yet to develop an answer. An idea could be to allow users to upload maps to their kits, scale them, and designate key/important terrain/features on it. This could work for any level of operation. Your question is something I'll be mulling over through the weekend.

[Meh]

I really look forward to seeing what you deliver. My brain just can't figure out how you'd do it.

I don't see how you can overcome the inherent limitations of browser-based programming without a 3D engine. How would you represent the scenario? How much detail? Just maps? Isometric with sprites like the role-playing games of old? Text-based (Zork)? In order to have a sandbox, you need an intuitive interface with no coding and minimal scripting that allows the user to instantly see where she's placed everything. You can't beat 3D.

Why not take a lesson from online games like World of Warcraft? Use client software that feeds "quests" off a central server (America's Army). Or do this:

I presume your target audience is O-4s and below. Most of these guys will have grown up with PCs and consoles. A lot of them are gamers. You could democratise the whole process by creating a game they can relate to - modifying an existing one is easiest - that allows anyone to create scenarios and then post them to a central website where others can download them (e.g. "my time in Shukranville when we received IF while speaking to a local schoolteacher and tended to civ cas while maintaining all-round security which led to Sgt Hickey taking out a guy on a rooftop who was trying to set up with grenades" - L/Cpl Snuffy).

Your key to a successful COIN simulator is not the enemy. It's civilians. Accurately modelling civilians is much harder than creating an AI that will shoot at you. Civilians also require dialogue trees.

Without civilians, just have a combat simulator. There's enough of those around. Combat Mission. VBS. That's not COIN.

I'd actually suggest you get a copy of the 2001 game, Operation Flashpoint, and play around with its editor. It's an excellent commercial warfare simulator (as these things go). Only things missing are dialogue scripting and COIN-related AI coding (particularly civilians). Who knows, it's old enough that it might be possible to embed the engine in a browser-based game.
I hear Neverwinter Nights, a role-playing game, has an excellent scenario editor which allows creation of complex dialogue trees. If you could 'mod' that game to make all the textures and models contemporary, it might turn into a good small-unit simulator.

PS: Far Cry 2 is a good example of a powerful, user-friendly editor that a caveman can use.

[AmericanPride]

Thanks for the suggestions Meh. I have Operation Flashpoint, and it's a great game IMO. No doubt, part of the appeal in gaming (and presentations in general really) is graphics. And that's definitely a hurdle. I do intend to make the game as democratic as possible, allowing users to create scenarios to fit their unit's needs, to store them in a database, and to allow others to access and modify them as necessary. I'm sure it sounds incoherent right now, as I plan on completing the concept sometime this week, and then start coding.

I do not intend to have any AI in the program -- everything will be user-driven. Military units, the enemy, civilians, NGOs, and so on. I'll flesh out a clearer and complete game concept at the end of the weekend. My friends and I have been working on a similar concept to model the Dune universe -- and so I'll basically be reshaping some of those concepts to fit my needs here. Here's an example of something similar -- but of course be tailored for the military (US Army) audience.

[bongotastic]

I've been wrestling with COIN wargaming for about two years. I designed/umpire a small MBX based on COIN scenario in Sadr City, Iraq.

If you want a 3D environment, what you'll end-up with is a MOUT wargame with assymetric forces and civilians. That's really small unit battles with an exotic ROE. I'd go with Combat MIssion: SF or Flashpoint (and a lot of scripting).

However, my observation in the MBX is that the most intersting part of COIN is the intelligence aspect of the battle. Most of my game mechanics derives from a RPG called Twillight 2000. This ruleset does great at soft factors (interrogation, investigation/observation) and to resolve the most creative ideas coming out of the player's imagination. I've got a prototype small unit sim based on this ruleset (loosely).

In a few words, my take on COIN is primarily about intelligence and networks of people. This is probably something that you want to consider if you are aiming to do something beyond a small unit assymetric urban battle game. It can be done fairly easily, but this isn't something all that common in other wargames.

I look forward to hear more about your project.

[AmericanPride]

Bongotastic,

I agree with your points. I aim (hope) to capture those intangible features of COIN that are not present in other systems/programs/sims. I'm almost done with working out the rough edges of the concept, and I'll put that up here later this evening.

[AmericanPride]

Alright, here it goes:

1. Intent. The intent is to build a viable and flexible COIN simulator that successfully captures the political, economic, and social dynamics of the COIN environment in addition to the typical military missions. It is intended for multiple users to play the same session simultaneously. Because there are a large number of theories on the origins and characteristics of insurgencies, the system will have sufficient flexibility to enable the user to modify it to his own needs.

2. System. It will be powered by an online application (I'll be using PHP and MySQL) to enable the creation of an interactive website. This will allow anyone, anywhere to access the program, to create their own sessions, and to modify their scenarios according to their needs. Users will be able to modify everything from the progression of time, the scale of the scenario, objectives, units, actions, and effects. Further, users will be able to upload and modify maps, and identify key terrain and characteristics (similarly to ArcGis, but more user-friendly). All of these modifications can be saved and stored collectively as 'kits', allowing users to share them with one another.

3. Gaming Features. Each user will control a 'faction'. A faction is a military or political organization, such as a combat unit (of any size), a terrorist group, or NGO. Before the start of each session, each faction will be assigned a list of objectives, by which it's credibility will be measured. Factions will have other ratings, such as legitimacy, organization, etc. The user, through the faction, will have control of various units. These units can be as varied as known persons, military vehicles or echelons of any size, or non-conventional equipment. These units will have various ratings such as ethnicity, leadership, speed, etc. Units will conduct actions, such as tactical missions. Each action will have specified effects, such as increasing legitimacy. Each action will also take a specified amount of time (or phases) to accomplish, and will have predetermined indicators. Prior to each session, the user will have the opportunity to create, modify, or delete factions, units, actions, and effects. Users issue orders to their units to conduct actions either in real-time or in phases (determined prior to the session). A resolution calculator will determine combat effects and losses, the successful completion of actions, and random events (if desired). The results of each decision, and the end-state of the scenario as a whole, can be stored and viewed in order to allow analysis of decision points and outcomes. Objectivity will be attained by the use of formulas; however the inputs will be determined beforehand based on intelligence estimates (especially of the intangible values).

The total cost of the program is under 30$ (the cost of purchasing a programming for dummies book).

[bongotastic]

If you throw some javascript and "AJAX", you can break out of the php/mysql server-side mode and truly have an interactive game right out of the browser. One interesting option with browser is the ability to render 3D scenes using a raytracing engine (or an openGL engine) on demand and integrate these to the game interface. Raytraced images can end-up looking even better than interactive graphics.

As I mentioned before, I've got quite a bit of code and a prototype for a combat resolution system. If you intend to go work collaboratively, PM me.

Christian

[BayonetBrant]

Holy Crap... you want *any* type of COIN to be sim-able at *any* level of echelon?

Boy that's a stretch. There's are a *huge* variety of factors that all apply at different levels, and from a pure game-design standpoint, you really, really need to make sure your objectives are clearly defined, the tools available to the players appropriately further those goals, and that the echelons at which the players are making their decisions are appropriate to the echelon at which they should be training (ie, BDE S-4s don't control BN-level LOGPACs).

I'm not saying this can't all be done, but good Lord that's a huge task from a game-design perspective, before you ever start writing a single line of code. No matter how good your code is, if the underlying game-mechanics aren't wired tight, the game will fail as a training tool.

If you want more game design ideas/advice/info - especially about COIN - I recommend reading this article. Beyond that, feel free to PM me and let's chat some.

[Cavguy]

I just don't think a simulation wargame can account for the human-centric complexity of a COIN/Stability environment. Perhaps with a real-live Red Team, immersed in the thought/thinking context of the host, but predicting second and third order effects of human interaction has remained near-impossible. I can't predict my wife's reactions, so what makes me think I can predict second and third order effects in an alien culture with a computer?

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/0...wants-sim.html

Veteran counterinsurgents have long been skeptical of how accurate these models can really be. "Wait a minute, you can’t tell me who’s going to a win a football game. And now you’re going to replicate free will?" retired Lieutenant Colonel John Nagl, who helped write the Army's manual on defusing insurgencies, told Danger Room in 2007. "They are smoking something they shouldn't be," retired Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper quipped to Science Magazine. "Only those who don’t know how the real world works will be suckers for this stuff.”

[Steve Blair]

I just don't think a simulation wargame can account for the human-centric complexity of a COIN/Stability environment. Perhaps with a real-live Red Team, immersed in the thought/thinking context of the host, but predicting second and third order effects of human interaction has remained near-impossible. I can't predict my wife's reactions, so what makes me think I can predict second and third order effects in an alien culture with a computer?

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/0...wants-sim.html

I'm a much bigger fan of the RPG model for any sort of COIN simulation, which is really where your concern is going, Neil. In order to get a good, 'realistic' simulation you need people in a more or less freeplay environment (with some cultural and other limitations controlled or at least monitored by a white cell).

[Cavguy]

Agreed. Something like a "Knights of the Old Republic" or "Mass Effect" type RPG would give action/consequence feedback - which I think could be valuable.

[MikeF]

To reiterate CavGuy's comments, it's is extremely difficult to model real world behavior in a computer program, video game, or wargaming application. Sec Gates warned, "No one should ever neglect the psychological, cultural, political, and human dimensions of warfare. War is inevitably tragic, inefficient, and uncertain, and it is important to be skeptical of systems analyses, computer models, game theories, or doctrines that suggest otherwise. We should look askance at idealistic, triumphalist, or ethnocentric notions of future conflict that aspire to transcend the immutable principles and ugly realities of war, that imagine it is possible to cow, shock, or awe an enemy into submission, instead of tracking enemies down hilltop by hilltop, house by house, block by bloody block."

This warning should not suggest that it is not an achievable goal to develop an IW wargaming. It is simply a caution to let you know that it is not easy.

As I posted earlier, there a numerous smart PH-D level operational research and social scientist working on this same topic. They temper there efforts with Sec Gates warning, and they continually ask advice from guys in the field who have been doing this for a while.

From what I've observed, there are two methodologies that they are testing to see if they can wargame IW. Below are a brief description and links to further research.

Take some time to research these theories and see if they help. Again, good luck.

1. Theory of Planned Behavior.

Reasoned Action suggests that a person's behavior is determined by his/her intention to perform the behavior and that this intention is, in turn, a function of his/her attitude toward the behavior and his/her subjective norm. The best predictor of behavior is intention. Intention is the cognitive representation of a person's readiness to perform a given behavior, and it is considered to be the immediate antecedent of behavior. This intention is determined by three things: their attitude toward the specific behavior, their subjective norms and their
perceived behavioral control. The theory of planned behavior holds that only specific attitudes toward the behavior in question can be expected to predict that behavior. In addition to measuring attitudes toward the behavior, we also need to measure people's subjective norms -their beliefs about how people they care about will view the behavior in question. To predict someone's intentions, knowing these beliefs can be as important as knowing the person's attitudes. Finally, perceived behavioral control influences intentions. Perceived behavioral control refers to people's perceptions of their ability to perform a given behavior...(Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980)

2. Expected Value-Rational ChoiceTheory

Rational choice theory, also known as rational action theory, is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior. It is the dominant theoretical paradigm in microeconomics. It is also central to modern political science and is used by scholars in other disciplines such as sociology and philosophy.

The 'rationality' described by rational choice theory is different from the colloquial and most philosophical uses of rationality. Although models of rational choice are diverse, all assume individuals choose the best action according to stable preference functions and constraints facing them. Most models have additional assumptions. Proponents of rational choice models do not claim that a model's assumptions are a full description of reality, only that good models can aid reasoning and provide help in formulating falsifiable hypotheses, whether intuitive or not. Successful hypotheses are those that survive empirical tests.

v/r

Mike

[Cavguy]

This warning should not suggest that it is not an achievable goal to develop an IW wargaming. It is simply a caution to let you know that it is not easy.

As I posted earlier, there a numerous smart PH-D level operational research and social scientist working on this same topic. They temper there efforts with Sec Gates warning, and they continually ask advice from guys in the field who have been doing this for a while.

From what I've observed, there are two methodologies that they are testing to see if they can wargame IW. Below are a brief description and links to further research.

Take some time to research these theories and see if they help. Again, good luck.

Both theories are valid, but fall victim to "Black Swans" pretty easily, but that doesn't disqualify their utility.

However, have played a lot of strategy games in the past, especially ones like the "Civilization" series and derivatives therof (space conquest, etc). Almost all feature a negotiation/alliance model for trade and security. However, I have yet to find one that looks like real-world relations for war decisions, even though most are based in rational choice theory. People aren't that mathematical/logical in the real world, and coding of the social/environmental/internal political constraints seems to be the missing factor - but the hardest to quantify.

[Steve Blair]

Both theories are valid, but fall victim to "Black Swans" pretty easily, but that doesn't disqualify their utility.

However, have played a lot of strategy games in the past, especially ones like the "Civilization" series and derivatives therof (space conquest, etc). Almost all feature a negotiation/alliance model for trade and security. However, I have yet to find one that looks like real-world relations for war decisions, even though most are based in rational choice theory. People aren't that mathematical/logical in the real world, and coding of the social/environmental/internal political constraints seems to be the missing factor - but the hardest to quantify.

And that's one reason I tend to go back to the freeplay RPG style. It's about the only way you can really capture the rather unique elements that go into some human decision-making. Strategy games can capture this to a degree, but some of the better versions I've seen have been "house rules" built for things like Risk and the like. A robust RPG framework with computer aid (for resolution of some tasks like development and local infrastructure issues) still strikes me as the best way to go, although it would also be the most intensive in terms of manpower (training, white cell, and so on).