They mostly come at night. Mostly.
- university webpage: McGill University
- conflict simulations webpage: PaxSims
I've dabbled some (not to Brant's degree to be sure) and can only strongly second this comment. Audience is everything. A game intended for a casual audience can have much less detail than one intended for a professional audience. Context is important, don't get me wrong, but your audience determines the amount of detail you put into that context.
"On the plains and mountains of the American West, the United States Army had once learned everything there was to learn about hit-and-run tactics and guerrilla warfare."
T.R. Fehrenbach This Kind of War
I've started a page at GrogNews to collect info on COIN wargaming
I've love input from folks on articles / links that should be there.
Thanks!
http://grognews.blogspot.com/p/coin-wargaming.html
Brant
Wargaming and Strategy Gaming at Armchair Dragoons
Military news and views at GrogNews
“their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of ‘rights’… and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure.” Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers 1959
Play more wargames!
Thanks for the advice everyone. I started the game design with what I would consider enjoyable; so I assume a professional/academic audience. I intend to let the play-test phase determine the level of detail.
When I am weaker than you, I ask you for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles. - Louis Veuillot
These two forthcoming wargaming talks at the Center for Applied Strategic Learning (http://casl.dodlive.mil/), National Defense University may be of interest to some folks (although neither is about "small wars"):
2 May 2012: "Nuclear Wargaming," Dr. Tim Moench (Air Force Global Strike Command Wargaming and Strategic Studies), Dr. Chris Yeaw (Air Force Global Strike Command Chief Scientist), and John Harris (Air Force Concepts, Strategy, and Wargaming Division)
More details here.
9 May 2012: "The Continuing Merits of Manual Wargaming," Professor Philip Sabin (Kings College London)
More details here.
If (like me) you're not in the DC area, the presentations will also be streamed online.
They mostly come at night. Mostly.
- university webpage: McGill University
- conflict simulations webpage: PaxSims
Check out the developer diaries over at GrogHeads
http://grogheads.com/dev-longwar1.html
http://grogheads.com/dev-longwar2.html
Brant
Wargaming and Strategy Gaming at Armchair Dragoons
Military news and views at GrogNews
“their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of ‘rights’… and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure.” Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers 1959
Play more wargames!
What more could you ask for? Volko Ruhnke (who designed the terrorism/counterterrorism board game Labyrinth) AND Brian Train (whose Algeria wargame is the basis for game designs used at DoD, CIA, and elsewhere) are collaborating on a wargame of contemporary insurgency and counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. I'm certainly looking forward to this...
COIN in Afghanistan: A Distant Plain.
The game is in early development and play test at the moment--hopefully it will be out next year.
They mostly come at night. Mostly.
- university webpage: McGill University
- conflict simulations webpage: PaxSims
An update on the Connections 2012 interdisciplinary wargaming conference at PAXsims, with celebrity endorsements from Napoleon Bonaparte and Winston Churchill.
They mostly come at night. Mostly.
- university webpage: McGill University
- conflict simulations webpage: PaxSims
Interviews with the designers here
part 1: http://grogheads.com/int-adp1.html
part 2: http://grogheads.com/int-adp2.html
some great background info from the guys on how the game has developed.
Brant
Wargaming and Strategy Gaming at Armchair Dragoons
Military news and views at GrogNews
“their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of ‘rights’… and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure.” Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers 1959
Play more wargames!
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