Wargames that Teach Leadership - Extraordinary college

A friend pointed me to this interesting site (see below, it immediately caught my attention with the novel use of egg timers next to the counter bases):  

I suggest you take a look yourself (see link below): 

https://www.extraordinary.college/tin-soldiers-iron-wills/

The scenarios looked appealing:

• The Battle of Luethen
• A Special Forces "smash and grab" from a train behind enemy lines
• A successful Viking raid is confronted with a Saxon Shieldwall between it and its longship home
• A Three Musketeers "look out for your friends" escapade

Interesting, although I cannot afford the price of the games in their commercial "training" use!

Footnote: I did meet "the timers" game in action at Partisan 2026. Chatting to the guy who organised it and he said he was in touch with the designer. Fairly simple game, use a unit and wait until the timer stops before you can use it next while the battle swirls around you! Quick wins can turn out to be long term losses. 

 

NATO Professional logistics Wargame

See Link Below: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyDB_At_QRw

Looks damn impressive!

Professional Wargames - What the UK Government Sees

On www.gov.uk news today (17/11/2023) there is this interesting little article (see link below):

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-crucial-role-of-wargaming-in-defence

Nice to see that the educational power of games is being used to good effect.

Along with publications such as:

Influence Wargaming:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/influence-wargaming-handbook

Wargaming Handbook:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-wargaming-handbook

Bodes well for sensible decision making (perhaps).

Connections US 2023 - Wargaming Conference Proceedings - Posted Online

Reference to site (URL): 

https://sites.google.com/view/connections-usa-proceedings

Natalia Wojtowicz - Evaluating Effectiveness in Wargames (KCL)

Another interesting presentation from KCL Wargaming Network (see link below): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJxFs5e-iXQ

Brief:

The third of the Wargaming Network's 2021-2022 public lecture series 'Evaluating Effectiveness in Wargames,' featuring the research of Natalia Wojtowicz, is now live on the Wargaming Network's YouTube channel. 

Natalia Wojtowicz will showcase different methods of evaluating effectiveness of wargames, compiled from academic, industrial and governmental sector. A comparison of common and distinct factors will be analyzed to connect the effects with structure of the wargame. The question of objectivity of results will be explored based on recent experiments on adjudication. This presentation will be focused on identifying next steps in measuring and evaluating wargames.

Natalia Wojtowicz is a lecturer at the Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Safety and Security Management Programme. She teaches about wargaming, game design, and digital skills. Her research includes effectiveness of wargaming, new methods and experimental implementation. Previously she worked at the NATO Civil-Military Cooperation Center of Excellence, leading the Wargaming, Modelling and Simulation project focused on introducing civilian population into training and education. Later she designed 14 new wargames implemented across NATO. Currently she is researching adjudication in wargaming and testing an upcoming game about uprising in Belarus. You can follow her at @Wojtowicz_N

Watch Natalia Wojtowicz's presentation and the audience Q&A now at the Wargaming Network's YouTube channel, and we look forward to your participation in the upcoming 2022-2023 public lecture series. 

Warsaw Pact (Modern Russian) Armoured Tactics - Article (Very Good Read)

For those interested in the modern (defined post 1970+ Cold War through the 90's [excluding the recent COIN era] and could be said to be coming back into fashion in the 2017+) this article may be most illuminating and frightening (see link below):

Why Cold War Warsaw Pact Tactics Work In Wargaming

Another reason to read it is that it is written by John Curry from the History of Wargaming Project

What the [US] Professionals Say About Wargaming

The current state of affairs from the US (non-hobby) wargamers:

https://paxsims.files.wordpress.com/2017/12/mors-wargaming-meeting-2017-working-group-2-final-report-20171208.pdf

A most curious (professional military) website ...

https://thestrategybridge.org/the-bridge-index