Simulating War: Studying Conflict Through Simulation Games

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LS&W has commenced planning for the 2023 Brigade Tactics Competition. Individuals and units interested in participating in this year’s event should commence their preparation now. Undertaking regular simulation-based training activities and in particular accessing SB PRO PE will ensure that personnel are familiar with the virtual and constructive simulation platforms. These training activities provide reps and sets in terrain analysis and decision-making which when coupled with mentor-led AAR and reflection enhances the tactical acumen of the participants and ensures they are cognitively prepared for the competition. In addition, regularly accessing the BSS ensures that personnel focus on fighting their opponent rather than trying to remember what keys to press as they undertake a peer-on-peer engagement in real-time. Conducted in a safe-to-fail environment, it enhanced tactical acumen of the participants through mentor-led reflection and individual learning. In designing the competition, LS&W sought to demonstrate and promote the use of Army’s simulation capability, enhance awareness of the SB PRO PE home use licence, and contribute to the end-state of the Army Wargaming Directive. Risk. Simulation allows personnel to undertake training on dangerous tasks without the associated risks; furthermore, it eliminates the environmental risks associated with field training exercises. VBS3. Produced by Bohemia Interactive, VBS3 is COTS software that provides a virtual simulation capability to Army. VBS3 provides an environment where individuals and teams can conduct rehearsals; develop and refine their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP); and exercise decision-making up to ATL 4. The software allows training audiences to operate in a number of simulated roles, ranging from dismounted infantry through to the crew of an armoured vehicle. The models within the software replicate, albeit with some limitations, the experience the operator would have with the real-life system. When they look through a scope of their rifle, they see what they would see looking through the scope of an EF-88. It is relatively simple to learn how to operate with interface and controls similar to most computer/console games.

As an example of the author's tendency to both self promote and belabor consider a typical sentence: Language Centre Navigation link in category Student Services. Press escape key to return to main menu Figure 6: A platoon commander learns a valuable lesson from reviewing the AAR footage from the Brigade Tactics Competition This article is the third and final in a series on digital defense. The first article looked at how the United States should bring tech experts and the innovative ideas they develop into the Department of Defense at an accelerated rate, and why those innovations should be shared with allies. The second essay explored how safety science and civilian AI can inform the use of AI in the military. SB PRO. A COTS platform produced by eSim Games, SB PRO provides Army with a constructive simulation capability. While SB PRO can be used to support training at ATL 1 to 3, it is generally accepted that at this level VBS3 provides a better platform to conduct this training. As a constructive simulation, the software is able to control the reaction of entities within the simulation based on a series of behaviours selected by the user; this allows a single operator to control a platoon or even a combat team. In addition to supporting a two-dimensional representation of the battlefield – which is standard to constructive simulations – SB PRO is also capable of generating three-dimensional views of the battlespace. This enables the operator to see the battlefield from the point of view of any of their call signs. It allows training audiences to develop an improved understanding of terrain and its influence on land force capabilities and operations.

Reviews

A rallying cry for wargaming DIY and a treasure trove of design tips, the book has caused me to blow the dust off a couple of board game prototypes. It's also left me wondering if modern PC wargames aren't trying to do too much. Where Sabin's manual game designs focus on a key dynamic of their subject matter, striving to simulate that dynamic with the minimum of fuss and rule clutter, many leading computer wargame devs seem keen to simulate every possible aspect of their theme in as much detail as possible. When they inevitably fail in some area, we the punters and reviewers complain about the failure. Perhaps it's time for a new breed of less compendious, more streamlined and honest computer wargames... games designed to deliver specific messages, communicate specific historical truths. Failing that, are there any devs out there willing to hire Sabin as a design consultant on an improved, 21st Century version of the Wargame Construction Set? Mental health and wellbeing Navigation link in category Student Services. Press escape key to return to main menu OK, we 'get it' the simulation was developed by a student of yours, who therefore must have taken your course. Perhaps it's just my preferences, but I believe the above sentence could have made its point more clearly in one third to one half the length. Episode I, titled ‘Wargaming in a Brave New World’, explores the making, learning, and visualisation of strategy through crisis simulation exercises in the military and public sector. It looks at exciting aspects such as how the aims of wargaming and simulations affect design choices, how online platforms are influencing the field, and what the future holds. Answering these questions are Dr James “Pigeon” Fielder, Founder of Liminal Operations and Adjunct Professor at Colorado State University, Dr Yuna Huh Wong, Defense Analyst at the Institute for Defense Analyses, and Paul Vebber, Assistant Director of Wargaming and Future Warfare Research in the US Navy. In the episode, our guests also discuss in-depth how the field is evolving in relation to academia and professional training while serving as a platform for experimentation. Highlights include expert insights on the challenges and benefits of online platforms for wargames and crisis simulations as well as a look at the cyclical nature of the prominence that wargames hold in academia and the military.

The agile grasshoppers ultimately deployed to Europe — recording, quite remarkably, one of the final air-to-air kills — largely because the Army had sought a mission-driven, platform- agnostic solution to the air observation challenge. This form of pragmatic, bottom-up change runs counter to most acquisition policy today. The Department of Defense rarely releases mission-focused requirements or employs mission-driven competitions as the basis for acquisitions. Reforming the present U.S. acquisition system would require significant structural change, yet expanding mission-driven capability and concept discovery opportunities to accommodate the “grasshoppers” of the future is a necessary and incremental first step. Academic Calendar Navigation link in category Student Services. Press escape key to return to main menu The importance of the principle of mutual support through “half guns/half visual” to achieve dispersal which greatly increased the Troop’s overall situational awareness and survivability.

Simulating War: Studying Conflict Through Simulation Games

Roma Invicta?, was designed by my student Garrett Mills in 2007 as his project within my MA course on conflict simulation" (p.136) An excellent discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of using simulation games to study or teach conflict dynamics. Very valuable reading if you're interested in the design of war games, which is my perspective. The book covers conflict from ancient times to the modern day, and goes into detail about the challenges faced by those who want to accurately portray conflicts via the medium of a simulation game. As noted by George Box in the quote above; all models are wrong, largely because they are a simplification of reality. After all, it is impossible to accurately replicate the real world. However, as noted in the quote, rather than just dismissing their utility, with an understanding of their limitations, models can still be employed to generate training benefits. This section will focus on the generalised benefits and limitations of virtual and constructive simulations.

Social Sciences & Public Policy Navigation link in category Our faculties. Press escape key to return to main menu Live, virtual and constructive simulations, or any combination of these three are an essential training tool for Army, but they cannot – nor should they – replace the requirement for field training exercises. While simulation enables our personnel to conduct training that might otherwise be unachievable, simulations are the implementation of a model, a representation of the real world, over time. Wargames and crisis simulation exercises speak directly to the aims of strategy, defined here as the harmonisation of dialogue, however unequal, between the politician and the soldier. [2] In military terms, strategy relates military power to political purpose. [3] Strategy is not to be confused with policy. That is to say, a policy cannot itself be a strategy, but represents the set of objectives with which a strategy is then made and implemented. Strategy in practice therefore needs to embrace constant change and unpredictability. [4] While an understanding of strategic theory provides the intellectual framework for decision makers, wargames and simulations can help strengthen their capacity to visualise their strategy and train to adapt it to the evolving circumstances.

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The pre-war mobilization exercises, which would include the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers, provided a way forward for innovation, supplying the “basement conspirators” and Army leadership concrete evidence that current mechanization and equestrian practices were antiquated and in desperate need of reform. Indeed, horse cavalry, despite the best efforts of equestrian units in the field, had clearly lost their superiority in mobility. In one striking example, a National Guard division had to abandon its rented horses in the field due to the animals’ state of exhaustion. When given the choice between horse-mechanized reconnaissance regiments and purely mechanized reconnaissance, divisions selected the latter. Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience Navigation link in category Our faculties. Press escape key to return to main menu