Kriegsspiel as a Training Tool

Discussion copied from Yahoo Group.
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I am hoping you might be able to help me in finding the best way to
use kriegsspiel as a training tool for groups on the principles and
art of war.

For a training session for a group in the Netherlands in june this
year (2007) on the subject of how to use the art of war in other
fields than the military (ie, politics, business etc) using Szun Szu
and John Boyds OODA loop, we are looking for a way to let our trainees
participate in a wargame to see how these principles work.
As it is only a 5 - 6 hour session, we need to find a wargame that is
easy to explain/learn, yet conveys the message of schwerpunkt,
auftrags tactiek etc clearly. It has to be operational in scale therefore.
Most commercial wargames on the market are very heavy on rules and
thus take too much time to learn/use. A Kriegsspiel like game seems
fairly ideal to me as an umpire can handle the rules and thus leaving
the trainees to think of a strategy and give (general) orders. The
basics could be explained in 15 minutes or so and the game played
instantly.

Do you know of any form of kriegsspiel that is suited for this
situation? Preferrably a WWII blitzkrieg scenario or Israely Six Days
war scenario.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bas Kreuger
Haarlem
The Netherlands
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Dear Bas

I would like to introduce you to EDIMTRAT, Emergency & Disaster Management Training Tool

That is designed and build to train officers of Red Cross, Police, Fire Brigade, and also other responsible persons, in a Table Top Exercise.

I do have to say it myself, but it is a nice ‘serious game’
More ‘serious games’ will be presented at the ISCRAM 2007 conference in Delft, Netherlands.
From 14 to 18 may 2007 I think.

I only will be there during the “serious games” presentations what will be +-2 day’s
If you want to now more about EDIMTRAT don’t wait to cant me.

Best Regards
Giedo Van pellicom
Bornem - Belgium
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Hi Bas

No reason why you can't run a game on these lines. Here are two ideas:

(a) Use one of the commercial board wargames you mention. Yes, these are often rules-heavy......but the beauty of a kriegsspiel is that the players do not need to know them. Indeed it is better if they do not. You want them to play the situation, rather than the system. If you go this route, I would suggest that the map (usually hex-based) & counters that come with the game are only available to the umpires. Give the players a plain map, which can be marked up with washable pens. As well as being what real generals used before they had computers, it will also help to get them away from trying to play the system.

(b) Use a computer game programme such as 'The Operational Art of War' to handle movement & combat. Again, just give the players a plain map & washable pens. They just give their orders to the umpires......there is no need for them ever to go near the computer.

If you want both sides to be played (rather then one side being umpire-driven) then I would suggest something less one-sided that the 6 day war. The players on the Arab team might feel they had too little input and chance of winning. I think your suggestion of something from WW2 might be better. How about the Ukraine in early 1943 or early 1944? In both cases the Russians are on the strategic offensive, but the Germans have chances to counterattack.

Regards

Martin James
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Hi Martin,

Your idea is genial! Indeed, using either a boardgame or a PC one for
the umpire makes it perfect in the execution and easy and simple on
the trainees!

Thinking along these lines, Highway to the Reich or Conquest of the
Aegean by Panther Games (published by Matrix) are even better than
TOAW as they are realtime and graphically nice to look at.
HTTR and COAT are also very very easy to play for the umpire (no need
to learn all details of TOAW for instance).
We can even make three groups, two playing both Allies and Axis and
the rest as audience and show these what is really happening to make
them see the principles of war in action.

Thanks for this brilliant suggestion!

Bas
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This is entirely do-able. However, I'm still feeling out your requirements.

Does it have to be a board game, or can it be a computer game?

If it will be a board game, how many umpires will you have? (Similar
question for computer games, but related to the number of computers.)
You'll need a cadre of trained ump[ires to keep things moving
smoothly.


If you are more interested in the discussion than the simulation
itself, consider purchasing John F. Schmitt's book _Mastering Tactics_
-- it presents a series of tactical scenarios with discussions. The
intent is that students are provided with the situation, take 5 - 10
minutes to come up with a plan, and then the students present and
discuss the plans. The situations are constructed to highlight
various issues, including commander's intent, focus of effort, etc.

If you want to use a computer game, consider Panther/Matrix Games'
_Conquest of the Aegean_. The scenarios mostly focus on blitzkriegs
and delays, and students can give the AI intent-based orders fairly
simply, and the simulation of staff planning time (a delay on the
execution of orders, based on the quality of the HQ assigned the task)
directly creates OODA loops.

James Sterrett
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These are all good points Bas. James has a lot of experience in
running kriegsspiel-type scenarios using computer games.

Martin James
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1) Also consider TacOps (from Battlefront.com ) for modern games - it
runs networked and the basic functions are very simple.

In general, a paper game is more flexible but requires more umpires.
A computer game does most of the umpiring for you, but you have to
work within its parameters.

2) Speaking of that experience, there's an opening on the team at the moment:

http://careers.northropgrumman.com/ExternalHorizonsWeb/getJobPostDetail.do?sequenceNumber=115157

Contact me if you're interested and want more information; note that I
am not the person conducting the hire.

James Sterrett
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