"Murphy's Law:The Rise And Fall And Revival Of Wargames" Topic

"U.S. Department of Defense is again calling for more wargame use to better examine an increasingly uncertain future. There is a sense of déjà vu in all this because using wargames to assist defense planning has gone in and out of fashion in the United States several times since the late 19th century. The problem is that the wargames often depict, quite convincingly outcomes that are not welcome with some government or military leaders. Worse, the wargames are sometimes corrupted (tweaked to get the desired results) and fall into disfavor.

While American officers first encountered wargames after the Civil War because of the success of the complex German "kriegspiel" (wargames) those fell into disfavor after World War II and nothing effective replaced the still valid German approach. What revived wargaming in the Department of Defense was the appearance of commercial of "hobby" wargames in the 1950s. These got the attention of younger troops and eventually got the attention of senior officers who called for using this type of game in the army (then the marines and then the air force) in the 1970s. The civilian wargames sold quite well until the 1980s when they were largely replaced by computerized versions.

These commercial wargames were found to be remarkably useful for military professionals and played a major role in reviving interest in wargaming in the Department of Defense and throughout NATO and then worldwide. While it was easy to keep everyone honest with the manual wargames, once they were computerized the military games started to become less useful for their users and often too expensive to fix…"
Full text here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Does the latest TMP poll on the subject verify that?

Can't recall seeing the final outcome that they are of any use, or can "simulate" history, or results.

Currently running at 52% who disagree with the proposition that rulesets cannot do a good job of simulating historical results. To my mind a gobsmackingly low number (presumably the 41% who agreed with the proposition must get *something* out of playing wargames). Today's the last day to vote.

It doesn't matter what the facts are … wargamers always know what's what

Phil

Sell the idea that TMP is a wargame think tank and see if we all can get federal funding.

The author says the major difference between the pros and the hobbyists is how they use the games. I would maintain that hobbyists are perfectly willing to do things professionals will not do because – well, hey – it may be a 1 in a million chance this move will work, but that's not 0%, is it?

Agree with you John!.

Amicalement
Armand

It would be the 1:1 scale wargames that would worry me. But at least the minis and vehicles would already come painted… ;-)

Clearly, they must be of some use, or they wouldn't be spending the money and personnel's time to do it, so a win for the "yes" people.

Seem to remember in WWII Japan did a carrier fight wargame vs the US…had to refloat their sunk carriers and changed it a bit after it was over to get the proper result……Then Midway happened…