"Wargaming Unpredictable Adversaries ..." Topic

…(and Unreliable Allies)

"…In many hobby wargames, a degree of unpredictability is built into gameplay via the roll of dice or other common random event mechanisms (for example, drawing from a deck of cards that each describe a possible occurrence). Mechanics of randomness in such games are intended to capture the causal effects of the unknown, as well as elements of Clausewitzian fog and friction, rather than to suggest that there is no actual linkage between cause and effect.[vi] The game mechanic is also intended to complicate planning and decision making without unduly influencing outcomes: after all, who wants to play a game in which the results are decided less by player decisions than they are by the draw of an event card or the roll of a die?

In professional wargames, however, truly random events might subvert the educational purposes or research design of a game. Instead, if the actor concerned is of secondary importance, the game designers can script apparently erratic behavior into the scenario from the outset, or have such injects on standby to use if their introduction would serve the game objectives. In an educational or training game, for example, scripting surprising actions by non-player actors is a valuable way of encouraging agile and adaptive thinking among participants…."
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