Adversarial by nature, a wargame is a representation of conflict activities not involving actual forces – using rules, data and procedures, in which the flow of events shapes, and is shaped, by decisions made by the players during the course of those events.
Wargaming has been utilised by professional military forces since the mid-1800s as a learning tool for commissioned and non-commissioned officers. The following presentation Introduction to Wargaming from the Royal Military College of Australia discusses the use of wargames as a pedagogical (teaching) tool that allows learners to teach themselves, internalise knowledge and enable cognitive engagement. It explains what a wargame is in this context, discusses chance and risk in warfare and its representation through gamification, briefly explores our ABCA partners’ experience with wargaming, and provides some resources for the learner to explore on their own.
This is the first of a number of short presentations concerning wargaming and its utility for learning. The series will explore types of wargames, wargaming techniques, how to select and condcut a wargame for professional military education. I hope this presentation serves as a primer for future learners to explore wargaming as another potential learning opportunity.
Colonel Bede Galvin
Director Military Arts, The Royal Military College of Australia
A note from The Cove Team: If you are interested in wargaming, here are a few great wargaming articles on The Cove.
- Reinvigorating Wargaming - Time to establish 'Fight Club'
- Is Wargaming a useful tool to train officers?
- Playing Board Games for PME?
MAJ Somerville appears to be referencing British publication at the point you indicated, we do not have the specific link however recommend accessing the Land Simulation Centre DRNet page on the DPN, specifically the 'Army Wargaming - Suggested Reading' section.
Hope this helps.
Clinton,
You can download a copy of the MOD Wargaming Handbook from the GOV.UK website - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-wargaming-handbook. You can also find a number of other NATO Wargaming Handbooks on the www. Unfortunately the Australian Army Wargaming Handbook is not available for public release.
I hope this is of some assistance.
Andrew Somerville
Clinton,
You can source unit tokens from various suppliers or make your own. You can purchase unit tokens used in 'Australian Platoon Commander' from the company Battlefield Accessories. You can also purchase blank wooden ‘blocks’ from various on-line stores (eg: eBay, Amazon, Itsy, AliExpress, Temu, etc - just google search ‘game components’) or from commercial hobby game manufacturers such as Columbia Games. Then print your own unit symbols on ‘sticker paper’ using a suitable military symbol generator (eg: https://spatialillusions.com/unitgenerator/). Cut out the printed symbols and then apply them to the blocks. Finally you can 3D print unit tokens if you have a 3D Printer. There are numerous STL files on commercial sites such as www.thingiverse.com or you can use STL files created by the Canadian Army which can be found on the web site 'Line of Sight' (https://www.canada.ca/en/army/services/line-sight/pd-tool-box/3d-printing-library.html). I suggest a thorough search of the www will result in numerous options to meet your requirements.
Andrew Somerville
I enjoyed your presentation. Well done. Just a small correction: It should be "Kriegsspiel" on the chart at 34:05 , not Kreigsspiel.
Cheers