Wargame Research
Wargaming Research feeds all my Endeavors. Do you want to help? If so, read on!
Three Research Components
History of Wargaming
Just as astronomy and meteorology depend on historical data to advance their theories so wargaming needs knowledge of past successes and failures to inform our understanding.
Best Practices
The Connections conferences is one source of effective innovations I can then pass on. Emails straight from the innovator is also an invaluable source.
Comparative Wargaming
Knowing how our adversaries wargame can help avoid misunderstandings, give us insights into their capabilities and limitations and perhaps even provide ideas we can use to wargame more effectively.
How can you help?
If you can contribute information or time on the below projects please contact me:
We have books on wargaming written in German, Japanese and French. We need people willing and able to translate these.
We know nothing about how North Korea wargames, almost nothing about Russian wargaming and less then we would like about Chinese and Iranian wargaming. Information on any of these nation’s wargaming efforts would be invaluable.
We have found little information about US Army wargaming during WWII. Can you provide material on this topic?
Wargaming was used by both Russia and Japan before and during the Russo-Japanese War. We do not any reports of these wargames or of after action reviews about their effectiveness from Russia or Japan. Can you provide material on these games?
The US Joint Staff’s Studies, Analysis, and Gaming Division has wargame reports going back to the 1950s, but most are still Top Secret because no one has reviewed them for potential declassification and release. Are you in a position to review and declassify these?
I’ve asked several US and allied nations if their organization has a history of their wargaming endeavors. So far the only reply I have received is a recent history by the US Air Force’s Air Force Material Command. If your organization has such a history (and its not classified) please send it. If your organization does not, please consider asking your history office to write one. (And then send it to me.) Of particular interest is the US Strategic Air Command as I understand it did much to advance the state of the art of US wargaming.