Next-Generation Wargaming for the U.S. Marine Corps: Recommended Courses of Action

Abstract

Limited Print and Electronic Distribution RightsThis document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.

Design methodology of analytical games for knowledge acquisition

“…The final aim is to facilitate, collect, analyse and display relevant aspects of human decision-making processes. As highlighted in [46] we can distinguish between decision tools ("capable of moving, displaying, synthesizing, and manipulating information"), scenario tools ("capable of representing the effects of the decisions and events)", adjudication tools ("capable of [. .…”

“…Although modern technologies offer a wide range of gaming solutions, ranging from low cost and low technology to highly advanced ones, in most cases organisations resort to a mixed approach, made of manual games, software-heavy tools and fully computerised approaches [46]. The reason for which organisations still adopt manual games, regardless of the level of resources available, is that these have significant pragmatic advantages, such as cost, flexibility, adaptability, adjudication transparency, large libraries of game mechanics and ease of use when dealing with classified topics [46]. The same game could be implemented on one or more platforms, depending on the analytical objectives and requirements.…”

Wargaming for International Relations research

“…Wargames do not predict what will happen in conflict or crisis, but they can tell us why and how one outcome or another occurred. While widely accepted within practitioner communities (Bartels, 2020; Oberholtzer et al, 2019; Perla, 1990; Perla and McGrady, 2011; Wong et al, 2019), these assumptions about the value of wargaming as a research tool are mostly untested. We lay them out in this section to begin outlining a forward-looking research agenda on the unique role of wargames alongside other methodologies and archival data sources.…”

Virtual paradox: how digital war has reinvigorated analogue wargaming

“…Specifically, the Marine Corps has called for "a wargaming art and method that will seamlessly represent an evolving operational environment and accommodate the agility, imagination, and speed of innovative thought" (Lademan 2017). A subsequent RAND study on NGW (Wong et al 2019) emphasized the value of more fully utilizing digital technologies, in order to create a more engaging and immersive environment for participantsespecially a generation that had come to expect sophisticated graphics and visual display from commercial console and computer gaming. As the report notes, "NGW aims to incorporate emerging aspects of gaming among millennial and Gen Z gamers to evolve the current paradigm of wargaming-both in terms of technology and methodology" (Wong et al 2019, 30).…”