Wargaming Weekly

Turn 3: Administration Phase (Step 10)

Turn 3: Combat Phase (Steps 5-9) for each contested zone ⚔️

Turn 3: Strategy Phase (Steps 1-4)

Also just realized that I accidentally cheated in Turn 2's Strategy Phase: I shouldn't have been able to move the Local Militia counter from map zone 8 to map zone 2 since Information Operations should only apply to hidden ISIS counters 🤦🏾‍♂️

Correction: the Local Militia counter eliminated from map zone 11 in Turn 2's Combat Phase should have gone to the ISIS Casualties box not the ISIS Available Forces box 🤦🏾‍♂️

Turn 2: Administration Phase (Step 10)

- Turn marker advanced one space from December 2016 to January 2017 ⏳
- Coalition Support (CS) counter reset to 4 (no Civilians counters in the Civilian Casualties box) 💪🏾

Turn 2: Combat Phase (Steps 5-9) for each contested zone ⚔️

Slight correction about the number of Iraqi flags under contested zone 9: it should say "3 on Armoured" not "2 on Mechanised" 🤦🏾‍♂️

Turn 2: Strategy Phase (Steps 1-4)

Wargaming China’s Dominance in Rare Earths and Critical Minerals Insights from Finley Grimble.

"We modeled ten categories of critical minerals, from rare earth oxides to permanent magnets and semiconductor inputs. The game unfolded over 2.5 days, covering ten “wargame years” (2026–2036) in five turns, each beginning with Chinese actions..."

thediplomat.com/2025/10/warg...

YouTube video by EM Disaster Gaming Disaster Gaming Episode 3 The Blue Cell's Chelsea County, USA Simulation Site Feature Version 2

"I think that going forward, that notional environment [in the Chelsea County simulation] is going to really be the enhancer to what already is an incredible game that has been created by Simental Industries"

- Todd Manns (founder at The Blue Cell)

youtu.be/2stLUcUhL_s?...

Wargaming Weekly #047: What is the effect of wargaming on mental health? 11 reflections on what wargaming has done for my mental health so far

"I've now watched all 5 presentations currently available on YouTube about her book, The Politics of Play: Wargaming with the US Military, and every time Aggie Hirst says that statement, it hits me like a bus like I’m hearing it for the very first time."

wargamingweekly.substack.com/p/effect-of-...

Wargaming Weekly #047: What is the effect of wargaming on mental health? 11 reflections on what wargaming has done for my mental health so far

“The opposite of play is depression – mere survival” – Aggie Hirst

'Sir, the Carrier Was Hit': Australia's Submarines 'Sank' an Aircraft Carrier and Nuclear Sub in Wargame The Australian submarine that "sank" a U.S. aircraft carrier. The story of the Collins-class, from a flawed start to a legendary wargame win, and why it's now being replaced.

"Australian media lauded the submarine’s effort, though reporting at the time stressed that the feat was perhaps not representative of the submarine’s capabilities during a real conflict scenario."

nationalsecurityjournal.org/sir-the-carr...

"While playing the adversarial role, the Waller reportedly penetrated the carrier group’s submarine screens and managed to make close-in observations of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)."

Testing new Ukrainian tactics using Battlegroup Clash: Baltics Can Battlegroup Clash: Baltics model Ukraine’s new approach to combined arms manoeuvre?I read with great interest this excellent new insight paper from Dr Jack Watling of RUSI. Titled ‘Emergent Approa...

"I would definitely add UGVs to a next iteration of BC:B, or if there’s an expansion. This is a challenge with designing a modern wargame in a time of war - developments on the battlefield move quicker than the speed of board game production."

www.sapperstudio.com/post/testing...

"But largely, I think my main finding is that BC:B can model the Ukrainian approach. And this isn't surprising. Much that is new in the Ukrainian approach relates to the 'middle' and 'deep' battle, rather than the 'contested zone'."

- @jsbuckley.bsky.social (founder at @sapperstudio.bsky.social)

We played Interregnum: a new leadership and strategic communication simulator from the Polish Naval Academy Within the halls of the Polish Naval Academy in Gdynia, a unique training system has been developed — one that bridges the worlds of strategic gaming, education, and leadership research. Interregnum –...

They must plan, negotiate, and make strategic decisions. In practice, they learn how political theory and international relations concepts translate into real-world decision-making processes.

dailymare.com/news/we-play...

According to Dr Paweł Kusiak, head of the Game and Simulation Laboratory, participants assume the roles of political leaders operating in an environment of incomplete information.

Turn 1: Administration Phase (Step 10)

Turn 1: Combat Phase (Steps 5-9) for each contested zone ⚔️

Turn 1: Strategy Phase (Steps 1-4)

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Clyde charity plans live wargaming experience aboard frigate Clyde Naval Heritage has announced plans to develop a live, immersive wargaming experience aboard the former Royal Navy frigate HMS Ambuscade, which is set to return from Pakistan to the River Clyde, ...

"The gaming project forms part of a broader vision to turn HMS Ambuscade into a floating museum and interactive heritage site after her 6,000-mile journey from Karachi, where she served as PNS Tariq in the Pakistani Navy until 2023."

ukdefencejournal.org.uk/clyde-charit...

RUSI just released an excellent paper on ‘Emergent Approaches to Combined Arms Manoeuvre in Ukraine’. I wanted to test if Battlegroup Clash: Baltics could model the new approach. The answer was a conditional yes. Read about it here: www.sapperstudio.com/post/testing...

Battlegroup Clash: Baltics can be used to model new tactical doctrines, as highlighted here. As discussed @leebwood.bsky.social

Thank you to @armchairdragoons.bsky.social for featuring my debut interview, with @fight-club-intl.bsky.social's co-director Ed Farren in the latest #TuesdayNewsday! 📜

🔗 Read my interview: wargamingweekly.substack.com/p/interview-... 🎲

🔗 Read #TuesdayNewsday here: armchairdragoons.com/tn-102125/ 🗞️

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Colonels Olayinka and Shoda previously attended the Defence Wargaming Design Course and the Defence Wargaming Practitioner Course, delivered collaboratively by the Defence Academy of the UK and the Defence Experimentation and Wargaming Hub, part of the Integrated Warfare Centre (IWC).