Tag Archives: naval wargames

Opinion: Gaming Distributed Lethality

Opinion: Gaming Distributed Lethality

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An MH-60R Seahawk, attached to the “Warbirds” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 49, flies over the guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Momsen (DDG 92), two of the three guided-missile destroyers deployed in a U.S. 3rd Fleet Pacific Surface Action Group (PAC SAG). US Navy photo.

An MH-60R Seahawk, attached to the “Warbirds” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 49, flies over the guided-missile destroyers USS Spruance (DDG 111) and USS Momsen (DDG 92), two of the three guided-missile destroyers deployed in a U.S. 3rd Fleet Pacific Surface Action Group (PAC SAG). US Navy photo.

“We have to stop thinking of adversary maritime forces as ‘threats’ and instead what they really are: ‘targets’ for our increasingly lethal, distributed surface, amphibious, and submarine forces,” Dr. William Bundy, director of the Gravely Group at the Naval War College, asserted during a recent interview. Read More →

A Brief History of Naval Wargames

A Brief History of Naval Wargames

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navalwargamesFor more than 100 years, the U.S. Navy has simulated naval warfare with simulations, or games. As far back as the 19th century the Navy recognized that gaming and simulations are an inexpensive and bloodless way to learn lessons that typically are imparted only during wartime.

The use of games traditionally has had multiple purposes. The foremost is to train for war. Simulating warfare gives those involved the closest possible experience they can have to actual warfare, thus giving them a modicum of experience under fire. It is an inexpensive way to train without the expense of taking ships and aircraft to sea, particularly in periods of austerity. Read More →

Game Review: 'Command' is A Worthy Successor to Harpoon

Game Review: ‘Command’ is A Worthy Successor to Harpoon

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Command: Air/Naval Operations

Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations

Given the nature of the personal computer game market, it’s rare for a commercial game to have the potential to act as an informal training tool. Games tend to trend toward the exaggeration of reality—if not totally fantastic in their premise. An exception to that trend is “Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations,” a “hard” simulation that models all aspects of modern air and sea warfare in painstaking detail. A worthy heir to the Harpoon series of games, “Command” will find a following not only among civilian gamers but might have value among military, government, and policy circles as a simulator of modern warfare. Read More →