The United States Naval War College Fundamentals of War Gaming

This book describes the fundamentals of war gaming, its history, and some of the techniques employed in war games. It presents comprehensive treatment of the various forms of war gaming, inclduing manual games to computer-assisted games, one-sided to multi-sided games, and free-play games to rigid style games. The author addresses every aspect of gaming imaginable, including data requirements, design, execution, and analysis. Even the use of probalistic tables to emulate stochastic processing and the use of flow diagrams for decisions are provided.

CHAPTER I
Introduction to War Games
  Simulation
  Conflict Situation
  War Games
  Models
  War Game Models
  Other Elements
  War Game Director or Controller
  Control Group
  Players
  Spectators
  The Purpose
  Specific Purpose or Purposes
  Types
  General Purpose
  Scope and Level
  Number of Sides
  Amount of Intelligence
  Methods of Evaluation
  Basic Simulation Techniques
  Mixed Simulation Methods
  Other Methods of Classification
  The Value of War Games
  Limitations
  Game Theory

CHAPTER II
History of War Games
  Chess
  Military or War Chess
  Vogue of Military Mathematics
  Introduction of Additional Features
  Early WAr Games
  New Methods of Evaluation
  German War Games, 1880 to World War II
  Japanese Use of War Games
  Allies, World War II
  War Games in the United States
  Gaming at the Naval War College

CHAPTER III
Rules, Procedures, and Data
  The Conflict Situation
  Conduct of the Game
  Kinds of Rules
  Amount of Detail
  Models
  Business Game Cycle
  Moves
  Function of the Rules
  Evolution of the Rules
  Data
  Umpires
  Probability
  Expected-Value Models
  Stochastic Models
  Choice of Models

CHAPTER IV
Manual Games
  Advantages
  Limitations
  Simulation Requirements
  The Duel Game
  Naval War College Board Games
  Submarine Tactical Game
  Hexagonal Grid Systems
  Naval War College Chart Games
  Command and Staff Department Manual Games
  The School of Naval Warfare Strategic Game
  Naval Comamnd Course Manual Game
  JCS Politico-Military Desk Games
  Landing Force WAr Game (LFWG)
  TACSPIEL and THEATERSPIEL
  Monopologs
  Other Manual Games

CHAPTER V
The NEWS and NEWS Gaming
  History of the NEWS
  The War Gaming Department
  General Description of the NEWS
  Area of Operations
  Forces
  Command Centers
  Command Headquarters
  Umpire Area
  Communications, Control, and Equipment Rooms
  The NEWS Damage Computer
  System Capabilities
  Equipment Limitations
  Scaling Factors and Other Gimmicks
  Manual Techniques
  Types of NEWS Games
  Curriculum  Games
  Fleet Games
  Game Design and Rules
  Rules
  Programming
  Participants
  Briefings and Rehearsals
  Critiques and Post Game Reports
  Demonstrations

CHAPTER VI
Computers and Computer Games
  Rigid Umpiring
  Rigid-play Games
  Development of Computing Devices and Systems
  Binary Representation
  Digital Computers
  Stored Programs
  Developing a Program
  Programming Languages
  Computer Processing
  Computer-Assisted Games
  Computer Gaming
  Time-Step and Event-Store Games
  Some Advantages and Disadvantages of Computer Gaming
  Navy War Games Program Computer Games
    Strike Warfare Model Mark II
    Anti-Air Warfare Systems Interaction Model
    Sea Warfare Intermediate Model (SWIM)
    SSBM Detection Model
    Embarkation Planning Support Model
    Supportiing Arms Model
    Ship-to-Shore  Model
Sealift I
Barrier Submarine Computer Game

APPENDIX  A -- CHANCE DEVICES
APPENDIX  B -- PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTIONS
APPENDIX C -- A GLOSSARY OF WAR GAMING TERMS
APPENDIX D -- REFERENCES

This book is intended primarily for the use of resident students at the U. S. Naval War College. It should also provide a source of background information for other military officers and researchers concerned with war gaming.