I took time off to go down to Richmond and the Museum of the Confederacy on Friday the 6 February to participate in this decision making exercise as a guest of the Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare School (EWS)-(I was a student of Amphibious Warfare School 1990-91). Every once and a while, I also volunteer to teach in their advanced warfighting seminar on Thursday nights because half of the 40 students in the seminar are Army captains, and it is another opportunity to mentor and teach these future leaders.
The German General Staff used Kriegspiel in the late 19th Century as a method of educating commanders and their staffs regarding their duties during wartime. We played the August 1862 campaign in central and northern Virginia (I used Kriegspiel when I ran the Maneuver Warfare club at Georgetown ROTC). The centerpiece is a referee and simple rules (I have the entire packet if you are interested in seeing what you have to do to run it). But the referee or umpire, has to be incredibly knowledgeable of war to provide information of the particulars of the scenario. The umpire has to constantly make on the spot comments to the opposing sides on what they likely see, and how combat is resolved. I played the Assistant Adjutant General (AAG)(Civil War Ops officer) to General John Pope (played by instructor Phil Gibbons).
Don Vandergriff 