Connections Oz Program 2020

The 2020 conference was held between 7 and 9 December via Zoom.

Monday 7 December

0800-0810. Welcome and admin.

Session 01 0810-0845: Conference Opening. MAJGEN Mick Ryan.

MAJGEN Ryan is the Commander of the Australian Defence College. MAJGEN Ryan will open the conference and provide some remarks on wargaming.

Video .

Session 02 0900-0945: Keynote address: Matt Caffrey.

Matt is the ‘father’ of connections . and author of ‘On Wargaming: How Wargames Have Shaped History and How they May Shape the Future' .

Matt is a retired USAF Colonel and is currently a civil servant assigned to Headquarters Air Force Research Laboratory (HQ AFRL) at Wright Patterson AFB. His duties include leading Future Analytical Science and Technology (FAST) wargames, teaching the Air Force Material Command (AFMC) Wargame Course and AFRL and liaison to AFMC for wargaming. He has extensive experience in many aspects of wargaming and has been a passionate proponent of improving professional wargaming. Matt has often observed ‘wargames save lives’.

Video .

Session 03 1000-1045: Diversity in Wargaming: Elizabeth Kohn, Defence Science and Technology Group.

As some of you may know, the Derby House Principles . were promulgated earlier this year as a statement about, and challenge to, actively seeking diversity and inclusion in wargaming. DSTG, and Defence more broadly, have been at the forefront in Australia for promoting diversity. Liz has been involved in a number of initiatives at DSTG and will discuss those experiences and provide some practical advice for removing barriers.

Session 04 1100-1145: Defence Analytic Wagaming Network (DAWN): Andrew Coutts, Defence Science and Technology Group.

Australia’s Joint and Operations Analysis Division (JOAD), in the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST), is leading and building the Defence Analytical Wargaming Network (DAWN) to support leadership decisions within the Australian Defence Forces. It combines, connects, coordinates, influences, enhances and focuses existing analytical wargaming capabilities to advance this critical Defence resource. This presentation will cover the rationale for analytical wargaming, explain the fundamental goals of DAWN and outline initial achievements.

Session 05 1200-1245: Analysing The Heck Out Of Fun: Peter Williams, Defence Science and Technology Group.

In this non-technical presentation we will dissect the concept of “fun”, within the context of professional wargaming, with a cold and callous precision. We will ask (but not entirely answer) the following burning questions: Should games indeed be fun? Can we manufacture a concise definition for fun? And what can we – as professional wargame designers and executors – do to increase the enjoyment of our wargame participants?

Popcorn optional.

1300-1400: Lunch break

Session 06 1400-1445: Wargaming for Joint Experimentation. GPCAPT Phil Arms, Director Joint Experimentation.

GPCAPT Arms will talk about joint experimentation generally and how wargaming is used as one of the tools to support experimentation campaigns.

Video .

Session 07 1500-1545: Developing Land Combat Simulation for Wargaming: Kerryn Owen, Defence Science and Technology Group.

Wargaming and Simulation are practices with some commonality, particularly as a means for Analysis. The development of Land Combat Simulation tools within an Analytical Wargaming capability is explored in this presentation, including insight into common practices and issues encountered in this context. This includes the application of the MASA SWORD simulation to Operations Research in the Australian Defence Force.

Session 08 1600-1645: DAWN Rising Experiment Series: Lance Holden, Defence Science and Technology Group.

The DAWN Rising series are experiments aimed at developing the analytical wargaming tools and techniques of the Defence Analytical Wargaming Network (DAWN). Viewers will understand the goals of the DAWN research and understand the results from our first attempts at distributed seminar analytical wargaming and adjudication. This will include details of the tools used such as the Joint Analytical Wargaming Tool (JAWT) and our framework for using Assassin’s Mace. Viewers will also understand the future goals of DAWN Rising.

1700-1900: Break

Session 09 1900-1945: Why Cyber-Wargames are Wrong: John Curry, University of Bath.

Video .

Session 10 2000-2045: UK Defence Wargaming Centre. Lee Purslow, DSTL

Video .

Tuesday 8 December

Session 11 0800-0845: Gaming Political Transitions: Professor Rex Brynen, McGill University.

Rex is a researcher and teacher in the Department of Political Science. He is one of the designers of the board game Aftershock , and the editor of the PAXsims website. He is also one of the developers of the Derby House Principles for diversity and inclusion.

Video .

Session 12 0900-0945: Incorporating Historical Data in Wargames: David Redpath Joint Wargaming, Experimentation and Simulation Section, Canadian Joint Warfare Centre.

David is a Retired British Army Infantry officer (Royal Regiment of Fusiliers). His last posting was as Chief Instructor at the School of Infantry. Since then he has designed and run training games, exercises and simulations for multinational companies – automotive, aerospace, transportation and health services. He is currently Senior Wargames Designer for the Canadian DND at the Canadian Joint Warfare Centre.

Video .

Session 13 1000-1045: Wargaming a Hypothetical 2025 Pacific War. COL Tim Barrick, Director, Wargaming Division, Marine Corps Warfighting Lab

This presentation will provide an overview of the United States Marine Corps’ recently released Operational Wargame System Game 001: Assassin’s Mace. This wargame system focuses on hypothetical conflict in the Pacific region and is intended to help professional military students understand the relationship between time and distance factors, the rapid tempo of decision making, and the complexities of joint war at sea in the future operating environment.

Session 14 1100-1145: Wargaming at the Naval Postgraduate School: Dr Jeff Appleget

Dr Appleget is a retired Army Colonel who served as an Artilleryman and Operations Research analyst in his 30-year Army career. He teaches the Wargaming Applications, Introduction to Joint Combat Modeling, and Advanced Wargaming Applications courses at NPS.

This talk will describe the wargaming education program conducted by the Naval Postgraduate School including both the resident course and the week-long mobile education team course that is conducted around the world.

Video .

Session 15 1200-1245: Analysis of Wargame Results: Elizabeth Kohn, Defence Science and Technology Group.

1300-1400: Lunch break

Session 16 1400-1445: Wargaming for Professional Military Education: GPCAPT Jo Brick, Australian Defence College.

Group Captain Brick is a Legal Officer in the Royal Australian Air Force. Previous appointments include Directing Staff – Australian Command & Staff Course, Staff Officer Legal to Chief of Defence Force, and Legal Advisor to Chief of Air Force. She is currently the Chief of Staff, Australian Defence College.

The talk will discuss gaming for PME, with a particular focus on ‘ This War of Mine ’ as a different way of looking at armed conflict.

Video .

Session 17 1500-1545: The Inaugural Australasian Crisis Simulation Summit: Tim Hobbs, ANU.

The Australasian Crisis Simulation Summit was held in September 2020. It brought together over 30 students from across the country to confront a number of simulated crises. Tim will describe the activity and discuss where the project is heading.

Video .

1600-1900: Break

Session 18 1900-1945: Publishing the UK MOD Wargaming Handbook.: Graham Longley-Brown & Colin Marston.

Video .

Session 19 2000-2045: Kings College Wargaming Network : Ivanka Barzashka

Wednesday 9 December

Session 20 0800-0845: Creating the Fog of War: Geoff Engelstein.

Geoffrey Engelstein is the designer of many tabletop games, including The Ares Project, the Space Cadets series, The Dragon & Flagon, The Expanse, Fog of War and Versailles 1919 . He is the founder of the Ludology podcast and a contributor to the Dice Tower podcast with his GameTek segments that discuss the math, science, and psychology of games. He has also published several books, including GameTek: The Math and Science of Gaming , Achievement Relocked: Loss Aversion and Game Design , and Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design. He is on the faculty of the NYU Game Center as an adjunct professor for Board Game Design.

Session 21 0900-0945: Behind the Curtain: Developing the ‘Next War’ Game: Mitchell Land.

Mitchell is the one of the designers of the ‘ Next War ‘ series of wargames for GMT . These board games attempt to model potential near future scenarios in the Indo-Pacific and Europe. Some additional background on the games can be found here .

Video .

Session 22 1000-1045: Australian Defence Force Wargaming Association: LTCOL David Hill & SGT Tyron Casey.

Lieutenant Colonel Dave Hill is a logistics officer in the Australian Defence Force Wargaming Association Australian Army and chair of the (ADFWGA). He is currently posted to the United States Army, Combined Arms Center as the Australian Exchange Officer in the National Simulation Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Sergeant Ty Casey is an Infantry Corps Senior Non-Commissioned Officer and the vice chair of the Australian Defence Force Wargaming Association (ADFWGA). Having just posted out from the Army Recruit Training Centre, Sergeant Casey will join the Australian Defence Force Academy next year as a Division Sergeant.

This session will outline how commercial games can contribute to the reinvigoration of wargaming throughout the Australian Defence Force as outlined in the article Reinvigorating Wargaming – Time to Establish ‘Fight Club’ . It will also provide some observations and insights from the United States Army’s pilot Introduction to Wargaming course, the use of commercial games at the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the Australian Defence Force Wargaming Association’s own pilot Army Tactics Competition.

Session 23 1100-1145: Teaching ‘the Craft of Wargaming’: Rob Burks, US Naval Postgraduate School.

Video .

Session 24 1200-1245: Using Games for Business Continuity Planning: David Smith, CEO Risk Matters .

1300-1400: Lunch break.

Session 25 1400-1445: Debriefing Wargames: Elyssebeth Leigh, Scott Arbuthnot.

Video .

Session 26 1500-1545: Wargaming Information Warfare with ‘Potentium’. CMDR Kate Pisani, Information Warfare Division.

The Potentium program delivers a tech-enabled experimental wargame designed to information capability and policy development to enable ADF Manoeuvre in the Information Environment (MIE) and contribute to the training of the joint warfighter. Using a mix of experimentation, analytical wargaming and red teaming techniques, it delivers a robust, multidisciplinary methodology alongside cutting-edge technology to deliver recommendations aimed at optimising ADF capability in the Information Environment (IE).

Specifically, this program incorporates Artificial Intelligence and digital media technology, providing a dynamic environment for gaming. Participants in the program immerse themselves in a series of workshops and simulations, developing an understanding of influence-related problems, and further, learning to identify threats and opportunities for Australia and its potential adversaries.

1600-1615: Closing Session