TRAX 1 Tank Platoon leader (1985)

 

 

TRAX I was a wargame developed by the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences in the mid-1980s. It was designed to support the training of tank platoon leaders. The game modified the Dunn-Kempf terrain board and components to create a simplified, faster-paced training tool.

The game was set at platoon level, with models to represent individual tanks and sections. Any modern wargamer familiar with the work of WRG would have recognised a TRAX 1 game in progress.

TRAX I focused on low-cost methods of leader tactical training and aims. The game was a ‘multiplayer’ solo game with the players representing American forces against an umpire controlled Warsaw Pact enemy. It was targeted at maximising training and included four exercises with detailed lesson plans.

This book includes extensive notes about the game design and are still of relevance to any developer working on developing their own tactical wargame.

This book is published by the History of Wargaming Project as part of ongoing efforts to document the development of professional wargaming.

 

Cold War Nuclear Wargaming 1947-1991

 

During the Cold War, more accurately known as the First Cold War from 1945 to 1991, wargames were a staple in the military, political, and industrial sectors. This book delves into a seldom-explored area of literature: nuclear wargaming. It features a variety of professional wargames from that period, including Tom Schelling's classic crisis game set in Cold War Berlin, which often incorporated nuclear war scenarios, Dr. Paddy Griffith's strategic nuclear wargame, and decision-making games for political leaders facing the ultimate choice of whether to resort to nuclear options in response to a Warsaw Pact invasion of Europe. Additionally, it includes extracts from tactical nuclear wargaming rules used by the British and American military in their land wargames, as well as a civil defence exercise addressing the challenges of local government managing the transition to war and the immediate post-strike period.

This book is a unique contribution to the professional wargaming literature and is published by the History of Wargaming Project

New Book: Dark Places- professional wargaming of dark themes

 Stating the obvious, all wargames are dealing with the darkest elements of human experience, that of conflict. However, there is a subset of wargames that are used to explore the darkest elements of conflict. These games are routinely run behind closed doors and rarely, if ever, does the existence of such games reach the public domain, let alone the details. Sometimes these games are part of professional military activity, sometimes part of academic research. Both purposes use the vehicle of designing and playing a wargame as a way to generate different insights from merely reading and attending conferences.

The games in this book were carefully chosen to reduce the risk of offence. They demonstrate the ways of running such games, but without using current or recent conflicts as examples. They include:

Bosnian Mercenary: Gaming the Chaos of the Disintegration of Yugoslavia

WMD 1945

My Aunt’s War: Civilian Experience of War

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Gaming Surrender

Pickett’s Charge: Using Drama

The Button: Nuclear Decision Making

Exercise Hard Rock: Civil Defence

The Tank Factory: Military Management of the Economy During Wartime

The reader should be clear that these games on dark subjects matter and often have real world consequences. This  book is the first to shed some light on these types of games with actual examples.

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New Book: Blockbuster Wargame (1984)- American Army Wargaming Rules for Military Operations in Urbanised Terrain

 

Developed and played during the Cold War, BLOCKBUSTER, is a set of professional wargaming rules written by the American Army. Along with the better known Dunn Kempf wargame rules, they were tools for training soldiers in the 1980’s in the profession of arms.

BLOCKBUSTER is a three-dimensional, manual, battle simulation system designed for the purpose of conducting leader training in Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain (MOUT). Players employ miniature vehicles and dismounted units on a scaled terrain board according to the Rules of Play. The Rules of Play are designed to accurately simulate the capabilities of vehicles, weapons systems, and personnel. A 6-8 hour BLOCKBUSTER exercise can represent approximately 15-30 minutes of battle. BLOCKBUSTER trains company-level leaders from the squad leader and tank commander up to the company team commander.

The rules are published by the History of Wargaming Project as part of its ongoing work to document the development of wargaming. They are edited by John Curry and David Burden