Nice Article: WE NEED FRICTION IN DIGITAL WARGAMES TOO

[RodyMetal]

From Wargamer.com
http://www.wargamer.com/articles/op-ed-we-need-friction-in-digital-wargames-too/
Your thought?

[Lobster]

I get all sorts of friction from my wife. [:D]

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

I get all sorts of friction from my wife. [:D]

Fric-shun in the Kit-shun? [:D]

[zakblood]

Brother against Brother: The Drawing of the Sword also adds friction in the way it deals with abstract command and control, but agree with some of the comments in the post as well on others missed, mainly Decisive Campaigns: Barbarossa as this also leads a unusual approach with added depth in the area in question, while the writer picked Flashpoint Campaigns Series there are as shown, more than a few others here who imo stands out.

i'm not knocking the Article either, as it's written very good so thanks for writing it and also poster for sharing it here
[&o]

[Lobster]

A couple of centuries ago SPI made a tank game where you commanded early WW2 tank forces. Due to the poor communications at that time your tanks could and would move in random directions. It was a lot of fun. Have to agree that things run far too smoothly in most war games.

[RodyMetal]

Thanks Zakblood, I am always in search for computer wargame with friction and as you said I found it well presented in DC:B, also in FPC:RS, I never played Brothers against brothers well get it when I have the chance, I think I can add to the list Command Ops as well.
Any more games add friction in right way?

[Poopyhead]

I am a retired soldier, so this is how I understand friction. Most serious is the ageless mantra, "No plan survives contact with the enemy." Clausewitz was perhaps the first to acknowledge the effect in battle of what he termed friction. Paraphrasing, he noted that a great commander is celebrated for turning an enemy's flank to win a battle. This is of course a simple maneuver that every platoon leader should know how to do. The great commander is able to do this because he focuses on what must be done to the exclusion of a thousand distractions.Things beyond your control happen in battle. You're going to have to take charge and force your will on the enemy. All the other so called friction is self-induced.

Don't teach your leaders to understand your commander's intent.That way they won't know what you expect them to do or aggressively act without orders.
Don't train your soldiers to be able to do the mission. When the jungle fighting Marines had to retake Hue, the unit commander got out the training manuals on urban warfare and taught the mission.
Don't do a map or leader or any other kind of reconnaissance. I mean, reconnaissance, that's French, right?
Anything that can be organized can be done. If you don't have smoke rounds or amphibs or a Fire Reference Point on the enemy's new position, then it just sucks to be you.

Wargaming isn't a profession, but soldiering is. It may be fun to manage a 3-ring circus, but that's not how leadership works. Units going the wrong way or not moving fast enough are things you correct in training, not combat. As the commander, I know my unit leaders can do their job. I know that my soldiers can shoot, move and communicate. Sweat in training prevents blood in combat. So yes, I should know that my unit can fight a battle without things going haywire. At the most basic level where the rubber meets the road, my leaders are trained to turn around and order, "Follow me!"

[Lobster]

Unfortunately the other guy has the same idea. [:D]

[rico21]

the wargaming, is not the trick used to pay taxes for soldiers to write?[:D]

[Kuokkanen]

I did read the article, and I have a feeling it isn't about this.

But what I can pick up from the context, I have seen that kind of friction in some games that for some strange reason aren't mentioned in the article. 1 obvious thing most (all?) of us have seen is morale: soldiers under fire may refuse to advance and can even run away heedless of player's commands (at least in Steel Panthers series). In Jagged Alliance 2 and Rome: Total War (demo version) soldiers can do some crazy sh1t that can even go against player's commands: burst fire when I had selected single-shot and charges without my command. I recall in Combat Mission 2 there was incorrectly identified AFV (based on sound?).