Using CoG in a course on strategy

[taijeronv]

Hi All,
I'm thinking about pitching CoG as a "siumulation" to support a course on strategy and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on how it could be used in that capacity.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Hard Sarge]

hmmmm
over all, I think it works better as a game/sim of Grand Strategy then Strategy (a little too random in the results for true battle Strategy, but it does work well with the idea of everything the Nation can do, to get the results that are wanted/needed (Trade, Diplo, War and threat of War)

[Joram]

Is this a military course or a political course?

This game would be a great tool to show the politics in those years. Assign a student to each country and let them wheel and deal as they see fit. Keep battles on Auto and you could probably do a short scenario within a few sessions (depending on how long your class is and how slow your students are). I bet with 5 different teams, you'd get 5 completely different results. It still might take awhile though. Perhaps you could have some students with a script to recreate what went on and show the rest of the class on a big screen.

As far as military strategy, as Hard Sarge said, it would be more a showcase of Grand Strategy (which is tied into the politics) such as, do I attack Prussia or turn my wrath on Spain? The scale is a little too large (in my opinion) to show strategic decisions ala should I send X corps through this valley and Y corps around the river.

Of course, it really depends on your definition of Strategy too. Maybe that's exactly what you want.

Good luck.

[Gil R.]

Taijeronv,
I'm biased in favor of CoG, so I won't opine on its merits. But I thought I'd mention that at least one of our projects that we plan to release in the next year or two would serve you and your colleagues quite nicely, so definitely keep an eye out for future releases from WCS through Matrix.

[taijeronv]

Thanks to everyone who responded so far.

[Sarge]
I think for the most part you are right about the grand strategy aspect, but that's ok. I was a "sarge" once, more along the lines of the "dog face" variety.

[Joram]
We are a military school so I would say the course is more slanted towards the military side of things. I want to provide the class with the whole picture which means economics as well as politics.

[GilR]
It must be top secret or else you would have offered more information [;)]. I'd be interested in hearing more.

[ericbabe]

Taijeronv,

You may consider contacting Paul Vebber of Matrix Games. He is involved in a project that uses another Matrix game in conjunction with a political science course and may have some ideas on ways of integrating a game with a classroom setting. In his case, the professor didn't want the students interacting with the game directly, but wanted to use the game as the arbitor of their decisions.

[Erik Rutins]

Vince,

Feel free to e-mail me or Karlis if you would like further suggestions or to discuss. If you need an evaluation copy, let us know.

Regards,

- Erik

[taijeronv]

Erik,
Thanks will email you tomorrow from work.

[1LTRambo]

taijeronv, I couldn't help but notice your signature line at the end of your last post. Are you an instructor at West Point?

[taijeronv]

I guess you could say that.

I'm currently serving in the Dept of Military Instruction (DMI) as a DA Civilian. I run the Warfighting Simulation Center or WARCEN and I've been working there for over a year. So what do I do? Well it's about as good as it gets in terms of gaming. I run simulated exercises for the cadets. Our normal fare is Operation Flashpoint since we do a lot of squad/platoon level stuff. We do a variety of operations with OFP like convoy ops, patrols, etc. One of our MilArt classes did a communications exercise looslely based on Black Hawk down. In another course on SOF ops we used Rainbow 6: Athena Sword. One of my jobs is to integrate sims into the academic courses that's why I posted my original message concerning CoG.

Although I'm not officially an instructor I do provide instruction on both the sim as well as tactics.

Prior to my gig at WP I was a contractor with Northrop Grumman at the Command and General Staff College. At CGSC I helped design and run Division/BDE level exercises using Decisive Action and TacOps. Of course prior to that I served in the Army for over 20 years retiring at age 37 as a Redleg Seargeant First Class in MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System).

And like many people on this board I started off in boardgaming with my first game being Panzer Blitz, played my way through most of GDW's games, and every now and then would break out the paint and do a little miniature gaming. Of course when the computer came along I had to get into computer gaming. I was fortunate enough to beta test Legions, TacOps 3.0, Decisive Action (several versions), Armored Task Force, ATF: Raging Tiger, and Point of Attack.

In addition to using commercial off the shelf or COTS games I will also be managing the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000 once we receive it in May.

In addition to all that I also run the USMA Warlords team. Warlords is an annual competition between the other two service academies. This year we'll be playing BF2, America's Army, Command and Conquer, and InfoChess.

I also have a greensuit counterpart that helps me do all of the above.

[1LTRambo]

Well Met. I made SSG before converting to the "Dark Side", by attending Bennings School for Boys. I had the oppertunity to work with and train soldiers on the EST while a Basic Training XO in a training BN. It's a really great system. Much better feedback and more enjoyable for the trainees than previous systems like the weaponeer.
USMA cadets must have it really easy if they are allowed to play games.[:D] The only games we played in OCS were "head-games" 24/7.[;)]