Great article and very interesting video by Quinns. Are wargames ethical? Maybe? I played warhmmer 40k extensively and while it was a fantasy universe it was hea ily influenced by historical regimes and warfare although originally more satire which somehow got lost along the way. Having space marines killing space orks isn't problematic in and of itself, but when it can be seen as an allegory for a technolically advanced colonial power decimating a less powerful indigenous population then it does become problematic. I think people need to be educated as to the actual history that has influ3nced so many of these modern wargames and understand exactly what they are participating in and not just looking at it as purely fantasy and not realistic.
Thanks for your comment, David. I agree that the notion of gaming as pure escapism is flawed because the "magic circle" of the game space is so powerful yet allows players to step outside of/away from a lot of important context for the thing they're engaging with. Quinns mentions in the video that Root has been used by professional wargamers; I don't think the average Root player is thinking that they're playing a model for modern counterinsurgency, but in many ways they are. Inspiration is a tricky thing to nail down but it's important nonetheless.
There are of course many vaults, too... the vault of obscurity and public neglect is dark and capacious, but it's better than the vault of finishing some work and then putting it away unseen in a filing cabinet.
As for classified games I have to confess ignorance of these since I have no security classification, but my impression is that generally things are overclassified and the open source alternatives will probably get one 80% of the way there. Also, their faults if any will go unrecognized and unaddressed until they are examined by a larger and more diverse group.
I do not like this sign-in process, it's a pain in the ass to comment here.
Well put. Creative stuff deserves to see the light of day.
And yes -- I understand in theory how keeping results from other countries matters, but the benefit of getting more perspectives outweighs that at least in my gut.
Thanks for taking the time anyway, didn't realize it was a hassle.
Depends on your ethics - which are not your "feelings", or at least they shouldn't be.
I see that most people (as far as I bothered to skim the youtube comments to Quinn's video) have confused the two.
There are different schools of ethics, each of which gives us an interesting angle to study wargames from, but I suppose your use of the term relates to "applied ethics", or the application of specific principles to real life situations and examining their consequences and exceptions.
For example, business and professional ethics put value on honesty, fairness/consistency, transparency, respect for others and mindfulness of the larger impact of one's actions.
A "professional" wargame designer (professional in attitude that is, whether they are hobbyist or salaried) who values their work would have no problem with applying most of these qualities to the things that they work on; the only touchy point is what someone might do with the thing later.
So wargames themselves are ethical, or at least not unethical, to the person who produces them; the difficulty comes later if and when anyone pays attention to what they have done.
The designer is not in charge of that; they can try to be provocative or not, but in the end it's a reaction or reception they do not control.
Are they effective?
Depends on what you want them to do.
If you want them to shake people's minds up a little, offer them different ways to look at problems of the first and second order arising from their actions, or help them to learn a bit about the past present or future, then yes.
If you want them to tell you unequivocally that you need to buy enough F-35s to form 18 squadrons, or that you can safely assume a Ukrainian mechanized brigade can make 20 km a day against light but dug-in Russian conscript forces for 6-8 days before culminating, then no.
Again, it depends on who is paying attention to what you have done, and what they expect it to do for them.
You are not in charge of that.
In what ways is it in a national or global interest to wargame better?
Many many, and you have already answered that question in your piece.
I'm glad that you did mention at the end of your piece about the continued lack of diversity in the makeup of people entering the field planning to be professionals in it; I think this is taken seriously by major figures in the field (at least in the UK) and I was quite annoyed by Quinns scoffing at it.
Thanks for this, Brian - I think it's a really helpful framing. The distinction you make between the design itself and how it's used is an important one, especially when so much of what is learned from wargaming is kept in a vault somewhere.
In terms of effectiveness, I certainly fall in the first category of objectives (education, decolonial perspective, etc.) as opposed to the second (military strategy) in my designs. The black box of what happens with games in that second group is what gives me pause, but as you note, that doesn't mean the designer shouldn't make the game.
In general objects are not ethical or inethical per se, but how they are used makes the users ethical or not, (cf guns), but also some objects are more likely used for inethical behaviour. On a scale between a nuclear bomb and a rose, wargames are closer to the bomb end of the object scale of likely to be used badly, however looking at wars at the moment there is very little evidence that hobby wargames have been used to train people for war. Some video games have been used by militaries to desensitise drone controllers, but I see that as no reason to be concerned about tabletop gaming. The positive history teaching outcomes of wargaming is a big plus :-) (Yes I am a biassed history prof/PhD in medieval war.)
Hi John, thanks for writing. I'm hoping to teach in the humanities soon so it's encouraging to hear that you were able to incorporate wargaming into your classroom. I'm curious how you did it -- did you have students learn the rules on their own and play live in class, or some other method?
And I'm really glad you're enjoying the game! Excited that it'll be produced and shipped soon.
I usually simplified the rules and explained them in tuts, and GM'd myself the more complex aspects, so the students could concentrate on the main decisions. I've been trying to remember who is the best people to ask about how-tos, and I think Clint Warren-Davey (On Twitter), and Patrick Rael (various places!) would be more expert than I.
Great article and very interesting video by Quinns. Are wargames ethical? Maybe? I played warhmmer 40k extensively and while it was a fantasy universe it was hea ily influenced by historical regimes and warfare although originally more satire which somehow got lost along the way. Having space marines killing space orks isn't problematic in and of itself, but when it can be seen as an allegory for a technolically advanced colonial power decimating a less powerful indigenous population then it does become problematic. I think people need to be educated as to the actual history that has influ3nced so many of these modern wargames and understand exactly what they are participating in and not just looking at it as purely fantasy and not realistic.
Thanks for your comment, David. I agree that the notion of gaming as pure escapism is flawed because the "magic circle" of the game space is so powerful yet allows players to step outside of/away from a lot of important context for the thing they're engaging with. Quinns mentions in the video that Root has been used by professional wargamers; I don't think the average Root player is thinking that they're playing a model for modern counterinsurgency, but in many ways they are. Inspiration is a tricky thing to nail down but it's important nonetheless.
There are of course many vaults, too... the vault of obscurity and public neglect is dark and capacious, but it's better than the vault of finishing some work and then putting it away unseen in a filing cabinet.
As for classified games I have to confess ignorance of these since I have no security classification, but my impression is that generally things are overclassified and the open source alternatives will probably get one 80% of the way there. Also, their faults if any will go unrecognized and unaddressed until they are examined by a larger and more diverse group.
I do not like this sign-in process, it's a pain in the ass to comment here.
Well put. Creative stuff deserves to see the light of day.
And yes -- I understand in theory how keeping results from other countries matters, but the benefit of getting more perspectives outweighs that at least in my gut.
Thanks for taking the time anyway, didn't realize it was a hassle.
are wargames ethical?
Depends on your ethics - which are not your "feelings", or at least they shouldn't be.
I see that most people (as far as I bothered to skim the youtube comments to Quinn's video) have confused the two.
There are different schools of ethics, each of which gives us an interesting angle to study wargames from, but I suppose your use of the term relates to "applied ethics", or the application of specific principles to real life situations and examining their consequences and exceptions.
For example, business and professional ethics put value on honesty, fairness/consistency, transparency, respect for others and mindfulness of the larger impact of one's actions.
A "professional" wargame designer (professional in attitude that is, whether they are hobbyist or salaried) who values their work would have no problem with applying most of these qualities to the things that they work on; the only touchy point is what someone might do with the thing later.
So wargames themselves are ethical, or at least not unethical, to the person who produces them; the difficulty comes later if and when anyone pays attention to what they have done.
The designer is not in charge of that; they can try to be provocative or not, but in the end it's a reaction or reception they do not control.
Are they effective?
Depends on what you want them to do.
If you want them to shake people's minds up a little, offer them different ways to look at problems of the first and second order arising from their actions, or help them to learn a bit about the past present or future, then yes.
If you want them to tell you unequivocally that you need to buy enough F-35s to form 18 squadrons, or that you can safely assume a Ukrainian mechanized brigade can make 20 km a day against light but dug-in Russian conscript forces for 6-8 days before culminating, then no.
Again, it depends on who is paying attention to what you have done, and what they expect it to do for them.
You are not in charge of that.
In what ways is it in a national or global interest to wargame better?
Many many, and you have already answered that question in your piece.
I'm glad that you did mention at the end of your piece about the continued lack of diversity in the makeup of people entering the field planning to be professionals in it; I think this is taken seriously by major figures in the field (at least in the UK) and I was quite annoyed by Quinns scoffing at it.
Thanks for this, Brian - I think it's a really helpful framing. The distinction you make between the design itself and how it's used is an important one, especially when so much of what is learned from wargaming is kept in a vault somewhere.
In terms of effectiveness, I certainly fall in the first category of objectives (education, decolonial perspective, etc.) as opposed to the second (military strategy) in my designs. The black box of what happens with games in that second group is what gives me pause, but as you note, that doesn't mean the designer shouldn't make the game.
In general objects are not ethical or inethical per se, but how they are used makes the users ethical or not, (cf guns), but also some objects are more likely used for inethical behaviour. On a scale between a nuclear bomb and a rose, wargames are closer to the bomb end of the object scale of likely to be used badly, however looking at wars at the moment there is very little evidence that hobby wargames have been used to train people for war. Some video games have been used by militaries to desensitise drone controllers, but I see that as no reason to be concerned about tabletop gaming. The positive history teaching outcomes of wargaming is a big plus :-) (Yes I am a biassed history prof/PhD in medieval war.)
PS Insurgent Algeria is excellent IMHO, based on my vassal plays. And if I was teaching modern African history i would use the game for that!
Hi John, thanks for writing. I'm hoping to teach in the humanities soon so it's encouraging to hear that you were able to incorporate wargaming into your classroom. I'm curious how you did it -- did you have students learn the rules on their own and play live in class, or some other method?
And I'm really glad you're enjoying the game! Excited that it'll be produced and shipped soon.
I usually simplified the rules and explained them in tuts, and GM'd myself the more complex aspects, so the students could concentrate on the main decisions. I've been trying to remember who is the best people to ask about how-tos, and I think Clint Warren-Davey (On Twitter), and Patrick Rael (various places!) would be more expert than I.