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Poopyhead -> RE: Nice Article: WE NEED FRICTION IN DIGITAL WARGAMES TOO (10/17/2017 3:39:09 PM)
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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!"
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