AB        Air Base

Adjudication  The determination of the net effect of Blue and Red’s moves as well as the determination of what Blue and Red would know of those effects.

AFTEG   Air Force Technology Exploration Game

Analysis    The process of increasing understanding of complex subjects through a number of methods, principally by breaking a subject into constituent parts

Analytic Wargame      A wargame designed and conducted in such a way to maximize its contribution to a larger analytic effort

AOR        Area of Responsibility, often the theater of combat

Assessment      Process of drawing lessons from a wargame. Distinct from adjudication.

Attrition        Loss of personnel and/or equipment. Losses are typically both permanent (death/sinking) and temporary (sickness, wounds/breakdowns, battle damage)

Attrition Warfare        Style of warfare that focuses on gaining an advantage by inflicting disproportional attrition of the adversary

Blue Team   Friendly Forces

Board Wargame        Wargame conducted using a map (often mounted), counters (typically cardboard), printed rules/tables, manual random number generators (dice) and a live opponent (almost always)      

BOGSAT    Bunch of Guys Sitting Around a Table, assessment through judgment

CAS        Close Air Support, Joint counter land operations

COA        Course of Action

Comparative Game

Comparative Simulation

Complexity        In wargame terms complexity is the breath of factors considered

Computer Wargame        Wargame conducted using a computer.  Adjudication rules and random number generation are programed.  Opponents are either generated by artificial intelligence routine or live via network      

DCA        Defensive Counter Air

DEAD        Destruction of Enemy Air Defense

Decision Cycle    Process followed to make and implement a decision during armed conflict.

Decision Support Wargame        A wargame designed and conducted in such a way to maximize relevance, accuracy and timeliness of insights provided to decision makers

Design        The basic architecture of a wargame, typically includes decisions on type, scenario, complexity, granularity

Design Elegance        Art of designing a wargame to maximizing accuracy while minimizing difficulty of execution

Deterministic        A method of adjudication that attempts to establish the single most likely outcome.  For example if Red has a 50% chance of shooting down each of 10 Blue aircraft exactly 5 aircraft will be adjudicated as being shot down.

Educational Wargame        A wargame designed and conducted in such a way to maximize effectiveness of wargame as an aid to education.  Effectiveness depending on the optimum tradeoff between reticence, accuracy and time needed

EW        Electronic Warfare

EWR        Early Warning Radar

FCC        Functional Combatant Commander, Joint functional command, i.e. USTRANSCOM

Fidelity        In the fields of modeling, simulation and wargaming fidelity refers to the degree to which the modeling, simulation and wargaming reproduces the state and behavior of a real world object, process or conflict. Fidelity is therefore generally equated with realism.

Fog of War        The uncertainty of friendly, adversary and environmental conditions experienced by leaders in armed conflict.

Friction        Propensity of unexpected delays to occur during armed conflicts

GCC        Geographic Combatant Command, Joint theater command, i.e. USCENTCOM

Generations of War        Concept that divides the history of warfare into four generation

Granularity        Degree of detail that considered aspects of warfare are depicted.  While some equate increase granularity with increased realism there is no guarantee that the factors examined in great granularity are those most decisive to the outcome of the armed conflict under consideration.

Hexes    Hexes are six sided shapes. Both map/board and computer wargames sometimes overlay the depicted conflict area with a grid of hexes to make the calculation of movement and ranges easier.

IAP        International Air Port

IPL        Integrated Priority List, list of needs compiled by GCCs & FCC through WG

JSCP        Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan

Kriegspiel        German for wargame. As modern wargames originated in Prussia early wargames used around the world were often called Kriegspiels

Levels of War        Concept that divides all warfare into three levels; strategic, operational and tactical.  In general a single wargame can only depict one of these levels, as time needed for both decision cycle and events vary by level

M&S        Modeling and Simulation

Maneuver        The movement of military forces, typically to gain an advantage over an adversary.

Maneuver (Warfare)        A style of warfare in with the principle method used to gain an advantage over the adversary is maneuver.

Miniatures Wargame        Type of wargame played on a 3d model of terrain with 3d representations of the engaged forces. 

Model       A static, to scale representation of reality.  Examples include equations, scale maps, a small 3d version of a larger object.

Montecarlo      A method of adjudication that attempts to replicate the spectrum of outcomes plausible in the real world.  For example if Red has a 50% chance of shooting down each of 10 Blue aircraft under Montecarlo adjudication a random number is generated for each shot.  The most frequent outcome is that 5 aircraft will be adjudicated as being shot down, but occasionally all or no aircraft will be adjudicated as lost.

Objective        The purpose for which an activity is to be conducted.

OCA        Offensive Counter Air

OPFOR        Opposition Forces,  also known as Red and/or enemy forces

Operational Art        A military concept that holds that the skillful orchestration of can improve the outcome of campaigns.

Playability        The relative ease with which a wargame can be conducted.  Wargames with low playability take a relatively long time to learn how to use and are cumbersome in execution.  Wargames with good playability are quick and easy to learn and have initiatively obvious and convenient methods of execution.

Policy Game        Wargames played typically at the strategic level that are designed not to gain insight into a specific situation but to help explore broad policies.

Realism        The degree to which a model, simulation or wargame matches the real world entity of interest.  A one foot square map of the world can be realistic as long as all elements are correct/in scale.

Real-time      A real time wargame is one in which one minute of game time takes place during one minute of actual time.  Flight simulators/air combat wargames typically run in real.  The term is also sometimes applied to any wargame that runs continually even if one minute of game time represents one century of real time.

Red Team    Adversary forces

SAM        Surface to Air Missile, example Scud Missiles

SEAD        Suppression of Enemy Air Defense

SF        Special Forces

Simulation    A model operated on over time, a to scale representation of a real world process.

Stochastic        A method of adjudication that attempts to replicate the spectrum of outcomes plausible in the real world.  For example if Red has a 50% chance of shooting down each of 10 Blue aircraft under Montecarlo adjudication a random number is generated for each shot.  The most frequent outcome is that 5 aircraft will be adjudicated as being shot down, but occasionally all or no aircraft will be adjudicated as lost.

Strategy        How an objective is to be obtained. 

SSM        Surface to Surface Missile

Tactics        Methods of fighting effectively

Technology Game      Wargame designed not to gain insight into a specific situation but to help explore a spectrum of technology options.  For example, in a Technology wargame one Blue team may be equipped with stealthy aircraft while a seconf Blue team is equipped with advanced electronic warfare capabilities.

Turn-based        A turn based wargame is one in which Blue and Red can only effect the progress of the wargame at discreet times.  Ideally a wargame should allow player turns at the same interval as real world decision cycles.  Strategic and operational wargames typically turn-based.

White Team    Typically the adjudication team, but often includes assessment and may play higher HQs or management

Wargame: Four definitions follow:

War Game: A simulation, by whatever means, of a military operation involving two or more opposing forces, using rules, data, and procedures designed to depict and actual or assumed real life situation.

(DoD  Dictionary of Military Terms)

War Game:

1. 1.a simulated battle or campaign to test military concepts or use. Conducted in conference by officers acting as opposing staffs.
   

2. 2.a two-sided umpired training maneuver with actual elements of armed forces participating.
   

(Webster’s Dictionary)

Wargame: A simulation game depicting armed conflict.

(AFRL Wargame Course)

Wargame: A warfare model or simulation in which the flow of events shapes, and is shaped by, decisions made by a human player or players during the course of those events.

(Dr. Peter P. Perla, Center for Naval Analyses)

If you believe we should add an acronym or the definition of a wargame related term please E-mail me using the “Email Me” button located below and to the right.