Wargaming: The home Front

PC wargames have become so accurate they’re now starting to replace their professional military equivalents

- Matt Thrower

In late 2016, two missiles launched by rebel forces in Yemen shot toward the USS Mason, an American destroyer patrolling the Red Sea. The crew picked up the missiles late on their radar and launched defensive measures. The missiles ditched short, into the sea. It wasn’t the first time rebels attacked shipping in the area, but this was notable for a most unusual reason. A PC wargame was able to predict almost precisely the way the event unfolded.

The game in question is Command: Modern Air/ Naval Operations from Slitherine. “Simulations don’t give specific outcomes,” says development director Iain McNeil. “They let you try out strategies multiple times to see what kind of plans work better and what kind of capabilities are more interesting to invest in. They give you estimated probabilities, which is as good as it gets in warfare.” Which makes it all the more surprising that the game was able to model the real-life action with such accuracy.

Slitherine are no stranger to working with the US military. A decade ago, the Pentagon used modified versions of their games Harpoon and Close Combat in training exercises. During their latest review of their training software, they went back to Slitherine asking about these titles. The publisher, instead, showed them Command. They were immediately convinced of its value. “Apparently there is nothing that comes close to Command’s capabilities,” says Iain. “Otherwise they would already be using it. We’ve got a unique product and they know it, so it’s pretty exciting.”