Modern War magazine – change in lineup

(Originally published 2 April 2013, bumped up to here for news.)

Referring to my post of November 23:

I have been informed that my game in issue #9, “Next War in Lebanon”, has been replaced by the publisher in the lineup with  “Target: Iran”, a game by another designer that was originally for issue #17. Whether future military US/Israeli action against Iran is more likely than Israeli action against Hezbollah, I really can’t say. But I’m not the publisher either.

The more worrying thing is that Lebanon has been bumped back to #13, the issue slotted for Kandahar, and no word for now how far back that one will be bumped – perhaps to #17, which must now be vacant? Anyway, there will be an extra wait of 8 or 9 months for everything, but the good part of the news is that as far as I know all of the games will be published eventually. I’ll let you know more when I do, should be in a few weeks.

16 April – Edited to add: Okay, here is the lineup as she is goodly spocken now:

• Andartes (Greek Civil War) – #11, May-June 2014
• Next War in Lebanon (IDF in Lebanon 201?) – #13, Sep-Oct 2014
• Kandahar (Afghanistan 2009-10) – #17, May-June 2015
• Green Beret (Vietnam 1962-4) – #18, Jul-Aug 2015

So, another year to wait, but getting published is better than not.

20 June – edited to add: Today I was unofficially informed that Kandahar and Green Beret will not be published in Modern War, and these slots will be filled by other games by other designers. So it goes. Considering my options. Suggestions?

Broadcasting Across a Series of Tubes: MORS 81.1 Virtual Symposium

Next week will the the 81st symposium of the Military Operations Research Society (MORS), in Alexandria, VA.

Because of sequestration, cutbacks (the original venue was to be West Point) and the near total cancellation of travel and conference permissions for military and civilian Department of Defense staff, for the first time there will be a virtual component to the symposium, running slightly before and parallel to the physical meeting.

As a non-US citizen with no security clearance, I could not attend the “real” event anyway, but I can present at the unclassified portion of the virtual symposium – so that’s what I will be doing, at 1430 EDT on Saturday, June 15. I’ll be giving a presentation called “Ploughing in the COIN Field: Recent Developments in Commercial Insurgency Wargames”. Basically, it’s a short talk on the scarcity and low acceptance of irregular warfare games in the civilian market, the qualities of a good game and its value nevertheless as a means of insight, and short mentions of recent games that have these qualities.

I’ll be posting my slides and script on the Game Links and Resources page later, so if you have better things to do with your Saturday, I won’t mind. But it would be nice if someone came, and there are some interesting topics given by others on the schedule.

From the invitation email:

MORS is pleased to present the Inaugural MORS Virtual Symposium – a series of on-line presentations and special discussions that coincide with the 81st Symposium.  These virtual meetings are being made available to members and friends of MORS.  The unclassified Virtual Symposium will take place June 14th and Saturday, June 15th.

– Not sure what MORS 81.1 is?  Checkout our video link:
http://youtu.be/evWm_FxykxY

– Not registered for MORS 81.1?  Visit http://www.mors.org/events/81.1.aspx –

Registration is FREE!

– Please view the following links to the unclassified schedule and abstract list to help plan your attendance online. Schedule | Abstract List | Virtual MORS DCO Help Guide