Presentations

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Here are links to scripts and slide decks for presentations I have made to various groups and classes in the past, most recent first:

• “The Uses of Simple Games”: brief talk to faculty and staff of the US Army War College on the value of simple, especially abstract games, and their application at the Global ECCO website. Simple Games slides 18 feb 21Simple Games script 18 feb 21
• “Two Sides of the COIN”: presentation at the Virtual Conference of Wargamers (Wargame Developments), 5 February 2021. VCOW talk 2 feb    VCOW talk slides
• “Designers are Doing it for Themselves”: presentation to the Georgetown University Wargaming Society on self-publishing games, The Ether, 8 December 2020. guws-webinar-slides-3-oct-20 (slides, PDF)
• “Studies in Concrete”: presentation on three civilian wargames on urban irregular war and how they were designed, given at the Military Operations Research Society’s special event “Analysis of Urban Warfare”, MCB Quantico, 2-5 April 2019. Studies in Concrete am 26 mar (text, Word)  Studies slides am 27 mar (slides, PDF)
• “Soft Power Maps”: presentation given at Connections North 2019 (16 February 2019) on integrating political, social and economic factors in insurgency games, mainly a profile of the non-kinetic design elements in Tupamaro and A Distant Plain, as examples. Soft Power Maps 11 feb (slides, PDF)  Soft Power Maps 11 feb  (text, Word)
• “Game Design as Journalism”: updated and revised version of the PCA presentation, given at the Connections-UK annual conference, 5 September 2018.    Games journalism 29 Aug (text, Word)  Games journalism 29 aug (slides, PDF)
• “Perspectives on Counterinsurgency Gaming”: presentation at a Day 1 seminar at the Connections-US conference, July 2018. 2018 Train – Perspectives on Counterinsurgency Gaming
• “News Paper Games”: on the analog predecessors and contemporaries of digital newsgames. Presentation at Popular Culture Association national conference, 13 April 2017: NPG body 8 apr (text, Word)  News Paper Games 6 apr (slides, PDF)
• “Playing the Recent Past”: on use of tabletop wargames to explore recent conflicts. Presentation to AHVS311E course, University of Victoria, 13 October 2016: UVic AHVS311 slides,   UVic AHVS311 script
• “The Big COINflip: Board Wargames on Modern Irregular Warfare”. Presentation to Universite de Montreal Game Design students’ class, 5 May 2016: (text and slides) UdeM class 2016 26 apr, UdeM 5may
• “Bored of War”: on the poor coverage of contemporary conflict by serious games. Presentation at Popular Culture Association national conference, 24 March 2016: (text and slides) Bored of War 20 mar  bored20mar
• “How Can Civilian Wargames Contribute to the Development of Professional Wargames?” Presentation at RAND Centre for Gaming, 24 February 2016: first talk notes,  first talk slides,
• “Irregular Civilian Wargames: Lost in the COIN Field”. Presentation at RAND Centre for Gaming, 24 February 2016 and National Defense University Centre for Applied Strategic Learning, 26 February 2016: second talk notes, second talk slides
• “Wargaming Counterinsurgency”. Presentation at TableFlip conference, 4 October 2014: Tableflip Script, Ruhnke-Train Wargaming COIN (slides)
• “The Global ECCO Project”. Presentation at Connections 2014 conference, 5 August 2014: 2014 Train – In the Valley of ECCO The Global ECCO Project
• “Abstracted for your Attention”: on the value of abstract games for professional military education. Presentation at Connections-UK conference, 3 September 2013: Abstracted For Your Attention script , Abstracted For Your Attention slides (PDF of Powerpoint slides)
• “Recent Developments in Civilian Insurgency Games”. Presentation at MORS Virtual Symposium 81.1, 15 June 2013: game links page, MORS811 slides, MORS symposium 2013 script
• “Ploughing in the COIN Field: Civilian Wargames and the Search for Enlightenment”. Presentation at Naval Postgraduate School, 20 October 2011: 2011 Train – Ploughing in the COIN Field