This format descends directly from Kriegsspiel — the 19th-century Prussian training wargame that first used a neutral umpire, hidden information, and free-form written orders to teach officers real tactical judgment. Everything below is how that tradition is carried into this game.
Kriegsspiel — literally "wargame" — was developed by the Prussian army in the 19th century to teach battlefield decision-making, not to reward memorized solutions. Its defining features were a real map, blocks representing units, an umpire who kept the rules flexible and managed what each side could and couldn't know, and written orders submitted privately by each commander. This game keeps that structure: one instructor holding full visibility of the field, two commanders who each see only their own fogged view, and orders written and adjudicated rather than picked from a list.
The broader spirit — a situation, a mission, and a decision that gets judged against realistic outcomes — is also the tradition of the Marine Corps Gazette's Tactical Decision Game series. This game combines the two: Kriegsspiel's live, head-to-head, umpired structure, with a TDG's emphasis on realistic small-unit decision-making.
The platoon commander is attached to exactly one unit at a time — he is physically present with that squad, not an all-seeing presence over the battlefield. Any friendly element within sight or shouting distance of his current position is under direct control, no communication required.
Everything else has to be reached. A unit is only shown as a confirmed contact if a friendly element can plausibly detect it — within range, with a clear line of sight, calculated against real terrain and elevation.
Choosing how to communicate is itself a tactical decision — speed against certainty, every time an order needs to travel.
Suppression is binary — a unit is either suppressed or it is not. A unit becomes suppressed when it takes effective fire within a resolution window. While suppressed, movement is sharply reduced, outgoing accuracy is cut, and communication becomes less reliable. Suppression lifts once effective fire stops, or the unit breaks line of sight from whatever was suppressing it.
Every engagement is resolved by a fixed probability formula, not by the umpire's free judgment. The formula factors in weapon effective range, target posture and cover, unit protection, current weather, and whether the firing unit is suppressed. The inputs — movement rates, weapon ranges, engagement effectiveness — are drawn from published, unclassified Marine Corps doctrine.
The AI umpire does not decide whether a shot hits. The hit probability is computed in advance from the data above; the AI's role is to apply that computed result and narrate it in plain, radio-style language.
Indirect fire and close air support are limited assets — a fixed number of rounds or sorties per match — and take real time to arrive once properly called. A correctly formatted call for fire is required for accurate results.
The platoon commander cannot become a casualty individually — the only way he is lost is if the entire squad he's attached to is wiped out. If that happens, the remaining squads continue acting on their last known orders independently for the rest of the match.
A match opens with a five-minute planning phase: both commanders see their own fogged starting view and privately compose an opening plan, unseen by the opposing side. When the timer ends, the match goes live — orders can be issued at any point from there, each subject to the comms rules above, while the simulation continuously resolves movement, detection, and engagements in real time.
The instructor runs the match the way a real Kriegsspiel umpire does — not just watching, but actively shaping the conditions both sides play under.