The NextGen Wargame is a computer wargame that provides the student with an operational environment where the enemy, terrain, and weather have an effect. It enables the student to practice making decisions in a tactical environment.
In many Professional Military Education (PME) programs, the Tactical Decision Exercise or TDE is the primary tool used to teach tactics. Institutions like West Point and ROTC mainly use it as a planning exercise with little to no opportunity for a cadet to execute their plan. It's not that they think planning is more important, the problem is lack of time.
In a typical West Point class, you may have up to 16 students and 45 minutes for a lesson. There's not enough time to execute one cadet's plan, let alone 16.
The execution piece is the most important part of the TDE. Why? Because this is when the student makes decisions based on their understanding of the situation, interact with the operational environment, solve problems, and apply a solution.
It also allows the instructor to assess the student's ability to apply what they've been taught or identify gaps in the student's knowledge. The instructor can then calibrate their thought process, improving their ability to think.
The student doesn't learn anything by only playing the game. The real learning takes place when the student can review what they did during the game. An instructor is there to facilitate learning. You see, it's the instructor that does the teaching, not the game.
The target audience for NGW are students, instructors, and military professionals. Give your students the best possible experiential learning experience or provide opportunities for your unit members to practice their craft.
Arguably the most crucial benefit is the ability to operate in an environment where the enemy, terrain, and weather have an effect. The enemy shoots back, the terrain affects cover and concealment, and the weather limits air operations.
What's more important learning how to think or learning what to think? Playing in an interactive environment means the students are confronted with problems they may not have planned for. In NGW students must learn to think their way out of a problem.
A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. NGW brings to life the paper TDG. Observe your units moving and fighting, see the enemy, master the terrain. Learn to visualize.
Feedback regarding their decisions is essential. For example, if the student chose a route that exposes their unit to enemy fire, they should know about it. Typically this happens when the enemy fires on your unit.
Imagine the learning that takes place when the student can compare different courses of action or try different tactics. Making mistakes is part of the learning process. NGW allows the student to try different things in a risk-free environment.
If the game you're using is too hard to play, then you're using the wrong game. NGW is simple to play and easy to understand. Your students are not in class to learn how to play a game.
Linux, Mac, or Windows, it doesn't matter what OS you're running NGW runs in your web browser. It doesn't require an army of contractors or expensive hardware.
Content should be easy to create in-house. Graphics in NGW can be easily created with a paint program and a drawing program (yes, they are different). Unit data is created using a unit editor, included with the game.