Document created: 17 April 00
Published Aerospace Power Journal

Aide de Camp 2: The Universal Boardgame Conversion and Play-by-Email Assistance Utility. CD-ROM. HPS Simulations (http://hpssims. com), P.O. Box 3245, Santa Clara, California 95055-3245, December 1997, $49.00. Minimum system requirements: Windows 95 and 486/66 processor, eight megabytes (MB) RAM (16 recommended), and 20 MB hard-disk storage. Full-installation version of the program (requiring 80 MB storage) reviewed on a personal computer (PC) with a 200 Mhz Pentium chip, Windows 95, 32 MB RAM, and a 24x CD-ROM drive.

Although it’s not a war game, Aide de Camp 2 (ADC2) allows you to create and play war games on your home PC. (Actually, the program is flexible enough to create just about any board or card game, but this review focuses on war games and their use in the professional development of military officers.) Thus, if you have never had any interest in war gaming, ADC2 isn’t likely to change your mind. However, if you are a war gamer or have any interest in getting started, ADC2 is worth a look. If you’re a “former” war gamer—one who lacks the time, space, or ability to find an opponent to play war games—ADC2 might just rekindle your interest.

The typical war game has three parts: a map, counters, and rules. The paper or board-mounted map is usually 20 by 30 inches or larger and has some type of grid system (hexagons are common) to regulate movement. Counters generally consist of tens to hundreds of cardboard squares, which denote forces or status. The number of rules can range from those contained in a few pages to a book-length collection. Games also normally include charts and/or tables as well as some means of randomizing outcomes (often accomplished by rolling a die or dice). You can find a war game for just about any environment (land, sea, air, or space), level (tactical to grand strategic), or period (the ancient past to hypothetical futures) you can imagine.

For people who grew up before the age of the PC, the war-gaming experience itself was an effort in planning and logistics. You had to find an opponent and a place to get together, agree on a game, set it up, and then finish in one session or find a way to “defend” your game-in-progress from kids, pets, and so forth. The truly determined gamers might have tried playing via regular mail, but a game of any complexity would take longer to complete than a real war.

Enthusiasts who began war gaming—or rediscovered it—via the PC already know the advantages of having a computer host the game and usually serve as the opponent: it is always willing to play and is never a sore loser. The downside, however, is that the computer doesn’t learn. It can play certain games only in certain ways (although the variety and sophistication are growing) and may produce unrealistic or unchallenging strategy or tactics. Some games address the latter problem by allowing an option for humans to play each other.

A small number of enthusiasts and companies have gone a different route by excluding a programmed enemy or even any computer-based rules. The computer simply hosts the map and counters, and performs some amount of bookkeeping and support in an effort to supply the challenge of a human opponent, the flexibility of old-fashioned war games, and the convenience of the virtual environment. These products range from low-cost and austere to ADC2—probably the “Cadillac” of the genre.

Available on a single CD-ROM, ADC2 includes a small booklet covering installation and basic functions. The CD also has several games that nicely demonstrate the program’s flexibility. One is Ardennes, a Battle of the Bulge game designed specifically for ADC2. I imagine we can expect more of these in the future, although for now most are conversions of paper games. (Regarding copyright, commercial game publishers seem to be of two minds: some produce ADC versions and wish to be the exclusive source for those game sets, while others do not seem to object to enthusiasts producing and circulating their own conversions. However, in all cases you are expected to own a copy of the original game.)

Installation on my Windows 95 machine was no problem (as was a later test using Windows 98). As recommended, I went to the publisher’s web site and downloaded the latest patch. I also took a look at the impressive support that HPS Simulations provides for all its products and noted the links to other sites that have ADC game sets.

I experienced some difficulty trying to play a game without reading the manual. For all its functionality, the interface isn’t always intuitive, and terminology is important. Fortunately, the on-line manual answered all my questions (although I think a tutorial would be a nice addition). From that point on, play seemed pretty straightforward with the program assisting, but not regulating, movement and combat. Depending on the game, ADC2 support includes such functions as die rolls, line-of-sight calculations, and flipping or changing the facing of counters. The program supports play by E-mail, an important feature for gamers looking for opponents. (Some of the ADC2 web sites even help to match players.)

Loading new game sets was also relatively easy, but, depending on how they are packaged, some knowledge of file manipulation may come in handy. Because ADC2 includes a utility for converting game files to the current format, any game sets created by earlier versions of the program remain usable.

Finally, I took a look at the design program, supplementing some experiments of my own with an examination of components from sets currently available. Apparently users can build a functional game in a reasonable amount of time without being an artist (trust me). Exactly how long this takes depends on the game’s size, complexity, and the gamer’s ability to reuse or modify components. Obviously, some sets—particularly those involving original designs—are real labors of love.

I don’t know that I will start my own design anytime soon, but from my work with flight simulators, I can promise you that it would be a learning experience. Building an original conflict simulation not only would require a detailed study of a military era (past, present, or some hypothetical future) and event (the specific circumstances of a battle, campaign, or war), but also would force designers to decide what’s important to war fighting and why.

As professionals, we should study war thoroughly in the hope that we will practice it infrequently. Along with reading, discussions, and experiences such as museum and battlefield visits, war gaming can serve as an important tool in any personal plan for professional development. Aide de Camp 2 makes war gaming more accessible. Consider adding it to your collection of professional materials.

Maj Pete Osika, USAF
Maxwell AFB, Alabama

Disclaimer

The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.