As you maybe know, Thin Red Line Games (err, me!) is just back from Rome where I’ve attended the Wargaming Initiative NATO 2023 (WIN23).
This was my first time as part of such a high-level event, so it took me the whole first day to get over the “Shock & Awe” effect, with some precious help from the French and Italian expeditionary forces there….Thank you guys 🙂
In short, it was a blast. During the plenary meetings I’ve learned a lot about NATO ACT (Allied Command Transformation) and its approach to the present and future challenges. Several things, including the position of ACT in NATO’s hierarchy, were quite new to me.
And of course, we had wargames! The schedule was densely packed and the time short, particularly when you have a demo to run and a lot of “networking” activity, so I was able to explore only the tip of the iceberg but I had a lot of fun commanding the Iraqi Special Forces in an urban fight against the Insurgents, well led by a couple of French Officers. In the end, our Iraqi Security Forces lost horribly after a disastrous disengagement and a strike with chemical weapons previously hidden in some kebab shop of the old city (“The best Mustard Kebab in Iraq! Try it, and you’ll never go for anything else!”).
Continue reading NATO WIN23 – Aftermath