[Flatlander]

Great writeup Brian. The only thing I would disagree with is the "Chain of Command Enhances Emersion". This is because I find the Chain of command to be horrible in any large milsims I have attended, and this includes Irene down in the US (it was one of the worst actually). Reason being is I find we get orders that are very simple and specific (ie. take this building, hill, etc) but never get the full picture as to WHY we are doing what we are told. As you mention the point is to create stress and ask yourself WHY before you do anything (pull the trigger, take a position, retreat, etc). It's tough to make your own decisions and feel like you're using your brain, and not just slinging plastic, if you're not given the "full picture" as to the intel your command is given.

There have been many AAR's for big games, such as Irene, in which I read the AAR and thought "Wow that sounds like one hell of a game! I wish I knew half those game details during the actual game".

I'm a big fan of public/team specific knowledge and background being posted up before the actual game. Therefore I can strategize before hand and I don't necessarily have to rely on command to fill me in with all of the details during the game (details I rarely ever get anyways). This allows me and my guys to make critical decisions on our own in terms of strategy, ROE, etc.

One of my favorite games I played years ago had the game host post the list of objectives on a white board at the bases. This allowed anyone to read the objectives and get completely "in-the-loop". This also allowed the enemy to sneak in your base and do the same.

We've been in many games where we've simply given up on the command to give us decent intel to involve us to a point where we're happy. A lot of times we tend to ignore the command channel and find ways to make our own fun.

I completely agree with you that the goal of winning should be near the bottom on the commanders objectives. It would appear a lot of time that winning and ego stroking has been the problem in the past and that a "need-to-know" or "do what I say" type of command has been implemented in hopes of achieving victory. Everyone wins when everyone goes home happy, not when one team crushes the other.