By Baptiste Alloui-Cros, Evan D’Alessandro, Thomas Danger, Alex Karasick, and Natan Pawłowski. Cover art by Johannie Neut
Characteristics
Number of Players: 3 to 25
Time: 4 hours to 32 hours (depends on scenario).
Themes: Multi-domain warfare, Operations in harsh environment
Type: Free Kriegsspiel
Description
Northern Storm is a wargame allowing decision-makers at all levels to better understand the complexity of modern warfare in all domains. Northern Storm is both an accessible game to a newcomer to the world of wargaming as well as a deep exercise in decision-making under difficult conditions to push the players to fully comprehend the complexity of today’s modern battlefield. From combined armed operations to narrative conflict, the players need to evolve in an environment filled with uncertainty while facing off against peer competitors.
Purpose & Target Audience
Given the complexity of the modern battlefield and the numerous, intersecting domains involved, this game seeks to better train and prepare decision-makers. This game seeks to look at the ways in which these domains, especially non-kinetic ones (such as cyber and cognitive) can have a direct effect on the battlefield, as well as considering potential future threats, and operations in austere environments.
Given the skills Northern Storm is intended to develop among its players, the target audience would ideally be JOs and NCOs, high-level civilian decision-makers, alongside those not well versed in the intersection between traditional warfare and the cognitive domain. Additionally, the game can be used by anyone who could benefit from understanding the military capabilities of their subordinates and how the different domains intersect and support each other.
Gameplay
This fictional scenario takes place in the NATO country “Blueland’,’ where “Purpleland”, an Arctic territory of Blueland, is grappling with a strong and occasionally violent independence movement. Redland and Farland – two NATO peer-competitors – see an opportunity to destabilise NATO and access Purpleland resources. They launch a disinformation campaign using AI-generated imagery and use the resulting fallout and violence to kick-start a self-declared “peacekeeping operation” making extensive use of narratives and lawfare to undertake a grey-zone conflict. Players are forced to take into account every domain of warfare and how they intersect and influence each other in order to have any chance of success.
Contact
Strand Simulations Group 