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Evan D'Alessandro

@evandalessandro.bsky.social

230 followers 94 following 140 posts

Wargamer + wargame designer. PhD student at KCL War Studies studying Immersion in Wargaming. Interested in the future of conflict, China, USN, and undersea cables. Wargame Portfolio: evandalessandro.com

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · Nov 15

If you ever wanted to fight the opening month of a war between the US and China between you and a friend or for 200 people you can do so! Jaws of the Dragon is freely available for download, and I keep it periodically updated as forces change and I read more.
evandalessandro.com/jaws-of-the-...

Jaws of the Dragon

Jaws of the Dragon is a brigade level wargame of a US-China war happening tomorrow.

evandalessandro.com

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 4d

I'll also be there and presenting on the PhD research panel!

Urban Wargamer @urbanwargamer.bsky.social · 10d

Wargame Development's Autumn Virtual Gathering on-line conference is Sat 25th October. Details in the flyer. I'll be presenting ... twice!

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 4d

This is very cool, but now that you have shown me a tool that will do this, I now unfortunately have to go back to remap Jaws bathymetry all over again. I this makes me both happy and sad.

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 8d

Quick shot from the Intro to Wargaming Event I ran again for the KCL Crisis Sim. The game works and I should finish the megagame when I have time. With 50+ people showing up though the Crisis Sim is beginning to suffer from success though and I had to make up 7 roles on the spot.

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 11d

In the same vein of online earth science maps, I'm a big fan of the earth map for doing weather and/or fallout patterns based on historical data. earth.nullschool.net#current/wind...

earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions

See current wind, weather, ocean, and pollution conditions, as forecast by supercomputers, on an interactive animated map. Updated every three hours.

earth.nullschool.net

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

It should be going in the MORS wargaming journal when I finally finish and submit it!

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

All 3 card games Carl notes by name in his work involve a lot of chance: 1 of the 3 games he refers to in his writings, Faro, is almost the same as a dice game, e.g. almost pure chance. The other big thing for him too is cheating was rampant at the time, but that's a separate discussion.

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

Not only does Clausewitz say “war most closely resembles a game of cards,” but I'm very convinced by Murray (press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters/v...) that Clausewitz has way more randomness in mind when he talks about cards than we have in a modern conception of card games.

Geniuses Dare to Ride Their Luck: Clausewitz’s Card Game Analogies

Scholars have been using the wrong card games to analyze Carl von Clausewitz’s analogies in On War, which has led to errors in understanding his ideas. This article identifies the games Clausewitz dis...

press.armywarcollege.edu

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

bsky.app/profile/evan...

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

Most (not all, depends on game purpose) wargames need randomness to A) represent the nonlinearity of warfare via swing events, B) allow you to engage in effective abstraction so the game isn't a pain to play, C) allow you create representative combat models (or just models writ large) for games.

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

I'm currently finishing a paper on this exact topic, but (self-shilling) this is a more readable version of the it in the form of a presentation I did a while ago if you are interested in looking into it more: docs.google.com/presentation...

2025 D'Alessandro - What do Dice Represent in Combat Resolution.pptx

What do Dice Represent in Combat Resolution? Evan D’Alessandro

docs.google.com

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

In fact the wargame would usually be less realistic if it didn't have chance involved in it, either based on an argument about swing events, or the way we do modeling in wargames (citation: me, in a forthcoming paper I'm definitely 100% going to finish and send in this weekend for real this time).

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

After god knows how many attempts at a modern brigade game, I think I may have finally hit upon a model I like enough to make it work and keep the game fast. This is a full brigade in card form, plus the (tbd) capability cards. Hopefully I'll be able to start playtesting soon to see if it works!

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

TLDR: half-jokingly, all miniatures wargames can be traced back to WRG rulesets and you can tell (something to do a research project on at some point)...

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

*broad, not board.

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

An interesting difference can be seen in how board wargaming interests are between Dunnigan's surveys and the much newer WWS Great Wargaming Survey, and that more of the wargaming market nowadays is Sci-Fi/Fantasy as opposed to the historicals it came from.

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 14d

I've been having a very similar broad thought that a lot of newer Sci-Fi/fantasy is a baudrillardian(ish) simulacra of other Sci-Fi/fantasy, and this is compounded in wargames were some games are editions and editions deep, and the players (and thus designers) more siloed in what wargames they play.

Starfish Who Can’t Think Something Witty @irhottakes.bsky.social · 14d

I think more broadly what we’re seeing in a lot of fantasy/sci-fi gaming is that the old guard had a grounding in history and historical wargaming the new guard kinda lacks in general.

GPT-Ern Malley @denam.bsky.social · 14d

Basically all the attempts at doing so now are totally halfassed and have a tendency to just end in "bloodplague/tyranids ate everyone" after nine months.

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · 15d

In the past year I've played a game on the Annexation of Goa, Operation PX, firefighting during the Blitz, and the Papal Conclave of 1559. There's even weirder stuff I'm sure I can try to remember, but the possibilities really are endless with wargaming!

Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro

Curtis Miller @ntguardian.bsky.social · 24d

Last year, I made a #wargame for @sebastianbae.bsky.social Indopacific microgames kit, Ambush from the Depths. I have now made a digital version of that game with @godotengine.org. I discovered unanticipated difficulties in turning board games into computer games, but learned from the experience.1/3

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Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro

Pijus Krūminas @pijusk.bsky.social · 20d

Last semester we had a Churchill day in the class, and here's the write up of why it works in the educational context.

GMT Games @gmtgames.bsky.social · 21d

Check out our latest InsideGMT article from Pijus Kruminas: "Churchill in the Classroom" @pijusk.bsky.social insidegmt.com/churchill-in...

Churchill in the Classroom

Last semester we started playing Churchill in our wargaming class at ISM University of Management and Economics in Vilnius, Lithuania. This article looks at how the game can contribute to the broad…

insidegmt.com

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Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro

Dr. Rachel Pawling 🌈 @r-p-one.bsky.social · 20d

35mm was an absolute A E S T H E T I C.

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Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro

Pijus Krūminas @pijusk.bsky.social · 26d

I've met @icurtiss.bsky.social at Connections UK last year, where we talked about wargaming as a modelling method, risk gaming and his scenarios for Lux Capital. A couple of weeks ago, we sat down online to talk about these topics, students' games, and other war/riskgaming matters. Enjoy!

The global future of wargaming in Lithuania

open.spotify.com

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Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro

Mike Black @mikeblack114.bsky.social · Sep 8

Re: AFWI Europe expansion, here's where you can purchase it

Also if you work for the DAF shoot me a message and we can connect at your .mil as there's some other options to get a copy

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Reposted by Evan D'Alessandro

Pijus Krūminas @pijusk.bsky.social · Sep 6

University wargaming in the new academic started! La Coruña scenario from Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars by @mropla.bsky.social The French struggles for most of the time, but managed to deal fatal blows just before the night descended.

Classroom with small tables, a group of six students sitting around the table, playing a board game.

The board of a game showing a map of La Coruña with counters depicting French and British pieces. A hand pointing with a finger is above the map hovering.

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Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · Sep 3

Despite the fact I've been here multiple years it's hard to get a feel for the overall department because it's such a big department (the largest at King's), the MA/BA worlds are kept pretty far apart, and it's very much a commuter university even for the lecturers.

Evan D'Alessandro @evandalessandro.bsky.social · Sep 3

The website is patently unhelpful on history (I'm not sure if anyone even has a real history of the department?). I can answer some degree of questions about the old/current department, but I only know people who studies in the the 2000's and later (I've met one guy who studied in the 80's).

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