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Posted on May 16, 2008 in Boardgames

War College at Origins Game Fair

By Armchair General

FRIDAY 27 June

9:00 AM
Flashpoint: Germany
A short introduction on the use of computer simulations for training at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College will be followed by an extended hands-on demonstration exercise using Matrix Games’ Flashpoint Germany. Seminar participants will take key command and staff roles, planning and executing battalion and brigade operations. Come experience the teamwork real military units need to achieve victory!

9:00 AM
Strategic Culture and Its Affects on Grand Strategy
Professor Craig Greathouse reviews Strategic Culture and its affects on Grand Strategy. The cultural lens that each state views the world through affects what its goals are and how it achieves them. With many states forced to reassess their grand strategies the impact of strategic culture on this process is examined.

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10:00 AM
Roman Military Fortifications
Phil Viverito, the Miniatures Guest of Honor, describes Roman military fortifications from the Republic to the Late Empire. The talk will be followed by a “tour” led by Mr. Viverito of models of Roman fortifications.

11:00 AM
Stalingrad, Part 2
David Glantz discusses the battle in the Great Bend of the Don River and the German advance to the Volga River where Stalin’s city lured German divisions to an unexpected destiny.

11:00 AM
Decision Point Vietnam: The 1968 Tet Offensive
Dr. John F. Guilmartin, Professor of Military History at The Ohio State University, author of several works on, and veteran of the US- Viet Nam War, will cover some surprising details on the 1968 North Vietnamese Tet Offensive, which was a categorically both a tactical and operational failure with staggering losses. However, it was Tet that became decisive to the eventual strategic outcome of the war.

1:00 PM
The Unknown Hero who changed the course of World War II
During the darkest days of World War II Joseph Desch assembled a small team for a task in some ways more secret then the development of the atomic bomb, work so secret it was not declassified until the 1990’s! His work saved millions of lives, shortened World War II and possibly the Cold War. Along the way he helped invent a technology that created millions of jobs, helped make the space program possible, as well as one category of strategy game. Yet his memory is being “honored” by the destruction of the building where his great work took place. Matt Caffrey discusses this unknown hero.

1:00 PM
Lessons and Heroes from 30 Years as a Soldier
Decorated combat infantryman Pete Panzeri shows both video and photos to impart his "Lessons-Learned and Modern-Day Heroes" from over 30 years of active service on five continents, during five foreign conflicts, starting as private E-1 in 1977 and culminating in leading a battalion. According to the Royal Military Academy’s War Studies head: "Some of Panzeri’s lessons leaned are controversial, some are heartbreaking, some are hilarious, but ALL are astonishing."

2:00 PM
Conquest of the Aegean
A short introduction on the use of computer simulations for training at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College will be followed by an extended hands-on demonstration exercise using Matrix Games’ Conquest of the Aegean. Seminar participants will take key command and staff roles, planning and executing brigade and division operations. Come experience the teamwork real military units need to achieve victory!

2:00 PM
How Soviet Tank and Mechanized Units Operated on the Battlefield
Charles Sharp discusses how World War Two Soviet Army tank and mechanized brigades, divisions, corps, and other motorized units were really organized for combat from 1941 to 1945. This includes a detailed examination of the Forward Detachments and how they were organized and employed.

3:00 PM
The Littoral Combat Ship
Come learn about the Littoral Combat Ship. Doug Houseman, a naval architect and Annapolis grad, details some of his work on the warship of the 21st century

4:00 PM
The Tibet uprisings, PRC and the PLA, 1959 and 2008 and their effects on China.
On March 10, 1959, the Tibet region of China began a failed uprising against the PRC. Now, 49 years later, it looks like another uprising against communist rule is taking place in the days leading up to the 2008 Olympics. Will events with the PLA be a replay of 1959 where the PLA crushed the uprising? Or could the Tibet uprising of 2008 set in motion events that result in Tibet and other regions (Urgurs in Xinjiang, India’s disputed area of Tibet, Tiawan declaring independence) breaking away from the PRC in a manner similar to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991?
This talk will include an overview of the current situation between China and its regions with predicted outcomes for conflict and how these could effect the world in the years to come.

4:00 PM
The Red Chinese Threat – Scarier This Year Than Last
The PRC has funded double-digit growth in its military for the past fifteen years, and shows every sign of continuing this expansion into the future. Why? The PolitBuro doesn’t need this much combat power to invade Taiwan. What are they planning? This lecture by Dan McDonagh looks at the PRC’s military platforms, order of battle, R&D, technological espionage, and military-industrial base. Also, it offers a chilling speculation.

6:00 PM
From the Ruins of Empire, a Review of the Life, Times, and Legacy of Kemal Ataturk.
Officer, revolutionary, social reformer, statesman and founder of the modern Turkish state. A larger than life figure. To some a hero; to some a brutal soldier. Was he a dictator or a democrat? Savior or enslaver of his people? Learn of his life and make your own evaluation. Merle Robinson will include an overview of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, related military/political events between the World Wars, the establishment of the modern Turkish state, and how Ataturk’s legacy impacts today’s world.

6:00 PM
Law of Armed Conflict – Time for a Reassessment?
Professor Charles Kamps presents a fresh look at Law of Armed Conflict issues in the light of current irregular warfare and historical precedent. Audience participation and Q&A encouraged.

7:00 PM
International Relations: A Blunt Introduction
Do the traditional ideas of blood, gold and power still matter? Professor Craig Greathouse discusses the basics of how the international system operates, the primary actors and their motivations.

7:00 PM
“Trivial Conquest” – War College Trivia Contest
Hosted by ArmchairGeneral.com and Matrix Games
Conquer the world by using your knowledge of trivia to capture territory and humiliate opponents. This is a fun, audience participation event (divided into teams) hosted by ArmchairGeneral.com (ACG) with prizes provided by Matrix Games, ACG, and other Origins participants. Categories include general American and World history, military history, game history, America’s Wild West, movies & television, etc.

8:00 PM
Airpower and Insurgencies
While some believe insurgencies can only be won by “boots on the ground,” historically, organizations from the US Marine Corps to the British Empire used airpower very effectively. With increasing political pressure to bring home our “boots” currently in Iraq, can airpower play a similar or even expanded role in the future? Matt Caffrey zeroes in from 30,000 ft.

8:00 PM
Crazy man of Asia or skilled diplomat? A short history and review of Kim Jong-il and North Korea.
Is the leadership of North Korea under Kim Jong-il that of a madman bent on the total destruction of himself and his country, or is it the result of careful calculations and diplomacy to get other nations to do his bidding under the threat of conventional war and nuclear blackmail? How can a man run his country into the ground economically, but still maintain one of the largest armies in the world? Learn the history of this nation and how his father, Kim il-Sung setup a dynastic dictatorship and even managed to be named "Eternal President of the Republic" four years after he died. What do the current developments of North Korea and its nuclear test mean in the coming years? Will North Korea finally collapse under an economic disaster of its own making?
Will it strike out one last time as it nears the end or will it somehow continue on after Kim Jong-il is gone? This talk will include an overview of the current situation on the Korean Peninsular with predicted outcomes for conflict after Kim Jong-il is gone and how these could effect the world in the years to come.

9:00 PM
Billy Mitchell: Airpower advocate
Professor Charles Kamps traces the life and times of Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, WWI air leader and foremost advocate of military airpower in America between the wars.

10:00 PM
Defending Boston Harbor in the Concrete Era.
Unlike San Francisco with just the Golden Gate, Boston has multiple approaches to its main harbor and important secondary ones. An elaborate set of defenses was built up over the first half of the twentieth century to protect all these approaches. Gordon Bliss continues his series on American Coastal Defense Systems.

10:00 PM
Researching History, Weapons and Warfare
For the gamer, student, or writer, where do you find the materials you need for your work? How do you tell the good information from the bad? As a well-published military historian and ordnance specialist, Kevin Dockery will show you the pitfalls of the Internet and books, how to find the obscure information you might need, and putting it all down on paper or in a simulation system.

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