[Brian McIlmoyle]

Gish,

now you gone and done it...

cracked open ASC debate number 21-b

What is Milsim..

Military Simulation.

mil·i·tar·y
/ˈmiləˌterē/
Adjective
Of, relating to, or characteristic of soldiers or armed forces: "both leaders condemned the buildup of military activity".
Noun
The armed forces of a country.
Synonyms
adjective. martial - warlike - soldierly
noun. army - armed forces - troops

sim·u·la·tion (smy-lshn)
n.
1. The act or process of simulating.
2. An imitation; a sham.
3. Assumption of a false appearance.
4.
a. Imitation or representation, as of a potential situation or in experimental testing.
b. Representation of the operation or features of one process or system through the use of another: computer simulation of an in-flight emergency.


MILSIM

The act or process of simulating relating to, or characteristic of soldiers or armed forces in action.

IN my opinion much that is billed as MILSIM is not, and I have been serially disappointed with most events that I have attended as a participant. To the point that I have pretty much withdrawn from the wider community and focused my attention on WWII reenactment events. This is where "real Milsim" is happening.

Things like Running wire for communications, Digging in and building defences for an attack that may not come. Encamping in the field, Rehearsing operations and conducting ongoing training in the field. Employing formations, commands and procedures according to a national doctrine. Building units with the appropriate mix of weapons and equipment and deploying them as they would have been. Feeding troops in the field. Adhering to operational timings, Navigating terrain, and reporting to superiors.

Real objectives, and commanders who can plan operations sequentially to achieve those objectives. and units that concede to be commanded.

Essentially behaving a doing those things that soldiers do in a combat zone.

What you are looking for is "a day in the life" of a small unit of both sides of a conflict.. and then bringing those two sides together through providing a combative context.. give them a reason to fight.

Since I got involved in the WWII community my satisfaction with my military simulation experiences has rebounded and redoubled.. I'm not looking back.


Military Simulation is not.. Green VS tan .. body count slugfests, it is not 'FRAGOS" with no purpose, it is not flipping flags, or snatching "nukes"
it is not taking and holding ground that has no tactical or strategic relevance.
It is not searching the forest for baskets of Easter eggs to trade in for "points" that no one cares about.

it is not a live action video game, composed of endless firefights against respawning hordes of lone wolf attackers who have no sense of self preservation.