Connections Wargaming Conference 2023

By Mitch Reed

I hope many of you can recall my article from the Connections Wargaming Conference in 2022 and the podcast from 2019 that spoke to this event. The 2023 event held at National War College in Washington DC was yet another for the record books and we here at NDNG were glad to attend in force as well as help sponsor the Dice-Breaker social event.

In its 31st year, Connections Wargaming Conference brings together a very diverse group of people who all desire to make wargames and conflict games better. While the event was initially created for the defense wargaming community, the event attracts defense wargamers, hobby game designers and players, as well as academics. This year we even had a writer who works on narrative stories for video games as well as on TV.
The objective we all have is to share our ideas and see if we can improve the quality of our games as well as learn about new and better gaming techniques and of course even play games that conference attendees conduct during the event.
The conference consists of numerous presentations and panels where a lot of interesting topics are discussed. This year the conference hosted talks about a wide range of topics, from the use of AI to how to better game non-kinetics. I led a panel where we talked about Wargame Literacy, on how we in professional gaming need to grow our competency and educate those who need wargames as to what they can do, and not do.

Every session I went to I learned something, and a developed a sense of hope that we can evolve new ways and means to provide better analysis for those who need our games.
The conference also has game demos where we play new games and methods that attendees want to show off and a game lab where attendees help all those who need help or a good critique on the games they have been working on. The game lab is open to all and since the audience is deeply versed in gameplay, as well as design and development, the help these games get have no rival.
This year the keynote speakers were Tim Barrick from the USMC Krulak Center and the designer of the amazing game OWS, and Peter Perla who wrote one of the foundational books in wargaming.
As soon as the panels and formal talking finish it is time to socialize! On the first night of the event we hosted the “Dice-Breaker” where we had a free raffle and many of the attendees walked away with some great games. Many will think it is great to get free games, however, the idea behind this is to get professional gamers more tuned into some of the great games in the hobby arena.
Many people in my line of work do not play hobby games and that hurts my community. I use many great mechanics and techniques I see in hobby games and that makes my games so much better. Also, as many of us know, gaming is fun. At the conference, we demonstrate this by having open gaming during the second night of the event. Spurious gaming happens throughout the event, and I even got to see how the game The Last 60-Miles plays.
One of my favorite aspects of the event is seeing many of the people who share either my vocation, hobby, or both. We are a tight-knit community that relies on one another for game development or even to help wrangle players for an upcoming game.
What I have noticed is that more hobby game developers and designers have been attending in the last few years. It is great for many game fans to actually play the game The British Way with its designer Stephen Rangazas. I thanked Stephen for coming and I told him I hope we did not bore him too much. He loved the event and plans to return next year to play a bigger role in Connections. I cannot wait until 2024 now.
Next year Connections is planned to be held at the US Army War College in Carlisle PA with the dates yet to be announced. I hope that this article spurs your interest in Connections-Wargaming Conference, and I would love to see you there in 2024.
Stay tuned for an article from one of our newest writers Caroline Gilmore who will tell you what it was like attending the event for the first time and how her Rising Tides game went.

Once again, we would like to thank our wonderful sponsors!
Fort Circle Games
Warlord Games
Flying Pig Games
Firelock Games
GMT Games
David Manley
Lombardy Studios
Matrix Games
Dietz Foundation