IWP students playing “Littoral Commander: The Baltics”The newly-formed IWP Wargaming Club held its first session on Saturday, October 25. The group played “Littoral Commander: The Baltics” – a tactical multi-domain wargame with strategic capabilities.
Participants were divided into two opposing sides (the United States and Russia), and the selected scenario revolved around a Russian invasion of Latvia.
After making strategic choices about how to deploy forces and in what capabilities to invest, participants were presented with two surprising developments for which they hadn’t planned: Latvians sabotaging infrastructure to delay Russian forces, and news of the invasion creating masses of fleeing civilians that impeded further movement by both sides.
With Latvian morale at a possible breaking point, Russian players sought to get troops into Riga itself in order to trigger a general collapse of political will and win, while the United States team prioritized sinking the Russian Baltic Fleet in order to facilitate future reinforcements and supplies.
Presented with the realities of warfare in the 21st century, players wrestled with decisions surrounding target priorities, tactical strategy, fires management, and reconnaissance. The game saw Russian forces slowly overcome sabotaged infrastructure and inflict some serious damage to American forces, but Russian hopes for victory were strongly countered by the impending development of the United States Navy achieving maritime supremacy in the Baltic.
By the time of the game’s end, due to time constraints , the Russian Baltic Fleet was nearly destroyed; in Latvia itself, an uncertain ground war was underway. Hoping to tip the scale, ethnic Russian militias in Latvia were being dispatched for “crowd control” on fleeing civilians in order to push them away from Russian objectives and towards key points necessary for American operations.
With an objective of introducing “Littoral Commander” to a wider audience, the event saw many first-time wargamers participating and wrestling with the questions of modern war.
Jonathan Jarrett and Alec Bullough, two IWP employees who ran the session, are looking forward to building on this success and hosting future events with increasing realism and complexity in furthering the Institute’s mission of preparing responsible future leaders in national security and foreign affairs.