GoldenSpear Wargame
by Dr Ori Sasson

Abstract

We present GoldenSpear, a wargame simulation system for military training. The system is designed to allow army commanders and staff officers at various levels to train in the planning and execution of operations in an exercise without troops. A typical use of the system involves a large number of users practicing real-time tactical and strategic decision-making in a large-scale interactive environment. 

We describe the modeling and simulation approach used to represent key aspects of the battlefield such as mobility, attrition, intelligence, and logistics. We proceed to review the system architecture, software design and implementation.  A key design consideration is the flexibility and extendibility of the system, in terms of adding new entities, new types of entities, and new simulation models to the system. We explain how the design and implementation of the system as well as the data model chosen facilitate the introduction of new types of entities to the system, even in the course of a particular simulation. We conclude with a discussion on the integration of such a system with other simulation and decision support systems, and how such integration fits into emerging trends in wargaming.

About the speaker

Ori Sasson is the founder and Director of Simulation Software & Technology (S2T), a Singapore-based start-up company focusing on training and simulation. Prior to founding S2T, Ori was managing his own start-up company in Israel, providing consultancy and services relating to simulation, command and control systems, decision support systems, and enterprise information systems. Ori has 18 years of experience in software development, consulting, and project management, in the Defence, Telecom, Utilities, and Financial industries. During this period of time, he has designed and built several large scale simulation systems, decision support systems, and enterprise integration gateways.

Ori earned his Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel in 2006. He is the author of several published research papers in the fields of Theoretical Computer Science and in Bioinformatics. He has also co-authored 5 books on the use of IBM WebSphere Application Server and related technologies to build enterprise business solutions.