The Dalig and Vadan Exercise: Where Political Violence Meets

Clausewitz's Friction, Fog, Uncertainty & Leadership

Victor Asal UAlbanyvasal@albany.edu

Lewis Griffith KSIS-UDenverLewis.Griffith@du.edu

Marcus Shultzke UAlbany

War (Political Violence) is a Duel

By definition, the adversary wants to:– Deny you your end state– Thwart your plan– Confuse, deceive, and Be unpredictable– Play to your weaknesses and their

strengths (Asymmetric Warfare)– Set the time, the tempo, and the scale– Create friction and uncertainty– Make you you to question your

leadership (or your own judgment)

Clausewitz’s Nature of WarThe “Climate” of War:

– Danger– Exertion–Fog –Friction–Chance–Uncertainty

“Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction that is inconceivable unless one has experienced war…Friction is the only concept that more or less corresponds to the factors that distinguish real war from war on paper” (On War, 119).

Friction“Everything in war is very simple, but the simplest thing is difficult. The difficulties accumulate and end by producing a kind of friction that is inconceivable unless one has experienced war…

Friction is the only concept that more or less corresponds to the factors that distinguish real war from war on paper. The military machine—the army and everything related to it—is basically very simple and therefore seems easy to manage. But we should bear in mind that none of its components is of one piece; each part is composed of individuals, every one whom retains his potential for friction…

The dangers inseparable from war and the physical exertions war demands can aggravate the problem to such an extent that they must be ranked among it principal causes.” (On War, 119).

Fog• “By “intelligence” we mean every sort of information about

the enemy and his country –the basis, in short of our own plans and operations…

• Many intelligence reports in war are contradictory; even more are false, and most are uncertain…

• This difficulty of accurate recognition constitutes one of the most serious sources of friction in war, by making things appear entirely different from what one had expected…

• War has a way of masking the stage with scenery crudely daubed with fearsome apparitions. Once this is cleared away, and the horizon becomes unobstructed, developments will confirm his earlier convictions—this is one of the great chasms between planning and execution” (On War, 117-118)

Dalig and Vadan Exercise (DVE) Basics

• Two shirt colors• We will play outside.• Each team will consist of half the class – one side the Daligs and the other

the Vadans.

• Game is played in simultaneous turns (each team moves at the same time).• Each team commander (TC) gets half the students and a certain/fixed number of

pre-determined points. • TCs and Deputy Commanders (DCs) are responsible for bringing note pads and

writing utensils for distributing points to all players during game play• The TC cannot move – and can only talk to other team members when standing

next to them. All team members start the game next to their TC. Newly created or reconstituted team members start next to the TC. DCs can talk and move and are exactly like other soldiers except they work with the TC to lead their teams.

• THE TC MUST KEEP TRACK OF HOW MANY POINTS THEY HAVE IN RESERVE. IF THEIR NUMBER IS WRONG -- THEIR TEAM LOSES IMMEDIATELY

DVE: Victory • If a commander of a team is killed the team

loses

• If all the soldiers on the field are killed at the end of a turn the team loses

• If both production centers are captured at

the end of a turn the team loses

Points & Players• Each Team will be assigned a total pools of points (determined by

number of players/terrain/duration of play)

• Points are allocated to players in to activate them across three categories:– Movement – Attack – Defense

• Recommend a base formula of 3 points per total # of players per team – These do not include the 1 each that all players start with in move, attack and defense,

they are allocated in addition to these 3 base points – These do not include the 6 Attack & 6 Defense for the Commander which are automatic– So 14 players per side would have 42 points by the standard formula to add to the 13 non-

commander players existing one point per move, attack, and defense in order to form the force of players

– Not all points or players must be deployed at the start of the game

Dalig and Vadan:Building Players

• Since each team has 12 soldiers the TC gets 70 points to distribute amongst the soldiers at the beginning of the game.

• All soldiers start with one point in attack, defense and movement (except the TC who cannot move):

• Points can be distributed to each soldier for movement or attack or defense. No soldier can have more then 9 points. Not all soldiers need to be put on the board at the beginning of the game nor do all points need to be allocated.

• In summary, everyone starts with 1 point each in attack, defense and movement. Commanders can add up to six points to this combination to bring people up to 9 points

DVE: Production Centers• Each team starts with two production centers. At the end of

every third turn if a team controls its two production centers it gets an extra 5 points. These points can be used for new players or can be added to existing players – if they are in contact with the TC.

• Control of a production center is established by the last side to touch that production center (at the start of the game all supply centers are assumed to have been last touched by their team.

• If a team only controls 1 production center it must take 5 points out of the commander’s reserve points (points that have not been used yet) or one active soldier will die each turn.

Dalig and Vadan:The Commander

• The TC cannot move.

• The TC cannot shout.

• The TC starts with 6 Defense and 6 attack (this does not come out of the starting number of points).

• If the TC is killed that team loses immediately

Commander must keep track of how many points they have to

make soldiers TURN CURRENT POINTS SPENT

BEFORE GAME 72 POINTS

TURN 1 WRITE LEFT OVER POINTS:

TURN 2

TURN 3 +5 POINTS IF 2 PCS

VADAN POINTS FORM

M:1+( )= A:1+( )= D:1+( )=

(no more than 9 points per person total including 3 starting points)

Player Points Form: Example

NAME: Player #:

Dalig and Vadan:Movement, Attack and Defense

• Movement: Each turn, players can stride (normal walking stride, no running) in any direction as one stride per movement points they have.

• If two players come into contact, the player who initiated the contact (who reaches out and touches the opponent) is the attacker.

• If two or three players (no more than three) hold hands or link arms (at the elbow like a wedding march) then they can add together all their attack or defense points (depending on if they are attacking or defending- but they have to be literally holding hands/linked when they move and when they are stopped.

• All the points of the attacker and anyone s/he is holding hands with (three people max) is put up against the defender and anyone s/he is holding hands with. No pushing or striking is allowed – and if someone tries to go past you a player can reach out and touch them (without moving feet).

• Whoever has fewer points is eliminated. If the point values are equal then no one is eliminated and the next turn is played.

• If eliminated, a soldier goes back into reserves and can be recreated using new points or points that have not been spent.

DVE: Turns1) Turns are simultaneous – both teams move at once2) The time of each turn is preset or open at the instructors

preference and fixed pre-exercise3) Instructor will announce a new turn4) Players who can and wish to move can do so until either:

a) someone from the opposing team touches them or b) they run out of moves orc) time is called

5) combat is then resolved 6) Eliminated people leave the game and go to stand behind

the commander 7) Points for ownership of Production Centers are added or

subtracted8) Builds/Points are made if any9) Next turn is announced

Field Layout (without terrain)

TC Dalig TC Vadan

Dalig PC1

Dalig PC2

Vadan PC1

Vadan PC1

BEFORE GAME PLAY • The Dalig and Vadan need to come up with a

strategy BEFORE the game is played and have filled out Point forms for each person on their team to be handed out before game play. In addition, they must have relayed these values to their players before the game and must arrive with points cards for each player.

• This can be done via a group process, by TC and DC, or any hybrid approach as suits class, context, and educator preference.

NOTE TO INSTRUCTOR DO NOT SHARE RULE CHANGES/VARIATIONS WITH STUDENTS UNTIL SECOND ITERATION IF USING SECOND ITERATION

DVE Variation #1: Suicide Bombers

• Any player can be made a suicide bomber and that player will self-destruct whenever they attack an opposing player – killing that opposing player and whoever is holding hands with that player as well as themselves

• Suicide Bombers can have additional movement and defense points, but only the minimal 1 attack point

• Suicide Bombers are just like other players in defense & for all other rules

DVE Variation #2: Friction “Freezes”

• The Instructor can select, based on criteria drawn from course/context, to inform players of a certain type or designation to “freeze” for a given turn.

• If players are numbered, the selection can be based on random designation (both teams #5 player is frozen for turn 7 for example).

• Frozen players can defend, but cannot move or join an attack.

Debrief:Foundational Questions

• What impact does material superiority have? Why?

• What impact does terrain, weather, or geography have? Why?

• What impact does being on the defense have? Why?

• What impact does luck, change or the unpredictable have?

• What impact does strategic thinking have? Why?

• What are the implications of different leadership approaches?

• What is of the most important of these element? Why?

Debrief:Experiential Questions – Part I

• What did you experience or observe during the simulation that illustrates what we have defined as fiction? And fog?

• What effect did fog have in each of the simulations? Did it interfere with your team’s plans? If so, how? Did it help your team? If so, how?

• What effect did friction have in each of the simulations? Did it interfere with your teams plans? If so, how? Did it help your team? If so, how?

• How did the effects of fog and friction change as the rules of the simulation were changed ? Which rules do you feel were best able to recreate fog and friction in the simulation?

Debrief:Experiential Questions – Part II

• How much of your team’s success was a result of chance?

• What seemed to be the best ways of overcoming problems caused by friction?

• What seemed to be the best ways of overcoming problems caused by fog?

• What kind(s) of leadership and command structure(s) did your team use? How effective were these?

• How well did the DVE help you understand fog and friction as opposed to the readings and lectures alone?

Additional Topics: The Trinity

“As a total phenomenon…always make war a paradoxical trinity—composed of primordial violence, hatred, and enmity, which are to be regarded as a blind natural force; of the play of chance and probability within which the creative spirit is free to roam; and of its element of subordination, as an instrument of policy, which makes it subject to reason alone” (On War, 89)

The Trinity (Standard View)All war then has as its nature the interaction of a remarkable trinity

1. Violence and irrationality (people)

2. The interplay of chance and probability (the army/armed forces)

3. War subordinated to policy (the state/government

What is Clausewitz talking about below?

“If wars between civilized nations are far less cruel and destructive than war between savages, the reason lies in the social conditions of the states themselves and in their relationships to one another…

If, then, civilized nations do not put their prisoners to death or devastate cities and countries, it is because intelligence plays a larger part in their methods of warfare and has taught them more effective means of using force than the crude expression of instinct.

The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing practical to alter or deflect the impulse to destroy the enemy, which is central to the very idea of war at the bottom of the conception of war, is in no way changed or modified through the progress of civilization.” (On War, 76)

How does this apply to Dalig and Vadan?

Why?

How does Clausewitz…• Help us understand connection between

strategy and war and the larger picture of politics?

• Which political science theory best connects to Clausewitz?