
UK Government Wargame Designer Position - orome
https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=c2VhcmNoX3NsaWNlX2N1cnJlbnQ9MSZvd25lcj01MDcwMDAwJnBhZ2VhY3Rpb249dmlld3ZhY2J5am9ibGlzdCZwYWdlY2xhc3M9Sm9icyZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZ1c2Vyc2VhcmNoY29udGV4dD00ODUwNDk1MiZjc291cmNlPWNzcXNlYXJjaCZqb2JsaXN0X3ZpZXdfdmFjPTE1NjQ0MjImcmVxc2lnPTE1MTI3MzAzOTAtOTAwZTc5YzYzNjI5ODBjMzczZmVmYTQzMTcyNGJjOTJmYzBlYTNkZg%3D%3D
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stupidcar
The website for the Connections UK, a yearly "Professional Wargaming"
conference has photos and presentation slides/audio that give a good idea what
this kind of wargaming involves:

[http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/2017.html](http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/2017.html)

Basically, very complex board games that are intended to simulate real-world
strategic situations.

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toyg
I think this image is meme-worth:

[http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/17-20170906_192955.jpg](http://professionalwargaming.co.uk/17-20170906_192955.jpg)

"Oh no, not THAT story again..."

~~~
jasonlotito
So, I actually know the guy in black (Rex), and he's actually really good
story teller. He runs this blog:
[https://paxsims.wordpress.com](https://paxsims.wordpress.com)

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dba7dba
In 1942, Admiral Yamato of Imperial Japanese Navy presided over a wargame of
upcoming battle in/around Midway, before heading out to the famous Midway
Battle.

He was dead set on going through with the attempted landing on the Midway
Island. There were ones below him who thought it wouldn't succeed.

The wargame showed the invasion wouldn't succeed. Admiral Yamato (or his
aides?) brushed aside Japanese loses and even brought back Japanese carriers
that got sunk in the wargame (basically cheated) to basically force a victory
for the Japanese fleet.

And of course Japanese fleet was defeated massively. US Navy got few critical
lucky breaks but the Japanese wargame predicted a defeat for Japanese fleet.

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dba7dba
Correction: Yamato --> Yamamoto

Apologies.

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076ae80a-3c97-4
The pay's crap.

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shubb
It's not a tech job. When they say war games, they mean guys running around a
field.

The ideal candidate is probably a retired soldier.

In the UK, regular soldiers are paid much less than in the US, and have far
fewer benifits and protections after they leave, so this would be a good
oppertunity for someone.

Also, it's only 10% less than Atmel are offering graduate R&D engineers at
their touch screen R&D facility down the road. Outside California and London,
people just don't get paid very much.

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chrisseaton
You're talking absolute nonsense.

> It's not a tech job

"Develop and trial new technology for wargaming as well as maintaining
existing capabilities, such as combat models, computer simulations and array
of manual wargames"

> they mean guys running around a field

War games it not guys running around in a field. It's the absolute opposite of
that. It's simulating, instead of running around in a field.

> In the UK, regular soldiers are paid much less than in the US

No, a UK private soldier is paid $24,631, while a US private soldier $19,198.
A UK major $67,171, while a US major $55,231.

[https://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Ratesofpay-
Regular...](https://www.army.mod.uk/documents/general/Ratesofpay-Regular.pdf)

[https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-
duty-...](https://www.goarmy.com/benefits/money/basic-pay-active-duty-
soldiers.html)

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Jtsummers
To be clear, your first quote ("devolop and trial") is what _they_ (the lab as
a whole) do, what the potential hire will do is listed lower:

    
    
      You will: 
      - Assist in the design and development of wargames,
        translating customer requirements into practicable
        designs based on credible overarching scenarios and
        vignettes.
    

They're wanting a wargamer to do wargaming and aid in the development of the
technology, but not actually be the developer (programmer, systems engineer,
tester, etc.). This is even clearer when you get down to the qualifications
where they say they're open to people with history degrees amongst other
options.

They want experts in simulations, which can be computerized or not.

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cerealbad
Onsite gyms and restaurants

how long until accommodation becomes part of the package.

~~~
Jtsummers
This is the UK's Defence Science & Technology Laboratory, I'm wagering this is
on a military base. The same perks are offered to most US civilians working on
military bases as well.

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0xffff2
Aren't the same perks offered by most workplaces? Every place I've ever
worked, military and civilian alike, have offered some kind of gym and some
kind of food on the premises.

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Jtsummers
No? I've never had those perks outside of working at universities or military
bases. Perhaps in bigger cities? I've generally stayed in small cities though.

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jacquesm
Job ads should go to the 'Who is hiring' thread.

~~~
joncampbelldev
Technically correct, but speaking for myself: I was interested to read this
job description even though I have no intent of applying.

Although I realise that deciding where you draw the line for "interesting job
descriptions" is very blurry.

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jacquesm
The rule is pretty simple: YC backed start-ups get to post job ads using a
special mechanism, everybody else lines up for the who-is-hiring posts.

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ndr
From
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

"On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes
more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the
answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity."

Don't find that UK's defence is hiring a wargames designer is curious?

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jacquesm
Not in the least, I'd fully expect them to have each and every job that one
would normally find in a government either staffed or an open position.

If you feel that it is interesting then you're welcome to upvote the entry.

~~~
detritus
Thanks for the recommendation, I have done so.

