Wargaming Weekly #043: Is this the best wargaming microcredential on the worldwide web?

My review of the Wargaming and Strategy certificate course from King’s College London delivered via edX

I’m proud to share that I recently completed the Wargaming and Strategy certificate offered by King’s College London via edX!

This is the first formal education (micro)credential that I have successfully completed since my A-Levels way back in 2011 so the two-time university dropout in me is relieved that I didn’t score a hattrick with this one!

Hat tip to Mohammed Hassai who brought this certificate to my attention with his LinkedIn post and big salute to my lovely mother who generously covered 80% of my fee!

What did I love about the course?

1. It fit perfectly into my regular schedule. I was able to complete it in just 5 nights, in the same 2-3 hour time slot when I usually do my self-study research with wargaming webinars on YouTube. Funny enough, I was actually in the middle of my King’s Wargaming Network arc when I started it, having recently completed both the Georgetown University Wargaming Society (GUWS) and Fight Club International playlists.

2. The visual and audio assets are a very nice touch to break up what would otherwise be overwhelmingly monotonous text. Plus, nothing sets the academic mood quite like a nice British accent!

3. The two strategy modules before getting into the meat of the course with the three wargaming modules. This is how I knew I was dealing with real higher education professionals, ‘cause if it had been up to me, the amateur “armchair dean” in me would have gone straight into wargaming without first providing this crucial context.

My biggest takeaway? I have learnt that the technical name for all the wargames I have played (and designed) so far is “rigid kriegsspiel” so I guess you can call me a “rigidkriegsspielkonnoisseur”.

I think I will also be annoyingly sliding “contingent choice theory” into every casual conversation I have going forward the same way Silicon Valley tech bros abuse the term “orthogonal”.

I only wish the course was longer and harder!

I don’t know if it’s just too much hunger for more wargaming knowledge or Stockholm syndrome from Uganda’s traumatizing education system (or perhaps a combination of both) but my expectation going in was that earning this certificate would make me sweat… and it didn’t, not even a little bit.

So yes, I wish the course was at least 40 hours long instead of just 5 (so that I could proudly say that I put in a whole business week’s worth of effort to earn it) even though this would probably mean that it would have to be more expensive than its currently affordable $250 price tag.

And yes, I wish it was harder with 50 quiz questions per module instead of just 5, with the questions presented one at a time instead all them visible at once, and with a 30-second time limit on each question.

Look, I totally understand choosing to go the multiple choice route for such an asynchronous e-learning course (as both written essays and oral submissions would be too burdensome to handle effectively) but I think there’s room to deliver a bit more “bite” even with multiple choice quiz questions.

Anyway, that aside, I think the only other slight improvement I’d make is one more round of proofreading the course materials to remove the handful of typos still lurking in there.

Nonetheless, thank you so much Dr David Banks for putting these very informative modules together. Despite all my nitpicking, I’m largely satisfied with what the course delivers at its price point, both in terms of the subject matter covered and the prestigious accreditation earned at the end.

I’m really proud of my Wargaming and Strategy certificate and will be showing it off to whoever gives me more than 3.33 seconds of attention going forward. Also, I sure hope an online Bachelor’s Degree in Wargaming from King’s College London is in the works!

And now that I have tasted blood, I want more! So if there’s any generous donor out there looking for an eager wargaming student to sponsor, please come help me bag the MORS Certificate in Wargaming too! (I won’t lie, the price tag on that one made my knees buckle a little)

I mean, I won’t be able to answer the question in the title of this newsletter until I have at least two wargaming certificates to compare! *wink wink*

In the meantime, I will continue my self-taught journey with Wargaming Weekly...

PS: I’m currently open to content marketing and/or game co-designing gigs (for both defense wargaming and business wargaming projects) as a part-time remote freelancer i.e. 10 – 30 hours per week. Please feel free to reach out to me via X or LinkedIn to book a free consultation call. Like the Gen-Z kids like to say… lemme cook!

Lastly… what’s that over there in the Business Corner?

This recent a16z podcast where Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen and Erik Torenberg are joined by Brian Schimpf (Cofounder & CEO of Anduril) and Chris Power (Founder & CEO of Hadrian). Anduril and Hadrian are two of the shining examples of the new wave of American defense startups.

The highlight for me was when Chris pointed out that, “Every wargame we run, we run out munitions and missiles in like 6 to 7 days and then it takes about 2 to 3 years to refill that battery. We shoot all of our missiles within one week and then we have none for two years.”

Yours in hex,

Rwizi.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rwizi Rweizooba Ainomugisha is a freelance wargame researcher, analyst and designer. With a background of over 10 years in B2B marketing, Rwizi is also a Co-Founder, Co-CEO and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at Lupiiya Books - the social finance app that is gamifying both accounting and fundraising for African startup founders and small business owners.