I have found that simulation-style gaming is useful for understanding a battle

I have little interest in the sort of wargaming, where the participants are trying to bend the rules, just to win. I have enjoyed more simulation-oriented gaming, where we were applying common sense and trying to follow the spirit of a situation. I have particularly enjoyed the sort of Southwest Pacific cruiser and destroyer battles. Both sides, usually Japanese and American, are equipped with a cruiser squadron of 3 or 4 ships and perhaps as many as 8 destroyers. I have been involved in experiments where we would withhold information about ships that are out of sight, but generally, we had everything out on "the table". I have used both 1/2400 and 1/12oo scale ships, but when I have used 1/1200 scale, we distorted the range to be shorter, simply due to the size involved. I have tended to prefer simulataneous movement, over taking turns, although either can work. I have not done a lot of recent work involving designing cruisers and destroyers for WWII, although I have done some. Most was done during the summer of 2001, with some more in the summer of 2004. Of the more recent work, most consisted of making photos of what ships could look like: