> They don’t say if the local militia is hostile in general or just if you try to seize their water source. [...] Which, IMHO, is very critical information to k

> They don’t say if the local militia is hostile in general or just if you try to seize their water source. [...] Which, IMHO, is very critical information to know. I think the point of the exercise is to see what your assumptions are. They ask for your decisions and assumptions. If it's all spelled out for you, what's the point of the challenge? They do say this about the milita (quoting verbatim): - "The local population is of the same ethnic group as both the enemy and the host nation." - "From experience, you know that each oasis has a small militia force consisting of the adult males of the settlement [...] the fighting skills of these outfits vary greatly but most will fight tenaciously to defend their homes and crops." I think the last sentence emphasizes that if you choose to use force, you are in for tenacious resistance and casualties are to be expected. They'll defend their village if they feel threatened. I think this is all you need to know in order to base your assumptions for this wargaming exercise. In fact, this is what the second group, the people with special forces experience, based their answers on. The way I read the article, military people without special forces training usually choose a tactically sound plan that will almost certainly result in casualties on at least one side.