The military version of Decisive Action requires a keen understanding of the military planning process and rewards planning over tactical decisions. The introduction of a fairly detailed logistics function requires the player(s), if they so desire, to pay a great deal of attention to their supply chain, or they will be in a world of hurt soon after being engaged by the enemy. There is also an improved ATO function that allows the player to input 24 hours of sorties and targets.
The current version is the result of over 4 years of improvements supported solely by the Command and General Staff College. My team, along with Vincent Taijeron who now runs the sim center at West Point, has been instrumental in testing and developing DA into what it is today.
That being said, the current version of DA is NOT a "beer and pretzels" wargame. It is foremost a teaching tool, and is used to exercise some of the greatest up-and-coming military minds in the US military. Fortunately, it is STILL an enjoyable game!
We are able to teach the basics of DA and how to set-up and run an exercise in about 4 hours. We also have "tutorials" that we use to help students grasp the basic concepts. If you contact one of us, we can help you to grasp the "concepts".
We continue to push the development of DA by working very closely with Jim Lunsford. We also realize how satisfying and fun DA can be, even when we work with it all the time. If there are people who want to play against the "pros", contact myself or Dr. James Sterrett, and we'll get you set-up with one of our newer team members. They could use the practice!
Curt