by Armchair Dragoons PAO, 25 April 2025
Connections Online 2025 was held from 7-11 April, co-hosted by the Armchair Dragoons. As with all of our online/distributed events, everything was virtual, and all presentations were streamed through YouTube.
With a focus this you on “Wargaming Future Technologies” the conference discussed how to develop scenarios that look to the future and how to incorporate the future in the PME1, as well as several discussions around artificial intelligence – both how to wargame its developments, and how to incorporate it into your wargames.
As with all Connections Online conferences, there was plenty of room for discussions that are not tightly wedded to the theme, which this year included presentations on situational awareness, soft factors on the battlefield, and randomization. With multiple recent books around wargaming all having been released in the past year, it would have felt neglectful to not bring those authors together for a panel.
And finally, this year we tried something2 new: our first ever “Infomercial Day” with dedicated time for some wargame providers to make a rather naked commercial pitch for their products & services and toot their own horns a bit about what they can offer. And while Matrix Pro Sims and The Dietz Foundation have specific games built for training usage that are commercially available, Fight Club International has a variety of games that are available specifically for military audiences and not for the commercial market.
I’m really happy with how Connections Online turned out this year. We had fantastic presentations, great questions, and robust discussion. My thanks to the staff (Brant, Jan, Lyssa, Merle, and Zachary) who made it happen, and everyone who attended. See you next year!
–– Chris Weuve, Conference Chair
Our attendance had a significant uptick this year, and almost our post-pandemic high. We’d love to increase it even more next year.
As previously noted, we do repeat some of our survey questions from year-to-year so we can compare our performance over time. An example of this is our question about the variety & diversity of our topics.
Our participants are asked about what they learned for both the professional and hobbyist sides of their wargaming lives.
Of the sessions you attended, which session was the most valuable?
Of the 20 survey responses, we had 12 different answers, which we see as a good thing! People found value in many different presentations, which we think is a testament to the depth of quality in the options.
Two sessions were called out more than the others: “Gaming Neglected Aspects of the Operational Environment” with Brian Train, and the “Wargaming AI” panel.
What (if any) takeaways from Connections Online do you anticipate being applicable to your professional role?
- I look for the educational aspects (how wargames can support teaching). Trying to incorporate the “soft” aspects of wargames (civilians, psychological, social media) is the hardest thing to do.
- That wargaming is a varied and rich field, and I should try harder to make business wargaming more common.
- All of the substantive content about wargaming (e.g., wargaming AI and using AI to build and run wargames).
- Lots of ideas to think about the future, AI, how people organize wargaming activities and communities.
What (if any) takeaways from Connections Online do you anticipate being applicable to your hobby role?
- Engaging Gen Z
- I need to have a “proper think” about Jans’ talk on dice and randomness.
- Links to gaming tools and increased knowledge of AI’s planned use in near-term wargaming.
- Hard power is well covered, soft power is difficult to replicate the effects.
Our speakers are also invited to chime in with What is the single most important thing to improve for the next Connections Online?
- Advertising
- I think attendance, based on the live attendee numbers. Though, the audience was engaged, which was great to experience.
- If possible, more EU-Friendly timeslots
- For me, I was new to Discord, so I was not really comfortable with the platform. I guess I’d wished I was more familiar with the platform so that I could have gotten more out of the event
Connections Online 2026 will be held 20-25 April, with the theme to be announced after our May planning meeting
Similar to last year, we did ask why people who did not attend made that decision. Please choose any/all relevant reasons, and you can even add your own at the end.
Connections Online has upgraded our social media presence and will be sharing a variety of links and information throughout the year, including information about our 2026 conference as we get closer to it. You can follow us on your social platform of choice, and find all those links on our Linktree here.
Livestream Archive
The consolidated playlist is here
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ Dietz Foundation Spotlight
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ Matrix Pro Sims Spotlight
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ Fight Club Spotlight on Games
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ Group W Spotlight
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Professional Wargames on Demand
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D1S1: Welcome, & A Machine That Passes the Tactical Turing Test
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D1S2: Wargaming the Far Future
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D1S3: Wargaming AI
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D1S4: Measuring the Value of Situation Awareness
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Modeling Intelligence and the Information Domain in Wargames
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Professional Wargaming in Hungary
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D2S1: Gaming Neglected Aspects of the Operational Environment
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D2S2: Recent Books on Wargaming
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D2S3: Using AI In Wargames
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D2S4: Kriegsspiel Dice or Why there is no Luck in Wargaming
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Battlegroup Wargame System to Battlegroup Clash: Baltics
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D3S1: Wargaming the Future in PME
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D3S2: Creating Future Scenarios for Modern Wargames
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D3S3: Fight Club International – A Different Approach to Wargaming
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 D3S4: Concluding Remarks, & Reviving Dune — How the AH classic game came to be reborn
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Liftoff! 2.0
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Wargaming in Civic Education
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: National Security Decision Making Game
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Neustart: The Blackout-Simulation
WATCH ON YOUTUBE ~ CO25 Extended: Liftoff! 2.0 Demo
At this point, all of these broadcasts are public and shareable.
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