What is a tactical decision game (TDG)?

A tactical decision game (TDG) is a short exercise in which a leader reads a brief situation and a sketch map, decides what to do within a time limit, and then explains and discusses the decision.

Item	Detail
Format	A sketch map and a few paragraphs of text that stop at the moment of decision [1].
Time	Minutes. The first Marine Corps Gazette TDG, published in 1990, set a limit of 5 minutes [2].
What the player produces	A decision with its reasons, often written as brief orders, followed by a critique or group discussion [2][3].
Who uses it	Military schools, units and individual leaders. U.S. Marine Corps doctrine names tactical decision games among effective learning methods [4].
Difference from a wargame	A TDG stops at one decision and is judged in discussion; a wargame plays a conflict through over many moves under rules or an umpire [6].
On this site	36 real battles and 15 fictional exercises. Each has 11–18 phases, and each decision offers 3–4 courses of action against a 30–150-second clock.

Data as of 2026-10-25 (sources checked). Battle counts and the phase, option and time-limit ranges are computed from the site's content at every build.

How does a tactical decision game work?

A TDG gives the player a role, a mission and a situation, usually as a sketch map and a few paragraphs of text. The scenario stops at a critical moment and the player decides what happens next. John F. Schmitt, who wrote many of the Marine Corps Gazette's TDGs, described them as a tool for teaching better decision-making [1].

The Marine Corps Gazette began publishing TDGs in 1990, with a different tactical problem in each issue and readers' solutions printed in later issues. Early solutions were often long five-paragraph orders with overlays; later ones became shorter and concentrated on the decision itself [2].

Who uses tactical decision games?

The U.S. Marine Corps uses TDGs in professional military education. MCDP 1, Warfighting (1997), lists supervised reading, map exercises, war games, battle studies and terrain studies among the tools commanders should use to develop their subordinates' military judgment [5]. MCDP 7, Learning (2020), names tactical decision games, war games and case studies as effective learning methods for Marines and suggests running TDGs during downtime aboard ship [4].

In 1994 the Marine Corps Association published Schmitt's Mastering Tactics: A Tactical Decision Game Workbook, a collection of 15 TDGs, most first printed in the Gazette. A 1995 Gazette review traced its approach to the German "applicatory method": estimate the situation, make a decision and justify it [3].

How is a TDG different from a wargame?

A wargame plays a conflict through over many moves, with rules, maps and playing pieces, or an umpire, deciding what happens. Philip Sabin's Simulating War (2012) is a guide to designing such simulations for studying conflict [6].

A TDG is narrower. It usually covers one decision by one side, has no rules for movement or combat, and is judged by discussing the reasoning instead of playing out the result.

How does Kriegsspiel by Honey Badger run a TDG?

Each battle on this site is a chain of TDGs set at the decision points of a real battle or a fictional exercise. A phase gives a situation report, a map and intelligence graded for reliability, and the player picks one of 3–4 courses of action before a 30–150-second clock runs out.

Unlike a paper TDG, the outcome is then played out. The odds of success come from a published deterministic formula, p = clamp(sigmoid(Σw), 0.05, 0.95), where Σw is the sum of eight factor weights [7]. After the battle, the review compares the decision with what the real commander did and with doctrine; it describes and does not grade.

For classrooms, Instructor Mode puts one screen up while trainees decide on their phones; the instructor sees the decision split live and runs the review with the whole class. Every battle also has a one-page printable TDG for rooms without devices. The site is a civilian educational service and is not affiliated with any armed service.

FAQ

How long does a tactical decision game take?

Most take minutes. The first Marine Corps Gazette TDG in 1990 allowed 5 minutes; on this site each decision has a clock of 30–150 seconds.

Is there one right answer to a TDG?

Usually not. A TDG is judged by the reasoning behind the decision, and the Gazette's 1995 review of Schmitt's workbook noted that he avoids presenting his own solutions as dogma. This site's review compares a decision with the real commander's and with doctrine but does not grade it.

Can a TDG be used in a classroom?

Yes. The 1995 Gazette review found that Schmitt's workbook works best in groups, where each decision has to be defended. On this site, Instructor Mode runs a battle on one shared screen while trainees decide on their phones, and each battle has a one-page printable version.

Are the TDGs on this site free?

Today's TDG and 6 battles are free. During the beta every battle and feature is open.

Sources

John F. Schmitt, "Designing Good TDGs", Marine Corps Gazette, May 1996
John F. Schmitt, "Observations on Four Years of TDGs", Marine Corps Gazette, June 1994
Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., "The Combat Leader's 'Bible'", review of John F. Schmitt, Mastering Tactics: A Tactical Decision Game Workbook (Quantico: Marine Corps Association, 1994, 108 pp.), Marine Corps Gazette, January 1995
MCDP 7, Learning, U.S. Marine Corps, 20 February 2020, p. 1-19 and ch. 3
MCDP 1, Warfighting, U.S. Marine Corps, 20 June 1997, pp. 3-11 to 3-12
Philip Sabin, Simulating War: Studying Conflict through Simulation Games, London: Continuum (Bloomsbury), 2012, ISBN 9781441185587; review in Times Higher Education, 26 April 2012
How adjudication works — the odds formula, Kriegsspiel by Honey Badger, 25 October 2026