British Army
Combat medics, field ambulances and deployed hospitals carry casualties from the point of injury through the first links of the chain.
MERT recovering a casualty, Helmand, 2007. POA(Phot) Sean Clee, © Crown copyright, OGL v1.0
Professional wargaming · Medical support
Rehearse the decision before it costs lives
For two centuries, militaries have tested their plans against a thinking opponent before committing to them. Wargame Nexus brings that discipline to the hardest problem in conflict: keeping the wounded alive.
1872The British Army publishes its first official war-game rules
1942Western Approaches Tactical Unit wargames the Battle of the Atlantic in Liverpool
2017UK MOD publishes its Wargaming Handbook through DCDC
10-1-2NATO's timeline in minutes and hours for treating the wounded
The problem
Time is the enemy of the wounded
NATO's 10-1-2 timeline sets the standard: ten minutes to stop catastrophic bleeding, one hour to advanced resuscitation, two hours to surgery. Every link in the chain of care has to hold.
In Afghanistan, the UK's Medical Emergency Response Team flew consultant-led care forward in RAF Chinooks to reach casualties faster. Real operations still put the chain under strain: limited helicopters, contested routes, overwhelmed facilities and incomplete information. Wargaming lets planners and clinicians find the weak points before real casualties do.
Land · Sea · Air
Casualty care is a joint effort
Getting a casualty from the point of injury to surgery depends on all three services working as one. That is the problem NEXUS was created to explore.
Royal Navy
RFA Argus carries a Primary Casualty Receiving Facility, a hospital at sea for operations far from land-based care.
Royal Air Force
From MERT Chinooks to search and rescue and strategic aeromedical flights, the RAF moves casualties fast and far.
Start here
Wargame Nexus at a glance
01 / Method
Real wargaming
How militaries use games as a research method, and the analytical rigour that separates evidence from entertainment.
Read more 02 / The gameNEXUS
A medical-support and casualty-evacuation wargame created by a professional military wargamer. A boxed edition is in development.
See the game 03 / Join usGet involved
Join a playtest, ask about using NEXUS in training, or register interest in the boxed edition.
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A proven British method
In 1942, in a room beneath Western Approaches Command in Liverpool, a team of naval officers and Wrens used a tabletop wargame to beat the U-boats. Western Approaches Tactical Unit, led by Captain Gilbert Roberts RN
Their games produced new convoy-escort tactics, such as “Raspberry”, which were taught to escort commanders and used in the Battle of the Atlantic. It remains one of the clearest examples of wargaming changing the outcome of a campaign.
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