Meeting the Modelling and Simulation Demand for Wargaming
This guest article from Gordon Pendleton, Managing Director at Cordillera Applications Group, reflects on years of close collaboration between Cordillera and MAK on successful multi-domain wargaming efforts with NATO, work that ultimately led to the creation of ScenarioAI and the IDEA tool for AI-assisted rapid scenario generation.
Cordillera Applications Group’s association with MAK ONE began in September 2022 when Cordillera was awarded a contract by NATO HQ SACT to design, develop and deliver a major NATO Multi-Domain Operational (MDO) wargame with modelling and simulation (M&S) support to be conducted at NATO’s Joint Force Command HQ in Naples. This contract represented a significant departure from traditional, purely manual wargaming approaches.
For the first time in a NATO concept validation event, digital constructive simulation and operational data analytics were embedded directly alongside a live, facilitator-led wargame, operating in parallel throughout planning, execution, and assessment.
The M&S capability supporting the wargame adopted a system-of-systems approach, including manual development of the scenario and supporting materials. MAK’s VR-Forces provided the constructive simulation environment, with Operational Analysis (OA) provided by Cervus’ Hive and system integration managed by Calian SimFront.
Image 1: Cordillera Operational MDO ORBAT Laydown in VR Forces
The Cordillera-developed MDO scenario and supporting documentation were manually populated into MAK’s VR-Forces environment. Despite the labour-intensive initial setup, the wargame itself was a huge success, supporting multiple Joint Force planning teams and more than 120 participants across Blue, Red, White, and Green cells. Visualisation of Orders of Battle (ORBATs), Course of Actions (CoAs), and playback and OA of the CoAs in VR-Forces and Hive proved a major step forward for NATO in wargame delivery.
Image 2: Multi-Domain Wargame being Conducted with M&S in VR-Forces
The wargame demonstrated the value of digitally supported play, but it also revealed a key limitation, which was the impact of manual scenario development on the pace of wargaming.
Building force laydowns, ORBATs, infrastructure, and supporting datasets by hand was time consuming and difficult to iterate. If wargaming was to be conducted more frequently, responsively, and at scale, a more automated and data-driven approach to scenario creation was needed.
Image 3: IDEA’s NATO 7-Steps MDMP Process for an Arctic Scenario
To address that challenge, Cordillera established ScenarioAI and developed IDEA (Integrated Data Enabled Analytical tool).
IDEA combines expert curated datasets with AI and machine learning to accelerate the generation of complex multi- domain scenarios in support of wargaming and decision-support activities. For the customer, the adoption of an automated, data-driven approach significantly accelerates scenario creation, reduces the traditional heavy resource burden, allows for flexible design, and enables changes to be executed live.
IDEA is designed for rapid, continuously updated scenario creation, incorporating next‑generation doctrine and technology, adapting quickly to changing decision‑maker needs driven by real‑world events, and performing real‑time data analysis to validate decision‑making.
Image 4: IDEA’s Automated Force Laydown and ORBAT integration into MAK ONE VR-Forces
These capabilities come together through IDEA’s integration with MAK’s VR‑Forces simulation environment, enabling AI-assisted scenarios to move efficiently from generation into executable wargame play that supports operational planning, CoA development, decision-making, and force design.
This integration reflects several years of collaboration between Cordillera, ScenarioAI, and MAK ONE, shaped by practical experience delivering digitally supported wargaming and focused on sustainability, adaptability, and ease of execution.
To get hands on with ScenarioAI and IDEA, visit our website and take a trial.
This guest article was written by Gordon Pendleton, Managing Director at Cordillera Applications Group. Reach out to the MAK team for more details or information at
