Company Commander

BACKGROUND

Company Commander is Hexwar’s flagship tactical PME wargame, in active institutional use with the US Army, US Marine Corps, and the Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Future Warfare, with a global user base across military, academic, and defence research organisations.

The platform spans small unit combat from the Second World War to near-future Multi-Domain Operations (MDO), modelling seven national force structures German, Italian, French, United States, United Kingdom, Russian Federation, and Chinese each with authentic doctrine, equipment, and order of battle.

The game is purpose-built for PME delivery: deployable on Cloud, PC, Mac, iPad, and Android with no specialist IT infrastructure, no range booking, and no logistical footprint. It is backed by a complete instructor toolkit scenario authoring, AI configuration, and institutional-grade analytics that gives PME faculty the tools to design, deliver, and assess training outcomes with a fidelity that traditional wargaming and exercise formats struggle to match. At its level of war the company and below it is the most analytically capable digital wargaming tool currently available to the institutional training community.

CORE TRAINING OBJECTIVE

The platform’s learning design principle is Education Through Experimentation: placing the practitioner in command and demanding consequential decisions under resource constraint.

The Force Builder system requires officers to task-organise a reinforced company from a finite resource pool embedding the trade-off calculus of combined arms employment before a single move is made. Mission Command philosophy underpins the design: participants receive an objective, a force, and a battlespace the conduct of the operation is theirs to determine.

Both Red and Blue can be played, developing understanding of adversary doctrine and decision-making that lecture-based instruction and single-sided training cannot replicate. The platform functions as a digital TEWT: an environment in which tactical judgement is tested, measured, and debriefed with a precision that field exercises cannot consistently deliver.

Every session generates documented evidence of learning evidence that can be submitted as part of course assessment frameworks at CGSC, ICSC(L), and equivalent PME institutions.

GAMEPLAY AND MECHANICS

The modern force set reflects the current operating environment with operational fidelity: drone swarms and loitering munitions, electronic warfare, and precision smart weapons are modelled under finite resource constraints that enforce genuine trade-off discipline.

There is no bottomless resupply. The Scenario Creator grants instructors full authoring authority custom maps, scripted trigger events, variable AI behaviour, and mission-specific victory conditions aligned precisely to a phase of training or exercise programme.

New national force libraries can be designed and deployed in days and bespoke scenarios created, keeping pace with the evolving threat environment and curriculum demand. The platform integrates cleanly into existing PME delivery structures: it can replace or complement the TEWT, inform pre-deployment training packages, or serve as the analytical backbone of a syndicate wargame exercise at unit, staff college, or combined arms training centre level.

ANALYTICS AND ASSESSMENT

Company Commander is one of the only tactical wargame to pair gameplay with institutional-grade analytics. The After Action Report (AAR) tool captures over 100,000 data points per scenario every movement, fire mission, and tactical decision enabling a structured debrief with the granularity of a formation-level AAR.

The Before Action Report (BAR) is the platform’s most significant PME differentiator: prior to play, participants commit their plan in writing. The BAR then measures stated intent against actual execution, surfacing the gap between the written order and the conducted operation the same analytical criterion applied in Mission Command assessments, SAMS planning exercises, and operational staff training across the US and UK. Every session produces documented, auditable evidence of learning a capability that traditional wargaming, map exercises, and TEWTs cannot deliver at scale or at comparable cost.

PME FIT AND INSTITUTIONAL VALUE

Company Commander fits most naturally in the tactical PME curriculum: Platoon Commanders’ Battle Course and Company Commanders’ programmes (US: Captain’s Career Course; UK: PCBC, Junior Command and Staff Course); combined arms integration modules at CGSC and ICSC(L); and pre-deployment training packages for units preparing for complex, multi-domain environments. For Training Officers US S3/G3 shops and UK SO2/SO3 Training staffs the platform delivers measurable, repeatable training output from a scalable, low-cost tool.

For PME faculty and curriculum designers, it provides structured learning events with documented outcomes that can be cross-walked to course learning objectives. For defence procurement and Training and Education budget holders, it offers a validated, operationally endorsed capability at a fraction of the cost of synthetic trainer exercises, live fire packages, or bespoke CPX support contracts. It has already been validated in use by the Marine Corps, the US Army, and major defence prime contractors. The institutional case is made.

FEATURES AND BENEFITS PME INSTRUCTOR PERSPECTIVE

Force Builder & Task Organisation

Officers task-organise a reinforced company from a finite resource pool directly training combined arms employment, capability trade-off analysis, and resource constraint thinking. Reflects ADP 3-0 combined arms doctrine and Mission Command task organisation principles.

Modern MDO Environment

Drone swarms, loitering munitions, EW, and precision weapons modelled under finite resource limits. Reflects the constraints of the current operating environment not a Cold War arsenal. Directly relevant to FM 3-0 / ADP 3-0 MDO doctrine.

After Action Report (AAR)

100,000+ data points per scenario. Every decision, movement, and engagement captured for structured debrief. Delivers analytical precision equivalent to a formation-level AAR with zero additional overhead or control staff requirement.

Adaptive AI Opponent

Three difficulty tiers enable scalable challenge from foundation-level training to advanced tactical education. Hard mode provides a credible tactical opponent for experienced officers without the overhead of a live OPFOR.

Seven National Force Structures

Seven armies with authentic doctrine, equipment, and order of battle from WWII to the near-future. Enables genuine Red/Blue play and adversary doctrine analysis. New force libraries built in days to reflect emerging threats.

25+ Scenarios + Full Authoring Toolkit

Pre-built historical and near-future scenarios plus a complete Map, Scenario, and Scripting Editor. Faculty build course-specific training events aligned to precise learning objectives in days. No external contractor required.

Before Action Report (BAR)

Participants commit intent before execution. The BAR measures planning against performance the core Mission Command assessment criterion. Every session generates documented, auditable evidence of learning for course assessment frameworks.

Cross-Platform, No Infrastructure

Cloud, PC, Mac, iPad, Android. No specialist IT, no range booking, no logistical footprint. Deployable in any setting institutional classroom, individual directed learning, or unit training programme.