why wargame

After my grey cells (both of them) percolated a little more on this topic, I
remembered a passage in The Screwtape Letters that covers the topic neatly. My
copies all seem to be on perpetual loan (if you have
a copy and can find the passage--IIRC it's about 2/3 the way
through--please send it to me offlist), so I'm paraphrasing quite
loosely: during peace, people go on with their ordinary business and indulge
themselves in avarice, sloth, envy and so forth; war has its horrors, but it
also makes clear the value of courage, prudence,
self-sacrifice, loyalty, and other virtues.