The problem with War Games is that you get very fixated on the strategies and tactics of various armies. You very quickly lose sight of what anyone is fighting over. Getting a unit of tanks up a particular hill means far more to you than what that tank commander plans to do once the war is over.

You end up sympathizing with the Confederates or the Nazis or the Imperial Stormtroopers or the Zerg, because they're all just units on a map to you, and your team is always going to be the Good Guys because you're on it. Gamification eliminates all the political stakes and just makes this an exercise in managerial style.