> Instead, he issues orders to his subordinates who "directly" control squads of ships. .... I've always wondered if anyone's ever made something like this
See my other comment - lots of real military command training involves the trainees issuing orders to subordinates (role players) who interact with the simulation.
> It would probably be socially difficult to find enough players.
Military training finds them by using real soldiers as role-players (understanding how to handle an order is a useful secondary training effect) and there are also loads of ex-soldiers who will happily (for a small consultancy fee) support an exercise for a few days.
See my other comment - lots of real military command training involves the trainees issuing orders to subordinates (role players) who interact with the simulation.
> It would probably be socially difficult to find enough players.
Military training finds them by using real soldiers as role-players (understanding how to handle an order is a useful secondary training effect) and there are also loads of ex-soldiers who will happily (for a small consultancy fee) support an exercise for a few days.