Japanese Midway games suppressed an unwelcome result

The wargame reproduced the danger of land-based aircraft striking while Japanese carrier aircraft were away over Midway. Dice and the umpires' ruling initially produced nine hits and listed both Akagi and Kaga as sunk. Senior direction reduced the damage, then allowed the carriers to reappear in later phases of the exercise. An exercise loses its warning value when leadership protects the plan from evidence that it may fail.