Paddy Griffith (4 February 1947,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England – 25 June 2010) was a British military theorist and historian, who authored numerous books in the field of War Studies. He was also a

wargame A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for Recreational wargaming, recreation, to train military officers in the art of milit ...

designer for the UK Ministry of Defence, and a leading figure in the wargaming community.

Academic life

Griffith was a freelance military historian and a prolific author on

military history Military history is the study of War, armed conflict in the Human history, history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to Politics, local and international relationship ...

and

tactics Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to: * Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks ** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield ** Chess tactics In chess, a tac ...

. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he obtained a first-class honours degree in Modern History. He was a lecturer and then senior lecturer at RMA Sandhurst from 1973 to 1989.

Forward into Battle

In ''Forward into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to Vietnam'' (1981), Griffith put forward ideas about the "empty battlefield" or how increased fire-power had led to military formations becoming increasingly disaggregated. The conclusion he drew was that the willingness to close with the enemy was a key factor. It proved to be a highly influential work.

Wargames

Griffith was the founder of the Wargame Developments Group and SMATS (South Manchester Tactical Society) which is a reincarnation of the Manchester Tactical Society founded by

Spenser Wilkinson Henry Spenser Wilkinson (1 May 1853 – 31 January 1937) was the first Chichele Professor of Military History at Oxford University. While he was an English writer known primarily for his work on military subjects, he had wide interests. Earlier ...

in the 1880s. He was the author of numerous books in the field of War Studies and a

designer for the UK Ministry of Defence.

Wargames Developments and COW

In 1980 while still a lecturer in War Studies at RMA Sandhurst, Griffith organised a conference, "New Directions in Wargaming", held at Moor Park, Farnham, which lasted an entire weekend (23–25 May 1980). He was the primary force behind the foundation of Wargame Developments, a group consisting of professional military personnel, civil servants, educators, and both professional and amateur wargame designers. Since 1981, the Conference of Wargamers (COW) have been held at Knuston Hall Residential College for Adult Education. The typical COW consists of presentations in the form of papers and lectures, workshops, and practical sessions. Beginning in November 1980, the Wargame Developments group has published a regular journal, ''The Nugget''. Currently there are nine issues distributed annually. It is subscribed to by a wide range of people, including professional military personnel and civilians. Griffith edited the first 15 issues, as well as the 50th. Griffith is credited with developing the megagame

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

system.

Death

Griffith died of a heart attack on 25 June 2010, aged 63.

Publications

Works

References

External links

Paddy Griffith's Web Site
(archived in 2018)
South Manchester Tactical Society founded by Paddy Griffith

Link to wargames which Griffith designed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffith, Paddy 1947 births 2010 deaths British military historians Academics of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Historians of the French Revolution Historians of the Napoleonic Wars Historians of the American Civil War Writers from Liverpool