A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to study the nature of potential conflicts. Many wargames recreate specific historic battles, and can cover either whole wars, or any campaigns, battles, or lower-level engagements within them. Many simulate land combat, but there are wargames for naval and
air combat
''Air Combat'' is a 1995 combat flight simulator developed and published for the PlayStation by Namco. Players control an aircraft and are tasked with completing a series of missions, with objectives ranging from destroying formations of enem ...
as well.
Generally, activities where the participants actually perform mock combat actions (e.g. friendly warships firing dummy rounds at each other) are not considered wargames. Some writers may refer to a military's
field training exercise
A field training exercise, generally shortened to the acronym "FTX", is a coordinated training exercise conducted by military units for training purposes. These are often military simulations conducted in open areas instead of training faciliti ...
s as "live wargames", but certain institutions such as the US Navy do not accept this.''War Gamer's Handbook'' (US Naval War College), p. 4: "The .S. Naval War College's War Gaming Departmentuses the Perla (1990) definition, which describes war gaming as "...a warfare model or simulation whose operation does not involve the activities of actual military forces, and whose sequence of events affects and is, in turn, affected by the decisions made by players representing the opposing sides" (Perla, 1990, p. 164). By doing so, this differentiates a war game from a training exercise, which uses real forces." Likewise, activities like
paintball
Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...
are sports rather than wargames. Wargames are a mental activity.
Modern wargaming was invented in
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
in the early 19th-century, and eventually the Prussian military adopted wargaming as a tool for training their officers and developing doctrine. After Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, wargaming was widely adopted by military officers in other countries. Civilian enthusiasts also played wargames for fun, but this was a niche hobby until the development of consumer electronic wargames in the 1990s.
Professional vs recreational
A
professional wargame
A wargame, generally, is a type of strategy game which realistically simulates warfare. A professional wargame, specifically, is a wargame that is used by military organizations to train officers in tactical and strategic decision-making, to test ...
is a wargame that is used by a military as a serious tool for training or research. A
recreational wargame
A wargame is a strategy game that realistically simulates warfare. Wargames were invented for the purpose of training military officers, but they eventually caught on in civilian circles, played recreationally.
History Early German wargames (178 ...
is one played for fun, often in a competitive context.
Recreational wargames can cover a wide variety of subjects, from pre-historic to modern – even fantasy or sci-fi combat. Games which do not include modern armaments and tactics are of limited interest to the military, though wargames covering famous historical battles can interest
military historians
This is a list of historians categorized by their area of study. See also List of historians.
By time period
Ancient history
* Sedat Alp (1913, Veroia, The Ottoman Empire - 2006, Ankara, Türkiye) Hittitolog- Historian, Ancient Anatolian
* ...
. As professional wargames are used to prepare officers for actual warfare, there is naturally a strong emphasis on realism and current events.
Military organizations are typically secretive about their current wargames, and this makes designing a professional wargame a challenge. The data the designers require, such as the performance characteristics of weapons or the locations of military bases, are often classified, which makes it difficult for the designers to verify that their models are accurate. Secrecy also makes it harder to disseminate corrections if the wargame has already been delivered to the clients. Then there is the small player base. Whereas a commercial wargame might have thousands or even millions of players, professional wargames tend to have small player bases, which makes it harder for the designers to acquire feedback. Consequently, errors in professional wargame models tend to persist.
Although commercial wargame designers study consumer trends and listen to player feedback, their products are usually designed and sold with a take-it-or-leave-it approach. Professional wargames, by contrast, are typically commissioned by the military that plans to use them. If a wargame is commissioned by several clients, then the designer will have to juggle their competing demands. This can lead to great complexity, high development costs, and a compromised product that satisfies nobody.
Commercial wargames are under more pressure to deliver an enjoyable experience for the players, who expect a user-friendly interface, a reasonable learning curve, exciting gameplay, and so forth. By contrast, military organizations tend to see wargaming as a tool and a chore, and players are often bluntly obliged to use whatever is provided to them.
Professional wargames that are arbitrated by an umpire or the players themselves (manual wargames) tend to have simple models and computations compared to recreational wargames. Umpires may even be allowed to make arbitrary decisions using their own expertise. One reason for this is to keep the learning curve small. Recreational wargamers tend to have a lot of wargaming experience (it is usually considered a hardcore hobby), so learning a complicated new wargame is easy if it is similar enough to ones they've already played. By contrast, military officers typically have little or no wargaming experience. A second reason is that the technical data required to design an accurate and precise model, such as the performance characteristics of a fighter jet, is often classified.
Overview
The exact definition of "wargame" varies from one writer to the next and one organization to the next. To prevent confusion, this section will establish the general definition employed by this article.
*A wargame simulates an armed conflict, be it a battle, a campaign, or an entire war. ''Business wargames'' do not simulate armed conflict and thus fall outside the scope of this article.
*A wargame is adversarial. There must be two opposing sides whose players react intelligently to each other's decisions.
*A wargame does not involve the use of actual troops and armaments. This definition is used by the
US Naval War College
The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...
. Some writers use the term "live wargames" to refer to games that use actual troops in the field, but this article shall instead refer to these as field exercises.
Setting and scenario
A wargame must have a ''setting'' that is based on some historical era of warfare so as to establish what armaments the combatants may wield and the environment they fight in. A ''historical setting'' accurately depicts a real historical era of warfare. Among recreational wargamers, the most popular historical era is World War 2. Professional military wargamers prefer the modern era. A ''fantasy setting'' depicts a fictional world in which the combatants wield fictional or anachronistic armaments, but it should be similar enough to some historical era of warfare such that the combatants fight in a familiar and credible way. For instance, ''
Warhammer Age of Sigmar
''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop that simulates battles between armies by using miniature figurines. Games are typically played on a relatively flat surface such as a dining table, bespoke gaming t ...
'' has wizards and dragons, but the combat is mostly based on medieval warfare (spearmen, archers, knights, etc.). Some are also set in the future, where there is a "World War Three" going on.
A wargame's ''scenario'' describes the circumstances of the specific conflict being simulated, from the layout of the terrain to the exact composition of the fighting forces to the mission objectives of the players. Historical wargamers often re-enact historical battles. Alternatively, players may construct a fictional scenario. It is easier to design a balanced scenario where either player has a fair chance of winning if it is fictionalized. Board wargames usually have a fixed scenario.
Level of war
A wargame's level of war determines to the scope of the scenario, the basic unit of command, and the degree to which lower level processes are abstracted.
At the ''tactical level'', the scenario is a single battle. The basic unit of command is an individual soldier or small group of soldiers. The time span of the scenario is in the order of minutes. At this level, the specific capabilities of the soldiers and their armaments are described in detail. An example of a tactical-level games is ''
Flames of War
''Flames of War'' (abbreviated as ''FoW'') is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002.
''Flames of War'' allows players to wa ...
'', in which players use miniature figurines to represent individual soldiers, and move them around on a scale model of the battlefield.
At the ''operational level'', the scenario is a military campaign, and the basic unit of command is a large group of soldiers. At this level, the outcomes of battles are usually determined by a simple computation.
At the ''strategic level'', the scenario is an entire war. The player addresses higher-level concerns such as economics, research, and diplomacy. The time span of the game is in the order of months or years.
Examples
*
Warhammer 40,000
''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, ...
is a popular
grimdark
Grimdark is a subgenre of speculative fiction with a tone, style, or setting that is particularly dystopian, amoral, and violent. The term is inspired by the tagline of the tabletop strategy game ''Warhammer 40,000'': "In the grim darkness of ...
, sci-fi wargame played with hand-painted miniatures.
* ''Art de la Guerre'' or ADLG is a tactical-level
miniature wargame
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
that simulates battles from the ancient to late medieval period.
* ''
Flames of War
''Flames of War'' (abbreviated as ''FoW'') is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002.
''Flames of War'' allows players to wa ...
'' is a tactical-level historical
miniature wargame
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
that simulates land battles during World War 2.
* ''TACSPIEL'' is an operational-level military wargame developed in the 1960s by the US Army for research into guerilla warfare.
* The
Sigma war games
The Sigma war games were a series of classified high level war games played in the Pentagon during the 1960s to strategize the conduct of the burgeoning Vietnam War. The games were designed to replicate then-current conditions in Indochina, with a ...
were a series of strategic level games that sought to predict the outcome of the Vietnam War.
* ''
Hearts of Iron IV
''Hearts of Iron IV'', also known as HOI4, is a grand strategy computer wargame developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released worldwide on 6 June 2016. It is the sequel to 2009's '' Hearts of Iron ...
'' is a strategic-level computer wargame set in the mid-20th century.
* ''Wings of War'' is tactical-level historical wargame that simulates World War 1 aerial dogfights.
* '' Star Wars: X-Wing'' is a fantasy wargame whose rules are based on ''Wings of War''.
Design issues
Realism
A wargame must simulate warfare to a reasonable degree of realism, though what counts as sufficient realism depends on the players. Military wargames need to be highly realistic because their purpose is to prepare officers for real warfare. Recreational wargames only need to be as realistic as it pleases the players, so in most recreational wargames the emphasis is on verisimilitude, i.e. the satisfactory appearance of realism. In any case, no wargame can be perfectly realistic. A wargame's design must make trade-offs between realism, playability, and fun, and function within the constraints of its medium.
Fantasy wargames arguably stretch the definition of wargaming by representing fictional or anachronistic armaments, but they may still be called wargames if they resemble real warfare to the satisfaction of the players. For example, ''
Warhammer Fantasy Battle
''Warhammer'' (formerly ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'' or just ''Warhammer Fantasy'') is a tabletop miniature wargame with a medieval fantasy theme. The game was created by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestley; it was publishe ...
'' has wizards and dragons, but the bulk of the armaments are taken from medieval warfare (spearmen, knights, archers, etc.).
''Validation'' is the process by which a given wargame is proven to be realistic. For historical wargames, this usually means being able to accurately recreate a certain historical battle. Validating military wargames is sometimes tricky as they are typically used to simulate hypothetical future scenarios.
Complexity
Whereas the rules of Chess are relatively simple, and those of Go even simpler, with the complexity of these games an
emergent property
In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole.
Emergence ...
of the evolving strategic state of the board, wargames contrarily tend to have very sophisticated rules as a matter of their commitment to representing the concrete realities of (various kinds of) warfare. Generally speaking, the more realistic a wargame seeks to be, the more complicated its rules are. For example, chess pieces only have a few rules determining their behaviour, such as how and when they are allowed to move or capture based on their type and board location, providing a highly abstracted model of warfare which represents troop composition and positioning; stones in Go have no properties, behaviours, or state on their own, and only potentially represent, relative to other stones, elements of a larger board position, providing an extremely abstract strategic perspective in which the determinant of victory is a generalisation of territorial control and influence projection; in wargames, contrarily, counters typically represent strongly concrete and internally quite complex entities (companies, battalions, etc.), often with convoluted rules governing how they operate and interact, and the global state of the game is often governed by non-local rules representing exigencies like weather or supply lines.
This makes wargames difficult to learn, as it can be difficult to simply begin playing without already understanding a great deal about how to do so. Even experienced wargamers usually play with their rulebook on hand, because the rules for most wargames are too complex to fully memorize. For many people, the complexity also makes wargames difficult to enjoy, but some players enjoy high realism, so finding a balance between realism and simplicity is tricky when it comes to recreational wargames.
One way to solve the problem of complexity is to use a referee who has the discretion to arbitrate events, using whatever tools and knowledge they deem fit. This solution is popular with military instructors because it allows them to apply their own expertise when they use wargames to instruct students. The drawback of this approach is that the referee must be very knowledgeable in warfare and impartial, else they may issue unrealistic or unfair rulings.
Another way to address complexity is to use a computer to automate some or all of the routine procedures. Video games can be both sophisticated and easy to learn, which is why computer wargames are more popular than tabletop wargames.
Scale
Every wargame must have a sense of ''scale'', so that it may realistically simulate how topography, distance, and time affect warfare. Scale is usually expressed as a ratio, e.g. a scale of 1:1000 indicates that 1 cm on the game map represents 10 m (1,000 cm). In miniature wargaming, scale is more often expressed as the height of a model of a human measured from the base of its feet up to the eyes or top of the head (e.g. 28mm).
Military wargames typically aim to model time and space as realistically as is feasible, so everything in the simulation conforms to a single scale. Recreational wargame designers, by contrast, tend to use abstract scaling techniques to make their wargames easier to learn and play. Tabletop
miniature wargame
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
s, for instance, cannot realistically model the range of modern firearms, because miniature wargaming models are typically built to a scale between 1:64 and 1:120. At those scales, riflemen should be able to shoot each other from several meters away, which is longer than most game tables. If model soldiers could shoot each other from opposite ends of the table, without the need to maneuver, the game would not be much fun. For example, the miniature wargame ''
Bolt Action
Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).
Most bolt-actio ...
'' solves this problem by reducing a rifle's range to 24 inches, a sub-machine gun's range to 12 inches, and a pistol's range to 6 inches. Even if these ranges are not realistic, their proportions make intuitive sense (a rifle's range ought to be longer than a sub-machine gun) and thus preserve some verisimilitude, all the while compressing the battle to fit the confines of the table. Additionally, the ranges are multiples of 6, which makes them easier to remember.
Fog of war
In real warfare, commanders have incomplete information about their enemy and the battlespace. A wargame that conceals some information from the player is called a ''closed'' game. An ''open'' wargame has no secret information. Most recreational wargames are open wargames. A closed wargame can simulate the espionage and reconnaissance aspects of war.
Military wargames often use referees to manage secret information. The players may be forced to sit in separate rooms, and communicate their orders with the referee in the game room, who in turn reports back only the information he judges the players should know. Some recreational wargames use a referee too, often referring to them as "the GameMaster" (e.g. '' Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader'').
The fog of war is easy to simulate in a computer wargame, as a virtual environment is free of the physical constraints of a tabletop game. The computer itself can serve as the referee.
Types
Miniature
Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
is a form of wargaming where units on the battlefield are represented by miniature models, as opposed to abstract pieces such as wooden blocks or plastic counters. Likewise, the battlefield itself is represented by model terrain, as opposed to a flat board or map; naval wargames are often played on a floor because they tend to require more space than a tabletop. Most miniature wargaming is recreational because issues of scale get in the way of realism.
Miniature wargaming can be more expensive and time-consuming than other forms of wargaming. Furthermore, most manufacturers do not sell ready-to-play models, they sell boxes of model parts, which the players are expected to assemble and paint themselves. This requires skill, time, and money, but many players like the opportunity to show off their artistic skills. Miniature wargaming is often as much about artistry as it is about play.
Board
A board wargame is played on a board that has a more-or-less fixed layout and is supplied by the game's manufacturer. This is in contrast to customizable playing fields made with modular components, such as in
miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
Fog of War
The fog of war (german: links=no, Nebel des Krieges) is the uncertainty in situational awareness experienced by participants in military operations. The term seeks to capture the uncertainty regarding one's own capability, adversary capability, ...
is built into the game by representing units with upright wooden blocks that are marked on only one face, which is oriented towards the player who owns the block. The opponent cannot see the markings from his position. The first such block wargame was '' Quebec 1759'' by Columbia Games (previously named Gamma Two Games), depicting the campaign surrounding the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.
Card
Because of their nature, cards are well suited for abstract games, as opposed to the simulation aspects of wargames. Traditional card games are not considered wargames even when nominally about the same subject (such as the game ''
War
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
'').
An early card wargame was '' Nuclear War'', a 'tongue-in-cheek game of the end of the world', first published in 1966 and still published today by
Flying Buffalo
Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with '' Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the ...
. It does not simulate how any actual nuclear exchange would happen, but it is still structured unlike most card games because of the way it deals with its subject.
In the late 1970s
Battleline Publications Battleline Publications was a board wargame company founded by Steven Peek in 1973. Output was relatively low at first, with each game being funded by sales of the one before, but their games were generally well-respected. Several were re-publishe ...
(a board wargame company) produced two card games, '' Naval War'' and '' Armor Supremacy''. The first was fairly popular in wargaming circles, and is a light system of naval combat, though again not depicting any 'real' situation (players may operate ships from opposing navies side-by-side). ''Armor Supremacy'' was not as successful, but is a look at the constant design and development of new types of tanks during World War II.
The most successful card wargame (as a card game and as a wargame) would almost certainly be '' Up Front'', a card game about tactical combat in World War II published by Avalon Hill in 1983. The abstractness is harnessed in the game by having the deck produce random terrain, and chances to fire, and the like, simulating uncertainty as to the local conditions (nature of the terrain, etc.).
Dan Verssen Games is a specialist designer and publisher of card games for several genres, including air combat and World War II and modern land combat.
Also, card driven games (CDGs), first introduced in 1993, use a deck of (custom) cards to drive most elements of the game, such as unit movement (activation) and random events. These are, however, distinctly board games, the deck is merely one of the most important ''elements'' of the game.
Computer
The term "wargame" is rarely used in the video gaming hobby; the term "strategy game" is preferred. "Computer wargame" distinguishes a game from a "tabletop wargame".
Computer wargames have many advantages over traditional wargames. In a computer game, all the routine procedures and calculations are automated. The player needs only to make strategic and tactical decisions. The learning curve for the player is smaller, as he doesn't have to master all the mechanics of the game. The gameplay is faster, as a computer can process calculations much faster than a human. Computer wargames often have more sophisticated mechanics than traditional wargames thanks to automation. Computer games tend to be cheaper than traditional wargames because, being software, they can be copied and distributed very efficiently. It's easier for a player to find opponents with a computer game: a computer game can use artificial intelligence to provide a virtual opponent, or connect him to another human player over the Internet. For these reasons, computers are now the dominant medium for wargaming.
Computer-assisted
In the recent years, programs have been developed for computer-assisted gaming as regards to wargaming. Two different categories can be distinguished: local computer assisted wargames and remote computer assisted wargames.
Local computer assisted wargames are mostly not designed toward recreating the battlefield inside computer memory, but employing the computer to play the role of game master by storing game rules and unit characteristics, tracking unit status and positions or distances, animating the game with sounds and voice and resolving combat. Flow of play is simple: each turn, the units come up in a random order. Therefore, the more units an opponent has, the more chance he will be selected for the next turn. When a unit comes up, the commander specifies an order and if offensive action is being taken, a target, along with details about distance. The results of the order, base move distance and effect to target, are reported, and the unit is moved on the tabletop. All distance relationships are tracked on the tabletop. All record-keeping is tracked by the computer.
Remote computer assisted wargames can be considered as extensions to the concept of play-by-email gaming, however the presentation and actual capabilities are completely different. They have been designed to replicate the look and feel of existing board or miniatures wargames on the computer. The map and counters are presented to the user who can then manipulate these, more-or-less as if he were playing the physical game, and send a saved file off to his opponent, who can review what has been done without having to duplicate everything on his physical set-up of the game, and respond. Some allow for both players to get on-line and see each other's moves in real-time.
These systems are generally set up so that while one can play the game, the program has no knowledge of the rules, and cannot enforce them. The human players must have a knowledge of the rules themselves. The idea is to promote the playing of the games (by making play against a remote opponent easier), while supporting the industry (and reducing
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
issues) by ensuring that the players have access to the actual physical game.
The four main programs that can be used to play a number of games each are ''Aide de Camp'', ''Cyberboard'', ''
Vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
'' and '' ZunTzu''. ''Aide de Camp'' is available for purchase, while the other three are offered free. ''Vassal'' is in turn an outgrowth of the ''VASL'' (Virtual ''ASL'') project, and uses
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
, making it accessible to any computer that can run a modern
JVM
A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes ...
Wargames were played remotely through the mail, with players sending lists of moves, or orders, to each other through the mail.
In some early PBM systems, six sided dice rolling was simulated by designating a specific stock and a future date and once that date passed, the players would determine an action's outcome using the sales in hundreds value for specific stocks on a specific date and then dividing the NYSE published sales in hundreds by six, using the remainder as the dice result.
'' Nuclear Destruction'', by the
Flying Buffalo
Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with '' Nuclear Destruction'', a play-by-mail game which started the ...
, was an early PBM game in 1970.
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 a ...
Hall-of-Fame member '' Middle-Earth Play-By-Mail'' is still active today.
Reality Simulations, Inc. still runs a number of PBM games, such as Duel2 (formerly known as Duelmasters), Hyborian War, and Forgotten Realms: War of the Avatars.
E-mail and traditional
Since e-mail is faster than the standard postal service, the rise of the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
saw a shift of people playing board wargames from play-by-mail (PBM) to play-by-email (PBEM) or play-by-web (PBW). The mechanics were the same, merely the medium was faster.
At this time,
turn-based strategy
A turn-based strategy (TBS) game is a strategy game (usually some type of wargame, especially a strategic-level wargame) where players take turns when playing. This is distinguished from real-time strategy (RTS), in which all players play si ...
computer games still had a decent amount of popularity, and many started explicitly supporting the sending of saved-game files through email (instead of needing to find the file to send to the opponent by hand). As with all types of video games, the rise in home networking solutions and Internet access has also meant that networked games are now common and easy to set up.
History
Early German wargames (1780–1806)
The first wargame was invented in
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
in 1780 by Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig. Hellwig's wargame was the first true wargame because it attempted to be realistic enough to teach useful lessons in military strategy to future army officers. Hellwig was a college professor and many of his students were aristocrats destined for military service. But Hellwig also wanted to sell his wargame commercially as a recreational item. Hellwig chose to base his game on chess so as to make it attractive and accessible to chess players. Hellwig published a second edition of his rulebook in 1803.
As in chess, Hellwig's game was played on a grid of squares, but it was a much larger grid, and the squares were color-coded to represent different types of terrain: mountains, swamp, water, trenches, etc. The layout of the terrain was not fixed, which allowed players to create their own custom battlefields. The pieces in the game represented real military units: cavalry, infantry, artillery, and various support units. As in chess, only a single piece could occupy a square, and the pieces moved square by square, either laterally or diagonally. Over normal terrain, infantry could move a maximum distance of eight squares, dragoons could move twelve squares, and light cavalry could move sixteen squares—intuitively mirroring the speed at which these units move in the real world. But terrain could impede movement: mountains were impassable, swamps slowed units down, rivers could only be crossed with the help of a special pontoon unit, etc. A player could only move one piece per turn, or one group of pieces if they were arranged in a rectangle. A piece could capture an enemy piece by moving into its square, just like in chess, but infantry and artillery pieces could also shoot enemy pieces, at a maximum ranges of two to three squares. Unlike chess, the pieces had orientation: for instance, an infantry piece could only shoot an enemy piece if they were facing it and flanking it. Hellwig's wargame could also simulate the fog of war to limited degree: while the players were arranging their pieces in their starting positions, they had the option of placing a screen across the board so that they could not observe their opponent's arrangement until the game started. Once the game was in progress, however, there was no hiding anything.
Hellwig's wargame was a commercial success, and inspired other inventors to develop their own chess-like wargames. In 1796, another Prussian named Johann Georg Julius Venturini invented his own wargame, inspired by Hellwig's game. Venturini's game was played on an even larger grid. Venturini's game also added rules governing logistics, such as supply convoys and mobile bakeries, and the effects of weather and seasons, making this perhaps the first operational-level wargame. In 1806, an Austrian named Johann Ferdinand Opiz developed a wargame aimed at both civilian and military markets. Like Hellwig's game, it used a modular grid-based board. But unlike Hellwig's game, Opiz's game used dice rolls to simulate the unpredictability of real warfare. This innovation was controversial at the time. Hellwig, who designed his wargame for both leisure as well as instruction, felt that introducing chance would spoil the fun.
A criticism of the chess-like wargames of Hellwig, Venturini, and Opiz was that the pieces were constrained to move across a grid in chess-like fashion. Only a single piece could occupy a square, even if that square represented a square mile; and the pieces had to move square by square, their exact location within a square being immaterial. The grid also forced the terrain into unnatural forms, such as rivers that flowed in straight lines and bent at right angles. This lack of realism meant that no army took these wargames seriously.
''Kriegsspiel'' (1824)
In 1824, a
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n army officer named
Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reisswitz
Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reisswitz (1794–1827) was a Prussian army officer. Reisswitz is regarded by many as the father of wargaming, as he developed the first wargaming system to be widely used as a serious tool for training and researc ...
presented to the Prussian General Staff a highly realistic wargame that he and his father had developed over the years. Instead of a chess-like grid, this game was played on accurate paper maps of the kind the Prussian army used. This allowed the game to model terrain naturally and simulate battles in real locations. The pieces could be moved across the map in a free-form manner, subject to terrain obstacles. The pieces, each of which represented some kind of army unit (an infantry battalion, a cavalry squadron, etc.), were little rectangular blocks made of lead. The pieces were painted either red or blue to indicate the faction it belonged to. The blue pieces were used to represent the Prussian army and red was used to represent some foreign enemy—since then it has been the convention in military wargaming to use blue to represent the faction to which the players actually belong to. The game used dice to add a degree of randomness to combat. The scale of the map was 1:8000 and the pieces were made to the same proportions as the units they represented, such that each piece occupied the same relative space on the map as the corresponding unit did on the battlefield.
The game modeled the capabilities of the units realistically using data gathered by the Prussian army during the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. Reisswitz's manual provided tables that listed how far each unit type could move in a round according to the terrain it was crossing and whether it was marching, running, galloping, etc.; and accordingly the umpire used a ruler to move the pieces across the map. The game used dice to determine combat results and inflicted casualties, and the casualties inflicted by firearms and artillery decreased over distance. Unlike chess pieces, units in Reisswitz's game could suffer partial losses before being defeated, which were tracked on a sheet of paper (recreational gamers might call this "
hitpoint
Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...
tracking"). The game also had some rules that modeled morale and exhaustion.
Reisswitz's game also used an umpire. The players did not directly control the pieces on the game map. Rather, they wrote orders for their virtual troops on pieces of paper, which they submitted to the umpire. The umpire then moved the pieces across the game map according to how he judged the virtual troops would interpret and carry out their orders. When the troops engaged the enemy on the map, the umpire rolled the dice, computed the effects, and removed defeated units the from map. The umpire also managed secret information so as to simulate the fog of war. The umpire placed pieces on the map only for those units which he judged both sides could see. He kept a mental track of where the hidden units were, and only placed their pieces on the map when he judged they came into view of the enemy.
Earlier wargames had fixed victory conditions, such as occupying the enemy's fortress. By contrast, Reisswitz's wargame was open-ended. The umpire decided what the victory conditions were, if there were to be any, and they typically resembled the goals an actual army in battle might aim for. The emphasis was on the experience of decision-making and strategic thinking, not on competition. As Reisswitz himself wrote: "The winning or losing, in the sense of a card or board game, does not come into it."
In the English-speaking world, Reisswitz's wargame and its variants are called ''Kriegsspiel'', which is the German word for "wargame".
The Prussian king and the General Staff officially endorsed Reisswitz's wargame, and by the end of the decade every German regiment had bought materials for it. This was thus the first wargame to be widely adopted by a military as a serious tool for training and research. Over the years, the Prussians developed new variations of Reisswitz's system to incorporate new technologies and doctrine.
Worldwide spread
Prussian wargaming attracted little attention outside Prussia until 1870, when Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War. Many credited Prussia's victory to its wargaming tradition. The Prussian army did not have any significant advantage in weaponry, numbers, or troop training, but it was the only army in the world that practiced wargaming. Civilians and military forces around the world now took a keen interest in the German military wargames, which foreigners referred to as ''Kriegsspiel'' (the German word for "wargame"). The first ''Kriegsspiel'' manual in English, based on the system of Wilhelm von Tschischwitz, was published in 1872 for the British army and received a royal endorsement. The world's first recreational wargaming club was the University Kriegspiel 'sic''Club, founded in 1873 at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
in England. In the United States, Charles Adiel Lewis Totten published ''Strategos, the American War Game'' in 1880, and William R. Livermore published ''The American Kriegsspiel'' in 1882, both heavily inspired by Prussian wargames. In 1894, the US Naval War College made wargaming a regular tool of instruction.
Little Wars
''Little Wars'' is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by English novelist H. G. Wells in 1913. The book, which had a full title of ''Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for t ...
'' (1913). This is widely remembered as the first rulebook for
miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
(for terrestrial armies, at least). ''Little Wars'' had very simple rules to make it fun and accessible to anyone. ''Little Wars'' did not use dice or computation to resolve fights. For artillery attacks, players used spring-loaded toy cannons which fired little wooden cylinders to physically knock over enemy models. As for infantry and cavalry, they could only engage in hand-to-hand combat (even if the figurines exhibited firearms). When two infantry units fought in close quarters, the units would suffer non-random losses determined by their relative sizes. ''Little Wars'' was designed for a large field of play, such as a lawn or the floor of a large room. An infantryman could move up to one foot per turn, and a cavalryman could move up to two feet per turn. To measure these distances, players used a two-foot long piece of string. Wells was also the first wargamer to use scale models of buildings, trees, and other terrain features to create a three-dimensional battlefield.
Wells' rulebook failed to invigorate the miniature wargaming community. A possible reason was the two World Wars, which de-glamorized war and caused shortages of tin and lead that made model soldiers expensive. Another reason may have been the lack of magazines or clubs dedicated to miniature wargames. Miniature wargaming was seen as a niche within the larger hobby of making and collecting model soldiers.
In 1955, a California man named
Jack Scruby
John Edwin Scruby (1916 – September 1988) was a manufacturer of military miniatures whose efforts led to a rebirth of the miniature wargaming hobby in the late 1950s.
Scruby and wargaming
To meet the needs of wargamers for inexpensive but histo ...
began making inexpensive miniature models for
miniature wargame
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
s out of
type metal
In printing, type metal refers to the metal alloys used in traditional typefounding and hot metal typesetting. Historically, type metal was an alloy of lead, tin and antimony in different proportions depending on the application, be it individ ...
. Scruby's major contribution to the
miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
hobby was to network players across America and the UK. At the time, the miniature wargaming community was minuscule, and players struggled to find each other. In 1956, Scruby organized the first miniature wargaming convention in America, which was attended by just fourteen people. From 1957 to 1962, he self-published the world's first wargaming magazine, titled ''The War Game Digest'', through which wargamers could publish their rules and share game reports. It had less than two hundred subscribers, but it did establish a community that kept growing.
Around the same time in the United Kingdom, Donald Featherstone began writing an influential series of books on wargaming, which represented the first mainstream published contribution to wargaming since ''Little Wars''. Titles included : ''War Games'' (1962), ''Advanced Wargames'', ''Solo Wargaming'', ''Wargame Campaigns'', ''Battles with Model Tanks'', ''Skirmish Wargaming''. Such was the popularity of such titles that other authors were able to have published wargaming titles. This output of published wargaming titles from British authors coupled with the emergence at the same time of several manufacturers providing suitable wargame miniatures (e.g. Miniature Figurines, Hinchliffe, Peter Laing, Garrisson, Skytrex, Davco, Heroic & Ros) was responsible for the huge upsurge of popularity of the hobby in the late 1960s and into the 1970s.
In 1956, Tony Bath published what was the first ruleset for a miniature wargame set in the medieval period. These rules were a major inspiration for Gary Gygax's ''Chainmail'' (1971), which in turn became the basis for the roleplaying game ''
Dungeons and Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
''.
From 1983 to 2015, Games Workshop produced what was the first miniature wargame designed to be used with proprietary models: '' Warhammer Fantasy''. Earlier miniature wargames were designed to be played using generic models that could be bought from any manufacturer, but ''Warhammer Fantasy's'' setting featured original characters with distinctive visual designs, and their models were produced exclusively by Games Workshop.
Board wargaming (1954–present)
The first successful commercial board wargame was ''Tactics'' (1954) by an American named Charles S. Roberts. What distinguished this wargame from previous ones is that it was mass-produced and all the necessary materials for play were bundled together in a box. Previous wargames were often just a rulebook and required players to obtain the other materials themselves. The game was played on a pre-fabricated board with a fixed layout, which is why it was called a board game.
Roberts later founded the Avalon Hill Game Company, the first firm that specialized in commercial wargames. In 1958, Avalon Hill released ''Gettysburg'', which was a retooling of the rules of ''Tactics'', and was based on the historical
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...
. ''Gettysburg'' became the most widely-played wargame yet.
Board wargames were more popular than miniature wargames. One reason was that assembling a playset for miniature wargaming was expensive, time-consuming, and require artisanal skill. Another reason was that board wargames could be played by correspondence. Board wargames were usually grid-based, or else designed in some way that moves could be explained in writing in simple terms. This was not possible with the free-form nature of miniature wargames.
Notable people
; Wargaming as a hobby
*
Georg von Reisswitz
Georg Heinrich Rudolf Johann von Reisswitz (1794–1827) was a Prussian army officer. Reisswitz is regarded by many as the father of wargaming, as he developed the first wargaming system to be widely used as a serious tool for training and researc ...
, who with his father invented ''Kriegsspiel''.
* H.G. Wells – Pioneer in miniature wargaming, author of ''
Little Wars
''Little Wars'' is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by English novelist H. G. Wells in 1913. The book, which had a full title of ''Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for t ...
''. His usual companion in wargames was
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
(of ''
Three Men in a Boat
''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...
'' fame).
*
Jack Scruby
John Edwin Scruby (1916 – September 1988) was a manufacturer of military miniatures whose efforts led to a rebirth of the miniature wargaming hobby in the late 1950s.
Scruby and wargaming
To meet the needs of wargamers for inexpensive but histo ...
– After H.G. Wells, he did the most to make miniature wargaming a respectable hobby. He also popularized miniatures wargaming with a cheaper production process for miniature figures, publishing the first miniature wargaming magazine, the ''War Game Digest'', and community building.
* Don Featherstone – Known in the UK as the "co-father" of modern miniature wargaming.
* Charles S. Roberts – Known as the "Father of modern board wargaming", designed the first modern wargame, as well as the company most identified with modern wargames (
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...
).
*
Phil Barker
Phil Barker (born 5 November 1932) is one of the major figures in the development of the modern hobby of tabletop wargaming, particularly that of ancient warfare, and is a co-founder of the Wargames Research Group.
In the 1960s he was a methods ...
– Co-founder of ( Wargames Research Group), co writer of WRG Ancients in 1969 and of DBA the innovative 1990 ruleset.
; Designers/developers
*
Richard Berg
Richard Harvey Berg (1943 – July 26, 2019) was a prolific American wargame designer. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 1987.
Early life, army, student and lawyer
Richard Berg was born in New York City. ...
Larry Bond
Lawrence L. Bond (born June 11, 1951) is an American author and wargame designer. He is the designer of the ''Harpoon'' and ''Command at Sea'' gaming systems, and several supplements for the games. Examples of his numerous novels include ''Dang ...
– Designer of ''
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...
'', and best selling author
*
Frank Chadwick
Frank Chadwick is an American multiple-award-winning game designer and ''New York Times'' best selling author. He has designed hundreds of games, his most notable being the role-playing games ''En Garde!'', '' Space: 1889'' and ''Twilight 2000' ...
– A co-founder of Game Designers Workshop (along with
Loren Wiseman
Loren Keith Wiseman (March 7, 1951 – February 14, 2017) was an American wargame and role-playing game designer, game developer and editor.
Career Game Designers' Workshop
After graduating from Illinois State University, Loren Wiseman co ...
Rich Banner
Paul Richard "Rich" Banner is an American game designer and graphic artist.
Beginnings
Rich Banner and Frank Chadwick formed the ISU Game Club at the Illinois State University (Normal, Illinois). Banner engineered a grant which funded the printin ...
), one of the first major competitors to Avalon Hill, and himself a prolific wargame designer and innovator.
*
Jim Dunnigan
James F. Dunnigan (born 8 August 1943) is an author, military-political analyst, Defense and State Department consultant, and wargame designer currently living in New York City.
Career
Dunnigan was born in Rockland County, New York. After high s ...
– considered "The Dean of Modern Wargaming", founder of SPI and the most prolific print wargame designer in history. His designs included many firsts in wargaming, including the first
tactical wargames
Tactical wargames are a type of wargaming, wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or company (military unit), companies. These units are rated based on types a ...
.
* Charles Grant – Author of ''The Wargame''.
* E. Gary Gygax – Designer of several miniatures and board wargames who went on to co-create (with
Dave Arneson
David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947Minnesota Department of Health. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known ...
) and publish ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
''.
* Larry Harris – Designer of '' Axis and Allies'', ''Conquest of the Empire'', and other games in the Axis and Allies Series.
*
Bruce Quarrie
Bruce Quarrie (1947 in London – 4 September 2004) was an English writer and author on wargaming and militaria topics.
Career
Quarrie studied English at Peterhouse, Cambridge University and graduated in 1968. He became a journalist with the ''Fi ...
– wrote rule sets for Napoleonic and World War II wargames and also on military history.
* John Hill – Designer of ''
Squad Leader
''Squad Leader'' is a tactical wargames, tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill (game designer), John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of th ...
'', ''
Johnny Reb
Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common sol ...
'', and other well-received designs.
* Redmond Simonsen – Co-founder of SPI and introduced many advanced graphics design elements to wargame designs.
; Notable players
*
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...
– Actor
Notable examples
Board
While a comprehensive list will show the variety of titles, the following games are notable for the reasons indicated:
*''
Diplomacy
Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...
'' – (1954) a classic multi-player game from the "golden age" of wargames in which strategy is exercised off the game board as well as on it.
* '' Tactics II'' (Avalon Hill, 1958) – the wargame that launched Avalon Hill.
* '' ''Risk'''' (Parker Brothers, 1959) – Widely accepted as the first mainstream wargame.
* '' Gettysburg'' (Avalon Hill, 1958) – the first modern era wargame intended to model an actual historical event.
* ''Tactical Game 3'' ('' Strategy & Tactics'' Magazine game, 1969); re-released as ''
PanzerBlitz
''PanzerBlitz'' is a tactical wargames, tactical-scale board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1970 that simulates armored combat set in the Eastern Front (WWII), Eastern Front of the Second World War. The game is notable for being the first tr ...
'' by Avalon Hill in 1970. The very first
tactical wargame
Tactical wargames are a type of wargaming, wargame that models military conflict at a tactical level, i.e. units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or company (military unit), companies. These units are rated based on types a ...
. The game pioneered the use of "
geomorphic mapboard A geomorphic mapboard is a game board that can be configured in different ways and reused to create different playing surfaces. The mapboards are made geomorphic by using identical features along the edges of the maps, so that any two may be paired ...
s" and PanzerBlitz was a game ''system'' rather than just a game in that forces could be used to depict any number of actual tactical situations rather than one specific scenario. Pioneered several ground-breaking features, such as use of various types of weapons fire to reflect battlefield conditions. Also created new level of realism in reflecting tactical armored vehicles.
* ''Quebec 1759'' ( Columbia Games, 1972) – The first wargame to use wooden blocks with labels to provide a fog of war and four possible steps of strength.
* '' Sniper!'' (SPI, 1973) – along with '' Patrol'', the first
Man to Man wargames
A man-to-man wargame (also known as a skirmish wargame) is a wargame in which units generally represent single individuals or weapons systems, and are rated not only on weaponry but may also be rated on such facets as morale, perception, skill-at- ...
where game pieces depicted a single soldier. An adaptation of ''Sniper!'' also became one of the first multi-player computer wargames.
* '' Wooden Ships and Iron Men'' (
Battleline Publications Battleline Publications was a board wargame company founded by Steven Peek in 1973. Output was relatively low at first, with each game being funded by sales of the one before, but their games were generally well-respected. Several were re-publishe ...
, 1974
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...
, 1976) – the definitive game of Age of Sail warfare for many years.
* ''
Rise and Decline of the Third Reich
''Rise and Decline of the Third Reich'' or more commonly ''Third Reich'' is a grand strategy wargame covering the European theater of World War II, designed by John Prados and released in 1974 by Avalon Hill. Players take on the roles of ma ...
'' (Avalon Hill, 1974) – The first serious attempt to model World War II in Europe in its entirety, including (in a limited way) the economic and industrial production of the nations involved. It has seen numerous versions and editions, and is currently available as ''John Prados' Third Reich'' from Avalanche Press, and as a far more complex descendant game, ''A World At War'', published by
GMT Games
GMT Games is a California-based wargaming publisher founded in 1990. The company has become well known for graphically attractive games that range from "monster games", of many maps and counters, to quite simple games suitable for introducing new ...
Clash of Arms
Clash of Arms Games is a wargaming company best known for a high level of graphics quality and moderately to highly complex games, often focusing on the Napoleonic era, but with offerings in most eras of military history. Besides boardgames, such a ...
. With 4 maps and 1000+ counters, it is credited with being the first "monster" wargame (by famed designer
Richard Berg
Richard Harvey Berg (1943 – July 26, 2019) was a prolific American wargame designer. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame in 1987.
Early life, army, student and lawyer
Richard Berg was born in New York City. ...
.)
* ''
SPQR
SPQR, an abbreviation for (; en, "The Roman Senate and People"; or more freely "The Senate and People of Rome"), is an emblematic abbreviated phrase referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic. It appears on Roman currency, at t ...
'' (GMT Games, 1992)
* ''
Squad Leader
''Squad Leader'' is a tactical wargames, tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill (game designer), John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of th ...
'' (Avalon Hill, 1977) and ''
Advanced Squad Leader
''Advanced Squad Leader'' (ASL) is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of squad sized units in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players (with solitary play ...
'' (1985) have become the most prolific series of wargames, including 3 add-on modules for the former, and 12 for the latter, with additional Historical modules and Deluxe modules also having been released. ''ASL'' also sets the record for sheer volume of playing components, with thousands of official counters and 60+ "
geomorphic mapboard A geomorphic mapboard is a game board that can be configured in different ways and reused to create different playing surfaces. The mapboards are made geomorphic by using identical features along the edges of the maps, so that any two may be paired ...
s" not counting Deluxe and Historical maps.
* '' Star Fleet Battles'' – (
Task Force Games
Task Force Games was a game company started in 1979 by Allen Eldridge and Stephen V. Cole. TFG published many games, most notably including both '' Star Fleet Battles'' (currently published by the original designers, Amarillo Design Bureau) a ...
, 1978) one of the older still actively played and published wargames today; based on '' Star Trek'', it is arguably the most successful tactical space combat system that does not rely on miniatures (published by Amarillo Design Bureau).
* '' Storm Over Arnhem'' (Avalon Hill, 1981) – pioneered the use of "point to point" or " area movement" in tactical wargames.
* '' Axis and Allies'' – ( Nova Games, 1981) the most successful of Milton Bradley's (1984) 'GameMaster' line in an attempt to bring wargaming into the mainstream by appealing to non-wargamers through simplicity and attractive components.
* '' Ambush!'' – (Victory Games, 1983) the first solitaire board wargame depicting man to man combat, in which each game piece represented a single person.
* '' Blue Max'' – (GDW, 1983) is a multi-player game of World War I aerial combat over the Western Front during 1917 and 1918 with an extremely easy to play mechanism but allow the development of complex strategies.
* ''
We the People
The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...
'' – (Avalon Hill, 1994) this game started the Card-Driven wargame movement, which is very influential in current wargame design.
Miniature
* ''Rules for the Jane Naval War Game'' (S. Low, Marston, 1898) – The first published miniature wargame. A 26-page rule set limited to naval miniature battles. It came in a crate measuring 4 ft. X 4 ft. X 2 ft. Written by Fred Jane. As only a handful of these games survive, they are highly collectible.
* ''
Little Wars
''Little Wars'' is a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers, written by English novelist H. G. Wells in 1913. The book, which had a full title of ''Little Wars: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for t ...
'' (H.G. Wells, 1913) – The first popular published wargame rules. Includes the common miniature wargaming mechanics of dice rolling, range, line of sight, and moving in alternate turns. This game earned Wells the title "The Father of Miniature Wargaming".A reprint is available from history of Wargaming Project a wargaming.co /ref>
* ''Miniature Wargames du temps de Napoleon'' (John C. Candler, 1964) – First period-specific historical miniature wargame. Also the first in a long line of Napoleonic miniature wargames.
* ''Chainmail (game), Chainmail'' (Guidon Games, 1971) – An extension and distillation of rules previously published in various periodicals. While mostly about historical medieval combat, it had an addendum that covered fantasy elements. Major elements of this game were adopted by the role-playing game ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
''. Unlike ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Chainmail'' used two six-sided dice to resolve combat. Previous fantasy miniature wargames had been written, but this was the first one published. Drawing on the popularity of ''The Lord of the Rings'', this game featured the novelties of combat magic and fantastic creatures as combatants.
* ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'' ( Games Workshop, 1983) – An internationally successful fantasy miniature wargame. The First Edition rules introduced innovative open unit design rules, however later editions eliminated the option to build custom units and make use of standard army lists mandatory. Warhammer was one of the first newly developed miniature wargames to enjoy popularity after role-playing games came to market in 1974. In fact, it is because of Roleplaying games becoming so popular, and people having too many models that were rarely used, that this was first published.
* ''
Warhammer 40,000
''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, ...
'' (Games Workshop, 1987) – A futuristic wargame featuring rival armies with different fighting styles. This wargame has very conceptual artwork suggesting a post-apocalyptic neo-gothic universe with heavy Dystopia, dystopic themes. Unarguably the most profitable miniature wargame ever , it has popularized competitive tournament gameplay in large, international events sanctioned by Games Workshop.
* ''De Bellis Antiquitatis'' ( Wargames Research Group, 1990) – Radically minimalist rules differentiate this game from other notable miniature wargames. A number of systems have been strongly influenced by DBA.
* ''Mage Knight'' (WizKids, WizKids Inc., 2001) – Innovative game popularizing the combat dial, pre-painted plastic miniatures, and the collectible miniatures games. ''Mage Knight'' has inspired numerous collectible, skirmish miniature wargames.
* ''Warmachine'' (Privateer Press, 2003) – A steampunk-inspired miniatures game featuring steam-powered robots fighting under the direction of powerful wizards. Also has a sister game, Hordes (game), Hordes, which features large monstrous creatures in the place of robots.
* ''Heroscape'' (Milton Bradley Company, 2004) – An inexpensive, simple wargame that has been successfully mass marketed to both younger wargamers and adults. As miniature wargaming is often an expensive hobby, ''Heroscape'' and the collectible miniatures games have opened the miniature wargaming hobby to a new demographic.
* ''Infinity (wargame), Infinity'' (Corvus Belli, 2005) is a tabletop wargame in which sci-fi themed with 28mm scale metal miniatures are used to simulate futuristic skirmishes.
* ''Brikwars, BrikWars'' is a wargame that uses Lego bricks as miniatures and scenery and gained popularity mostly due to the looseness of the rules.
* ''
Flames of War
''Flames of War'' (abbreviated as ''FoW'') is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures Ltd. The 1st Edition set of rules was published in 2002.
''Flames of War'' allows players to wa ...
'' (Battlefront Miniatures, 2002) – Popular World War II wargame at 15mm (1:100) scale, currently focusing on the European and Mediterean theatres. Splits into three time periods (Early War 1939-41, Mid War 1942-43 and Late War 1944-45) to bring some balance and historical matchups.
* ''Malifaux''
See also List of miniature wargames.
Computer
* ''Panzer General'' – (Strategic Simulations, Inc., 1994) – probably the most widely popular computer game that is recognizably a traditional wargame. It spawned several sequels, some of which explored different subject matter.
* ''Steel Panthers'' – (Strategic Simulations, Inc., 1995) – an early tactical wargame on the same scale as ''
Squad Leader
''Squad Leader'' is a tactical wargames, tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill (game designer), John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of th ...
'', which led to two sequels, and a complete revision of the title for free release.
* ''Close Combat series, Close Combat'' – (Microsoft, 1996) – not the first wargame to break out from hexes, and still presented in a 2-dimensional format, Close Combat nonetheless uniquely addressed factors such as individual morale and reluctance to carry out orders. The original title led to 5 very successful sequels for the general public, as well as being developed into a training tool for military use only. Close Combat stemmed from an early attempt to translate the ''
Squad Leader
''Squad Leader'' is a tactical wargames, tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill (game designer), John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of th ...
'' boardgame to the computer.
* ''Combat Mission (computer game series), Combat Mission'' – (Big Time Software, 2000) – not the first 3D tactical wargame (titles such as ''Muzzle Velocity (computer game), Muzzle Velocity'' preceded it), but a groundbreaking game series featuring simultaneous order resolution, complete orders of battle for numerous nationalities, with three titles based on the original game engine. As of 2006, a campaign layer is in testing as well as a revised game engine to be released before 2007. CM's genesis was also as a failed attempt by Avalon Hill to translate ''
Squad Leader
''Squad Leader'' is a tactical wargames, tactical level board war game originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. It was designed by John Hill (game designer), John Hill and simulates on infantry combat in Europe during World War II. One of th ...
'' to the computer.
* ''TacOps'' – (Major I.L. Holdridge, 2003 for v4) – commercial version of “TacOpsCav 4”, an officially issued standard training device of the US Army. It is a simulation of contemporary and near-future tactical, ground, combat between the modern armed forces of the world.
* ''Wargame: Red Dragon'' – (Eugen Systems, 2014) – a 3D regiment or brigade scale simulation set as a "Cold War Gone Hot" themed game in both multiplayer and singleplayer environments. Players construct customized armies through use of a deck system comprising land vehicles, infantry, and helicopters from several NATO and Warsaw Pact nations and manage logistics such as fuel and ammunition while on the battlefield. There is no cohesive campaign, the game instead taking place in several hypothetical conflicts.
* ''Total War (video game series), Total War'' – a wargame set in different time periods, with a turn based map, and a real time battle component, featured on the television series ''Time Commanders''
*Hearts of Iron, Hearts of Iron (series) – (Paradox Interactive) − a grand strategy wargame series that is focused on World War 2. Player may act as any reasonably sized nation at the time, influencing international politics, economic and military development, and can control battlefields on both strategic and operational levels using combined arms. Frequently used to entertain and simulate alternative history scenarios as well as recreate historical events.
*Hegemony (video game series), Hegemony - (Longbow Games) - a historical real-time strategy series with real-time tactical combat and supply simulation. Campaigning takes place on a single continuous map where players can zoom between the 3D tactical map and the 2D strategy map at any time.
Unique game systems
* ''Ace of Aces (picture book game), Ace of Aces'' – (Nova Games, 1980) – this flip-book system has long been considered one of the best simulations of aerial dogfighting.
* ''BattleTech'' – (FASA Corporation, FASA, 1984) – initially conceived as a board game, it has created a brand that now includes various different boardgames (tactical as well as strategic), miniature game rules, a role-playing game, computer games, flip-book games (by Nova Games) as well as novels and a TV series.
* ''Car Wars'' – (Steve Jackson Games, 1982) – initially printed as a board game, it quickly evolved to incorporate elements of miniatures games.
* '' Up Front'' – (Avalon Hill, 1983) – A popular card wargame.
See also
* Air wargaming
* Naval wargaming
*
Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
* Tactical wargame
* Business war games
* International Wargames Federation
* List of wargame publishers
* Stuart Asquith ''Wargaming World War Two '', Special Interest Model Books; New edition (31 December 1998)
* Stuart Asquith ''Military Modelling Guide to War Gaming '', Special Interest Model Books 1987
* Stuart Asquith ''Military Modelling Guide to Siege War Gaming '', Special Interest Model Books 1990
* Stuart Asquith ''Military Modelling Guide to Solo War Gaming '', Special Interest Model Books 1989
* Phil Barker ''Know The Game: War Gaming'', EP Publishing 1978.
* Phil Barker ''Airfix magazine Guides : Ancient Wargaming'', P.Stephens Ltd 1975.
* James F. Dunnigan, Jim Dunnigan, ''The Complete Wargames Handbook: How to Play, Design, and Find Them'', Quill 1992. This is available online a hyw.com (verified December 2011).
* Jon Freeman (game designer), Jon Freeman, ''The Complete Book of Wargames'', Simon and Schuster 1980.
* Nick Palmer, Nicholas Palmer, ''The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming'', Arthur Baker Limited London 1977.
* Nick Palmer, Nicholas Palmer, ''The Best of Board Wargaming'', Hippocrene Books, Inc. New York, NY 1980.
* Donald Featherstone ''Featherstone's Complete Wargaming'', David & Charles UK 1989.
* Donald Featherstone ''War Games'', Lulu 2008,
* Donald Featherstone ''Advanced War Games'', Sportshelf & Soccer Assoc 1969.
* Donald Featherstone ''Tank Battles in Miniature: Wargamers' Guide to the Western Desert Campaign, 1940-42'', P.Stephens Ltd 1973
* Donald Featherstone ''War Game Campaigns'', S. Paul 1970
* Donald Featherstone ''War Games Through the Ages Vol. 2 1420–1783 '', S. Paul 1974
* Donald Featherstone ''War Games Through the Ages Vol. 3 1792–1859'', S. Paul 1975
* Dorca Bis Alejo, "El Hobby de los soldados en miniatura, el wargame, el rol, el modelismo y el coleccionismo." primera edición: 23 de agosto de 2008, , 212 p.
* Dorca Alejo, "My Toy Soldiers & Me" Second edition.
* Charles Grant ''Battle! Practical Wargaming'', Model and Allied Publishing (MAP) 1970.
* Paddy Griffith ''Napoleonic Wargaming For Fun'', Ward Lock Ltd, London, 1980, reprinted 2008 by the History of Wargaming Project] link * Paddy Griffith ''Sprawling Wargames multiplayer Wargaming'', Ward Lock Ltd, London, 1980, reprinted 2009 by the History of Wargaming Project] link * Peter Perla ''The Art of Wargaming'', Naval Institute Press 1990.
* Mark Herman, Mark Frost, Robert Kurz ''Wargaming for Leaders'', McGraw-Hill 2009.
* Bruce Quarrie ''Airfix magazine Guides : Napoleonic Wargaming'', P.Stephens Ltd 1974.
* Bruce Quarrie ''Airfix magazine Guides : World War 2 Wargaming'', P.Stephens Ltd 1976
* Philip Sabin: Simulating War. Studying Conflict Simulation through Games, London 2012.
* C.F. Wesencraft ''Practical wargaming'', Hippocrene Books, 1974 reprinted by the History of Wargaming Projec link * C.F. Wesencraft ''With Pike and Musket'', reprinted by the History of Wargaming Projec link * Andrew Wilson ''War Gaming'', Penguin 1970.
* Terence Wise ''Airfix magazine Guides : American Civil War Wargaming'', P.Stephens Ltd 1977.
* Terence Wise ''Introduction to Battle Gaming'', Model and Allied Publishing (MAP) 1972.
* Terence Wise ''Terry Wise's Introduction to Battlegaming including his unpublished wargaming rules'' Printed by the History of Wargaming Projec link
Articles
* Erik Lin-Greenberg, Reid B.C. Pauly, and Jacquelyn G. Schneider. 2021. “doi:10.1177/13540661211064090, Wargaming for International Relations Research.” ''European Journal of International Relations''.
Sport: Little Wars Time Magazine, December 14, 1942.
War games by Dr. Brett Holman, PhD in History, 5 August 2007.
Dice against the Nazis: Propaganda aimed to reduce fear By Clive Gilbert and Kevin Allen, BBC News Magazine, 24 August 2007.
* Return of the hex-crazed wargamers Is the Net breathing new life into an endangered hobby--or just postponing the inevitable?," by Andrew Leonard, Salon Magazine, May 29, 1998.
*
*
{{Authority control
Wargames,
Military historiography