Paddy Griffith (4 February 1947,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, England – 25 June 2010) was a British

military theorist Military theory is the analysis of normative behavior and trends in military affairs and military history, beyond simply describing events in war. Theories and conceptions of warfare have varied in different places throughout human history. Th ...

and historian, who authored numerous books in the field of

War Studies War studies, sometimes called polemology, is the multi-disciplinary study of war. It pertains to the military, diplomatic, philosophical, social, political, psychological or economic dimensions of human conflict. The word ''polemology'' deriv ...

. He was also a

wargame 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 s ...

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

wargaming 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 s ...

community.

Academic life

Griffith was a freelance military historian and a prolific author on military history 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 ** Political tact ...

. He was educated at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

, where he obtained a first-class honours degree in Modern History. He was a lecturer and then senior lecturer at

RMA Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

from 1973–89.

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 in Hulme, Manchester – 31 January 1937 in Oxford) 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 ...

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

, organised a conference, "New Directions in Wargaming", held at

Moor Park, Farnham Moor Park, Farnham, Surrey, England is a listed building and of riverside grounds, in the former chapelry of Compton. The grounds formerly extended to Mother Ludlam's Cave, a cave entrenched in local folklore which faces across the Wey (north b ...

, 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 A megagame (sometimes capitalised as Megagame or MegaGame) is a type of large-scale simulation which can contain elements of role-playing games, tabletop games, LARPs and wargames. Megagames are typically played by 30-100 players over the course ...

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 a ...

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