Wargaming

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This article is about the military exercise and civilian hobby. For the 1983 Matthew Broderick movie, see WarGames.

Wargaming is the play of simulated military operations in the form of games known as war games. It can be one of a number of ways of exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. It can take the form of a hobby in which one or more players simulate battles or entire wars (as a type of simulation game), or a model or computer simulation of possible scenarios in military planning, (this is also called warfare simulation, see also defense contractors); or the full-scale rehearsal of military maneuvers as practice for warfare. In this case, the two sides in the simulated battle are typically called "blue" and "red", to avoid naming a particular adversary.

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History of wargaming

Modern wargaming grew out of the military need to study warfare and to 'reenact' old battles for learning purposes. The stunning Prussian victory over the French in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) is sometimes partly credited to the training of Prussian officers with the Kriegspiel. The first specific non-military wargame club was started in Oxford, England in the 19th century.

H.G. Wells' book Little Wars was an attempt to codify rules for fighting battles with toy soldiers (miniatures), and make them available to the general public. The first modern mass-market wargame, based on cardboard chits (counters) and hex-board maps, was invented by Charles S. Roberts in 1952 called Tactics; he went on to found the Avalon Hill game company, and is called "The father of board wargaming". The modern commercial board wargaming industry is considered to have begun with the publication of Tactics II in 1958, and the founding of The General Magazine by the Avalon Hill Game Company in the early 1960s.

Wargames have existed for centuries — chess may be an ancient example.

Wargames, like all games, exist in a range of complexities: some are fundamentally simple (so-called "beer-and-pretzel" games), while others (generally in an attempt to increase the 'realism' of the situation) produce rule sets that may encompass a large variety of actions (so-called "monster" games).

Wargames vary in the level of complexity of rules and record keeping they require. Detailed wargame rulesets (some of which require hundreds of pages of small print and intensive recordkeeping) generally result in a slow (and for many, less enjoyable) game. Simpler "beer and pretzels" rulesets, on the other hand, produce "fun" games and encourage tournament or competitive play, but may not accurately depict events that historically took place in a conflict.

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Tabletop wargaming (miniature wargaming)

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Miniature wargaming typically involves the use of miniature plastic or metal models for the units and model scenery placed on a tabletop or floor as a playing surface. Games with miniatures are sometimes called tabletop games, tabletop wargames, miniature wargames, or simply wargames.

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Board wargaming

A typical non-computerized wargame (Kriegspiel) consists of the following components:

  • Map: The map (or maps) shows the terrain over which the battle/war is fought, usually overlaid by hexagons to regulate movement. Other variations include the "point to point" map where areas are connected by lines to show possible movements, and the area map (similar to Risk or Axis and Allies).
  • Counters: The most frequent counters are cardboard squares and wooden blocks, though a few games aimed at a wider audience use plastic figures.
    • Chits are usually small cardboard squares moved around on the map to represent armies, military units or individual military personnel. Sometimes these markers are printed on both sides, with one side representing the starting condition of the unit and the other side representing the disordered or damaged state.
    • Wooden blocks are used in block wargames. By standing the blocks on one side, these counters limit the enemy knowledge of friendly units (simulating fog of war) and can be rotated to a different side to show changes in relative strength.
  • Dice: These are generally used to add the element of chance. Given that many military actions have been influenced or even decided by odd events, straight-forward strategy games such as chess and go may be considered too abstract to represent real war.
  • Rules: Rules vary in complexity and depth from 1 page for some games to 190 pages for others.

A non-computerized wargame may include some or all of the following components:

  • Markers: These are used to give information to the players on the condition of the game at various points in time or space. Usually, markers are used on the map or in combination with various tracks (events, time, points of some sort). These tracks may be included on the map or provided on separate sheets.
  • Cards: More games are designed to be card-driven. This means that the cards have events outside the area of the map or random die-rolls which can be used to benefit one player or disadvantage another. These cards are sometimes also used to generate random number draws instead of or in combination with die rolls.
  • Playbook: More and more games use playbooks where the designer has the scenarios listed separately as well as design and historical notes.
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Computerized wargaming

Computer wargames display the units and scenery on the monitor screen.

Computerized wargames have several distinct advantages over "paper and pencil" wargames:

  • no need to roll dice over and over again (The computer does the simulation)
  • no recordkeeping (the computer handles all the 'paperwork')
  • ability to start, stop and save the game at any time (if there is no need to coordinate with a human opponent; note that this is also possible with board games, as long as no children or animals have access to the game area)
  • ability to view only a part of the battlefield in detail at a time (see Fog of war), adding realism
  • no need to paint miniatures
  • easy to find opponents on the Internet

Disadvantages of computerized wargames:

  • computer may not be as competent as a human opponent (this problem can generally be avoided if there is a multiplayer mode)
  • lack of human interaction
  • computer arbitration allows more complex rules, which can be more difficult to understand and analyze; especially since these rules may be "hidden" from the player(s) in the software code
  • player(s) can't easily modify the rules or adapt them to similar situations
  • loss of the tactile satisfaction in moving finely painted figures about the tabletop
  • use of house rules and customization usually impossible
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Computer-assisted wargaming

Computer-assisted wargaming attempts to combine the advantages of computerized wargaming with those of paper-and-pencil wargaming. Computers are used for recordkeeping and sometimes for the resolution of combat, but a human referee makes any decisions requiring judgement. Computer-assisted wargaming is sometimes abbreviated as "CAG," which stands for "computer-assisted gaming."

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Computer wargaming genres

Traditional wargaming, which is generally turn-based, differs from computer games which are usually real-time (an obvious exception being 'in-the-field' wargaming by military organizations). Traditional wargames focus on the ability to analyze in-depth, plan to achieve a goal, and adjust plans to changing circumstances. Games of the real-time strategy genre are fast-paced games of snap decisions, reflexes, coordination and base-building, and leverages the computer's higher ability to simulate and provide interface for economical simulation. Also, RTS games require less sophisticated artificial intelligence on the part of computer players. Real-time tactics games on the other hand focus on realistically simulating real battles without the resource acquistion or unit replacement, requiring equally fast thinking but of a more tactical form. AI requirements are also greater for RTT games. Non-real time computer wargaming genres include turn-based strategy and turn-based tactics.

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E-mail and wargaming

Computer wargames are often played against human opponents via e-mail (by exchanging save-game files) to provide the human interaction and a more interesting opponent than that of the program. This has the disadvantage of taking much longer to finish the game, depending upon how often the players check their e-mail. It is still much quicker (and easier) than the older method of playing board wargames by postal mail. A faster alternative (not available with all games) is playing over a direct connection, either LAN, modem or Internet.

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Types of military wargaming

Wargame simulations can usually be categorized according to the type of technology available to the 'armies' involved, the branch(es) of the military, the period of military history, and the unit size or map scale.

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Environment

  • land battles
  • sea battles
  • air battles
  • combinations of land, sea, and/or air battles
  • space battles
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Historical period

All periods of history have their wargaming enthusiasts. Historical games are generally by these periods:

Wargames can also be used to simulate fictional situations:

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Unit or map scale

  • Grand strategy — focus is on a war or series of wars, often over a long period of time. Individual units, even armies, may not be represented; instead, attention is given to theaters of operation. All of the resources of the nations involved may be mobilized as part of a long-term struggle. The simulation typically involves political and economic as well as military conflict.
  • Strategic — military units are typically division, corps, or army-sized, and they are rated based upon raw strength. At this scale, economic production and diplomacy are significant. The simulation typically involves all branches, and often the entire forces of the nations involved, and covers entire wars or long campaigns
  • Operational — units are typically battalion to divisional size, and are rated based on their average overall strengths and weaknesses. Weather and logistics are significant. The simulation typically focuses on one branch of the military forces, with others somewhat abstracted, and usually covers a single campaign.
  • Tactical wargames — units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies, and are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry. The simulation almost always focuses on a single branch, occasionally with others abstracted, and usually covers a single battle or part of a large battle.
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Notable wargamers

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Notable wargames

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Wargames and wargaming as computer terms

Another common use of the term "Wargame" is among the Hacker community (specifically White-hats), referring to a server that is set up specifically for the purpose of being hacked into. This allows the hacker to have a server to hack into, without the need to worry about the legal issues, as the owner is knowingly allowing this to happen.

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See also

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External links

fa:رزمایش fr:Jeu de guerre it:Wargame sk:Vojnová hra zh:战争游戏

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