|
Wargaming is the play of simulated military operations in the form of games known as wargames. Planning, calculating, or the giving or receiving of information. ...
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...
In modern military planning the concept was introduced by Prussian officers with the Kriegspiel, and is still used in modern war exercises. However, it is also a civilian hobby which originated around the beginning of the 20th century, with the invention of miniatures games where two or more players simulate battles as a pasttime. The 1950s and '60s saw the creation of board games that took on the same subject. At first, wargames were generally historical or contemporary in nature, but science fiction and fantasy have also proven popular subjects. Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 Prussia (German: ; Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Lithuanian: ; Polish: ; Old Prussian: Prūsa) was, most recently, a historic state originating in East Prussia, an area which for centuries had substantial influence on German and European history. ...
Kriegspiel, from the German for wargame, was a system used for training officers in the Prussian army. ...
A war exercise is a type of military preparation that simulates combat situations and conditions. ...
A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. ...
Miniatures games are a form of wargame in which a battle is played out using small figures to represent the units involved. ...
A board game is any game played with a premarked surface, with counters or pieces that are moved across the board. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
// For other meanings see Fantasy (disambiguation) Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ...
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 and/or minutae. They also exist in a range of sizes, from "pocket" games with a small map and a few counters, to "monster" games that have large maps (with a consequent problem of finding a large enough table) and hundreds, if not thousands, of counters. They also have a range of scales, from games that simulate individual soldiers, to ones that chart the course of an entire global (or even galactic) war. In combinatorial game theory, game complexity is a measure of the complexity of a game. ...
An example of a counter with a large amount of information, from the wargame Black Sea-Black Death by Last Stand Games. ...
A world war is a military conflict affecting the majority of the worlds major nations. ...
A major determiner of the complexity and size of a wargame is how 'realistic' it is intended to be. Some can be considered a serious study of the subject at hand, while others are meant as pure entertainment. While there is no direct connection between the two, a more serious study will generally have longer, more complex and detailed rules, and more record keeping. Some less serious games may only bear a passing resembance to the subject, although many still try to encourage the same types of decision making as the player's counterparts, and therefore bring forth the "feel" of the conflict. Realism is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. ...
Unserious wargames tend to disclose the complete disposition of the enemy to the opposing player, whereas a marker of seriousness is the simulation of limited intelligence and the "fog of war" through various means beyond simple dice, some as simple as inverted counters that are flipped over when encountered by the enemy.
This, of course, merely refers to the modern hobby referred to as wargaming. 'A wargame' generally refers to a game that tries to simulate the actions or results of warfare on some level. In the broadest sense, wargames have existed for centuries — chess could be considered an ancient example. The Chinese philosopher Mencius (Meng Ji 孟子), in a legend which may or may not be true, demonstrated to two kings of ancient China the determinable outcome of a battle using, it appears, a wargame, thus avoiding the shedding of blood. A simulation is an imitation of some real device or state of affairs. ...
Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players. ...
History of wargaming
Modern wargaming originated with the military need to study warfare and to 'reenact' old battles for instructional purposes. The stunning Prussian victory over the Second French Empire in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) is sometimes partly credited to the training of Prussian officers with the game Kriegspiel, which was invented around 1811 and gained popularity with many officers in the Prussian army. These first wargames were played with dice which represented "friction", or the intrusion of less than ideal circumstances during a real war (including morale, weather, the fog of war, etc.), though this was usually replaced by an umpire who used his own combat experience to determine the results. The United States detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ...
Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 Prussia (German: ; Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Lithuanian: ; Polish: ; Old Prussian: Prūsa) was, most recently, a historic state originating in East Prussia, an area which for centuries had substantial influence on German and European history. ...
The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...
Combatants France Prussia allied with German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Helmuth von Moltke Strength 500,000 550,000 Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian [citation needed] 100,000 dead or wounded 200,000 civilian [citation needed] The Franco-Prussian War (July...
Typical role-playing dice, showing a variety of colors and styles. ...
Morale is a term for the capacity of people to maintain belief in an institution or a goal. ...
Weather is an all-encompassing term used to describe all of the many and varied phenomena that can occur in the atmosphere of a planet. ...
The fog of war is the lack of knowledge that occurs during a war. ...
The first specific non-military wargame club was started in Oxford, England, in the 19th century.[citation needed] Naval enthusiast and annalyst Fred T. Jane came up with a set of rules for depicting naval actions with the use of model ships, or miniatures around 1898. The 1905/6 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships includes a revised edition for "The Naval War Game".[1] Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ...
Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004...
John Fredrick Thomas Jane, usually known as Fred T. Jane (August 6, 1865–March 8, 1916) was the founder editor of reference books on warships (All the Worlds Fighting Ships) and aircraft (All the Worlds Air-ships). ...
Prisoner-of-war model at the Rosenborg Slot in Copenhagen. ...
15mm British Camel Corps and Heliograph Team from Peter Pig A miniature figure -- also known as a miniature or just a mini -- is a small figurine commonly used in role playing games (RPGs) such as Dungeons & Dragons. ...
1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...
Janes Fighting Ships is an annual reference book (also published online, on CD and microfiche) of information on all the worlds warships arranged by nation, including information on ships names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. ...
H.G. Wells' books Floor Games (1911) and Little Wars (1913) were attempts to codify rules for fighting battles with toy soldiers (miniatures), and make them available to the general public. They were very simple games, and in some ways just provide a context for shooting spring-loaded toy cannons at toy soldiers, but "in his Appendix to Little Wars, Wells speaks of the changes required to convert his admittedly simplistic rules into a more rigorous Kriegspiel."[2] However, Wells also states in his rules that combat "should be by actual gun and rifle fire and not by computation. Things should happen and not be decided," in opposition to the general nature of Kriegspiel play. H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946) was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels such as The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau and The Time Machine. ...
Little Wars; a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys games and books, written by the famous author H. G. Wells, was a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers. ...
1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...
Little Wars; a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys games and books, written by the famous author H. G. Wells, was a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers. ...
1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ...
A toy soldier may be any of various metal, wooden or primarily plastic figurine toys manufactured to commemorate soldiers who served in any war from the beginning of time to the most recent wars. ...
In 1940 Fletcher Pratt's Naval War Game was published. This was a more arbitrary system than Jane's (but generally gave more realistic results), and was played by many clubs at that time.[3] 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...
Murray Fletcher Pratt (1897–1956) was a science fiction and fantasy writer; he was also well-known as a writer on naval history and on the American Civil War. ...
All of these games were meant to be accessible to the general public, but actual play was made difficult owing to the expense of purchacing an army or navy's worth of miniatures. As leisure time and disposable income generally rose through the 20th Century, miniatures games slowly gained a following. In 1955 Jack Scruby started producing miniatures using RTV rubber molds, which greatly reduced their expense, and he turned this into a business (Scruby Miniatures) in 1957 and started publishing War Game Digest which served as a vehicle to put members of the fledgling hobby in regular contact with each other.[4] 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Jack Scruby is generally credited with creating the modern miniature wargaming hobby. ...
RTV can mean: room temperature vulcanization, such as with silicone rubber, using a chemical instead of heat radio-television, such as with national broadcasting companies like RTV Belgium REDtv. ...
1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Meanwhile, the first modern mass-market wargame, based on cardboard counters and hex maps, was designed and published by Charles S. Roberts in 1952. After nearly breaking even on Tactics, he decided to found the Avalon Hill Game Company as a publisher of intelligent games for adults, 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 Avalon Hill in 1964. In 1961, AH published Roberts' Gettysburg, considered to be the first board wargame based entirely on a historical battle. An example of a counter with a large amount of information, from the wargame Black Sea-Black Death by Last Stand Games. ...
A Hex map, or hexagonal map is often used in tactical board games. ...
Categories: Stub | Board game designers ...
1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Tactics is generally credited as being the first board wargame. ...
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. ...
Tactics II Tactics II is a wargame designed by Charles S. Roberts and published by the Avalon Hill game company in 1958 and then re-released again in 1961 and 1972. ...
1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The General Magazine The General Magazine (variously called The Avalon Hill General, Avalon Hills General or simply The General) was first published in 1964, as a bi-monthly periodical devoted to supporting Avalon Hills line of wargames, with articles on game tactics, history, and industry news. ...
1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...
1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ...
Gettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. ...
Avalon Hill had a very conservative publishing schedule, typically about two titles a year, and wargames were only about half their line. By the end of the 1960s, a number of small magazines dedicated to the hobby were springing up, along with new game companies. The most important of these were undoubtedly Strategy & Tactics, and the company founded to save it from failing: Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI). Under SPI, S&T started including a new game in every issue of the magazine, which along with regular games SPI was publishing vastly increased the number of wargames available. see also 1950s in games, 1970 in games Games Released or Invented in the 1960s Hasbros Game of Life (1960) Blitzkrieg (1965) Guadalcanal (1966) Feudal (1967) Jutland (1967) 1914 (1968) Other events Simulations Publications, Inc. ...
Strategy & Tactics (S&T) is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for its groundbreaking move of publishing a complete new wargame in each issue. ...
Simulations Publications, Inc. ...
Coupled with an aggressive advertising campaign, this caused a tremendous rise in the popularity of wargaming in the early 1970s, with a large number of new companies starting up. Two of these would last for some years: Game Designers Workshop (GDW), and Tactical Studies Rules (TSR). The latter started a new phenomenon that would later grow much bigger than its parent hobby, role-playing games. Game Designers Workshop (GDW) was a company that published many popular wargames, as well as role-playing games such as Traveller and Drang Nach Osten!. Founded in 1973, the company disbanded in 1996 after having suffered financial troubles for quite some time. ...
TSR, Inc. ...
This article is about traditional role-playing games. ...
This period can be considered the 'Golden Age of Wargaming', with a large number of new companies publishing an even larger number of games throughout the decade, powered by an explosive rise in the number of people playing wargames. Wargames also diversified in subject, with the first science-fiction wargame appearing in 1974; and in size with both microgames and monster games first appearing in this decade. see also: 1973 in games, 1975 in games Games Released or Invented in 1974 Dungeons & Dragons Europa Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, won the Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Professional Game of 1974. ...
A Microgame Microgames are simple video games created by the fictional company WarioWare, Inc. ...
The boom came to an end, and was followed by the usual bust, at the beginning of the 1980s, most markedly with the acquisition of SPI by TSR in 1982. The hobby has never truly recovered from this bust, and is today much smaller than it was in 1980. There are a number of theories given for this extended slump, and all probably identify some of the actual causes. see also: 1981 in games, 1983 in games Games Released or Invented in 1982 Champions Storm Over Arnhem Game awards given in 1982 Spiel des Jahres: Enchanted Forest (German title is Sagaland) - Alex Randolph and Michel Matschoss, Ravensburger See also 1982 in video gaming Categories: | ...
The most likely cause was the appearance of the affordable personal computer, first as the Apple II in 1978 and then as the IBM PC in 1981. The early adopters of personal computers were drawn from the same demographical group as the wargames: middle class males between youth, and middle age. Certainly, the patience needed to set up a wargame transferred to the patience needed to assemble and program the first personal computers, and the discrete and digital way in which a wargame replicates reality appeals to the same need to make sense out of a continuous reality.
Furthermore, by the end of the 1980s, personal computers were beginning to be far more adequate gameplaying machines which automated the "dogwork" of game set-up and play.
Finally, the Baby Boom males in their twenties who constituted the core of support for wargaming of the 1970s were getting married and starting careers, both of which took time away from wargames, an hobby considered somewhat nerdlike, strange and louche by many, if by no means all, women.
Miniature wargaming -
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. Three Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
A physical model is used in various contexts to mean a physical representation of some thing. ...
Tabletop game is a general term used to refer to card games, board games, parlor games, role-playing games, miniature wargames, tile-based games and other games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface. ...
Three Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures. ...
Miniatures games are generally concerned with rule sets that can be used for any battle in a particular period or war, instead of a particular set situation, as is common in most games. This is directly attributable to the fact that miniatures games require the player to assemble their own terrain and armies, often going to quite a bit of expense and effort to produce both. This makes miniatures gaming much more flexible, but more labour intensive than other forms of wargaming.
Board wargaming In America, board wargames are the part of the hobby that popularized the term initially, and is what often comes to mind first when 'wargaming' is mentioned. In Europe, especially Britain it is a minor part of the hobby. The genre is known for a number of common conventions that were developed in early on, but none of them appear in all wargames. The early history of board wargaming was dominated by Avalon Hill, even though other companies, such as SPI, left their own permanent marks on the industry. Simulations Publications, Inc. ...
With the purchase of Avalon Hill by Hasbro, many wargamers long for 'the old Avalon Hill', and no one company is identified with the hobby as a whole. Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) is an American toy and game company. ...
The following components are common to many wargames:
- Map: The map shows the terrain over which the battle/war is fought, and generally comprises the bulk of the board for the game (with charts or admisistrative 'holding boxes' sometimes included on the board). Movement is regulated by the type of map that is used:
- Hex maps are by far the most common in wargames, and allow reasonably realistic movement (some games, generally earlier ones, use squares instead of hexagons on the board).
- Area maps would be the next most common, taking a more abstract approach that can show more 'natural' (or perhaps political) divisons easily, and is also often seen in simpler, mass-market games such as Risk.
- Point to point is effectively a type of area movement, but typically defines the available routes by which movement is done in more detail.
- Counters: These are typically cardboard squares marked to represent armies, military units or individual military personnel, they generally include information on nationality (by color scheme), unit type (by symbol), and statistics such as movement or attack strength as a number or symbol, as well as a particular unit designation in historical games. Some variations on this theme are:
- Double-sided counters are used in some games to show a unit in a disordered state, or in a weakened/damaged one in a step-reduction system.
- 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 strength in a more complex step-reduction system.
- Plastic miniatures are used by some mass-market games. They generally display no information other than side and type (by color and shape).
- Chits: These are a sub-class of counters used for random draws, or as informational markers.
- 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 deterministic to represent real warfare.
- Cards: A (relatively) recent trend is card-driven games. These use cards that have events outside the area of the map or events outside the straightforward scope of the game play. Cards are also sometimes used to generate random number draws instead of or in combination with die rolls.
- Rulebook: Rules vary in complexity and depth from 1 page for some games to over 200 pages for others.
- Scenarios: Most wargames depict a single conflict, with only one starting state. More flexible systems use a separate scenario book, or cards, that define separate scenarios for the game.
Physical map of the Earth. ...
A Hex map, or hexagonal map is often used in tactical board games. ...
In plane geometry, a square is a polygon with four equal sides and four right angles. ...
A regular hexagon A hexagon (also known as sexagon) is a polygon with six edges and six vertices. ...
Risk is the potential impact (positive or negative) to an asset or some characteristic of value that may arise from some present process or from some future event. ...
An example of a counter with a large amount of information, from the wargame Black Sea-Black Death by Last Stand Games. ...
Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ...
A military unit is an organisation within an armed force. ...
A soldier is a person who serves in an armed force for pay. ...
An example of a block, from the block wargame Crusader Rex by Columbia Games. ...
The fog of war is the lack of knowledge that occurs during a war. ...
Chits are a type of wargame counter that are generally not directly representational but used for the following purposes: Tracking, being placed on a numeric runner to indicate turn status, as in some rule variants for Squad Leader. ...
Typical role-playing dice, showing a variety of colors and styles. ...
Chess is an abstract strategy board game for two players. ...
Go, also known as Weiqi in Mandarin Chinese (Traditional Chinese: åœæ£‹; Simplified Chinese: 围棋), and Baduk in Korean (Hangul:바둑), is a strategic, deterministic two-player board game originating in ancient China, before 200 BC. The game is now popular throughout East Asia and on the Internet. ...
Look up card in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A rulebook is a book containing a list of rules. ...
Card wargaming Card games are not generally well suited for wargames. Because of their nature, cards are well suited for abstract games, as opposed to the simulation aspects of wargames. Even when nominally about the same subject (such as the game War), traditional card games could not be considered a wargame in even the broadest sense. This does not mean there are no card wargames however. // This article is about games played with cards. ...
War is a card game for two players. ...
The first card wargame would probably be Nuclear War, a 'tongue-in-cheek game of the end of the world', first published in 1966 and still published today by Flying Buffalo. It does not simulate how any actual nuclear exchange would happen, but it is still structured unlike most card games because of how it deals with its subject, and does touch on a few relevant subjects. Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1966. ...
Flying Buffalo Incorporated (FBI) is a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona that offers roleplaying games, gaming materials, and play-by-mail gaming services. ...
In the late 1970s Battleline Publications (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 an interesting look at the constant design and development of new types of tanks during World War II. Battleline Publications was a board wargame company founded by Steven Peek in 1973. ...
The most successful card wargame (as a game and as 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). Up Front is a World War II card-based wargame. ...
Computer wargaming Computers have changed wargaming, just as they have many other aspects of modern life.
Play-by-Mail (PBM) Due to the scarcity of opponents for some people, wargaming has a tradition of people playing games by sending lists of moves, or 'orders', to each other through the mail. This meant that it was not so strange for the first use of computers with wargaming to be a computer-moderated game where people mailed in orders, the computer determined the outcome, and the results were then mailed back to all the players.
The first of these was Nuclear Destruction, by the Flying Buffalo company in 1970. The most popular game of this type would be their later game, Starweb from 1976. This type of game enjoyed a burst of popularity for a few years, with several competing companies and games springing up. Today, Flying Buffalo is the only one still offering computer-moderated games of this type. Flying Buffalo Incorporated (FBI) is a company based in Scottsdale, Arizona that offers roleplaying games, gaming materials, and play-by-mail gaming services. ...
Starweb is a play-by-mail game of strategy and diplomacy invented in 1976 by Rick Loomis. ...
Computer wargames The computer gaming industry generally evolved with minimal reference to board games, or board game genres, so the term 'wargame' is generally not heard in discussions of general computer game genres. However, the wargaming community saw the possibilities of computer gaming early and made attempts to break into the market, notably Avalon Hill's Microcomputer Games line, which lasted from about 1980 to 1987 and covered a variety of topics, including simple adaptations of some of their wargames. This is a listing of computer and video game genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ...
Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) and Strategic Studies Group (SSG) were computer game companies that specialized in games that obviously borrowed from board- and miniature wargames. They enjoyed a certain popularity throughout much of the 1980s and into the 1990s. TalonSoft started in 1995 with a similar focus, until bought and later shut down by Take-Two Interactive in 2002. Strategic Simulations, Inc. ...
Strategic Studies Group is a software development company that makes strategy wargames. ...
Talonsoft is a Baltimore Maryland game software company founded by Norm Koger & Jim Rose. ...
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. ...
Still, most computer strategy games today can be considered wargames (in the sense that they are a simulation of warfare on some level). The mechanics and language have little in common with board and miniature games, but the general subject matter is popular.
The most popular computer strategy game sub-genre, real-time strategy, generally consists of fast-paced games of snap decisions, reflexes, and coordination. While a few that concentrate on realistically simulating real battles without any real unit replacement system are known as real-time tactical games, most use a common formula of building structures (or a base), which can then build additional units. This is generally done in a way so that the game has a brief period of build-up followed by an extended period of fast-moving conflict with each side trying to gather resources, deny them from the enemy, maintain an armed force in the field, and expand its capabilities, both in production, and the quality of units produced. Age of Empires (1997), Invasion of an enemy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a genre of computer games characterised by being wargames (strategic) played in real-time in which resource gathering, base building, technology development and the player exerting direct control over individual units are key components. ...
A real-time tactic (RTT) game is a type of computer strategy game which does not have turns like conventional turn-based strategy video or board games. ...
E-mail and wargaming Since e-mail is faster than the standard postal service, the rise of the Internet 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 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. It has been suggested that Turn-based tactics be merged into this article or section. ...
Computer-assisted wargaming In recent years, programs have been developed for computer-assisted gaming as regards to wargaming. These can be considered as extensions to the concept of PBEM gaming, however the presentation and actual capabilities are completely different. Computer-assisted gaming (or CAG) refers to games which are at least partially computerized, but which are actively regulated by a human referee. ...
These are generally designed replicate the look and feel of existing board wargames (and some success has also been had with miniatures) 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 staying away from copyright issues) by ensuring that the players have access to the actual physical game. The three main programs that can be used to play a number of games each are Vassal, Aide de Camp, and Cyberboard. Copyright symbol. ...
Types of 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.
Environment - land battles
- sea battles
- air battles
- combinations of land, sea, and/or air battles
- space battles
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: Ancient history is the study of significant cultural and political events from the beginning of human history until the Early Middle Ages. ...
Octavian, widely known as Augustus, founder of the Roman empire The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government. ...
The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
Smokeless powder Gunpowder, whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance that burns very rapidly, releasing gases that act as a propellant in firearms. ...
The Napoleonic Era is a period in the History of France and Europe. ...
Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties Killed in action: 110,000 Total dead: 360,000 Wounded: 275,200 Killed in action: 93,000 Total dead: 258...
Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Casualties Military dead: 5 million Military dead: 4 million The First World War, also known as The Great War, The War to End All Wars, and World War I (abbreviated WWI) was...
World War II is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ...
Combatants Western Allied/UN combatants: South Korea United States United Kingdom Communist combatants: North Korea Peoples Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Douglas MacArthur Kim Il-sung, (Peng Dehuai de facto) Strength Note: All figures may vary according to source. ...
Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 230,000 South Vietnamese wounded: 300,000 US dead...
Combatants UN Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf, Sir Patrick Hine, Michel Roquejeoffre Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also called the...
- Hypothetical (World War III)
- Alternate history (fantasy or science-fiction "what if" worlds, such as SteamPunk, Gothic Horror, and fantasy Napoleonic)
- Futuristic / Science Fiction war (including space marines, spaceships and directed-energy weapons etc.)
- Fantasy war (including magic, magical creatures and monsters, enchanted items, heroes, fantasy terrain, fantasy constructions, etc.)
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...
Space marines are fictional soldiers that operate in outer space. ...
A spacecraft is designed to leave Earths atmosphere and operate beyond the surface of the Earth in outer space. ...
A directed-energy weapon is a type of energy weapon that directs energy in a particular direction by a means other than a projectile. ...
// For other meanings see Fantasy (disambiguation) Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ...
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.
Grand strategy is military strategy considered at the level of the movement and use of an entire nation state or empires resources. ...
Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ...
A corps (a word that immigrated from the French language, pronounced IPA: , but originating in the Latin corpus, corporis meaning body; plural same as singular) is either a large military unit or formation, an administrative grouping of troops within an army with a common function (such as artillery or signals...
Army (from French armée) can, in some countries, refer to any armed force. ...
Buyers bargain for good prices while sellers put forth their best front in Chichicastenango Market, Guatemala. ...
The United Nations, with its headquarters in New York City, is the largest international diplomatic organization. ...
One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ...
Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO code In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ...
Symbol of the Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division in NATO code A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to fifteen thousand soldiers. ...
Weather is an all-encompassing term used to describe all of the many and varied phenomena that can occur in the atmosphere of a planet. ...
Look up Logistics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In the military sciences, a military campaign encompass related military operations, usually conducted by a defense or fighting force, directed at gaining a particular desired state of affairs, usually within geographical and temporal limitations. ...
Tactical wargames are wargames in which units range from individual vehicles and squads to platoons or companies, and are rated based on types and ranges of individual weaponry. ...
Vehicles are non-living means of transportation. ...
In the fire service a Squad is a Engine Company with a compliment of rescue tools. ...
Platoon is a term from military science. ...
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 100-200 soldiers. ...
A soldier is a person who serves in an armed force for pay. ...
Superficial bullet wounds A wound is type of physical trauma wherein the skin is torn, cut or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound). ...
Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ...
Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ...
Man-to-Man wargames are wargames 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-arms, etc. ...
Patrol was a board wargame released in the early 1970s as a companion to Sniper! in 1974 by Simulations Publications, Inc. ...
Sniper! (properly spelled with an exclamation mark at the end) was a board game originally released in 1973. ...
A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ...
Notable wargamers - H.G. Wells - Known as the "Father of miniature wargaming", author of Little Wars.
- Charles S. Roberts - Known as the "Father of modern board wargaming", founder of Avalon Hill.
- Richard Berg - Designer of Terrible Swift Sword, and worked at SPI.
- Larry Bond - Designer of Harpoon, and best selling author
- Frank Chadwick - Founder of Game Designers Workshop, prolific wargame designer and inovator.
- Joe Dever - computer and video games designer, author of Lone Wolf.
- Jim Dunnigan - The Dean of Modern Wargaming, founder of SPI most prolific print wargame designer, many firsts in wargame design.
- Don Featherstone - Known in the UK as the father of modern wargaming.
- Charles Grant - Author of The Wargame.
- George Gush
- Gary Gygax - Creator and publisher of Dungeons and Dragons.
- John Hill - Designer of Squad Leader, Johnny Reb, and other well-recieved designs.
- Curt Schilling - Founded Multi-Man Publishing to keep Advanced Squad Leader alive.
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946) was a British writer best known for his science fiction novels such as The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The Island of Doctor Moreau and The Time Machine. ...
Little Wars; a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys games and books, written by the famous author H. G. Wells, was a set of rules for playing with toy soldiers. ...
Categories: Stub | Board game designers ...
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. ...
Prolific wargame designer and winner of the Charles S. Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. ...
Terrible Swift Sword: The Three Days of Gettysburg (often abbreviated as TSS) is a classic grand tactical, regimental level board game depicting the Battle of Gettysburg of the American Civil War. ...
Simulations Publications, Inc. ...
Larry Bond (1952 - ) lives with his wife Jeanne and daughters Katie and Julia in Virginia outside Washington DC. He is the designer of the Harpoon and Command at Sea gaming systems and several supplements for the games. ...
Harpoon is a realistic air and naval combat simulation computer game based upon Larry Bonds miniatures game of the same name. ...
Frank Chadwick is a games designer. ...
Joe Dever Joe Dever (b. ...
Lone Wolf is the protagonist in a collection of 28 gamebooks, created by Joe Dever and initially illustrated by Gary Chalk. ...
James F. Dunnigan (born 1943) is an author and wargame designer currently living in New York City, notable for his matter-of-fact approach to military analysis. ...
Simulations Publications, Inc. ...
Donald Featherstone is a British author of books on wargaming and military history. ...
Charles Grant was a game industry author who helped popularize the hobby of tabletop wargaming. ...
George Gush (as of 1980) was the head of the history section of West Kent Colleges Social and Academic Studies Department. He is most notable for his work on wargaming. ...
Ernest Gary Gygax, 2004 Ernest Gary Gygax (born July 27, 1938 in Chicago, Illinois) is best known as the author of the well known fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), co-created with Dave Arneson and co-published with Don Kaye in 1974 under the company Tactical Studies...
The original Dungeons & Dragons set Dungeons & Dragons (abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) published by Gary Gygax and David Arneson in January 1974. ...
John Hill is a prolific American designer of military wargames, as well as rules for miniature wargaming such as Johnny Reb 3. ...
Squad Leader game // Introduction Original purple topped SL box Squad Leader is a tactical level board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. ...
Curtis Montague Schilling (born November 14, 1966 in Anchorage, Alaska) is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks following the 2003 season. ...
Advanced Squad Leader 2nd Edition Rulebook Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) is a tactical level board wargame that simulates small unit actions of approximately company or battalion size in World War II. It is not simply a game, but rather a detailed game system for two or more players (with solitaire...
Notable wargames
Board wargames This is a list of board wargames by genre. ...
Box art for the Milton Bradley edition Axis and Allies is a strategy board game by the Milton Bradley Company set during World War II. Milton Bradley released it as part of their Gamemaster series in 1984 and it was the most successful of the five; in April 2004, Hasbro...
The box of the first edition of the game. ...
Diplomacy game board, showing regions and boundaries. ...
Europa is a series of board wargames planned to cover combat over the entire European Theater of World War II at a scale that represents units as divisions and game turns that represent two weeks of time. ...
Gettysburg is a board wargame produced by Avalon Hill which re-enacts the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg. ...
Kingmaker refers to a person or group that has great influence in a royal succession, without being a viable candidate. ...
Napoleon is a strategic-level wargame covering the Waterloo Campaign of the Hundred Days after Napoleons return from Elba starting with the French invasion of Belgium on June 15th 1815. ...
Ogre is a board wargame first released in 1977, as the first Metagaming Microgame by Steve Jackson. ...
Box art Panzerblitz is a tactical-scale board wargame of tank, artillery, and infantry combat set in the Eastern Front of the Second World War. ...
Squad Leader game // Introduction Original purple topped SL box Squad Leader is a tactical level board wargame originally published by Avalon Hill in 1977. ...
Advanced Squad Leader 2nd Edition Rulebook Advanced Squad Leader (ASL) is a tactical level board wargame that simulates small unit actions of approximately company or battalion size in World War II. It is not simply a game, but rather a detailed game system for two or more players (with solitaire...
Star Fleet Battles is a tactical strategy board game set in the Star Fleet Universe originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole; it has since been updated many times. ...
Tactics II Tactics II is a wargame designed by Charles S. Roberts and published by the Avalon Hill game company in 1958 and then re-released again in 1961 and 1972. ...
Terrible Swift Sword: The Three Days of Gettysburg (often abbreviated as TSS) is a classic grand tactical, regimental level board game depicting the Battle of Gettysburg of the American Civil War. ...
Avalon Hill 3rd Edition cover Rise and Decline of the Third Reich or more commonly Third Reich is a classic grand strategy wargame covering the European theater of World War II designed by Don Greenwood and John Prados, and released in 1974 by Avalon Hill. ...
Risk is a commercial strategic board game produced by Parker Brothers, a division of Hasbro. ...
Titan is an Avalon Hill fantasy board game for two to six players. ...
Victory in the Pacific Victory in the Pacific is a wargame published by the Avalon Hill game company in 1977. ...
Wooden Ships and Iron Men is a naval board wargame in which the players simulate combat by sailing ships of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. ...
World in Flames is a board wargame designed by Harry Rowland and released in 1985 by the Australian Design Group. ...
Miniature wargames Miniature wargames are a form of wargaming designed to incorporate miniatures or figurines into play, which was invented at the beginning of the 19th century in Prussia. ...
Ætherverse is a table top miniature wargame designed by Jason Lauborough of Triskele Game Design Studios. ...
Image:Bkc. ...
Cover for the third edition of Chainmail (c. ...
De Bellis Antiquitatis or DBA is a fast play set of rules for the hobby of historical miniature wargaming, particularly medieval and ancient wargaming in the period 3000 BC to 1485 AD. These rules allow entire armies to be represented by less than 50 figures. ...
Empire is a classic Napoleonics wargame first published by Scott Bowden and Jim Getz in 1977. ...
Flames of War (abbreviated as FoW) is a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame produced by the New Zealand company Battlefront Ltd. ...
Flintloque is a minitures wargame based on the Napoleonic Wars. ...
Mage Knight is a miniatures wargame using collectible figures, created by WizKids, Inc. ...
HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game produced by WizKids, Inc. ...
// Introduction Megablitz is an operational-level wargame that was developed by Tim Gow (with the assistance of Bob Cordery) to fill a niche in the range of wargames that were currently available. ...
Starship Marine is a set of science fiction wargaming minatures rules about boarding and capturing starships, developed and written in the UK by Jim Wallman. ...
This is about the board game Striker. ...
These colonial wargames rules were first drafted by Larry Brom over 20 years ago. ...
Cover of the Warhammer 40,000 4th edition rulebook This article is about the tabletop miniature wargame and the fictional universe in which it is set. ...
Warhammer Fantasy Battle 6th edition rulebook Warhammer Fantasy Battles (often abbreviated as Warhammer or WHFB) is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop and set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. ...
Warmachine is a tabletop wargame produced by Privateer Press. ...
Oddities Ace of Aces Handy Rotary Series Ace of Aces is also the title of a 1987 flight-simulation game. ...
20 Year Anniversary of BattleTech logo. ...
Car Wars is a combat board game developed by Steve Jackson Games. ...
Up Front is a World War II card-based wargame. ...
References Greg Costikyan, also known as Designer X, is an American game designer and science fiction writer. ...
See also A simulation game, or sim game, (also known as a game of status or mixed game) is a game that contains a mixture of skill, a chance and strategy to simulate an aspect of reality, such as a stock exchange. ...
A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create narratives. ...
A nation-simulation game is a type of simulation game which simulates all or part of one or more nations. ...
Tabletop game is a general term used to refer to card games, board games, parlor games, role-playing games, miniature wargames, tile-based games and other games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface. ...
This article is about computer and video games. ...
Computer-assisted gaming (or CAG) refers to games which are at least partially computerized, but which are actively regulated by a human referee. ...
List of wargame publishers is an index of commercial companies that publish wargames. ...
External links - The Game Manufacturers' Association
- Board Game Players Association, noncommercial group manages the Avaloncon convention and other board wargame events
- Web-Grognards has a listing of most every game and publisher, usually with reviews, extra scenarios, after action reports, etc.
- ConsimWorld.com
- The Wargamer War & strategy games website, tabletop, miniature, and computer.
- The Complete Wargames Handbook on-line, by James F. Dunnigan.
- Society of Ancients
- Free Computer Wargames A directory of free computer wargames.
- Free Wargames Rules, A site that hosts and links to hundreds of free rules for miniature gaming.
- E-Mail Games Website
- Tom's Spaceship Miniature/Game List, an attempt to list all games and miniatures used in games that deal with spaceships.
- The Miniatures Page, a tabletop wargaming site providing daily hobby news, manufacturers and other directories, forums, etc.
- Mastering Simulation: Online Course - requires plug-in's.
- The Gamer Hotsheet - News and information about wargaming
- The Dice Tower, a weekly podcast about board games including war games.
- The Naval Wargames Society the home page for the Naval Wargames Society.
- David Helber's Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-era Wargames Page has done more for the upsurge in interest in colonial wargaming than any other website.
- Wargame Developments, an international group of wargamers dedicated to the development of new ideas and concepts.
- Colonial Wargaming - Bob Cordery's colonial wargaming website, which includes free colonial wargames rules, battle reports, and a large section on Victorian and Edwardian Military Miscellany.
- The Universal General - Rudi Geuden's wargaming website. It includes links to lots of free, downloadable wargames rules as well as information about Tony Bath's famous Hyboria campaign and Rudi's own Afriboria colonial campaigns and battles.
|
Feeds |
Contact