The Wargames, The Art And Science Of The Wars In The Medieval Age

By André Geraque Kiffer

Board wargames are one of the most common forms of conflict simulation in mathematical models throughout history. They are based on a map, topographic or from a satellite photo, where a hexagonal grid (numbered) or other geometric shape is applied to regulate the positioning and movement of the parts (forces). The pieces, like those of chess, are identified by symbols, colors and numbers that register their qualities and historical quantities. Two tables are basic, the effects of geography (terrain) - associated with weather conditions - on movement and combat and the likely results (according to the relativity of opposing powers) of these on the capabilities of the pieces involved. The sequence of each game is divided into a set number of Turns, or other names, which vary according to the time scale, and may range from minutes to years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 1, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

The  Wargames,

the  Art  and  Science  of  the  Wars

in  the  Medieval  Age

Author’s  Edition

Resende

2019

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

The  Wargames,  the  Art  and  Science  of  the  Wars  in  the Medieval  Age.  André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Resende,  2019.

Bibliography:  220  p.  115  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  War  Science.  4.  Wargames.  I. Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-85-65853-27-9

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My  story  will  be  less  certain  than  history;  but  whoever  wants to  relive  the  past  to  study  the  similarities  and  analogies between  human  conflicts  in  the  present  is  enough  for  me  to find  it  useful.  This  War  History  of  mine  is  a  definite achievement  and  not  an  ostentatious  work  for  a  current audience.

(André  Geraque  Kiffer)

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Legends  of  the  picture  on  the  cover:  1)  Franks  (200s);  2) Strategies  by  Vegetius  in  De  Re  Militari  (400s);  3)  Belisarius (505);  4)  stirrups;  5)  Arabs  (600s);  6)  Jihad;  7)  Battle  of Yarmuk  (636);  8)  Charles  Hammer  (680);  9)  Reconquest (718);  10)  Battle  of  Tours  (732);  11)  Charlemagne  (742);  12) Vikings  (800s);  13)  Mauritius  Strategikon  and  Leo  VI Taktiká  (700s  and  800s);  14)  Mace  and  Hammers  (900s);  15) Battle  of  Maldon  (991);  16)  Scottish  Phalanges  (1000);  17) Axes  (1000s);  18)  William  the  Conqueror  (1028);  19) Bohemond  (1058);  20)  Godfred  de  Bouillon  (1060);  21) Crossbow  (1066);  22)  Battle  of  Hastings  (1066);  23)  Battle  of Manzikert  (1071);  24)  Crusades  (1095);  25)  Siege  of Jerusalem  (1099);  26)  Cavalry  Orders;  27)  Armor  (1100s);  28) Saladin  (1137);  29)  Richard  Lionheart  (1157);  30)  Genghis Khan  (1162);  31)  Irish  Rebellions  (1169);  32)  Simon  de Montfort  (1175);  33)  Battle  of  Hattin  (1187);  34)  Battle  of  Arsuf (1191);  35)  Normandy  Campaign  (1200);  36)  Mongols;  37) Cavalry  and  Nobility  (1200s);  38)  Battle  of  Bouvines  (1214); 39)  Kublai  Khan  (1215);  40)  War  of  the  Barons  (1215  and 1264);  41)  Mongolian  Bow  (1226);  42)  William  Wallace  (1270); 43)  Robert  Brus  (1274);  44)  Scottish  Wars  of  Independence (1296);  45)  Battle  of  Falkirk  (1298);  46)  Chevauchée logistics;  47)  Infantry  and  Halberds;  48)  Turks;  49)  Bombards or  Cannons  (1300s);  50)  Swiss  (1302);  51)  Edward  III  (1312); 52)  Battle  of  Bannockburn  (1314);  53)  Battle  of  Morgarten (1315);  54)  Bertrand  du  Guesclin  (1320);  55)  Chronicles  of Froissart  (1326);  56)  Eduard  Black  Prince  (1330);  57) Tamerlane  (1330);  58)  Hundred  Years  War  (1337);  59)  Welsh Longbow  (1340);  60)  Battle  of  Créçy  (1346);  61)  Jan  Zizka (1360);  62)  Battle  of  Nájera  (1367);  63)  Andreas  Procopius (1380);  64)  Janissaries  (1383);  65)  Henry  V  (1386);  66)  Battle of  Kosovo  (1389);  67)  Hussite  mobile  fort  (1400s);  68)  Battle of  Tannenberg  (1410);  69)  Joan  of  Arc  (1412);  70)  Battle  of

Agincourt  (1415);  71)  Constantinople  (1453).

5 PROLOGUE

I  was  inspired  to  build  this  work  by  reading  Arnold Toynbee's  book,  A  Study  of  History,  and  Trevor  N. Dupuy's  Future  Wars.  Between  2005  and  2007  I acquired  a  collection  of  board  wargames  in  New York,  and  reading  the  book  Wargame  Design published  by  Strategy  &  Tactics  Magazine consolidated  a  Matrix  for  A  Study  of  Military History.  Thus,  from  2008,  I  was  able  to  begin  an analysis  of  the  wars,  campaigns,  and  battles  of history  of  a  particular  time  and  /  or  civilization described  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute's  Atlas  of Military  History.  So  far  I  have  published  the  following series:  I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  First  Empire Wars  in  2010;  VIII.  World  War  I  Historical Simulation  in  2011;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the Wars  in  Classical  Greece  in  2012;  III.  Historical Simulation  of  the  Roman  Wars  in  2016;  and  IV. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era  in 2018.  In  2014,  to  continue  my  work  A  Study  of Military  History,  I  read  the  book  "Japanese  and

Chinese  Chess  -  The  Science  and  Art  of  War"  and

6 added  a  new  book  The  Study  of  Wars  and  Chess Games  to  my  planned  study,  associating  the foundations  of  chess  games  with  the  principles  of Art  and  Science  of  War.  In  each  book  of  the  work  a selected  war,  campaign,  or  battle  is  studied  at  any of  the  applicable  decision  levels,  namely  the Political,  Strategic,  Operational,  Tactical,  and Technical.  Based  on  a  summary  of  the  historical  fact I  seek  to  highlight  the  decisive  fact  (s)  causing  the negative  result  (s)  before  playing  the  simulation through  a  board  wargame  -  the  actions  on  the  other side  of  the  hill  (from  the  enemy)  are  studied through  a  parallel  electronic  wargame.  In  the simulation  all  the  possibilities  of  the  purpose  of  the study  are  completed  when  the  past  of  history  is analyzed  on  the  basis  of  present  theory  and projected  into  the  future  or  revived  as  a  what  if schematic  case.  When  we  play  we  will  follow  the maxim  WIN  ALWAYS  BUT  WITH  THE  LOWEST POSSIBLE  COST. Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  War  science.

Wargames.

7 SUMMARY

CHAPTER  1  –  A  HISTORY  OF  THE WARGAMES….……………………………………….8 CHAPTER  2  –  A  HISTORY  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL AGE  (476  A  1453)…...…....................……….........20 CHAPTER  3  –  A  STUDY  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF THE  ART  AND  SCIENCE  OF  WAR  IN  THE MEDIEVALAGE..............................................…...71

REFERENCES....................................................215

8 CHAPTER  1

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  WARGAMES

Strategy  and  /  or  tactical  games,  with  pieces  or miniatures,  markers,  etc.,  known  as  wargames, have  their  historical  origins  linked  to  the  game Chaturanga  -  predecessor  of  Chess  -,  which emerged  in  India,  where  their  pieces  represented maharajas,  elephants  and  chariots,  and  that  upon arriving  in  the  West  were  being  transformed  into kings,  bishops,  pawns  and  castle  towers.  This, among  other  ancient  games,  had  these  pieces  to represent  forces  that  faced  each  other  on  a battlefield.

It  is  believed  that  already  in  ancient  Egypt  there were  war  simulation  games,  some  of  them  using

principles  similar  to  those  of  future  strategy  games.

9 The  history  of  modern  wargames  is  closely

linked  to  political  and  military  activities,  as  concerns about  wars  -  real  or  imagined  -  have  always  been the  responsibility  of  rulers  and  their  military  leaders.

Im  1:  Kriegspiel  special  board.

The  first  known  modern  reference  to  battle simulation  games  dates  from  1789,  when  a nobleman  named  Helwing,  subject  of  the  Duke  of Brunswick,  invented  a  game  very  similar  to  modern wargames.  This  simulation  was  developed  on  a board  of  1,666  colored  squares  made  of  wood, representing  the  various  types  of  terrain  that  could constitute  a  battlefield.

Players  wore  pieces  representing  the  troops involved,  which  moved  with  each  move,  advancing

or  retreating  a  certain  number  of  squares.  These

10 pieces  or  miniatures  were  carved  in  wood,  with metal  details  that  besides  the  color  served  to differentiate  their  characteristics  and  functions.

Im  2:  Resswitz  game  english  version.

In  1795  George  Vinturinus,  a  strategy  scholar from  the  Danish  Duchy  of  Schelswing  near  the German  border,  developed  a  more  complete  version of  Helwing's  game  using  a  map  of  an  area  in  the border  region  between  France,  the  Netherlands  and Belgium.  The  military  soon  discovered  a  practical utility  for  this  game,  which  until  then  served  only  as entertainment.

In  1824  Von  Resswitz,  a  Prussian  Army  officer, published  a  much  more  sophisticated  wargame, which  was  intended  for  training  officers  in  strategy studies.  Kriegspiel  introduced  important  features

such  as  using  dice  to  determine  random  elements  in

11 battle,  as  well  as  very  detailed  rules  such  as  line  of sight,  range  of  weapons  and  troop  morale.  This game  included  the  use  of  maps  and  probability tables.

Im  3:  Wargamer's  Digest.

After  the  Franco-Prussian  War  of  1870,  the English  built  their  version  of  the  Kriegspiel  -  The Game  of  War  -  using  it  for  army  training.

Later  the  game  aroused  a  lot  of  interest  and gained  a  large  number  of  fans,  serving  as  a  starting point  for  the  creation  of  wargames  clubs  and  the publication  of  the  first  magazine  devoted  to  this  type of  subject.  From  this  point  on  the  forces  were already  represented  by  pieces  of  cardboard  with coats  of  arms  and  other  symbols,  or  by  miniature

troops,  vehicles  and  vessels  of  their  own  shape.

12 In  the  United  States,  Jack  Scruby  created  a

miniature  production  technique  that  would  make  the cost  of  producing  pieces  cheaper,  RTV  or  Room- temperature  vulcanizing,  with  silicone  molds.

Im  4:  Gettysburg.

But  he  didn't  stop  there,  but  was  also responsible,  in  1955,  for  creating  one  of  the  largest (if  not  the  largest)  vehicles  of  information  and dissemination  of  wargames  around  the  world,  the magazine  Wargamer's  Digest,  which  had  a  long active  journey.

In  1952,  Charles  S.  Roberts,  also  in  the  United States,  created  the  world's  first  commercial  board wargame  game,  the  Tactics.

Two  years  later,  in  1954,  Roberts  would  devise a  model  of  rules  and  a  set  of  tables  that  would  be

used  by  most  board  wargames  thereafter,  were  the

13 combat  results  table.  In  1961  he  published Gettysburg,  considered  the  first  contemporary wargame  based  on  historical  battles.

Im  5:  Miniatures.

Thus,  it  was  in  the  United  States  that  wargames gained  new  features  and  underwent  a  remarkable process  of  improvement,  reproducing  in  detail  the real  conditions  of  the  history  great  battles.

Thanks  to  this,  they  soon  gained  a  large number  of  fans  not  only  among  the  general  public, but  also  among  the  military.  Part