The Wargames, The Roman Art And Science Of War

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 historical qualities and quantities. Two tables are basic, the effects of geography (terrain) - associated with weather conditions - on the movements and the likely outcomes (according to the relativity of opposing powers) of the combats on the abilities 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: Jan 31, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

The  Wargames,  the  Roman Art  and  Science  of  War.

Author’s  Edition

Resende

2019

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

The  Wargames,  the  Roman  Art  and  Science  of  War. André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Resende,  2019.

Bibliography:  161  p.  77  im.  21  cm..

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

ISBN  978-85-65853-25-5

2

3

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)

4 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

5 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  war  game.  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".

6 Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  War  Science.

Wargames.

7 SUMMARY

CHAPTER  1  –  A  HISTORY  OF  WARGAMES…….8 CHAPTER  2  –  A  STUDY  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF THE  ROMAN  ART  AND  THE  SCIENCE  OF WARS......................................................…….......20

REFERENCES............................................….....153

8 CHAPTER  1

A  HISTORY  OF  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  upon arriving  in  the  West  they  were  transformed  into kings,  bishops,  pawns  and  castle  towers.  This, among  other  ancient  games,  had  these  pieces  to represent  units  facing  each  other  on  a  battlefield.

It  is  believed  that  already  in  ancient  Egypt  there were  war  simulation  games,  some  of  them  having used  principles  similar  to  those  of  future  strategy

games,  such  as  Chess.

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:  Special  table  for  the  Kriegspiel.

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  simulated  combat  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  military units  involved  in  the  conflict,  which  moved advancing  or  receding  a  certain  number  of  squares.

These  pieces  or  miniatures  were  carved  in  wood,

10 with  metal  details  that  besides  color  served  to differentiate  their  features  and  functions.

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  and  the  Netherlands and  Belgium.  The  military  soon  discovered  a practical  utility  for  this  game  that  had  hitherto  served only  as  entertainment.

Im  2:  The  English  version  of  Resswitz  game.

In  1824,  a  Prussian  army  officer,  von  Resswitz, published  a  much  more  sophisticated  wargame intended  for  training  officers  in  military  strategy studies.  Kriegspiel  introduced  important  features such  as  using  dice  to  determine  random  elements  in

battle,  as  well  as  very  detailed  rules  such  as  line  of

11 sight,  range  of  weapons  and  troop  morale.  This game  included  the  use  of  maps  and  probability tables.

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

Im  3:  Wargamer's  Digest.

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  units  were  already represented  by  pieces  of  cardboard  with  coats  of arms  and  symbols,  or  by  miniature  troops,  vehicles and  vessels  with  their  own  shapes.

In  the  United  States,  Jack  Scruby  created  a

miniature  production  technique  that  would  cheapen

12 the  cost  of  producing  the  parts,  was  the  rubber molded  RTV.

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  in  the  world, Wargamer's  Digest,  which  had  a  long  active  journey.

Im  4:  Gettysburg.

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

Two  years  later,  in  1954,  Roberts  would  invent a  rule  model  and  set  of  tables  that  would  be  used  by most  board  wargames  thereafter,  were