How Did War Become a Game?

Spartans must’ve been lucky in those die rolls

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! You just justified my love for Warhammer 40k & other similar wargames! Now, if you're up to it, could you also do a video on how wargaming was later applied to the navy? I'm pretty sure it'd be FASCINATING & be a wonderful follow on to this video, too! Furthermore, if you could also do a video on how wargaming later on became applicable to the air force, that would be another great addition to your series of videos! Ultimately, you could then do a video wherein wargaming brings together all these other domains into a combined arms wargame simulation that still being used by NATO forces to this day! So, what do you say? Interested?

Look up the International Kriegsspiel Society if you'd like to play yourself online with other people.

Mostly important, did the prussians had Orks?

I just saw the actual Kreisspiel table at the Charlottenburg palace on my trip to Berlin not long ago. I first saw this video years ago and it stuck with me. Seeing it in person was like meeting a celebrity!

This is honestly fascinating

There is a form of kriegspeil using 3 chess boards. One board for each player and the umpire's board which reflected the truck location of each players pieces. The umpire is critical in playing this game as he informs the players of their opponents moves in vague terms by stating if the moving player has moved a Pawn or a Piece and also observing the player's move and informing them if they have made a legal move.

My family played this game many times and had countless hours of fun playing.

dclxvi x

I like peace games more then war games. Does it mean that peace is a game?

this stupid cock sucker game ...they let pw2 idiots buying t10 tanks without any idea what to do. the game is unplayable when haft of the team are idiots.

Bro designed Hoi4 in the 1800s.

Круто!

Chess originated in India.

Oh man! I'd love to see a part 2 going from where this left off to the modern day.

These kriegspiel updates are too insane.

ye olde hoi4.

I want to play that

oof I miss playing 9th Age Warhammer. Fanmade much better version of the GW franchise.

There is an antique war game from ancient rome that the centurions used to play. its very primitive has only three kind of units and very simple rules. I cant find the name anymore.

“Umpire.” Nah that’s a game master these people invented historical Dungeons and Dragons!

Berlin, at the Eve of WW1...
General staff of German Army: "Your Majesty, we'll have to overrun Belgium and attack France soonest possible."
Wilhelm II.: "Wait. For an assault taken place in Serbia? Belgrad is on the other side of the map, you bunch of dullards!"
General staff spokesman: "Right, Your Royal Highness, but French terrain provides us with better options of data sampling for our brandnew release of "Kriegsspiel" coming up this Christmas including all of the new warfare units developed during the last decade."
Wilhelm II.: "Ah, I see. That sounds terrific exciting."
General staff spokesman: "With a predicted quick breakthrough around Verdun the victory should be ours anyway."
Wilhelm II.: "Then, what are you waiting for?"

"In the early 1800s European general staffs dedicated huge amounts of time to surveying and cartography as they prepares to wage their continental wars on a scale never scene before. This would have huge implications on the wargaming community."
I don't know why but that line is unintentionally hilarious to me.
As though all the great wars and conflicts were secondary to some Warhammer fans now being able to more accurately move their Orks across a stream. Great video.

When did it stop being a game? Fools killing fools for their masters.

this game sounds really fun but it would take like an hour to learn the rules and a week to play probably

As kids all we needed was our Airfix figures and your sisters beads to throw. we even worked out armored warfare based on armor thickness and penetrating power of the guns hitting it. 50 years of "serious" war gaming and it was still the most fun I ever had at it.

Staff officers still "game" out problems. The Staff Collage uses a much different type of "game".

Pretty sad to make a game out of human slaughter

I do believe war games did pioneer the warfare more than weapons such as Dyrese needle rifle and breechloading artillery. It did enabled the Prussian army to achieve their objectives especially to prove that technology was a part of warfare but human intelligence triumphs.

Just like the simulations!

Now I want to play christoph weickmann first edition wargame :v

When I was in the Marines I was in our supply building and found a “war game” on a shelf. It was a supply and logistics game. You played the supply side and not the war side. It was very very detailed

Hey does anyone knows the name of the war game invented by Christoph weickhmann

Prussians oh their way to be the best:

I once heard an anecdote—most likely on Matt Colville's channel—that the best Kriegspiel umpires were the ones that rolled the dice and then secretly ignored the result based on what made the game more sensical and fun.

It's rules that allow the game to be played. Without rules. The game no longer exists.
War has rules.
Without them, the game would no longer be played by men.

Awesome video, thanks a lot for the in-depth research!

The most ironic instance of wargaming has to be the ones played by Paulus which showed that capturing Stalingrad was impractical at best.

I’m curious, how did Go effect war gaming?

Ah yes not even 2 minutes in and already 2 unskippable ads

Hitler: blitzkreig is my plan to win the war
Napoleon: fuck it, straight line

Wargame Red Dragon dlc when

Well put together video. If it hasn't already been mentioned there is a documentary called 'Secrets of Blackmore ' that has a fair chunk of it talking about how roleplaying that we know today branched out of tabletop wargaming.

Total war 👀

Fascinating summary. Thank you very much.

so thats why we call simulations sandboxes. i always dreamed of a wargame fought on topographic maps as a boy, little did i know, my ancestors were doing that very thing, a century beforehand on the other side of the world. War truely is the only constant of man