How Did War Become a Game?

In this video we continue to take a look at the history of Kriegsspiel and explore the early days of wargaming that eventually gave rise to modern table top games such as Warhammer and Dungeons & Dragons.

Research: Jon Peterson
Script: Invicta
Narration: Invicta
Artwork: Gabriel Cassata
Editing: Invicta

Bibliography
Playing at the World by Jon Peterson
Debugging Game History: A Critical Lexicon by Henry Lowood
War Games: A History of War on Paper by Philipp von Hilgers
Pluie de Balles – Complex Wargames In the Classroom by Jorit Wintjes and, Steffen Pielstrom

#History
#Gaming

[AndrewFullerton]

"No, Franz, you cannot seduce the entire Prussian army."

[leone.]

"just like the simulations" - prussian officer, 1871, who played the Kriegsspiel as a student, having his first battle experience.

[mexicoball]

Kriegsapiel V.1.5.2
>Added Dice
>Added Umpire
>Better HD detailed terrain
>New Unit skin
>Unit order UI

[TreetopCanopy]

6:15 "Unable to afford the expensive game of Hellwig, they built their own bootleg version themselves." War never changes.

[Metalmanxdamnit]

I had no idea wargaming was this extensive. I love learning stuff like this.

[daviddavidson]

Kriegsspiel is the OG DnD, only instead of slaying dragons you slay the hapsburgs and french.

[archangel]

This reminds me of a story I encountered when researching the history of war gaming. During ww2 a war game was created that was meant the simulate the battle going on in the Atlantic in an attempt to counter the German submarine operations. Teams of players on both sides would take charge of the allied and estimated German forces respectively and they would play game after game in an attempt to create real world strategies to save allied lives. During one of these games an allied player came up with an ingenious strategy. He would have his search planes fly over a sector of the map then immediately follow this search with a second flight of naval sea planes armed with depth charges. He reasoned that a German sub had a limited air supply and upon seeing the first airplane the sub would dive to safety only to reemerge once the danger had passed at which point the second plane would arrive and the sub would be unable to dive again having used up its battery and air supplies. The tactic was hugely successful in the game and immediately implemented in the field to the effect of devastating the German wolf packs and helping to turn the tide of the Atlantic theater.

[irongeneral]

When playing Kriegspiel through mail correspondance, did anyone ever complain about "lag" being a factor?

[sirjgn]

"Sir we just lost 5, 000 men!"

"Goddamn RNG. Roll the 2D6 again and let's see if we can get an eight or higher...."

[TGE]

Legend has it that Georg Von Reiswitz also invented new refreshments to be consumed during his game. The first was a crunchy, salty snack resembling small sections of baked cornmeal dusted with an orange cheese-flavored powder, the second was an invigorating effervescent beverage nicknamed "The Dew of the Mountains", the composition of which has been lost to history.

[hiitsmefan]

2019: new rts game released
damn this new rts games on pc is soo awesome sooo realistic!

1800: new TTPWG kriegsspiel wtf edition released
this is schooling for war!

[scambroselauntrellus]

Imagine a modern army general calling Games Workshop demanding they demonstrate the new edition of Warhammer.

[tyrannicfool]

I present a petition for Invicta to sell old war games as merch

[lodevijk]

You should share it to some gaming communities. This is absolutely mandatory knowledge to everyone who played RPG, tabletop strategies, warhammer, DnD, and more. This is really super relevant to so many people. What is just a game for nerds used to be a tool for training officers for actual war.

[SmartK]

Player: *rolls dice*
Umpire: "You lose your infantry unit"
Player: "That's not fair, the dice stuck..."
Meanwhile on the WWI battlefield, dying soldier: "Tell my wife.. I love her"

[KingFrolic]

The Army museum here in Sweden made it possible to download the old Swedish version of the Kriegspiel. And yes, as a war gamer I did download it.
Still have not read it though.

[TheODST]

perfect, the origin the arm chair general.

[Twisted_Logic]

This is a fascinating crossover between military history and the history of game design. I cam alway see how the likes of D&D and computer strategy games grew out of these early systems. Almost like looking at a fossil record.

[eshelly]

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

[PeklyCZ]

As a long time wargamer, kudos to you. I was really looking forward for this video since previous "maps" video. And i am not dissapointed, this video is truly master piece. Cheers