Verdy’s Free Kriegsspiel including the Victorian Army’s 1896 War Game PDF
Preview Verdy’s Free Kriegsspiel including the Victorian Army’s 1896 War Game
'2 M 13_33‘(‘o\p_s'e‘~ Vang’); ’s Free K7z°e<gJ]>z°e/’ Arm} zm/udzhg 7896 2‘/ye T/z'cz‘07z'cm 3* War Game Edited byjohn Curry Verdy’s ‘liree Kriegspiel’ was first primed as The Tactical \‘C"argat11c (1876), :1 Tmnslation ofthe General V. Vetdy Du Vernois ‘Beitrag '/run Kreigsspiel’ by]. R. l\I:1cd0nell by \‘C'illiam Clowes and Sons Ltd in 1884. The Victorian /\rm_v’s Wargame was firstpublished in 1896 as the \‘('21r Office Rules for the Conduct ofthe \Y/ar—Ga111e on a Map by Her Majest_\"s Stationary Office. This F,dition printed 2008 by Lulu.c0m Other books byjohn Curry Donald Fe2ttherst0ne’s \\7’ar Games The Fredlane Naval \‘C"arga1nc Donald Featherstone’s Skjrmish Wargaming Pzicldy Gri’ffith’s Napoleonic \‘(r"argaming for Fun ISBN 9784-4092-2796-0 ©john Curry Table of Contents Introduction to Kriegsspiel ..5 .................................................... The History ofBritish Kriegsspiel ..6 ......................................... Howto playthe TacticalWargame or‘Free Kriegsspiel’ ..9 ...... THE TACTICALWAR GAME ..l1 ............................................. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 12 .......................................................... PREFACE 14 ............................................................................................. THECONDUCTOFAWARGAME 19 ............................................ INTRODUCTION. 21 ............................................................................ CONDITIONSAND PREPARATIONS UPTOTHEBEGINNING OFTHEGAMEUPONTHEPLAN. 23 ............................................ 1- CONDITIONS FORCAPTAIN A. (EASTERN DETACHMENT) 26 ................................................................................................................. 1-CONDITIONSFORCAPTAINA. (EASTERNDETACHMENT) 26 ................................................................................................................. 2.—CONDITIONS FORCAPTAIN X. (WESTERN DETACHMENT.) 27 .............................................................................. COMMENCEMENTOFTHEEXERCISE. 31 ................................ COMMENCEMENTOFTHEGAMEONTHEPLANS.36 1.ADVANCEOFBOTHDETACHMENTS,AND RECONNOISSANCEBYTHEFOREMOSTSQUADRONS36 2. RETREATOFTHECAVALRYOFTHEEASTERN DETACHMENTTOTHEOTHERSIDEOFTHE PLEISSE. S4 3. FLANKMARCHOFTHEWESTERNDETACHMENTTOTHE RIGHT, FROMGAUTZSCHTO CHATEAU MARCK KLEEBERG 60 ......................................................................................... 4. RECONNAISSANCEANDADVANCETOWARDS CONNEWITZ BYTHEWESTDETACHMENT, ALONGTHE RIGHTBANKOFTHEPLEISSE 69 ................................................. 5. ENGAGEMENTATCONNEWITZ. 79 ....................................... 6. END OFTHEACTIONANDRETREATOFTHEWESTERN DETACHMENT 99 ................................................................................. THEDISCUSSION. 101 ........................................................................... CONCLUDING REMARKS 109 ............................................................ APPF.NDICliS ..11() ................................................................................... The Victorian Army’s 1896 War Game ..115 ................................... CHAPTER 1. GHNERALDESCRIPTION OFTHEGAME. 116 .. CI-IAPTER 11. MODEorCONDUCTING THE GAME. 122 ....... (jH,»\PTF,R 111. RULES FORTHE GUIDANCE OFTHE UMPIRES. ................................................................................................................. 126 (IHAPT}iR IV. RULICS FORTHEGUIDANCEOFTHE PLAYERS. ................................................................................................................. 135 CHAPTER V.THE 1\1r\PSr\ND PIECES 136 ..................................... CHAPTERVI. RATF.S()1“-MARCHING ..138 ................................... CHAPTERVII. LF.NGTH O17COLUMNS ON MARCH 140 ......... Appendices for Kriegspiel ..153 ...................................................... APPENDIX 1: DMIX AI)\u-\N(:H DlsT.»\NC1«;s 154 ................................... /\PI’HNDI>( 2: D,»\n.\'MARCHING DISTANCES 156 ................................ A1>1>1;N1)1x 3: DlSTANCI~'.SATWH1C1—1TROOPS MAYBE DISTINGI11511141) BYTONY I-L»\\\"'KINS.............................................. 157 /\l’Pl€f\Jl)l.‘{ 4: RAn.TRANsI=ORT BY GL‘\' PARISH ..158 ......................... /'\PP1-ZNl)lX 5: BA’m,l=‘, P1,ANNIN(.;Tl1\Il’.S 1940-cURR1«;N’1‘DA\‘.. 161 Introduction to Kriegsspiel ere did wargaming start? is a question periodically asked by wargamers. There are many potential answers, ranging fromjohn Clerk’s naval wargame of 1700, to the abstract Chinese games, such as ‘Go’ or Chinese Chess, but the Prussian Kriegsspiel has perhaps one ofthe stronger cases. In 1811, Two young Prussian Princes, Fredrick and William, learnt ofa wargame invented by Herr VOI'1 Reisswitz who was living in Berlin. They were in intrigued by the idea and soon Reisswitz was given a room in the palace to build a large plaster contoured model of countryside at the arbitrary scale of26 inches to the mile. The troops were represented by wooden blocks with coloured paper stuck on them. The games were regulated by a set ofrules to decide the crucial matters such as movement and firing. Within a year, the king himself started to play the wargame. The development ofthe game was then led by Von Rcisswitz’s son, who turned the rules for the game into something resembling a simulation ofwar. The playing area model was replaced with more practical maps at a scale of8 inches to 1 mile. Dice were introduced to represent the element ofchance in war. The two sides were labelled as ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’; a naming convention that is still in wargaming. In 1824, Reisswitz gave a lecture on the game to the general staff, followed by a demonstration. The Prussian ChiefofStaff, General Muffling, received the game somewhat coldly at first, ‘but as the operations expanded on the map, and move by move the combatants worked out their plans, the old genetal’s face lit up, and at last he broke out with enthusiasm: ‘It’s not a game at all, it’s training for war. I shall recommend it enthusiastically to the whole army". Professionally wargamingwas then established. Quoted in Wilkinsin S.E.r:qy.r on tbe Wargame, London, 1887 1 The History ofBritish Kriegsspiel he Prussian Army readily took to Kriegsspiel as a new training tool, but in Britain, the army ignored the developments on the continent. \‘C“'hat finally caught the British \‘(/arOffice attention was almost certainly the success ofthe Prussian military in the Franco Prussian Warof 187071 and the published claim by some Prussian Officers that their wargames made an important contribution to their victory. The British Official Rules for the Conduct ofthe Wargame were published in 1872. initially, they were a reprint ofthe 1824 Prussian game, hence were somewhat dated, but over the next twenty years the rules were updated by various British officers. Curiously enough, the most ardent enthusiasts for the rules were amongst the Volunteers (the part—time force raised to defend key points during the French invasion scare of 1859 onwards). As the game became more competitive, the rules needed to be tighter and more rigid. The downside ofthis became apparent on the continent as tactical reality became submerged by the rule book. On occasions, the games produced results that defied military logic. In 1876, Verdy du Vernois, produced a new version of kriegspiel, ‘Beitrag zum Kriegsspiel’. This largely dispensed with the rules and the dice, instead relying on the sound military judgementofthe umpire to arbitrate the actions in the wargame. This ‘free Kriegsspiel game’was translated by_].R.MacDonell in 1884 and published as ‘The Tactical Wargame by General_]. yon Verdy du Vernoi’ after first being published in serial form in the Volunteer Service Gazette. Although free Kriegspiels aim to dispense with rules, tables of data about movement distances, match column lengths, weapon ranges and some guidelines about combat outcomes need to be prepared before the game could commence. The Victorian War Game of 1896, used by the British army, was an example ofrules which turned the free Kriegspiel concept into a practical game or military exercise. Soon afterwards, the free Kriegsspiel concept took its next logical step and was beingused to run strategic level wargames. The earliestexample ofsuch a British game I have foundwas the Defence of Indiawargame, run atSimla (1903) by the Committee ofImperial Defence. ‘Free Kriegspiels’ became an established partofplanningand training for the military around the world. Theyhad significantinfluence on various countries warplans. Thejapanesegamed ‘Pearl Harbour’, while Admiral Nimitz, leadingtheAmerican side, gamed almost every operation and later said thatdue towargaming, nothingthathappenedin thewarwas a surprise except the Kamikazesz. An interesting example, in Fugate and Dvortesky’s work about the Russian defeat ofHitler’s Blitzkrieg, includes an entire chapter to discussinghow the Russian wargames ofearly 1941 shaped the Russian defensive strategyofdefence in depth.3 1 have slightly changed the use ofindentation to make the original text clearer and I have added a few notes whereI thought further claritywas required. These are in brackets and annotated with the initials ]C to differentiate them from the original text. 3PeterPerla(1990)TheArtofWargamingpage73.\Whileconcentratingonthenaval side,thebookiswellworthreadingforanyoneinterestedinthehistoryofwargaming. 3SeeBryanFugateandLevDvortetsky (1997)ThunderontheDneprchapter 1, ‘The WarGamesofEarly 1941’.Thebookalso notes (page44) thatGeneralPaulus,the quartermastergeneraloftheGerman armyranawargameaspartoftheWehrmaclutHigh Command (OK\‘(/) planning forBarbarossa.Thegameshowedthe\X’ehrmachtdid not havethestrengthand necessarylogisticsupportitneededtodefeattheRedArmyand conquertheSovietUnioninablitzkrieg. However,theGerman high command choseto ignoretheoutcomeofthewargameandexplained awaytheGermandefeatinthegame.
The list of books you might like
