“More than just a war game, Kriegsspiel was an invaluable training tool used to introduce a generation of military officers to the operational art of war.”

By Laurence Kay

STRATEGY GAMES have a long and storied history. Ancient kings and generals in the Far East honed their war-fighting skills with xiangqi and shogi. Seventh-century India gave the world chaturanga, a forerunner of chess. In the Roman Empire, it was latrunculi.

The first modern military simulation was Kriegsspiel. A table-top war game, it was pioneered in 19^th Century Prussia and used to transform that nation into most powerful fighting force in Europe. It was the brainchild of Lieutenant Georg Leopold von Reiswitz and his son Georg Heinrich Rudolf von Reiswitz.

Kreigsspiel, which enabled opposing ‘generals’ to fight a simulated set-piece battle, established several conventions of war gaming that still hold true to the present day. It used topographical maps, dice and featured gaming elements that simulated the ‘fog of war.’ Colour-coded opposing armies in the form of red and blue counters and codified rules for movement and combat were also part of the game. Complex scenarios could see up 10 players divided between two sides, each one assuming the role of regimental commanders and reporting to an overseeing general-in-chief. Umpires could preside over these large games to enforce the rules.

More than just a wargame, Kriegsspiel was an invaluable training tool used to introduce a generation of military officers to the operational art of war. Generals, colonels and even lowly subalterns could fight and re-fight skirmishes, full-scale battles and even entire campaigns, and all without the cost or expense of putting a real army in the field or firing a shot. In fact, the huge popularity of Kriegsspiel in the 19^th Century Prussian officer corps is often cited as a factor that contributed to the swift German defeat of France in the 1870 war.

How to Play Kriegsspiel

Maps

Kriegsspiel is played on a segmented map that replicates a typical piece of European terrain. Originally on a scale of 1:2,373 in which 3 cm represented 100 paces. Paces were the measurement of choice for 19th century armies, when the speed of a marching army could make the difference between victory and defeat.

Updated rules altered the scale to 1:8,000, which made every eight inches on the board the equivalent of one mile. The revision allowed for larger battles to be modelled.

Units & Movement

Troops were represented by tin or porcelain figures, much like today’s modern war games. Later, wooden blocks would represent small units or entire regiments. Each unit had attributes strongly reminiscent in modern games like Movement Factor, Hit Points and Armour Class.

Time is segmented into units, with turns taking two minutes each. In-game actions were judged to take a set time based on real-world data. Infantry and cavalry had different movement allowances to reflect their real-world mobility.

Combat

Regulating combat was also be drawn from real world data. Units’ combat radius varied depending on their class. For example, a six-pounder cannon had an effective range when firing canister shot of 400 paces in the game.

Combat was resolved using dice, which offered an element of random chance. An umpire would be kept on hand to rule on any unrealistic results resulting from dice throws.

Under the advanced rules, Reiswitz the Younger codified more realism into the game, including rules for surprise attacks, supporting lines, point defence, and also the use of tables to not only calculate firepower of units, but also determine losses from close combat.

Player Turns

At the start of each turn, both sides write their orders down and pass them over to the umpire. The umpire then deploys the units at the correct time. This allows both sides to effectively move simultaneously.

The umpire then issues reports back to the players. Armed with these updates, the players compose new orders and the battle continues.

The rules assume a hierarchy of command between different players controlling the units. If different units are out of sight of each other, players cannot communicate commands directly.

The victor is the army that destroys the opposing army or is judged by the umpire to have won the field.

Popularity of Kriegsspiel

Though invented by his father, it was Reiswitz the Younger who would refine the game and make it a success. In 1824, Prince Wilhelm, then a corps commander in the Prussian army, requested a demonstration of Kriegsspiel. He loved the game and gave it a hearty endorsement.

This royal stamp of approval opened the door for the young Reiswitz. He was soon summoned before the Chief of the Prussian General Staff, the mighty Helmuth von Moltke the Elder.

At first, Moltke dismissed Kriegsspiel as a simple pastime. But after a demonstration by Reiswitz, he recognized its potential as a training tool and recommended it to the entire army.

The Kaiser ordered a copy of the game for every one of his regiments, leading to the mass production of the Reisswitz’s game. Tinsmiths, painters and carpenters were assembled to create the blocks used as unit counters.

Maps and rules were edited and printed in book form. The game quickly became popular with Prussia’s officer corps. It wasn’t long before details of Kriegsspiel spread to other nations.

Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831-1891), heard of the game from Prince Wilhelm and was anxious to learn more about it. The Russian military attaché in Berlin accompanied Reiswitz the Younger to St. Petersburg, were he spent the entire summer as a guest of the Grand Duke.

Upon his return to Prussia, an epic game of Kriegsspiel was planned in Berlin at Prince Wilhelm’s quarters, with the Chief of Staff devising a scenario involving a full-scale campaign fought between the Oder River and the Elbe River, with a final battle at Bautzen.

This epic competition needed a small army of officers to play. It lasted weeks. To keep the board and the pieces intact, all the cats living in the house hosting the game were banished. Spectators included minor princes, foreign dignitaries and even the Kaiser himself.

Army units eventually formed their own Kriegsspiel clubs and the game was a smash hit across the Prussian military. Reiswitz was awarded the Order of St. John by the Kaiser for his game.

The Impact of Kriegsspiel

Many historians consider the adoption of Kriegsspiel by the Prussian officer corps as instrumental in Prussia beating France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.

Moltke’s tactics emphasized encirclement battles, like that of the Battle of Cannae. He favoured using artillery offensively whenever possible.

Rather than advancing in a column or line formation, Prussian infantry moved in loose formations that were harder to target by artillery or French defensive fire.

Most importantly, Moltke organized the first ever peacetime General Staff, whose purpose in was to prepare the country’s overall war strategy, using tools such as the Kriegsspiel.

By giving his officer corps more responsibility, accountability and better understanding of tactics, the Prussians had a far more effective command structure. This in turn paved the way for small unit decision-making and squad tactics that would carry on into World War One.

Today, we see the principles of Kriegsspiel in the hugely popular board gaming market, as well as in video games of the real-time strategy genre.

But what of the men who started it all? Sadly, Reiswitz the Younger never managed to fully capitalize on the popularity of his game, or boost his influence with the top men in the Prussian army. He was passed over for a vacancy in his own Guard Artillery unit as a company commander. Later, he was transferred to Torgau, effectively a backwater province, with another artillery brigade.

Feeling that he had been banished for some sleight, Reiswitz shot himself in 1827.

Kriegsspiel was a landmark game not just for its military applications, but for the future of gaming generally. The principles of strategy and the ability to practice independent command were part of what made the Prussian army the dominant force in Europe for over 50 years.

And the lasting legacy can be been seen in games from computerised real-time strategy games to table top games like Dungeons and Dragons.

Laurence Kay is the founder of Socom Tactical, a leading supplier of high quality airsoft guns and accessories. From their store in Fleet, Hampshire, Laurence and the team work hard to support war gamers and airsofters equip themselves with the tools and the knowledge they need to be the best.

(Originally published May 1, 2018)