Rules for Miniature Wargames

He who does not fight, truely wins -- Sunzi (Sun Tzu)

The Age of Eagles – Napoleonic Fire and Fury.

Kriegsspiel, the War Game, is a tactical exercise without troops, using maps or realistically modelled terrain, and simple playing pieces or miniatures representing actual units in the given ground scale. Wargames are designed to realistically recreate the character of a military engagement, to facilitate the training, study, rehearsal, and evolution of military leadership, strategy, and tactics. Wargames are not games, they are military manœuvres on maps, also known as simulations. Wargames are cheaper, easier to implement and evaluate, less dangerous, and much less damaging to the environment than real manœuvres involving thousands of soldiers and their vehicles.

Wargaming advances the Art of War as postulated by Sunzi (Sun Tzu), who strove to avoid war whenever possible, because it would invariable destroy a nation and its people. "Sunzi’s Martial Art" (The Art of War) is considered the earliest book on strategy and tactics, and to this day it is among the most important treatises on the Art of War.

Seizing the enemy without fighting
is the most skillful. -- Sunzi (Sun Tzu)

Strategic wargames are conducted on 1:100000 scale general staff maps, whereas grand tactical and tactical wargames cover much less ground at 1:8000 and 1:6250 scale. Fortress wargames explore the significantly more complex matters of the attack and defence of fortifications. In 1876, German Secretary of the Navy Albrecht v. Stosch called for naval wargames, and when military aircraft became available, the existing ground and naval wargame rules were upgraded to include them.

H.G. Wells, the author of the wargame classic "Little Wars" of 1913, is considered the father of the civilian wargame hobby. Little Wars were typically played in the garden, because H.G. Wells favored 54 mm toy soldiers in 1:32 model railroad scale (I gauge), which required a large battlefield. In the late 1950s, Jack Scruby introduced smaller and cheaper 30 mm figures which made wargaming a table-top game. Sophisticated and easily understood wargame rules published by Tony Bath (The Hyborian Campaign, 1956), Donald Featherstone (The Wargamers’ Newsletter, 1962), Charles Grant (The Wargame, 1971), Gary Gygax und Dave Arneson (Dungeon&Dragons, 1974) turned wargaming into a popular hobby around the world. Dungeon&Dragons was the most popular fantasy role-playing game 2006, with an estimated 20 million players world-wide, according to a BBC news report.

Today, there are over 2500 companies world-wide involved in the design and production of wargames and wargame accessories. Even highly unusual wargame subjects involving armed teddybears or snowmen, man-eating plants, and supernatural killer rodents are covered by one or several of the popular manufacturers.

Opponent Finder

Solo-wargaming is feasible, but the really interesting wargames are multi-player affairs involving two to 20 friends, each of whom commands a tactical formation or sub-unit of it. Wargame clubs and regional wargame groups welcome beginning and experienced wargamers alike. University wargaming clubs are especially popular, because they can be a valuable source of talented wargamers, modellers, and military historians fascinated by the miniatures hobby.

Popular Wargame Rules

  • Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age
  • Dungeon & Dragons
  • War in the Age of Magic
  • Wizard’s Quest
  • Legion
  • De Bellis Antiquitatis – DBA
  • De Bellis Multitudinis – DBM
  • Field of Glory
  • Armati
  • Archon
  • Homeric Hack – Warfare in the Age of Heroes
  • Classical Hack
  • IronBoss
  • Conquerors and Kings
  • Gladiators
  • Scenarios for Wargames
  • Programmed Wargames Scenarios
  • Chainmail
  • Broadsword
  • Lion Rampant – Medieval Wargaming Rules
  • Rebellion
  • Knight Hack – Medieval Warfare from 1000 to 1400 A.D.
  • Bloody Barons
  • Days of Knights
  • Basic Impetus
  • Renaissance Principles of War
  • Border Reivers Raiding Rules
  • And One For All – Cinematic Swashbuckling with Miniatures
  • De Bellis Renationis – DBR
  • Samurai Battles in The Age of War
  • Father Tilly
  • Victory without Quarter
  • Push-Of-Pike – Wargame Rules for 1639–1660
  • 1644 – Rules for English Civil War Wargames
  • Regiment of Foote
  • Donald Featherstone’s War Games
  • Beneath the Lily Banners (1660–1715)
  • Pirates!
  • Privateer
  • Pieces of Eight
  • Them that Dies is the Lucky Ones
  • Buccaneer, Broadsword & Blunderbuss
  • Legends of the High Seas
  • Black Powder
  • 18th Century Principles of War
  • Donald Featherstone’s Skirmish Wargaming
  • Flintlock and Ramrod, 1700–1850
  • Fire, Hack & Run
  • Wargaming the Age of Marlborough
  • Charge! Seven Years’ War Rules
  • The War Game, Charles Grant
  • Frederick the Great – Wargame Rules for the 7 Years War
  • Tricorne
  • With Macduff to the Frontier – Rules for the French and Indian Wars
  • Charge! – or how to play War Games, Peter Young, James Philip Lawford
  • Hearts of Tin
  • Complete Brigadier
  • Flint & Steel (AWI rules and scenarios)
  • Loose Files and American Scramble
  • Pour le Merite (American Revolution Variant), The Courier № 67
  • Washington’s Army
  • Drums of War along the Mohawk
  • Warfare in the Age of Reason
  • Age of Honor, Lace Wars Fire & Fury (1700–1789)
  • Koenig Krieg
  • Might & Reason
  • Batailles de l’Ancien Régime 1740–1763
  • Frederick’s Battles
  • British Grenadier
  • Volley & Bayonet
  • République
  • The Eagle and The Lion (board game with 200 miniatures)
  • Napoleonic Principles of War
  • Napoleonic Wargaming, Airfix Magazine Guide 4
  • Napoleon’s Campaigns in Miniature
  • Berthier Campaign Management Software
  • Napoleonic Warfare, Newbury Rules 4th ed.
  • Le Feu Sacré
  • Empire III
  • Chéf de Bataillon
  • General de Brigade
  • The Song of Drums and Shakos
  • Green Jackets & Voltigeurs
  • Generalship Napoleonics
  • Napoleon’s Battles
  • From Valmy to Waterloo
  • Legacy of Glory
  • Shako – Rules and Army Lists for Napoleonic Wargaming
  • The Age of Eagles
  • Grande Armée
  • Musket Fire at Waterloo
  • Valour & Fortitude by Perry Miniatures
  • The Silver Bayonet – A Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror
  • 19th Century Principles of War
  • American Civil War Wargaming, Airfix Magazine Guide 24
  • Firepower
  • The Blue Light Manual
  • Stars and Bars
  • Johnny Reb
  • Johnny Reb III
  • Fire and Fury
  • Cannon Fire at Gettysburg
  • Civil War Battles
  • Age of Iron
  • Hammerin’ Iron, ACW Riverine Warfare
  • They Died For Glory
  • Hey! You in the Jail!
  • Pony Wars
  • The Sword and the Flame (TSATF)
  • The Men Who Would Be Kings
  • In the Heart of Africa, 1860–1899
  • Gaslight
  • Patrols in the Sudan 1885
  • Go Strong into the Desert
  • Space 1889
  • A Gentleman’s War
  • Space 1889
  • A Gentleman’s War
  • Trenchfoot
  • Trench
  • Over the Top (Command Decision)
  • Square Bashing
  • Red Baron
  • Battle! Practical Wargaming
  • World War 2 Wargaming, Airfix Magazine Guide 15
  • Planspielregeln
  • Bayonet and Ideology
  • Cambrai to Sinai
  • Tactical Commander
  • Battleground
  • Soldat
  • Crossfire
  • Blitzkrieg Commander
  • PBI – Poor Bloody Infantry
  • USSR – Ultra Simple Skirmish Rules
  • Panzergranate
  • Panzertruppe
  • Pizzabase Wargame
  • Two Up, Bags of Smoke
  • Tank Charts
  • Combined Arms
  • Look, Sarge, No Charts: WWII
  • WWII Micro Armour: The Game
  • Command Decision
  • Battlefront WW2
  • Final Round
  • Disposable Heroes & Coffin for Seven Brothers
  • Rapid Fire!
  • Flames of War (FoW)
  • Fletcher Pratt Naval Wargame 1943
  • Cold War Commander
  • British Army Tactical Wargame (1956)
  • Tacspiel – The American Army’s War Game of the Vietnam War (1966)
  • The Men of Company B
  • Giac My
  • Recon
  • Dunn Kempf – The Tactical Wargame of the American Army (1977–1997)
  • Staff College – Tactical Exercises on a Map (1858–1980)
  • Contact! The Restricted Canadian Army Tactical Wargame (1980)
  • ColdWar: 1983
  • AK 47 Republic
  • Twilight 2000
  • Last Battle
  • Future Warriors: Kill Zone
  • Future Wars
  • Future War Commander
  • Star Wars Miniatures Game
  • Star Wars Miniatures Starship Battles
  • Void
  • Warhammer 40,000 – Roque Trader
  • Space Hulk
    • Deathwing – Space Hulk Expansion and Mission Generator

Bibliography

  • Altrock, Constantin von, Das Kriegsspiel (1908)
  • Anon., Försök till handbok i krigsspel (Sweden 1878)
  • Bancroft, W. C. Introduction to the Employment of the Kriegsspiel Apparatus (USA 1872)
  • Baring, E., Captain RA. Rules for the Conduct of the War Game (Great Britain 1872)
  • Berghaus, Das Kriegsspiel für Reserve- und Landwehroffiziere (Berlin 1885)
  • Berliner Kriegsspiel Verein, Supplement zu den bisherigen Kriegsspiel Regeln (Berlin 1828)
  • Berliner Kriegsspiel Verein, Anleitung zur Darstellung militärischer Manöver mit dem Apparat des Kriegsspiels (Hannover 1846)
  • Bilimek-Waissolm, Oberst Hugo von, Die Leitung des Kriegsspieles und die Grenzen seiner Mittel (Vienna 1883)
  • Braun, v., Das Kriegsspiel der Kavallerie (Frankfurt an der Oder 1880)
  • Brewer, Gary D. and Shubik, Martin, The War Game. A Critique of Military Problem Solving (Harvard University Press 1979)
  • Chamberlaine, Major William, The Coast Artillery War Game (War Department Doc. № 540, Washington 1916)
  • Cochenhausen, Friedrich von, Anleitung für Planaufgaben und Kriegsspiel kleiner Verbände (Berlin 1926)
  • Cochenhausen, Friedrich von, Kriegsspiel-Fibel. Anleitung für Planaufgaben und Kriegsspiele im Rahmen des Zuges und der Kompanie (Berlin 1936)
  • Colomb, Rear-Admiral Phillip Howard, "The Duel", A Naval War Game (1879)
  • Delambre, Capitaine du Génie, Le Jeu de la Guerre (France 1872)
  • Dommers, J. H. H., Handleiding tot de taktische oefeningen op de kaart (Netherlands 1872)
  • Grant, Charles, The War Game (London 1971)
  • Hörauf, Generalmajor A.D. von, Das Kriegsspiel (1935)
  • Horvath, Lt. Guido von, The War Game (Scientific American 1916)
  • Jane, Fred T., The Naval War Game (1898)
  • Jane, Fred T., How to play the Naval War Game (1912)
  • Kunde, Rudolph Anton, Grundsätze für die Leitung des Festungskriegsspieles (Berlin 1899)
  • Leitner, T. I., Über Kriegsspiele und deren Nutzen (Vienna 1847)
  • Livermore, William R., The American Kriegsspiel – A game for practising the art of war upon a topographical map (USA 1882)
  • Meckel, Klemens Wilhelm Jacob, Studien uber das Kriegsspiel (Berlin 1873)
  • Meckel, Klemens Wilhelm Jacob, Anleitung zum Kriegsspiel (Berlin 1875, neubearbeitet durch v. Eynatten, Berlin 1903)
  • Meckel, Klemens Wilhelm Jacob, Der Kriegsspielapparat (2. Aufl., Berlin 1900)
  • Naumann, Das Regiments Kriegsspiel – Versuch einer neueb Methode des Detachments-Kriegsspiels mit 4 Tafeln in Steindruck (1877)
  • Oberlindober, Anlage und Leitung von Kriegsspielen (Oldenburg 1904)
  • Petrie, A., Kriegsspiel – Jeu de la Guerre (Belgium 1872)
  • Pratt, Fletcher, Fletcher Pratt’s Naval Wargame (Great Britain 1940)
  • Ramos, D. Maximos, El Juego de la Guerra (1881)
  • Reichenau, von, Über Handhabung und Erweiterung des Kriegsspiels (1879)
  • Reiswitz, George Baron v., Anleitung zur Darstellung militärischer Manöver mit dem Apparat des Kriegsspiels (Berlin 1824)
  • Rohne, Heinrich Wilhelm, Das Artillerie-Schießspiel (2. Aufl., Berlin 1893)
  • Schmidt, Hauptmann A., Das Preussische Kriegsspiel (Berlin 1873)
  • Sonderegger, Emil, Anlage und Leitung von Kriegsspielübungen (Frauenfeld 1897)
  • Strohl, A., Cavalleristisches Kriegsspiel auf Kriegsgeschichtlicher Grundlage (Austria 1897)
  • Totten, Charles A., "Strategoes", An American game of war based upon military principles (USA 1880)
  • Trotha, Thilo v., Anleitung zur Darstellung von Gefechtsbildern mittelt des Kriegsspielapparatus (Berlin 1870)
  • Tschischwitz, W. v., Anleitung zum Kriegsspiel (Neiße 1862)
  • Verdy du Vernois, Julius v., Beitrag zum Kriegsspiel (Berlin 1876)
  • Verdy du Vernois, Julius v., The Tactical Game (1884)
  • Wells, H. G., Little Wars (Edinburgh 1913)
  • Wilkinson, Spencer, Essays on the War Game (Great Britain 1887)
  • Zimmermann, Carl v., Winke und Ratschläge für die Leitung des Regimentskriegsspiels (Berlin 1901)

Military Miniatures Magazin regularly reviews new wargame rules, and covers interesting developments in wargaming.

Miniature Wargaming