How a Board Game Helped Win a War
Kriegsspiel
Wargames today are considered an essential part of military planning and training. They have also become a distinctive genre of tabletop and computer games where enthusiasts can test their mettle on virtual or imaginary battlefields.
It is fascinating that today’s wargames, whether that be Pentagon simulations or two friends playing Warhammer 40,000, share a common ancestor in the 19th century game Kriegsspiel (German for ‘wargame’ or ‘warplay’).
The German wargame was developed in the 1800s by Prussian officers to teach tactics and strategy to officers. It evolved from early attempts at wargaming in the German states. These first attempts were akin to chess and quite unrealistic. The board was usually laid out in a grid of squares with terrain such as rivers taking unnatural forms.
https://historyofyesterday.com/how-a-board-game-helped-win-a-war-4d57153e2979