Conflict simulation (board game)

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Game type conflict simulation game

As conflict simulation (-sspiel) (short: Kosim or Cosim , English : CONSIM , synonymously also Wargame ) complex are board games called the real or fictitious military conflicts on a tactical or strategic simulate level.

classification

Cosim player at CSW Expo 2009

Conflict simulation games are a form of abstract board games that are particularly widespread in the Anglo-Saxon language area and reproduce armed conflicts with the help of a more or less complex set of rules. They can relate to ancient, contemporary or future conflicts; some are also set in the realm of science fiction or fantasy . Most games, however, deal with scenarios from the 20th century, especially World War II .

The games simulate military processes such as troop building, supply, movement and combat in varying degrees of complexity. Side influences such as morale or socio-economic developments play a role less often. Ethical or philosophical issues are not part of the scope of the games. Complex games that, in addition to the military components, focus on socio-cultural aspects such as politics or diplomacy are called business games . Less complex games that have the subject of war the subject (eg. As risk ) are usually simply as a parlor game called.

The games are primarily for entertainment purposes, in some cases they have been used for educational purposes in the United States. The degree of realism is usually insufficient for military training purposes. Military simulations, which are used to train soldiers, are called military simulation games or, earlier, sandpit games .

The differentiated term conflict simulation game and its abbreviation Cosim have established themselves as a euphemism for board games with the theme of war, especially in Germany. In other countries, this type of game is usually referred to with the generic term war games (English: Wargame; French: Jeu de guerre).

As recently as the 1980s, the German press reported predominantly critical of Cosims. The games had an ambivalent reputation. War was not seen as an appropriate backdrop for games. At least computer games with a warlike content are discussed in most newspapers without prejudice, as long as they do not contain exaggerated depictions of violence. This is of little importance for Cosims, as the games are still not widely used in Germany and can almost only be obtained from abroad via mail order. In the Anglo-Saxon countries, the former stronghold of the Cosims, this form of play has meanwhile lost many fans in favor of computer games.

Game description

Conflict simulation games are available in different versions with a wide variety of scenarios. Despite this diversity, most conflict simulation games are based on similar rules or structural features.

Basic rules

A typical game scene of a cosim in which a red player carries out an amphibious assault against a green player on an island.

All Cosims are turn-based , so that the other players alternately plan and then execute their moves. In almost all games, military units are represented by so-called counters , which indicate the properties of the respective unit. The properties always include a movement value, which determines the mobility of the unit, and a combat value, which lists the combat strength. Both properties can also be specified implicitly or divided into several more specific values ​​as required. A combat value can be divided into melee and ranged combat values, or another defensive value can exist as an offensive value.

The game plan of a conflict simulation game usually consists of a hexagonal grid , in which each hexagon represents a playing field. Only in a few games are square or otherwise arranged playing fields. The counters are set according to certain rules, e.g. B. depending on the terrain, the weather conditions, the supply or the condition of the respective unit drawn across the field. If enemy units come within the effective range of the others, this can lead to a battle.

Battles are mostly carried out with dice, which bring a certain coincidence into play. The meaning of the results of the dice depends on other influences, such as the quantitative or qualitative superiority or inferiority, the position of the units in relation to one another, certain terrain properties or other factors. The combat results are usually determined with the help of one or more result tables (English: Combat Result Table) and the roll of the dice. In most cases, luck only plays a subordinate role, as the tables allow only a few different effects for a certain constellation. Effects can mean damage or destruction for one or more units, but also forced retreats or the withdrawal of abilities.

The games are won by achieving certain tactical objectives adapted to the scenario. The goals depend on the historical demands of the game. This can be, for example, conquering a region or a city, or just slowing down the attack of an overpowering enemy.

Playing styles

Most cosims simulate the conflict between two parties. Therefore, the most common way of playing is the two-player game. Even in multiplayer games, there are usually only two teams whose members have essentially the same goals ( e.g. Axis vs. Allied Team ). However, the single-player game is also widespread, which is why many Cosims usually have a single playability (Solitaire Suitability). Similar to the values ​​for complexity, it gives ratings from very suitable to not very suitable . The single game is used, among other things, to specifically try out alternative sequences of historical scenarios in order to experience their hypothetical effects.

Levels of complexity

For better orientation, most conflict simulation games are given a degree of complexity in advance. Even medium levels of complexity exceed those of common board games. The medium and complex games last for many hours or several days. A division into four levels is common:

Complexity level Description of the four levels
easy This degree means the entry level. It is given to very simple cosims with up to 100 counters and corresponds roughly to complex board games such as Diplomacy . Other examples are Tactics or War at Sea .
medium This grade is given to simple cosims with around 100–400 counters, which have differentiated combat values ​​for units and result tables for combat. One example is NATO - The next War in Europe .
high Games with this rating usually contain more than 400 counters and complex replenishment, movement, transport, visual and combat rules as well as usually several additional environmental influences such as weather or morale.
very high Games of the highest category have very many counters and very complex dependencies between supply, movement, combat, environment and / or socio-economic processes.

Game levels

In addition to their complexity and the temporal relation to different epochs, Cosims also differ in their level of play. In this context, the gaming level refers to the management level for which military actions are perceived by the players involved.

Name of the game level Description of the game level
Skirmish level refers to small-scale military operations. The elements in the game represent individual soldiers, vehicles or weapons. Otherwise the conditions are the same as the tactical level. An example of this level is Up Front .
Tactical level describes military operations at the level of small infantry units, individual tanks, boats or aircraft. An example of this level is Squad Leader or Advanced Squad Leader .
Operational level describes operations at the level of a campaign with the aim of securing supply routes and carrying out and coordinating military actions on a larger scale. Units on the order of squadrons, divisions and battalions are commanded.
Strategic level encompasses military events from the perspective of the commander in chief. At this level, the players control corps, armies and naval units as well as the military, economic and political events of entire nations. An example of this is Advanced Third Reich or Total War .
Grand Strategic Level refers to the level of the game in which not individual theaters of war, but all theaters of war of a war are depicted. An example of such a game would be a combination of all of the sets from A World at War .

Emergence

The conflict simulation games were preceded by a long history of war and fighting games .

War games

Traditional go players in Shanghai.

Games of warfare have been around for a very long time. The earliest tradition of a board game that dealt with the battle between two armies dates back to around 1000 BC. And comes from China. The game is referred to differently as either Wei-Hai or Wei-Chi and is a forerunner of today's Go . In ancient Greek and Roman culture, too, there were martial board games such as Petteia (Greek) or Ludus Latruculorum (Roman), both forerunners of today's chess . Numerous variants have developed from these games over the centuries and across cultures. However, none of these games had a simulative character and primarily served to pass the time. It was not until 1782 that Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig from Leipzig made the first attempts to achieve an increased degree of reality in a war game. And from the early 19th century, war games were even officially used for military training. The first game for this purpose was called simply war game and was introduced in 1811 by Baron von Reiswitz. It already contained many elements that make up the character of a cosim. According to today's parlance, this game would, however, count among the tabletop games.

First cosims

The first games that can be considered simple cosims date from the early 20th century. In the period before the First World War , numerous board games were produced in England and Germany either as propaganda tools to support the lust for war or for economic reasons because of this high belligerent spirit. Most of the games had very simple rules and were either racing games or variants of checkers , halma or wolf and sheep , only with war motifs. However, some games had innovative game mechanics like L'attack from 1910 (now known as Stratego ) or War Tactics, or Can Great Britain be Invaded? from 1915, which is considered to be the first actual Cosim. It already used counters and had a set of rules that tried to depict various military aspects in a playful way. More simple cosims appeared in Europe and America by the end of World War II.

Development after the Second World War

After the Second World War, the market for board games with war content collapsed almost completely worldwide. In Germany in particular, any war-related games were considered unacceptable. The start of the great boom of the Cosims took place in the USA in 1954 when Charles S. Roberts published the game Tactics . He recognized the economic potential of these games at that time and quickly brought other games onto the market with his specially founded company The Avalon Hill Game Company . Other companies joined the boom (e.g. Simulations Publications Inc. ), and by the end of the 1970s, well over 100 Cosims had been published. Many games became more and more complex, but also less and less playable. In the 1980s, the market was finally oversaturated, and the first consolidation effects among manufacturers occurred. In addition, computer strategy games began to become serious competition from the mid-1980s , as they automatically perform many of the calculations of the cosims, making the complex games much more playable. From the beginning of the 1990s, the sales figures of Cosims plummeted, and in 1999, Avalon Hill, the last major manufacturer of Cosims, had to give up. Since then the games have had a niche existence. However, there are always new games from small manufacturers.

Situation in Germany

In West Germany, the subject of war was largely taboo after the Second World War until around the end of the 1980s. Accordingly, there were no German board game developments on the subject of war. Some games were taken over from abroad, but even some of these had to be changed in order to avoid indexing . However, Avalon Hill had been selling its games by mail order from the USA since the 1960s, some with German game instructions. In 1982 Simulations Publications Inc. started an attempt at the Nuremberg Toy Fair to officially launch its Cosims on the German market. The attempt was stopped because of negative reactions from the press. Since Cosims were never officially banned, since the 1970s it was possible to buy imported games for interested players in some specialty stores.

In East Germany there was no form of play comparable to the Cosims.

With the normalization of foreign policy in Germany since the end of the East-West conflict , the way of dealing with the issue of war has also changed. Since the beginning of the 1990s, war games have been translated into German again and in some cases even developed in Germany (see Battle Isle ), but these are mostly computer strategy games.

Related game types

Tabletop

Flat tin figures (in a re-enactment of the Battle of Kunersdorf in 1757)

Tabletop (games) are a form of objective strategy games that are played on tables or large areas. They are similar to the military sandpit games. Instead of an abstract game plan and abstract counter, battles are modeled here with real replicas of landscapes and small figures, mostly made of tin or plastic. The rules of the game of tabletops are basically similar to those of Cosims, but distance values ​​and visual connections are made with tape measures or visual control . The combat and movement values ​​of the pieces are not printed on, as is the case with counters, but are either implicitly or on tables outside the playing field.

Computer strategy games

Computer strategy games are a form of game that adopted many of the Cosims' ideas in its early days. In addition to these, computer games have more possibilities to simulate realistic combat conditions. Above all, this includes an appropriate implementation of the fog of war , which enables moments of surprise and thus expanded forms of stratagem . But also the fact that complicated calculations are done electronically enables very complex simulations up to real-time strategy games without noticeably restricting playability. There is also the option of playing alone against an artificial intelligence or of finding human players for an online game on the net. In the early 1980s, the company Strategic Simulations Inc. developed computer games that were still heavily based on the principles of the Cosims. Avalon Hill also implemented some games on the computer. Since the late 1980s at the latest, this form of play has developed a strong dynamic of its own, from which a diverse and successful genre has emerged. A conversion of classic cosims into computer games practically no longer takes place today.

Military simulation games

U.S. Navy soldiers on a tactical exercise

Cosims are a by-product of the early military sandbox games, especially the war game of 1811. In the 20th century, however, military simulations evolved from relatively simple, rule-based games to complex simulation games. These simulation games are often played by larger teams and have one or more game masters who control the flow of information and, with unexpected events, also challenge the players' improvisational skills. In addition to the actual military actions, factors such as the behavior of the civilian population, bottlenecks due to destroyed infrastructure, the influence of the press, teamwork or authority problems in critical decisions are also discussed. This is more similar to role-playing games than to board games. In the Bundeswehr and other Western armed forces, military simulation games are carried out both in training at military schools and in everyday practice. Some military simulation games are used publicly in the context of peace and conflict research, for example by the Otto Suhr Institute .

See also

literature

  • Christopher George Lewin: War Games and Their History . Fonthill Media, Stroud (GB) 2012, ISBN 1-78155-042-5 .
  • Erwin Glonnegger : The game book: board and placement games from all over the world; Origin, rules and history . Drei-Magier-Verlag, Uehlfeld 1999, ISBN 3-9806792-0-9 .
  • James F. Dunningham: The Complete Wargames Handbook . second edition. Quill, Kent (GB) 1992, ISBN 978-0-688-10368-2 .
  • David Parlett: Oxford History of Board Games . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999, ISBN 978-0-19-212998-7 .
  • Robert Wolf: Conflict simulation and role play . DuMont paperback books, Cologne 1988, ISBN 3-7701-1599-6 .
  • HJR Murray: A History of Board Games other than Chess . Oxford University Press, New York 1951, ISBN 0-19-827401-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Jorit Wintjes, DH1 - Introduction to Conflict Simulation ( Memento from June 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), University of Würzburg, 2012
  2. ↑ Solomon K. Smith, Pounding Dice into Musket Balls: Using Wargames to Teach the American Revolution , in The History Teacher , Volume 46, Number 4, August 2013
  3. ↑ American Officials are playing Board Wargames in The Economist , March 15, 2014
  4. ^ Robert Wolf, The war as a game - morality and immorality of conflict simulation games , in conflict simulation and role-playing games , Cologne, 1988, ISBN 3-7701-1599-6
  5. ↑ Board game with the horrors of war , in FAZ from March 9, 1982
  6. ↑ Civilization V is becoming more democratic , in Die Zeit online on September 27, 2010
  7. ↑ Michael Peck, The state of Wargaming in The Armchair General Magazine , Nov. 2006
  8. ^ John Fairbairn, Go in Ancient China , 1995
  9. ^ HJR Murray, Games in the Ancient World in A History of Board Games other than Chess , Oxford University Press, New York, 1951, ISBN 0-19-827401-7
  10. ^ Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum , tenth book
  11. ^ Report in Antiques Trade Gazette , July 10, 2004
  12. ^ The military weekly paper , five editions between 1824 and 1874. Quoted from Christopher Lewin, War Games and their History , Chapter 3, Fonthill Media, Stroud (GB) 2012, ISBN 978-1-78155-042-7
  13. ↑ Erich Glonnegger, Wettrennspiele in Das Spiele-Buch , pp. 66–75, Drei Magier Verlag, Uehlfeld, 1999, ISBN 3-9806792-0-9
  14. ↑ Christopher Lewin, War Games and their History , Chapter 6, Fonthill Media, Stroud (GB) 2012, ISBN 978-1-78155-042-7
  15. ^ A History of the World's First and Largest Wargame Publisher. The Avalon Hill Game Company, Baltimore, USA 1983.
  16. ↑ Christopher Lewin, War Games and their History , Chapter 8, Fonthill Media, Stroud (GB) 2012, ISBN 978-1-78155-042-7
  17. ^ Anne-Ev Ustorf, We Children of the War Children: The Generation in the Shadow of the Second World War , Verlag Herder GmbH, Freiburg, June 2008
  18. ↑ New "risk" version: Off to Stalingrad! , taz.de, March 20, 2010
  19. ↑ The next war is decided on the field near Fulda - US company does business with the horror , in Nürnberger Nachrichten of March 9, 1982
  20. ^ The normalization of German foreign policy The European , September 30, 2011
  21. ↑ Expert knowledge round strategy, In Retro Gamer 02/2015, pp. 152–159.
  22. ^ Philip Sabin, Simulating War - Studying Conflict through Simulation Games , Part 1, Bloomsbury Press, London, 2012, ISBN 0415419743
  23. ↑ POLIS business game of the Bundeswehr
  24. ^ Seminar on Conflict Prevention in the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Moldova ( Memento from June 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), University of Würzburg, 2009