| CODE | LAS2042 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Storming the Teacup: Conflict Simulation by Tabletop Wargaming | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | H - Higher Level | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Centre for the Liberal Arts and Sciences | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | As Napoleon Bonaparte was retreating from Moscow, the Prussian army was introducing Kriegsspiel - Instructions for the Representation of Tactical Manoeuvers under the Guise of a Wargame to train officers. A century later H.G. Wells and Jerome K. Jerome, playing with toy soldiers, decided that a simple set of rules could be created to simulate battle, and Wells’ Little Wars was published in 1913. An additional hundred years later, in 2021/2022, Games Workshop, the largest tabletop wargame rules publisher and model manufacturer, registered a profit of GBP39 million. Wargames today are used as entertainment, in support of education and as simulations of real scenarios, which need not be solely restricted to military incidents, but also so management, crisis, humanitarian and social and political scenarios. This study-unit will introduce the concept of wargames, focusing mainly on tabletop wargames with physical models, but also discussing other variants of the genre, including military wargames, computer games and tabletop games. The history of wargames will be described as an introduction to the development of the concept. The taxonomy of wargame types and the basic components common to most will be described. A simple set of rules will be used to illustrate the mechanics of wargaming; this will include a number of practical examples in which students will be invited to participate. Rules design concepts and issues will be discussed, as will the impact of randomness and probability and the mathematical determination of combat outcome. The adaptation of wargame playing and design experience to other scenarios will conclude the unit. The history and development of wargames and wargaming will be presented as an introduction to the topic. A representative wargame system will be used to describe the basic concepts of wargaming and the mechanics and methodology of a typical game, with hands-on gaming exercises included in the lectures. The utility and applications of wargaming, and the reasons why designs and adaptations of wargaming are also useful for non-military application will be presented and discussed. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe the mechanisms which drive wargames; - List the benefits which can be derived from wargaming as a method of simulation; - Demonstrate how wargames can be run and designed; - Describe the transferability of insights gained from rules design to other areas of application. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Run a tabletop wargame; - Simulate a historical battle and understand the potential outcomes; - Design a scenario and acquire required resources; - Design a basic wargame system; - Apply wargame design concepts to other activities, such as planning and project management. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Rubel, R.C., 2006. The epistemology of war gaming. NAVAL WAR COLL NEWPORT RI. - Sabin, P., 2012. Simulating war: Studying conflict through simulation games. A&C Black. Supplementary Readings: - By, T., 2012. Formalizing Game-play. Simulation & Gaming, 43(2), pp.157-187. - Caffrey Jr, M., 2000. Toward a history-based doctrine for wargaming. Air & Space Power Journal, 14(3), p.33. - Creveld, Martin Van. Wargames. New York: Cambridge UP, 2013 - Curry, J., 2012. Peter Perla's the art of wargaming: a guide for professionals and hobbyists. - Curry, J. and Price, T., 2017. Modern crises for matrix war games. History of Wargaming Project. - Harrigan, P., Kirschenbaum, M.G. and Dunnigan, J.F., 2016. Zones of Control: Perspectives on Wargaming. MIT Press. - Vego, M., 2012. German war gaming. Naval war college review, 65(4), p.106. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Practical | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | John Charles Betts Steve Micallef |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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