7/29/2019 A Game of War by Alice Becker-Ho and Guy Debord Reviewed by Rob Morgan

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A Game Of War

By Alice Becker-Ho and Guy DebordReviewed by Rob Morgan

There we are, the title of this excellent volume has caught your attention already! This is a.ULHJVSLHOin a book. Of course the origin of the splendid and royally encouraged militaryJDPHRIWKHVKDVEHHQGLVFXVVHGDQGDQDO\VHGIRUGHFDGHVQRWOHDVWLQWKHSDJHVRIWKLV

august publication over some years.

That a campaign game of maps, dice, and model troops developed after Bonaparte shookEuropean Princes and Generals to their boots, should become a valuable part of the training ofGerman and later Russian, French and other European army officers is no surprise.Feld-Marshal Helmuth von Moltke 7KH0DQRI6LOHQFHloved the war game, and played itoften, as did Kron-Prinz Wilhelm. Of course the German wargame developed from early

.ULHJVSLHOto become a key aid to their military planning at Staff level as well as in theMilitarAkademie. The first and later versions of the Schlieffen Plan were put to test in.ULHJVSLHO, and even the staid and uninspiring British General Lord Kitchener is said to haveshown interest in the wargame as a means of developing initiative among Commanders. Thoughregrettably there was little backing for the concept in official circles either in Britain or the USA,XQWLO6FKOLHIIHQVFDPSDLJQLQWKH:HVWRSHQHGLQ$XJXVW

7KHHDUO\VZDUJDPHVZHUHODQG-based naturally. ,WZDVQWXQWLO-XQHZKHQWKHlegendary Fred T. Jane read a paper on a naval war game at the United Services Institute that warat sea attracted gaming attention, and support among the highest innovative circles in theAdmiralties of Britain, Japan and surprisingly Russia. $ERRNRQ-DQHVJDPHZDVSXEOLVKHGLQEnglish and Japanese in 1912 and the rules are still playable to this day. 7KHUHVDSRLJQDQWQRWHincidentally, to be found in the Preface of$*DPHRI:DUtelling us that Guy Debord hadinvented a workable naval .ULHJVSLHO at around the same time, in the mid-V but of that,nothing remains, sad to say.

Wargames seem so very much more sophisticated now than when I first rolled a dice in the earlyV

7/29/2019 A Game of War by Alice Becker-Ho and Guy Debord Reviewed by Rob Morgan

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of horse and foot artillery, and 2 communications units. These are all in stiff card and safelyretained in the box.

There are full instructions for the game, and indeed every conceivable aspect of the historical.ULHJVSLHOis covered, but all in mounted, horse-drawn or marching form. The symbols used,the original sets were produced in etched copper with moulded terrain features and unit piecesand markers, and the characteristics of the forces in play are given adequate explanation. Therules, and there are 16 pages of these in all, covering 7DFWLFDO(QJDJHPHQW&RPPXQLFDWLRQVand as with the original 19th century game, 7KH&RQGXFWRI:DU(2U'RQWOHWVEHEHDVWO\WR

WKH*HUPDQV - to paraphrase Noel Coward!) and an interesting section entitled 6RPH8QGHU-5HSUHVHQWHGRU$EVHQW)DFWRUVwhich I warmly recommend to those who field armies of super-men, mounted upon steeds like Pegasus, with batteries of guns to every yard of front.Thoroughly researched and well written rules these are, and should be regarded as easily

playable.

The second half of the book consists of a record of a typical wargame. The successivemovements of forces, deployment, battle and exploitation of victory in a game played by DebordDQGKLVFROOHDJXH*HUDUG/HERYLFLLQWKHV*X\'HERUGVDLGKHZDQWHGWRLPLWDWHSRNHUrather than chess in interpreting warfare, which is not a bad idea, and it seems he succeeded.

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This is no roll of the dice and simple counting of effect game. ,WVFUHDWRUHVWLPDWHGFRUUHFWO\LQmy opinion, that to complete the .ULHJVSLHOwould take around two hours in real time, andsome hundred or more moves if each side starts equal in forces - though that can be altered intrue campaign gamesmanship form!

Not only is this a very playable concept of 19thFHQWXU\ZDULWVDYHU\UHDGDEOHERRN I foundPXFKRI'HERUGVFRPPHQWVDQd advice as the book progressed, and particularly the notescollected after his death, provided an interesting insight into my understanding of the historical.ULHJVSLHO In fact, upon closing $*DPHRI:DUI found myself picking up my longneglected cRS\RI*RUOLW]VHPLQDOZRUNRQ7KH*HUPDQ*HQHUDO6WDIIfor inspiration on howto cross defended mountain passes!

I heartily recommend this book and its accompanying game, despite the fact that it seems at firstsight rather costly at 20 - ,YHQRLGea what it sells for in the USA. Not merely because I feelthat a rarity such as this, a military wargame vividly created with the hindsight of Schlieffen, of

Ludendorff and arguably reflecting the events of Tannenberg (1914) is of substantial value to usas historians and gamers. I also do so because I feel that this may turn out to be the only timethat this intuitive and fascinating production enters the English language.

,OOHQGZLWK'HERUGVILQDOPRVWILWWLQJTXRWHRQKLVYHUVLRQRIZDUJDPLQJ It comes from0DUFXV+HURQ\PXV9LGDVSRHPRQFKHVV

/XGLPXVHIILJLHPEHOOL

:KDWZHSOD\LVDUHSUHVHQWDWLRQRIZDU

So it is.Do buy it!

$*DPHRI:DU$OLFH%HFNHU-Ho and Guy Debord. 2009. Atlas Press. Paperback, 20. Boxedset. ISBN 978-1-900565-38-7.

Editors Note: this is currently available on amazon.com starting at US$23.49.