Reproducing the
Napoleonic Command Experience

The Beginning
(1824 and All That Von Stuff)

by David Commerford, UK

I have always found it particularly interesting that the first person to attempt the recreation of C2 in wargames got it as close as he did to modern thinking. Kriegsspiel, created by Von Reisswitz, a Lieutenant in the Prussian Army, employed most of the ideas we see in later wargames and a good few that others have missed. Of course when it came to writing what were, essentially, Napoleonic rules, Von Reisswitz had a distinct advantage over everyone who came after him, in that he had actually fought in the aforementioned conflict! Enlisting in the Prussian Artillery when he was only sixteen, he won the Iron Cross 2nd Class at Glogau in 1813, so one can assume that he knew what he was writing about.

Published in 1824,Von Reisswitz's work, built on his father's original ideas and introduced the now familiar concepts of the "move" or game turn, time based move distance, accurate ranges, troop formations and hidden movement. The game its self was map based and always required a minimum of three players, one of whom would be the umpire.

All moves and actions were given an allotted time by the umpire, who controlled the game clock, made the required moves with a scale ruler and through dice rolls (to randomise combat and fire outcomes) decided casualties and success, or failure, of melees etc. The fire effects were taken from personal observation and Scharnhorst's "Wirkung of Feuergewehers". These and the close combat tables, were designed to reward skilful commanders without giving them the total ability to predict the outcome. The umpire was responsible for moral effects applied in the game and assessing the ability of the units involved to function according to their losses and situation. Command and Control was also handled by the umpire, who determined visibility, situational awareness and the time taken to transmit and receive written orders given to him by the players. As in the modern era, it was expected that in multi player games verbal contact between players would be strictly controlled and all orders were to be in writing unless the commanders were deemed to be in physical contact.

This purist form of gaming still has its adherents and in one form or another has continued into the modern age. Although the more recent past has allowed computer 3D simulation, in addition to purely map based training, the map still has its place, as naturally officers in the field still need them, even if they do have GPS! Unfortunately, it is this map reading aspect that has always been the hardest to grasp for new comers to Kriegsspiel games and it's biggest turn off. The ability to translate the map into a 3D mental image, of what can and cannot be seen, is an acquired skill. This, I feel, is a shame as it still has a lot to offer and is a very instructive tool for those who are used to the infamous "helicopter effect" that pervades our casual play.

As happens to all rules, players soon began to amend items of the original as they played.

In 1828 the Berlin Kriegsspiel Clubs issued their amendments and in the years that followed everyone was at it. There were updates or additional ideas by Von Trotha in 1869 and Von Tschischwitz in 1872. The latter, in turn, being added to, during their translation into English, by Captain Baring (Rules for the Conduct of the War-Game) and later the splendidly named Von Verdy du Vernois, who had been on Von Moltke's staff in the Franco Prussian War, published his own work in 1884. Incidentally, he still holds the record for a wargames author having the most "V's" in his surname.

Sandwiched in between all this Von activity was the next person I want to mention, for reasons that will become clearer later on and the fact that he was, as far as I'm aware, the first original author in the English language.

The Livermore Additions

Captain W.R.Livermore was an officer in the U.S.Army, Corps of Engineers. In 1879, he wrote a rule set based on statistics complied with help from the German, Austrian and British General Staff. His aim was produce rules on a more scientific basis than previous Kriegsspiel.

Of these rules, published in 1882, Livermore stated "the factors upon which the game is based have been determined from a comparison of military statistics, made with the utmost care and subjected to long and severe tests by constant practice of the game in the German Army"

He also said "It is by no means assumed that these factors are invariable, or that the causes, apparently identical, will always produce the same results, but it is of great advantage to be able at once to ascertain the average experience with regard to any point that may arise in the course of the game or actual warfare"

As such we can see that Livermore was aware of the need for the concept of a base line from which he could draw the possible levels of variation. Similar to the basic moral/fire/melee factors to which the plus and minus elements of modern games are added.

Indeed, he covered the ground now well trodden in wargames rules such as differing movement rates, probability of troops rallying, losses determined upon formation and position, effects of fatigue etc. The importance of this for me, is that Livermore wanted a consistent application of the rules, based on his research and statistical application which moved the Kriegsspeil concept further away from the personal discretion of the umpire and nearer to the modern, two player, game.

Of course Livermore, like Von Trotha, Von Tschischwitz and Von Verdy du Vernois was also updating the concept of Kriegsspeil to account for the advances in technology in the post Napoleonic era. However it is the methodical approach that interests me more that the weapons involved.

More Reproducing the Napoleonic Command Experience

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