CINXE.COM

<!doctype html>     <html class="no-js" lang="en"> <head> <meta charset="utf-8"> <title>SFE: Wargame</title> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"> <meta name="description" content="Welcome to the fourth edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction." /> <meta name="keywords" content="" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1">  <script> window.ga=window.ga||function(){(ga.q=ga.q||[]).push(arguments)};ga.l=+new Date; ga("create", "UA-24275979-1", "auto"); ga("send", "pageview"); </script> <script async src="https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js"></script>  <link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="apple-touch-icon.png"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/style.css?v=1"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/media-queries.css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/cookie.css"> <script src="/static/js/libs/modernizr-2.0.6.min.js"></script> <style media="screen" type="text/css"> ::-moz-selection { background: navy !important; } html, body { margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; } #container { min-height:100%; position:relative; } #header { background:#ff0; padding:10px; } #body { padding-bottom:15px; /* Height of the footer */ } #footer { position:absolute; bottom:0; width:100%; height:15px; /* Height of the footer */ background:#6cf; } </style>  </head> <body style="overflow-x: hidden;"> <div id="container"> <div id="body"> <div id="minorNavWrapper"> <nav id="minornav" class="clearfix"> <ul class="clearfix" style="font-weight: bold;"> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about-us">About us</a></li> <li><a href="/random.php">Random</a></li> <li><a href="/contact.php">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="/donate.php">Donate</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div id="mainNavWrapper"> <nav id="mainnav"> <ul class="clearfix"> <li class="home"><a title="Home page" href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/"><img id="sfeLogoSmall" src="/static/img/sfe.png" alt="SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"><img id="sfeLogo" src="/static/img/logo.png" alt="SFE: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"></a><span class="logoArrow"></span></li> <li class="section-all"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/0">All entries</a></li> <li class="section-themes"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/theme">Themes</a></li> <li class="section-authors"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/everyone">People</a></li> <li class="section-media"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/media">Media</a></li> <li class="section-culture"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/category/culture">Culture</a></li> <li class="section-news"><a href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/news/">News</a></li> </ul> </nav> </div> <div id="main"> <div class="colsWrapper clearfix"> <div class="column mainCol clearfix" style="background-color:white !important;"> <fieldset id="globalSearch"> <form name="srchenter" method="post" action="/search.php"> <select name="catfilter" class="searchFilter" style="width: 132px" title="Select entry category for headword or global search"> <option value="">Search all entries</option> <option value="chk">Checklist titles</option><option value="art">Art</option> <option value="author">Author</option> <option value="award">Award</option> <option value="character">Character</option> <option value="comics">Comics</option> <option value="community">Community</option> <option value="critic">Critic</option> <option value="editor">Editor</option> <option value="fan">Fan</option> <option value="film">Film</option> <option value="game">Game</option> <option value="house name">House Name</option> <option value="international">International</option> <option value="music">Music</option> <option value="people">People (media)</option> <option value="prelim">Prelim</option> <option value="publication">Publication</option> <option value="publisher">Publisher</option> <option value="radio">Radio</option> <option value="theatre">Theatre</option> <option value="theme">Theme</option> <option value="tv">TV</option> </select> <input name="search" type="text" value="" style="margin: 0 0 5px 0; width: 155px !important;" onFocus="this.select()" onClick="this.select()" onHover="this.select()" class="searchText" id="defaultOpen">  <input type="submit" value="Headwords" class="button primary" style="margin: 5px 0 0 0;; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px">  <input type="submit" name="glob" value="Global search" class="button primary" style="margin: 5px 0 0 0; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px"> <input type="text" name="eofmode" value="" hidden> <div style="display:none;"> <p style="margin: 0px; float: left;"><input type="radio" name="tomeselect" value="sfe" checked> <i>Search SFE</i>   <input type="radio" name="tomeselect" value="eof"> <i>Search EoF</i></p> <p style="margin: 0px; float: right;"> <input type="checkbox" Name="noxref">  <i>Omit cross-reference entries</i>  </p> <script> document.srchenter.search.focus(); document.addEventListener("keydown", function(event) { if (event.code == "PageDown" || event.code == "ArrowDown" || ( !event.getModifierState("NumLock") && (event.code == "Numpad2" || event.code == "Numpad3"))) { document.srchenter.search.blur(); } }) </script> </div> </form> </fieldset> <article class="entryArticle content STeditorial"> <header class="entryHeader icon-game"> <h1 class="entryTitle">Wargame </h1> </header><p class='tagLine'>Entry updated 16 October 2022. Tagged: Game, Theme.</p><div class="browsingBtns"> <span> <input class="button PNI previous" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?id=p&entry=wargame'" value="Prev" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI next" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/next.php?&entry=wargame'" value="Next" /> </span> <span> <input class="button PNI incoming" type="button" onclick="window.location.href='/incoming.php?entry=wargame'" value="About This Entry" title="What links to the entry; contributor initials explained; how to cite; other information" /> </span> <span style="cursor: pointer;" onclick="window.open('/gallery.php?link=wargame');"> <img alt="Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com" style="margin: 0; position: relative; top:-2px;" src="/images/icon-gal.gif"></img></span> </div><p style='float:right; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:10px; position: relative; top: 3px;'> <a href='/gallery.php?id=Thurston-btech01.jpg' target='_blank'> <img src='https://x.sf-encyclopedia.com/gal/thumbs/Thurston-btech01.jpg' alt='pic'></a></p> <p>Term used by this encyclopedia to denote a game which models a military conflict using physical components, such as a mapboard and counters or miniature figures. Games which simulate war by other means are dealt with elsewhere; thus books which use rules similar to those of a Wargame are considered under <a href="/entry/gamebook">Gamebooks</a>, and strategy and tactics-based <a href="/entry/videogame">Videogames</a> under <a href="/entry/computer_wargame">Computer Wargames</a>. Wargames typically emphasize accuracy of simulation, whether the events they model are real or fictional, using detailed rules and complex algorithms written in a manner reminiscent of computer programs. Dice are often used to introduce a random element representing the unpredictability of battle. While most Wargames require two (or more) players, some are designed for solitaire play, and a few (primarily those used by professional militaries for training) require the presence of a referee to interpret the rules. For most players the appeal of the form is based on the precision with which a game models possible events and the pleasure to be gained from intellectual competition between evenly matched opponents. Much of the art of Wargame design depends on the discovery of elegant compromises between these two potentially conflicting goals. The line separating Wargames and <a href="/entry/board_game">Board Games</a> can be a blurred one; in borderline cases, such as <i>The</i> <a href="/entry/creature_that_ate_sheboygan_the">Creature that Ate Sheboygan</a> (<i>1979</i>), this encyclopedia has based its choice of category on the degree of emphasis on simulation in the rules and the line of historical development that led to the game in question.</p> <p>Wargames are a very old form of recreation, and their early history is obscure. One ancient example is Chaturanga, a precursor of modern <a href="/entry/chess">Chess</a> played in sixth-century India which simulated contemporary military strategy. A more recent form is described in Laurence Sterne's novel <i>The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman</i> (<b>1759-1767</b> 9vols), in which Uncle Toby and Corporal Trim are obsessed with a game using miniature models played on the bowling green of Shandy Hall. The recognized modern line of development begins with <i>Kriegspiel</i> (<i>circa 1811</i>), a game used by Prussian military officers as a training exercise. <i>Kriegspiel</i>, which used miniature figures, was largely invented by one Von Reisswitz, after a simpler game played on a board with counters created by Helwig, Master of Pages for the Duke of Brunswick, in 1780. One interesting feature of <i>Kriegspiel</i> was the use of a neutral umpire to inform players of their opponents' dispositions (thus introducing a "fog of war", since players were denied perfect knowledge of the battlefield). Following the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, other armies introduced their own versions of the game, including the English <i>Aldershot</i> and the American <i>Strategos</i> (<i>1880</i>) designed by Charles Totten.</p> <p>While no early modern Wargames were sf, the most influential figures in their development as games as opposed to training simulations appear to have been science fiction writers. The first such game to be commercially published may have been Fred T <a href="/entry/jane_fred_t">Jane</a>'s <i>Naval War Game</i>, included in the 1906 edition of his reference book <b>Jane's Fighting Ships</b>. While <a href="/entry/jane_fred_t">Jane</a>'s game was intended for a select circle of enthusiasts, H G <a href="/entry/wells_h_g">Wells</a> published his <i>Little Wars: A Game for Boys from Twelve Years of Age to One Hundred and Fifty and for That More Intelligent Sort of Girls Who Like Boys' Games: With an Appendix on Kriegspiel</i> (graph <b>1913</b>) as a standalone volume, aimed at a much larger audience, though one composed primarily of young boys. Interestingly, Wells draws a clear distinction between the game (which deals with tactical conflicts between contemporary armies using simple rules) and actual warfare, suggesting that "Little Wars" could supersede real conflicts in the same way that the consumption of symbolic religious images had replaced human sacrifice. This is an argument which has reappeared frequently in debates over violence in <a href="/entry/game_design">Game Design</a>. Another influential Wargame from this period is Fletcher <a href="/entry/pratt_fletcher">Pratt</a>'s <i>Naval War Game</i> (<i>1940</i>), a successor to <a href="/entry/jane_fred_t">Jane</a>'s game, originally developed during the 1930s and later expanded to deal with the Second as well as the First World War. <a href="/entry/pratt_fletcher">Pratt</a> played his game with a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, including Robert A <a href="/entry/heinlein_robert_a">Heinlein</a>, L Sprague <a href="/entry/de_camp_l_sprague">de Camp</a> and L Ron <a href="/entry/hubbard_l_ron">Hubbard</a>.</p> <p>All of these games, however, used miniature models, which were too expensive at the time for anyone other than dedicated hobbyists. In 1954 Charles Roberts designed and published <i>Tactics</i>, a game which simulates contemporary tactical conflicts between two hypothetical armies. <i>Tactics</i> used a flat mapboard and cardboard counters, components which could be mass produced relatively cheaply. In 1958 Roberts founded Avalon Hill (AH), a US company dedicated to producing similar games. Many of the detailed mechanics employed in later board and counter Wargames, including the allocation of points specifying how far units such as infantry or artillery can move in a game turn and the requirement that entering more difficult terrain costs more points, are already present in <i>Tactics</i>. The <a href="/entry/world_war_two">World War Two</a> game <i>D-Day</i> (<i>1961</i> AH; rev <i>1977</i>) designed by Charles Roberts replaced the square grid (used in earlier Avalon Hill releases to divide the map up into areas which could be occupied by a unit) with a hexagonal one, an innovation borrowed from contemporary military simulations produced by the RAND Corporation. Hexagons, unlike squares, do not require special rules for diagonal movement; they have been used in most subsequent board and counter Wargames and many <a href="/entry/computer_wargame">Computer Wargames</a>. In 1969 Avalon Hill acquired its first real competitor with the arrival of another American company, Simulations Publications Inc (SPI). SPI concentrated solely on producing Wargames, while Avalon Hill also released <a href="/entry/board_game">Board Games</a>, and developed new works far more frequently than its rival. The result was rapid growth in what had previously still been a fairly obscure hobby.</p> <p>By the end of the 1960s the core design elements that would be used in board and counter Wargames had all been established. Games were either turn-based (in which play alternated between the opponents) or simultaneous (in which all players wrote down their movements in advance, and then executed them together). Avalon Hill, whose products emphasized speed and entertaining gameplay, tended to release turn-based games, while SPI, which favoured accuracy of simulation, often produced ones using simultaneous movement. Games were constructed on a range of spatial and temporal scales, from the year-long grand strategy of <i>D-Day</i> to the fast-moving infantry tactics of a game such as <i>Sniper!</i> (<i>1973</i> SPI) designed by James Dunnigan. In general, Wargames are divided into three categories: tactical (which concentrate on brief, local conflicts), strategic (which deal with the conduct of an entire war) and operational (which model the outcome of a single battle). In SPI's later "Starforce Trilogy", for example, <a href="/entry/starforce_alpha_centauri">Starforce: Alpha Centauri</a> (<i>1974</i>) is an operational game, while its sequels <i>Outreach</i> and <i>Starsoldier</i> are respectively strategic and tactical in scope (see <a href="/entry/starforce_alpha_centauri">Starforce: Alpha Centauri</a>). By contrast, games which use miniature figures are almost all tactical in nature, since larger scales would require unfeasible numbers of models to be used. In the late 1960s Dunnigan, who founded SPI with Redmond <a href="/entry/simonsen_redmond">Simonsen</a>, had begun to develop a theory of Wargames which treated them as a form of "analytic history", simulations of actual events which lent themselves to non linear exploration and experimentation leading to counterfactual results. At this time all Wargames dealt with historical or contemporary subjects; sf Wargames had not been invented.</p> <p>The first science fiction Wargame was <a href="/entry/lensman">Lensman</a> (<i>1969</i>), self-published by Philip Pritchard. Another early game which attempts to provide a detailed simulation of war in space is <a href="/entry/4000_ad">4000 AD</a> (<i>1972</i>), though that was produced by Waddingtons – a UK company normally associated with <a href="/entry/board_game">Board Game</a> development – and seems to have had little historical influence. <a href="/entry/lensman">Lensman</a>, however, helped inspire the first science-fictional Wargames released by major companies: SPI's <a href="/entry/starforce_alpha_centauri">Starforce: Alpha Centauri</a> (<i>1974</i>) and <a href="/entry/triplanetary">Triplanetary</a> (<i>1973</i>), a product of the newly formed Game Designers' Workshop (GDW). Meanwhile, the less well known Guidon Games released <i>Chainmail</i> (<i>1971</i>; rev <i>1972</i>; rev <i>1975</i>) designed by Gary <a href="/entry/gygax_gary">Gygax</a>, Jeff Perren, a miniatures based medieval game with rules for incorporating <a href="/entry/magic">Magic</a> and fantastic beasts (see <a href="/entry/supernatural_creatures">Supernatural Creatures</a>) which make it the first commercially published <a href="/entry/fantasy">Fantasy</a> Wargame. These works proved highly popular, and began a boom in sf and fantasy Wargames which formed a major part of the general rapid expansion in the hobby during the 1970s. Notable examples, all of the board and counter type, include SPI's <a href="/entry/battlefleet_mars">Battlefleet Mars</a> (<i>1977</i>) and <i>Sorcerer</i> (<i>1975</i>) designed by Redmond <a href="/entry/simonsen_redmond">Simonsen</a>, a fantasy game based on an innovative magical system with mechanics resembling those of the traditional game of "scissors paper stone", as well as Avalon Hill's <a href="/entry/robert_heinleins_starship_troopers">Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers</a> (<i>1976</i>). Many other games were created by new American companies which, like GDW, largely concentrated on sf and fantasy. Into this latter category fall the mythopoeic narrative game <i>White Bear and Red Moon</i> (<i>1975</i> Chaosium; <i>1980</i> rev vt <i>Dragon Pass</i>; <i>1993</i> rev vt <i>La Guerre des Héros</i> in France) designed by Greg Stafford, set in the richly detailed <a href="/entry/heroic_fantasy">Heroic Fantasy</a> world of <b>Glorantha</b>, <a href="/entry/stellar_conquest">Stellar Conquest</a> (<i>1974</i>), <a href="/entry/ogre">Ogre</a> (<i>1977</i>), <a href="/entry/star_fleet_battles">Star Fleet Battles</a> (<i>1979</i>) and the slightly later <a href="/entry/car_wars">Car Wars</a> (<i>1982</i>). These games could be divided into the same broad categories as historical and contemporary Wargames, from the grand strategy of <a href="/entry/battlefleet_mars">Battlefleet Mars</a> to the squad level tactics of <a href="/entry/robert_heinleins_starship_troopers">Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers</a>, but the sf and fantasy works were unusual for the depth and complexity of their backgrounds. Since there was no historical context, designers of science fiction games were forced to create detailed <a href="/entry/future_histories">Future Histories</a> containing conflicts which could be simulated using Wargames. In some cases, such as <a href="/entry/ogre">Ogre</a>, these frame narratives (see <a href="/entry/interactive_narrative">Interactive Narrative</a>) led to the creation of fictional <a href="/entry/tie">Ties</a>.</p> <p>By the start of the 1980s, however, the industry was experiencing a rapid decline in sales. Several explanations exist for this phenomenon. Many of the sf readers who had been attracted to Wargames by such works as <a href="/entry/starforce_alpha_centauri">Starforce: Alpha Centauri</a> came to prefer the newly devised <a href="/entry/role_playing_game">Role Playing Game</a> form, with its much stronger focus on story. More generally, players frequently found the complexity of Wargames daunting, and experienced difficulty in locating opponents, resulting in unsatisfactory solitaire games of works intended for two or more players. Both of these problems, however, were largely resolved by <a href="/entry/computer_wargame">Computer Wargames</a>, since the computer could both perform the necessary calculations and provide an opponent, though not necessarily a skilled one. The steady improvements in available microcomputer hardware seen throughout the 1980s thus led naturally to players abandoning traditional Wargames in favour of the computer-based equivalent. Various attempts were made by Wargame developers to reverse these trends, including the introduction of simpler, easy to learn games such as <i>The</i> <a href="/entry/creature_that_ate_sheboygan_the">Creature that Ate Sheboygan</a> (<i>1979</i>) and games that incorporated elements from <a href="/entry/role_playing_game">RPG</a>s, as in <a href="/entry/john_carter_warlord_of_mars">John Carter: Warlord of Mars</a> (<i>1979</i>). By the late 1980s, however, the industry had largely collapsed. <a href="/entry/web_and_starship">Web and Starship</a> (<i>1984</i>) was one of the last sf board and counter games to be published entirely on its own merits. Later games of this type were often linked to <a href="/entry/role_playing_game">RPG</a>s, as with the <a href="/entry/2300_ad">2300 AD</a> spinoff <i>Star Cruiser</i> (<i>1987</i>) and the <a href="/entry/traveller">Traveller</a> games <i>Brilliant Lances</i> (<i>1993</i>) and <i>Battle Rider</i> (<i>1994</i>).</p> <p>Wargames based on the use of miniature figures had, however, been largely unaffected by both the 1970s boom and the subsequent crash in the board and counter form. Instead, they had gradually become more popular as games which required large armies constructed from expensive models and hand crafted scenery were joined by ones using cheaper cardboard or plastic miniatures, sometimes taking place on preprinted maps resembling those of a board and counter game. Miniatures games frequently have less complex rules than board-based ones, and the use of figures which can be collected, customized and displayed adds a physical dimension which the virtual worlds created by <a href="/entry/videogame">Videogames</a> cannot provide. As a result, miniatures games, though never as popular as board and counter ones were during the boom, have remained commercially viable. The most popular such games in the 1980s and subsequent decades have frequently been sf or fantasy; examples include <a href="/entry/battletech">Battletech</a> (<i>1984</i>), <i>Sky Galleons of Mars</i> (<i>1988</i>) (see <a href="/entry/space_1889">Space: 1889</a>), <i>Space Hulk</i> (<i>1989</i>) (see <a href="/entry/warhammer_40000">Warhammer 40,000</a>), <a href="/entry/crimson_skies">Crimson Skies</a> (<i>1998</i>) and <a href="/entry/collectible_miniatures_game">Collectible Miniatures Games</a> such as <a href="/entry/heroclix">Heroclix</a> (<i>2002</i>). By far the most commercially successful of recent miniatures-based Wargames, however, are <a href="/entry/games_workshop">Games Workshop</a>'s two main products: the <a href="/entry/sword_and_sorcery">Sword and Sorcery</a> <i>Warhammer Fantasy Battle</i> (<i>1983</i>; rev <i>1984</i>; rev <i>1987</i>; rev <i>1992</i>; rev <i>1996</i>; rev <i>2000</i>; rev <i>2006</i>; rev <i>2010</i>) designed by Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, Rick Priestley and the <a href="/entry/far_future">Far Future</a> science fiction <a href="/entry/warhammer_40000">Warhammer 40,000</a> (<i>1987</i>). With this, the form has come full circle, from the first set of rules intended for a mass market, created by the UK sf author H G <a href="/entry/wells_h_g">Wells</a> in 1913 for use with miniature figures, to the present, dominated by UK produced games of fantasy and science-fictional warfare with model armies. [NT]</p> <p><b>see also:</b> <a href="/entry/after_the_holocaust">After the Holocaust</a>; <a href="/entry/attack_vector_tactical">Attack Vector: Tactical</a>; <a href="/entry/empire_i">Empire I</a>; <a href="/entry/holy_war">Holy War</a>.</p> <p><b>further reading</b></p> <ul class="x"> <li>Andrew Wilson. <em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Bomb+and+the+Computer&field-author=Andrew+Wilson" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Bomb and the Computer</a></em> (London: Barrie and Rockliff, <b>1968</b>) [nonfiction: presents a comprehensive history of military Wargames up to the 1960s: hb/Tony Bulley]</li> <li>Jon Freeman. <em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Complete+Book+of+Wargames&field-author=Jon+Freeman" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Complete Book of Wargames</a></em> (New York: Simon and Schuster, <b>1980</b>) [nonfiction: contains a history of the form as well as brief evaluations of many of the games available in 1980, including <a href="/entry/battlefleet_mars">Battlefleet Mars</a>, <a href="/entry/starforce_alpha_centauri">Starforce: Alpha Centauri</a> and <a href="/entry/4000_ad">4000 AD</a>. The book also offers contemporary analyses of several early <a href="/entry/role_playing_game">RPG</a>s, amongst them <a href="/entry/traveller">Traveller</a> and <a href="/entry/metamorphosis_alpha">Metamorphosis Alpha</a>, and a history of the development of <a href="/entry/starfleet_orion">Starfleet Orion</a> by its designer: hb/photographic]</li> <li>Nicholas Palmer. <em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=The+Best+of+Board+Wargaming&field-author=Nicholas+Palmer" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">The Best of Board Wargaming</a></em> (London: Arthur Barker, <b>1980</b>) [nonfiction: entertainingly written overview of board and counter Wargames, with reviews of many science-fictional works: hb/Bamber Forsyth Design]</li> <li>James F Dunnigan. <em><a href="/sfeshop.php?field-keywords=Wargames+Handbook+Third+Edition+How+to+Play+and&field-author=James+F+Dunnigan" class="link-amazon" target="_blank">Wargames Handbook, Third Edition: How to Play and Design Commercial and Professional Wargames</a></em> (Lincoln, Nebraska: Writers Club Press, <b>2000</b>) [nonfiction: the best available work on the design and theory of Wargames: pb/nonpictorial]</li> </ul> <p><b>links</b></p> <ul class="x"> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/">Board Game Geek Online Database</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://grognard.com/">Grognard Wargames Site</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sfsfw.org/">Society of Fantasy and Science Fiction Wargamers</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.hyw.com/Books/WargamesHandbook/Contents.htm">Second Edition of James Dunnigan's <em>The Complete Wargames Handbook</em></a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="http://www.costik.com/spisins.html">A Farewell To Hexes</a> by Greg <a href="/entry/costikyan_greg">Costikyan</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="https://sf-encyclopedia.com/gallery.php?link=wargame">Picture Gallery</a></li> </ul> <p><b>previous versions of this entry</b></p> <ul><li><a href='https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wargame' target='_blank'>Internet Archive</a></li></ul><br /><br /></article></div> <div class="sideBarsWrapper"> <div class="sideBarsColsWrapper clearfix"> <div class="column sideBar12 clearfix"> <div class="columnForm"><aside id="blogFeed" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2>Recently visited entries<span style="background:url(/images/thingSFE2.png) !important"></span></h2><ul style='width: 50%; float: left;'> </ul> <p align=center style="float:right; padding-top:20px; padding-bottom:20px;">ISSN 3049-7612<br /> <a href="/facts.php?id=logo"> <img src="/images/VitMan.gif" width=150 height=150 title="Click for larger version of this SFE logo"></a><br /> <b><a href="/donate.php"><img src="/images/Paypal-Donate.gif" WIDTH="92" HEIGHT="26" BORDER="0" /></a><br /><a href="/">Home/Welcome page</a></b></p><div style="margin-bottom:10px;"></div></div> </aside><aside id="blogFeed" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2><i>SFE</i> Special Features<span></span></h2><p style="margin-top: 10px;"><input type="button" value="What’s New" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/whatsnew.php'">  Latest entries; <a href="/updated.php">latest updates</a></p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="In Memoriam" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/timeline.php?rip'">  Recent deaths</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="On This Day" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/today.php'">  Anniversaries; also <a href="/timeline.php">Timeline</a></p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Gallery" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/gallery.php'">  <i>SFE</i> Picture Gallery; <a href="/gallery.php?list&new">What’s New</a></p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Shopping" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/sfeshop.php'">  Affiliate settings</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Random" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/random.php'">  Show a random <i>SFE</i> entry</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="SFE Facts" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='/facts.php'">  Bar charts, awards and more</p> <p style="line-height:1.6em;"><input type="button" value="Entry Data" style="width: 150px !important;" class="button primary" onclick="window.location.href='https://sf-encyclopedia.com/incoming.php?entry=wargame'">  Incoming links, who wrote it, etc</p> <p style="margin-bottom:15px;"><a href="/searching">Search help</a> | <a href="/rss.php" target="_blank">RSS feed</a> <img src="/static/img/external.gif"> | <a href="/fe/"><i>Encyclopedia of Fantasy</i></a> <img src="/static/img/external.gif"></p><div style="margin-bottom:10px;"></div></div> </aside><aside id="connect" class="widget"> <div class="content STeditorial clearfix"> <h2>Connect with <i>SFE</i> <span></span></h2> <ul> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="/donate.php">Donate towards <i>SFE</i> expenses</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="/contact.php">Send email feedback to the <i>SFE</i> editors</a></h3> </li> <li style=" display:none;"> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://twitter.com/john_clute" target="_blank">John Clute on Twitter [X]</a></h3> <a href="https://twitter.com/john_clute" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @john_clute</a> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script> </li> <li style=" display:none;"> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://twitter.com/sfencyclopedia" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on Twitter [X]</a></h3> <a href="https://twitter.com/sfencyclopedia" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow @sfencyclopedia</a> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" type="text/javascript"></script> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sf-Encyclopedia/138995776178949" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on Facebook</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/john.clute.5" target="_blank">John Clute on Facebook</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/sfencyclopedia.bsky.social" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on BlueSky</a></h3> </li> <li> <h3 style="text-align: left !important;"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@SF_Encyclopedia" target="_blank"><i>SFE</i> on Mastodon</a></h3> </li> </ul> </div> </aside> </div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="cookieConsent"> <div id="closeCookieConsent" onclick="hidepopup()">x</div> This website uses cookies.  <a href="/cookies" target="_blank">More information here</a>. <a class="cookieConsentOK" onclick="setcookie()">Accept Cookies</a> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> function hidepopup() { document.cookie = "hidecookiepopup=yes; path=/"; // session only document.getElementById("cookieConsent").style.display = "none"; } function setcookie() { document.cookie = "cookiesOK=yes; max-age=31536000; path=/"; // 1 year document.getElementById("cookieConsent").style.display = "none"; } var cookiestring = document.cookie; // document.getElementById("connect").innerHTML = cookiestring; // TEST only if ( cookiestring.indexOf("cookiesOK=yes") == -1 ) { if ( cookiestring.indexOf("hidecookiepopup=yes") == -1 ) { document.getElementById("cookieConsent").style.display = "block"; } } </script> <div id="footer" style="background:#fff; padding: 5px;"> <footer id="globalFooter" class="clearfix"> <div id="credit">Website design by Ansible Editions </div> <div id="credit" style="float: left !important; padding-left:20px;">Site and <i>SFE</i> content © 2011-2025 John Clute & David Langford</div> </footer> </div> </div> </body></html>