Tabletop Gaming 



While our game is not yet finished here is some information regarding the origin of tabletop gaming, where it came from, and where our game will end up. Once we get the rules finished and the miniatures painted we will upload some game play. 

Early War Games

 

The earliest named tabletop war game was Kriegsspiel. This game was developed by the Prussian military in the 18th century to help the Prussian generals simulate wars and make the appropriate battle plans. The game was played on a grid map of any real world area from Continental Europe to a single province. This way the could plan theaters and individual battles. The game itself was mostly played via argument and comparing numbers and technology and did not involve chance elements such a die rolling.  

 

 

The Beginning of Modern War Games

 

The beginning of what I have come to know and love started with H.G. Wells (shown in a picture to the left) playing the game he created called Little Wars. He introduced using crafted miniatures instead of wooded shapes to represent troops on a more personal scale. He also introduced terrain elements and combat charts to add fixed rules to a game instead of relying on discussion. He also added measuring and historical based scaling. 

 

 

 

Where We are Today

 

Today we have ample amounts of tabletop war games to choose from. Ranging from ancient ear melee combat games all the way to science fiction future based games. These games all use crafted miniatures to represent units. The main scales used are 10 mm, 15 mm, and 28 mm. 10 mm is used for very large object and epic scale warfare. 15 mm is used to show mass combat and historical reenactments. 28 mm, also the inch scale, is used for small battlefields and more detailed units. This is the most popular of all the scales as people can customize these miniatures more and show a lot more detail. 

 

Modern games also use moire random elements. These include:

• Deployment charts

• Combat charts 

• Movement variance

• Weapon variance

The tool used to complete these is mostly dice, however playing cards and pseudo random scenarios are also used for these charts.