Military Games

Angel PEREZ

Summary

● Introduction● Board War-games● Military Games● Serious Games● References

Introduction

Games are formalized expressions of play which allow people to go beyond immediate imagination and direct physical

activity. Games also allow forms of play to be packaged and communicated to other people in a social group or

geographically far away.

Games capture the ideas and behaviors of people at one period of time and carry that through time to their ancestors.

Games like Liubo, Xiangqi, and Shogi illustrate the thinking of the military leaders who employed them centuries ago.

Board War-games

● 3000 BC Wei Hai● 2300 BC Go● 1500 BC Liubo● 500 BC Chaturanga● 200 BC Xiangqi● 500 AD Chess● 570 AD Shogi

● 1600 Pachisi● 1920 Stratego● 1954 Diplomacy● 1959 Risk● 1973 Dungeons &

Dragons● 1993 Magic: The

Gathering

3000 BC Wei Hai● Name means “encirclement”● Abstract board on which players

placed colored stones ● Details of game have not survived● Believed to be similar to Japanese

game of Go

2300 BC Go

1500 BC Liubo● Chinese game of battle that morphed

into a racing game between 1500BC and 1200AD● Generals and Pawns ● Become Fish, Owls, and Stones

● As with many others the exact rules have disappeared

500 BC Chaturanga

200 BC Xiangqi ● Influences of Go and Chaturanga

● Encirclement● Unique identity to pieces● Strategic movement of pieces

● Used for military strategy● Korean variant “Janggi”

● No central river

500 AD Chess● European evolution of Indian Chaturanga● “Checkmate” is English form of Persian “Shah Mat”,

which means “dead king”

570 AD Shogi

● Moves very similar to Chess● Gold & Silver Generals are unique● More aggressive promotion of pieces

1600 Pachisi● The Indian Emperor Akbar I of the 16th century Mogul

Empire, apparently played Pachisi (aka Chaupar) on great courts constructed of inlaid marble.

● He would sit on a Dias four feet high in the centre of the court and throw the cowry shells. On the red and white squares around him, 16 women from his harem, appropriately colored, would move around according to his directions.

1920 Stratego

1954 Diplomacy● War-gaming quick

and fun● Diplomacy was

originally a play-by-mail game● Format often

used for strategy games like chess and war-games

1959 Risk

1973 Dungeons & Dragons● Created by Gary Gygax and David

Arneson● A new genre of fantasy/imagination

games.● Dungeon Masters guide players on

a quest● “Advanced D&D” was created to

allow Gygax to carry on without Arneson

1993 Magic: The Gathering● Richard Garfield, Ph.D. Combinatorial Mathematics

● Mathematics Professor at Whitman College, WA ● 20 minute war-game in card form for conventions ● Less record keeping required● Cross between War-games and D&D

Military Games

● 1664 Koenigspiel

● 1780 War Chess

● 1797 Military School War-game

● 1811 Kriegsspiels

● 1879 The American Kriegsspiels

● 1886 Naval War College

● 1903 Miniature Games

● 1920 German Schlactenspeil

● 1929 Political-Military Gaming

● 1933 Soviet Kriegsspiel

● 1941 Japanese War-gaming

● 1948 First Computer War-games

● 1952 Charles Roberts

Military Games

● 1978 Janus

● 1985 Naval Warfare Gaming System

● 1990 ModSAF

● 1990 Battle Tech Arcade

● 1994 FPS

● 1995 Real Time Strategy

● 1996 Panzer General

● 1997 MMORPG

● 1999 Team Fortress● 1999 Fleet Command

1664 Koenigspiel● Invented by Christopher Weikhmann ● 1664 Ulam, Germany● Checkered Board with 30 Pieces● King, Marshall, Colonel, ... Private

1780 War Chess

● Invented by Dr. C.L. Helwig ● 1780 Germany● 1666 squares, 120 pieces● Squares colored for terrain feature● Aggregate units - Infantry, Cavalry,

Artillery

1797 Military School Wargame

● “Rules for a New War-game for the Use of Military Schools”

● Invented by Georg Venturini in 1797● 3600 squares● French-Belgian Border

1811 Kriegsspiels● Invented by Baron von Reisswitz in 1811● Contoured terrain, porcelain soldiers● Introduced the “General Idea”

● Unique Scenario with Victory Conditions

1879 The American Kriegsspiels● William Livermore and

Hugh Brown in 1879● Variable unit icons with

strength, type, fatigue, ammunition, and task time indicators

● Topographic Maps● Pegs-and-Holes firing

board

1886 Naval War College● Opened in 1884

● Develop operational war fighting concepts through research and war-gaming

● War-gaming introduced in 1886 by William McCarthy-Little● Cardboard Ships and Gridded Paper● 1895 Studied British Naval Attacks on

New York Harbor● 1897 Teddy Roosevelt presented

new problem● Japanese/American fight for Hawaii

1903 Miniature Games● “The Naval Wargame”, Scientific American, 1903

by Fred T. Jane● Rules and tools for naval games of war● Later author of Jane’s Fighting Ships

● Little Wars, 1913 by H.G. Wells● Miniature soldiers and cannon● Terrain board & rules of operation● Championed firing toy cannons rather than

calculations for determining outcome of war

1920 German Schlactenspeil

● Mechanism of Chinese Checkers● Terrain & buildings occupy

specific holes● Movement restricted by board

characteristics● Researched battle narrative

1929 Political-Military Gaming● Invented by Eric von Manstein● Explored German invasion of Poland● Included players at many levels of

leadership:President of the League of NationsCabinet Members of Germany and

PolandDiplomats from both countries Military Generals

1933 Soviet Kriegsspiel

● Chess board with 2 rows added to each edge, 128 squares

● 24 pieces on each side● Explicit representation of military

forces of the early 20th century

1941 Japanese Wargaming● Fall 1941 Japanese gamed Pearl Harbor Attack

● Japanese War College in Tokyo● Partial success of attack is credited to wargames

● May 1943 gamed Battle of Midway● Aboard the Yamato, Flagship of the Combined Fleet

● Tokyo Naval War College● Host for regular “Table-top

maneuvers”

1948 First Computer War-game

● “Air Defense Simulation”● Hosted on the Univac computer● North American air defense ● Naval anti-aircraft guided

missiles● CARMONETTE

● 1953 Computerized Monte Carlo Simulation

● Tank/Anti-Tank (v.I), Infantry (v.II), Helicopters (v.III), Communications (v.IV)

● Operational 1956-1970

Army Operations Research Office at Johns Hopkins University

1952 Charles Roberts● Roberts invents board game to “practice war” while

awaiting his commission● Introduces primary pieces

● Grid System● Terrain Types● Military Units with Ratings● Combat Results Table● Die Role

● Published as “Tactics” in 1954● Sold 2,000 copies from 1954-58

● Started Avalon Hill in 1958

1978 Janus● Derived from

McClintic Theater Model from the Army War College

● Combat via CRT and random numbers

● Great flexibility to visual representation and combat via look-up table

1985 Naval Warfare Gaming System

1990 ModSAF● Semi-Automated

Forces systems are constructive simulations designed to stimulate virtual systems

● Operated like a war-game

● Data stream like a simulator

● Human orders augmented by AI

1990 Battle Tech Arcade

● Jordan Weisman, Chicago, IL

● Military-style simulator pods

● Computer networking for multi-player

● Derived from a role-playing game

1994 FPS

● 1991 Hovertank● 1994 Wolfenstein 3D● 1993-1995 Doom, Doom II, III● 1996-1997 Quake, Quake II, III, IV

1995 Real Time Strategy

● “2 ½ Dimension” map

● Control of large number of assets

● Strategic play within the constraints of rapid order entry

● Like speed chess

1996 Panzer General● Board game

moved to the computer

● Add animation, sound, smoke, and fire – which do not effect the outcome, just the excitement

1997 MMORPG

1999 Team Fortress

● Military mod of Half-Life

● Unique Soldier role behaviors

● Team cooperation to win

● Begin to demonstrate capability compatible with military units

1999 Fleet Command

● Constructive and Virtual views of naval battles

Serious Games

● 1983 SGI Flight

● 1989 Harpoon

● 1996 Marine DOOM

● 1998 Spearhead

● 2002 America's Army

● 2003 DARWARS Ambush

● 2003 DARWARS Tactical Iraqi

● 2004 Full Spectrum Warrior

● 2009 VBS2/Game After Ambush

● 2600 Star Trek Holodeck

1983 SGI Flight● 1983 Silicon Graphics demo

program ● Written by Gary Tarolli● Inspired by Blue Angles air show

at Moffett Field● Sales tool for SGI computers

● Networking added in 1984● Two machines on a serial cable● No interactions● 7 frames-per-second● Demonstrated at SIGGRAPH

1984● 1985 Modification of Flight

program● Added shooting interactions● Message packets transmitted at

frame rates● 10 player max because of

bandwidth limitations● Dead reckoning added later to

reduce network flooding

1989 Harpoon

● Based on miniature game by Larry Bond

● Two-sided naval combat during Cold War

● Entertainment and Military versions

1996 Marine DOOM

● Marine Doom is a 1996 modification of the first-person shooter Doom II for US Marines, which was later made available for download to the public.

1998 Spearhead● MaK teamed with Interactive

Magic● Game version of SIMNET and

DIS● “DIS-lite” to support network

multiplayer● Allows all 4 tank station play● Infrared visuals● Typical military training levels

2002 America's Army● AKA: Army Game Project● Army recruiting tool created

through partnership between ● Army Accessions Command, ● West Point, and ● Naval Postgraduate School

● Potential recruits experience virtual Army training before entering death match combat levels

● Built on Unreal Engine 1.5, 2.0, 3.0

● Parents: COL Casey Wardynski and Dr. Mike Zyda, now divorced and no longer speaking to each other

● Multiple Spin-off products. Title is valuable Intellectual Property

2003 DARWARS Ambush

● DARWARS was a DARPA sponsored project (with JFCOM and USMC PM TRASYS) to create training systems that incorporate games and related learning technologies

● AMBUSH! was the game component built on the Operation Flashpoint game

● Transferred to PEO-STRI in 2006 for deployment to Army Units

● Now deployed to 400 sites

2003 DARWARS Tactical Iraqi● Language training game

developed within the DARWARS program

● Conceived and created at USC ICT

● Spun-off as a commercial company and product

2004 Full Spectrum Warrior● Joint Army/Entertainment title for

the Xbox● Create a game with entertainment-

level quality, but with an embedded Army mission

● Dual-use Applications● Microsoft agreed to support the

title if it could be sold commercially as well

● USC ICT and Pandemic Studios● Famous for having an Army-mode

secret key which was immediately released on the Internet

2009 VBS2/Game After Ambush● VBS2 from Bohemia Interactive

via LaserShot● $17.7M contract to replace

AMBUSH● Acquired with out-of-the-box

capabilities, no new development to meet requirements

● Scheduled to deliver 70 suites to 53 locations in 2009

● Active, Guard, Reserve and Projection units

● 3640 computers total

2600 Star Trek Holodeck

References

● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_games

● http://www.modelbenders.com/papers/game_history.html

● Lenoir, T. (2003). Programming theatres of war: Gamemakers as soldiers. In Latham, R. (Ed.) Bombs and Bandwidth: The emerging relationship between information technology and security. New York: The New Press.

● Smith, R. (March-April 2007). The Disruptive Potential of Game Technologies: Lessons Learned from its Impact on the Military Simulation Industry. Research Technology Management, 50(2), 57–64.

● Herz, J. and Macedonia, M. (April 2002). Computer games and the military: Two views. Defense Horizons, 11. Online at http://www.ndu.edu/inss/DefHor/DH11/DH11.htm

Thanks