Verdy's Free Kriegspiel including the Victorian Army's 1896 War Game

Note: These were previously published as the Victorian Army's Kriegspiel Rules and the War Office 1896 Rules for the Conduct of the Wargame.

There were two books that were very influential in the start of British military wargaming in the 19th Century, J.R. MacDowell' book in 1886 was the second of them. This book includes his translation of the classic German Kriegsspiel text, the Prussian General J. von Verdy du Vernois 'Beitrag Zum Kriegsspeil'.

This challenged the ever growing complexity of the original Kriegsspiel rules by suggesting that no rules were necessary. This idea later became known as 'Free Kriegsspiel' and as such was the basis of the development of the strategic wargames used from 1900 onwards.

This book includes the classic translation of the 1896 Prussian 'Free Kriegspiel', describes why and how to run the war game with a minimum of rules:

• A historical introduction
• Guidance on how to play a Kriegspiel
• The Victorian Army's 1896 Kriegspiel Rules
• Appendices on:
   • Rates of advance
   • Daily march rates
   • Identification distances
   • military use of railways
   • Battle planning times 1940- present day