KRIEGSSPIEL
An Introduction
By
Bill Leeson
CONTENTS
1. A Brief History 2
2. The Basic Idea 2
3. Troop Symbols 3
4. The Umpire 4
5. The Scenario 4
6. Notes to the
Tables 5
7. Time and
Distance 6
Keeping a
record 6
Reports,
Orders, Messages 6
March Rates 6
Table A – Hand to Hand Conflict
Table B -
Unequal forces
Table C
-Infantry Fire
Table D –
Artillery fire
Message Pads
Orders Sheets
A
Brief History
In the early years of the nineteenth century a number of people
were interested in trying to produce some kind of war-game. Some were based on
cards, others were based on chess. The best of these was probably the one by Hellwig. It was based on chess, but it had about 200
squares that were different colours according to the terrain. Units were
represented by pieces not unlike chess pieces.
Some time in the first few years of the nineteenth century Baron
von Reisswitz the Elder set his mind to inventing
something quite unique. The game would be played on a model terrain with hills,
roads, rivers, and forests, which would have natural shapes – no squares or
triangles. The troops would be represented by small blocks that would be to
scale with the landscape. Instead of alternate moves both sides would move at
the same time. The scales for time, distance and space
would be co-ordinated. If a battalion in line was 250 paces long, and infantry
marched at 100 paces per minute, it would take a man 2.5 minutes to march from
one end to the other, and if the scale of the model was 1 cm = 100 paces the
battalion (made up of two half-battalion pieces) would be 2.5 cm long.
The introduction of an umpire made it possible to have
simultaneous movement. Each side would come to the model separately. They would
tell the umpire what they intended to do. The umpire would work out the
situation and the players would be brought back to the table, given an update,
and given an opportunity to issue fresh orders. Later on his son developed the
idea further. He used maps for greater convenience, and he developed rules for
working out the outcome of attacks. He was serving with the artillery in Berlin
at the time, and his game was taken up by Prince Wilhem,
who introduced it to von Muffling, who considered it to be a breakthrough in
training for officers.
The game was introduced to the German Army in 1824. It had its
ups and downs and went through some changes, but the basic idea continues to be
used to the present day.
For more details on the early history see, The Reisswitz Story.
The Basic Idea
Kriegsspiel simply means
Wargame of course, but there are so many different
kinds of wargames from computer games to paint-ball
shooting that I find it convenient to keep the name Kriegsspiel
for games that fall into a certain type.
It mostly comes down to the quality of the information that
comes down to the player during the game – both what he is allowed to know and
what he is not allowed to. The presence of an Umpire,
or an umpire team makes a proper flow of information possible.
The umpire works out a scenario. The first part gives
information that is known to both sides at the beginning of the game. In the
old rules this was known as the General Idea. The second part contains
information that is confidential to the Commanding Officer of either side,
known as the Special report.
It gives him the strength of his forces, their locations, any
knowledge that they might have about the enemy, the time of day at which the
game is supposed to begin, and any special instructions he may have received
from his superiors. Ideally they get their briefings before the day unless the
scenario requires a quick on-the-spot response to an emergency.
The players have to come up with a plan of action, and they pass
their initial orders to the umpire. The umpire works out what movements are
taking place for both sides and passes information back to the players. If the
action is said to begin at 8.30, and there is no contact of any kind between
the sides until 9.30 game time, he might pass back a
message, “It is 9.30. Your column is approaching the village of Kroppen. You can see an enemy cavalry column approaching
about half a mile to the NW.”
The other commander will not immediately know of the siting unless he is with the cavalry. He may get a message
later saying, “It is 9.50, and you receive a message from the cavalry column
reporting a strong enemy column of all arms reaching Kroppen”.
What the cavalry column does in the meantime will depend a lot
on any instructions they were given before they set off.
The umpire team usually has a set of tables giving marching
rates for cavalry, infantry, and artillery, which are also supplied to the
players.
He usually has some kind of tables to help decide the outcome of
attacks and the outcome of infantry and artillery fire. These obviously vary
according to the era the game is set in.
MAPS
The game is normally played out on a set of maps. The umpire has
his map, which will show the positions of all the troops involved. The players
have their own maps so that they can keep track of where their own troops are
as well as the positions of any of the enemy’s troops that they know about.
Generally speaking the scale of the map will depend on the scale
of the action. The smaller the forces concerned the larger the scale will
usually need to be. If you are in charge of a detachment that has to fight a
rear-guard action, capture a village or accompany a convoy you need a map that
gives enough detail for you to be able to use the lie of the land and have a good
idea of the details of outbuildings, streams, etc. On the other hand if you are
in command of an Army Corps you may not need so much detail since many tactical
decisions will have to be left to the commander on the spot. The scale for a Detachments game is usually
1:7500, approximately 8 inches to a mile, or 1cm = 100 paces. Another useful
scale is 1:15000 (four inches to a mile, 1cm=200 paces), for Tactical Kriegsspiel.
TROOP SYMBOLS
Irregular Miniatures still produce these blocks according to their
web site
www.irregularminiatures.co.uk at time of writing.
K1 10x10mm used for
cavalry squadrons
K2 12x6mm used for
half battalion pieces
K3 9x6mm used for
half batteries and wagons
K4 9x5mm used for
skirmish troops
K5 5x5mm used for
cavalry patrols, small units, commanders etc
You need 4 K1 blocks for a cavalry regiment.
6 K2 for a regiment
3 K3 for a light battery (one for wagons)
4 K3 for a heavy battery (2 for wagons) – see next page also
To find the K blocks go to the bottom of the home page and click
on Misc. Then over to the left click on “Bases, Dice and Blocks”. Scroll down
to the bottom and there they are.
There is no doubt that for Detachments and Tactical Kriegsspiel movable pieces are a great convenience for
umpires. They can be moved around on the map easily as the battle develops,
which is much better than having to constantly mark up a map and rub out and
remark positions.
They also produce 6mm figures in strips of six.
It is difficult to tell exactly from the illustrations, but they
look as though they could well fit in with the Detachments Kriegsspiel
scale. I did use some WWI figures once for a display game and they fitted in
very well. A strip of six infantry was about right for a half battalion, and a
strip of 3 cavalry was about right for a cavalry squadron.
THE UMPIRE
The role of the umpire is central to the Kriegsspiel.
It makes it possible for moves to be made simultaneously, and it allows the
players to concentrate on the battle situation rather than have to play the
rules. The players, of course, have to
have faith in the impartiality of the umpire. He needs to be reasonably
acquainted with movement rates, ranges of weapons, etc. and have some method of
determining results of combat.
In the 1820’s Reisswitz worked out a
system of determining odds for combat results, and tables for results for
artillery and infantry fire.
Later in the century other writers produced new tables for
results of firepower as new developments in weaponry were introduced. These can
be quite helpful even if you do not intend to keep a body count of casualties,
because they give a good idea of effective ranges. None of us, after all, have
direct experience of coming under fire from muskets and cannon or facing an
oncoming cavalry charge. Most, if not all, of the early rule writers did.
Reisswitz and the
other early umpires clearly expected to be able to keep an ongoing score, and I
suppose it can be done, but in a conflict the most a commander will know is
that he has suffered or inflicted heavy or slight casualties, and troops have
been badly shaken etc. So really that is all the player in the game needs to
know.
THE SCENARIO
There are certain requirements for the information given to both
sides. You can call them what you like, but you do not want to leave any of
them out.
The General
Idea.
This is the same for both sides and gives information that is
common to both. “A Blue army has invaded Red territory from the east and has
occupied the area around Nennweiler. The nearest Red
force is somewhere to the east of Die Selz.” Any
relevant details about the weather, time of year or anything else that is known
to both sides is given here.
The Separate
Report.
This has to contain anything the player needs to know before the
game begins.
Any orders that have been given to him from
above.
The strength, and positions of his own forces,
Anything he knows about the strength and positions of the enemy,
The time at which the game is said to begin,
A simple sketch map showing his own position and what is known
of the enemy. (This is not essential, but it can be very useful – especially if
players are not familiar with the map, and it can save a lot of time spent
searching for unfamiliar places on a large map – or in my case even for
familiar places on a large map).
These things should all be set out as clearly as possible in
separate paragraphs. It can be very irritating to have to search around for
essential information in amongst a narrative.
It has always been understood that the umpire’s decision is
final, and that any discussion of decisions should be left till after the game.
THE TABLES
Table A. Results of Hand to Hand Conflicts.
When Reisswitz originally came up with
his dice table each row was on a separate die and also contained results for
infantry and artillery fire. Die I was used for situations where the odds were
even. Die V was used when the odds were 5:1. If the odds were greater than this
it was taken as a foregone conclusion. You can see that for 5:1 odds the weaker
side succeeds if a 1 falls and loses if a 3,4,5 or 6
fall. If a 2 falls the die is thrown again. Also if the weaker side wins the
stronger side is repulsed, but if the stronger side wins the other side may be
repulsed, defeated, or totally defeated. If the odds are even die I will be
used and the umpire must decide which side will win if 1,2
or 3 fall.
The numbers in the top left-hand corner are losses per half
battalion for the beaten side.
The numbers in the bottom right-hand corner are losses per
squadron for the defeated side
I never bothered to try to keep an exact score of losses myself,
but you can use them as a rough guide.
Table B.
Deciding Odds.
If 3 battalions are attacking 5 battalions look along the 3 line
and look in the 5 column. The Roman numeral IV means that Die IV is used in the
Hand to Hand Conflicts table and the odds will be 3:1. If 8 units are attacked
by 10 you can use the
Table C.
Infantry Fire.
The results are given per half battalion. A half
battalion being up to 450 men in three ranks.
In the Prussian Army of this time a skirmish line could be made
up from the third rank of the battalion line up to 300 paces in front of the
battalion. When the skirmishers were called out they would form four groups. I
and IV remained behind as reserves, and II and III went about 100 paces in
front of the battalion line to either side. II and III groups would then send
out about half their number a further 150 paces to spread out in pairs in front
of the line.
Table D.
Artillery Fire.
You can see from the table that the most effective fire is from
canister fire at close range. The guns can fire round shot at up to 200 paces,
but hitting the target at these ranges is not easy due mostly to the
difficulties of getting the elevation right and because of the wide dispersal
of shot due to windage and unrifled barrels.
Reisswitz’ Points Values.
The results in the various tables are given in points. In Reisswitz’ book they were interpreted as follows:
Infantry in three ranks 1
point = 5 men
Infantry in two ranks 3
points = 10 men
Skirmishers 2
points = 3 men
Cavalry in line or column 2
points = 3 riders
Artillery 12.5
points = 1 gun
Index
Points.
Numerical proportion is not the only issue when deciding odds.
Of two sides that are numerically equal, one might be badly shaken from
previous attacks, taken by surprise, attacked from the rear or the flank, or
might have the advantage of artillery support. These things will affect the
odds and the umpire would alter the odds so that instead of Die I Die II or
even Die III might be used to one side’s disadvantage.
TIME AND DISTANCE
Keeping the
Record.
It is a good idea to cover the maps you are using either in
plastic see-through folders, or larger sheets, so that you can mark them up
with non-permanent markers to mark the positions of columns etc at a certain
point. Suppose, for instance that in game time it is
The march rates etc are given per
minute, but the game is incident driven. This was one of Reisswitz’ great innovations which appealed to von Muffling
when he saw it for the first time.
Reports,
Orders and Messages.
If one of the players needs to send a message to a distant
commander he has to write it and pass it to the umpire. The umpire notes the
game time at which it was written and notes the approximate time at which it
would be received. If the message is to another player on the same side it is
given to him at the appropriate time. If it is for a unit that is not
represented by an actual person the umpire will note the time at which the new
order will be carried out.
It is useful to have some ready made order pads to hand (see
Message Sheets and Orders Sheets) and it is very useful to have an index box
with the index cards showing times for every quarter of an hour. The umpire
notes the time at which the order will be receives and puts it behind the
appropriate card. Another useful idea is to have some kind of demo clock
showing game-time.
March Rates
Infantry
100 paces per minute
Skirmishers
300 paces per minute
Cavalry
100 paces per minute at walk
300 paces per minute trot
200 paces per minute at trot and walk
400 – 500 per minute final phase of charge
Horse Artillery
as cavalry
Foot Artillery
as infantry
Wagons and trains 100
paces per minute
Officers & Messengers
400 –500 paces per minute
(Trot and walk is the normal rate for cavalry travelling any
distance – a fast trot for moving on the battlefield)