''Strategos'' is a military wargame developed by Charles A. L. Totten for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, and published in 1880.

History

Jon Peterson identifies ''Strategos'' as being largely descended from the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n ''

Kriegsspiel ''Kriegsspiel'' is a genre of wargaming developed by the Prussian Army in the 19th century to teach battlefield tactics to officers. The word ''Kriegsspiel'' literally means "wargame" in German, but in the context of the English language it refe ...

'', and its translations, that had made their way into the hands of British military officers in the 1870s. ''Strategos'' was meant to be a training tool at various levels, starting with introductory scenarios and working toward more complex and advanced ones. This was contrasted with other forms of ''kriegsspiel'' which were cast as being primarily for those in elite military leadership. An article in the ''Army and Navy Journal'', from November 25, 1882, describes the role and function of the ''Strategos'' game in contrast to William R. Livermore's publication of a more traditional ''The American Kriegsspiel'' (1882), as follows: ''Strategos'' consists of two different games. The Battle Game was played on a board, whereas the Advanced Game was played on maps and miniature terrain. In ''Strategos'', Totten leans toward the "free" ''kriegsspiel'' movement in allowing the referee discretion in matters not covered by the normal game rules. Peterson identifies the free ''kriegsspiel'' movement with Klemens Wilhelm Jacob Meckel's work ''Studien über das Kriegsspiel'', along with other Prussian authors of the 1870s and later.

Gameplay

Battle Game

The Battle Game owes more of its heritage to chess, and resembles the wargame of

Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig Johann Christian Ludwig Hellwig (8 November 1743, in Garz/Rügen – 10 October 1831, in Braunschweig) was a German mathematician, entomologist and wargame designer. Biography After studies of mathematics and natural history at the university of ...

Advanced Game

The Advanced Game relies on the referee to provide a scenario to the two sides, which are colored red and blue. Orders are provided in writing, and three

topographic map In modern mapping, a topographic map or topographic sheet is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using contour lines (connecting points of equal elevation), but histori ...

s may be used: one for the referee, and one for each side. The referee map is the master copy with all information, whereas the player maps show only what is known to the respective side. Blocks are used for troop formations, and are scaled to the size of those formations on the topographic maps. When there are conflicts in the game, the referee calculates probabilities, and then dice and tables are used to determine the outcomes. In more traditional ''kriegsspiel'' games, the referee would roll all the dice privately, and provide the relevant battlefield report. However, in Totten's ''Strategos'', the players roll the dice openly and consult the necessary table, such as ''Table T'', for combat resolution.

Revival

While ''Strategos'' was reiterating common practices and trends in 19th century wargaming, these systems largely fell into obscurity in the 20th century. In 1967, ''Strategos'' was rediscovered by

David Wesely David Wesely (born 1945) is a wargamer, board game designer, and video game developer. Wesely's developments, inspired by '' Kriegsspiel'' wargames, were important and influential in the early history of role-playing games. Early life and ed ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

library. An avid hobby wargamer and reader of wargaming literature, Wesely seized upon these rules and incorporated their principles into the

miniature wargame Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...

s played by the

Midwest Military Simulation Association The Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA) is a group of wargamers and military figurine collectors active during the late 1960s and 1970s. History When wargaming was in its heyday and role-playing games were first developed, the group live ...

(MMSA). These included the role of the referee, and the principle of free ''kriegsspiel'' that players could attempt anything, although not always successfully, and that the referee should be able to make judgements to cover anything not ordinarily covered by the rules. Totten's ''Strategos'' became the cornerstone text for the Twin Cities gamers. The incorporation of Totten's ''Strategos'' into MMSA wargaming culminated with the 1968 development of ''Strategos N'', a compact set of

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

wargaming rules devised by Wesely and other MMSA members. These rules were eventually published in 1970.

Influence

Dave Wesely developed ''Strategos N'' as the first MMSA ''Strategos'' variant for the first time in 1968. It was later self-published in 1970, and again in 1984.

Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947Minnesota Department of Health. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known ...

developed ''Strategos RT'' for his Russo-Turkish wargames campaign, and the rules circulated in draft form in 1969. Dave Wesely developed ''Strategos C'' for wargames set during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, and it circulated in draft form in 1969, acting as a precursor to ''Valley Forge'' (1976). Dave Arneson and Randy Hoffa developed ''Strategos A'' in 1969, for wargames set in the ancient period. Numerous games developed by the MMSA adapted rules from ''Strategos'', such as its ''Table T'', for combat resolution. These games include '' Don't Give Up the Ship!'', ''

Dungeon! ''Dungeon!'' is an adventure board game designed by David R. Megarry and first released by TSR, Inc. in 1975. Additional contributions through multiple editions were made by Gary Gygax, Steve Winter, Jeff Grubb, Chris Dupuis and Michael Gray. ...

'', and ''Valley Forge''. The concept of the referee in Totten's ''Strategos'' led to Dave Wesely expanding upon these ideas to create the ''

Braunstein Braunstein (german: brown stone) is a German surname. Notable people with the name include: *Alexander E. Braunstein (1902–1986), Soviet biochemist * Edward Braunstein (born 1981), American politician * Guy Braunstein (born 1971), Israeli-America ...

'' games, which were influential in the early history of

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

s. This development of the role of the referee became a catalyst for the evolution of role-playing games. According to some analyses, the early mass combat battles in '' Blackmoor'', as detailed in '' The First Fantasy Campaign'' (1977), were based on ''Strategos'' rather than ''

Chainmail Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...

''.

References

External links

Strategos: A Series of American Games of War, Volume 1 (Google Books)

Strategos: A Series of American Games of War, Volume 2 (Google Books)

Nineteenth Century Military War Games: Charles Totten’s Strategos - The Advanced Game

{{Wargames 1880 in military history History of role-playing games Military education and training in the United States Military exercises and wargames Wargames introduced in the 1880s