Verdy's Free Kriegspiel (1876)
and the Victorian Army's 1896 Kriegspiel Wargame Rules


edited by John Curry
(161 pages, ISBN 978-1-4092-2796-0)

Introduction to Rules

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 is a books includes his translation of the classic German Kriegsspiel text, the Prussian General J. von Verdy du Vernois 'Beitrag Zum Kriegsspeil'.

This challenged the evergrowing complexity of the orignal 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