The History of Wargaming Project
The project aims to make the largest possible collection of wargaming books and rules available to the modern reader. Ranging from second editions of wargaming classics, to professional wargaming rules used by the military and innovations in current wargaming.
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by John Curry and Alvaro
Radigales |
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The technique of wargaming was just another item in
the mental toolbox of Royal Navy officers of the early to mid-twentieth
century. When they put their ship in harms way, a captain would have an
idea of the probabilities of success and failure based on the
operational analysis encapsulated in the wargaming rules. They would
have practised the doctrine of the Royal Navy, summarised in the
Fighting Instructions, in fleet exercises and on the wargames table. In the period covered by this book, 1929-1945, the
Royal Navy used a number of naval wargames for education, training and
operational analysis. This meant when the demand for training escort
commanders was drastically increased in the face of the U-Boat threat,
wargames were inevitably seen as part of the answer. This book includes
the rules for the Western Approaches Tactical Unit (WATU), and places
the game in the wider context of a wargaming culture. There is a wealth of material in the archives about
the wargames of this period. This selection for this book includes: The 1929 Royal Navy Rules. The Atlantic Trade Defence Wargame run by the
Admiralty in 1938. The WATU rules and combat tables for 1944/45. Find, Fix and Strike- a training game for operation
officers on aircraft carriers. Supporting this volume is an appendix with extracts
of the doctrine for the Royal Navy, The Fighting Instructions (1939). Also included is all the material found to date on
naval weapon effectiveness in the national archives for this period. This book is a source book for the Royal Navy’s
understanding of ‘big gun’ naval warfare. This book is published by the History of Wargaming Project as part of its research into the development of wargaming.
Playing Aids
Battle of River Plate Exercise.pdf |
Product details: Paperback: 204 pages Publisher: History of Wargaming Project ISBN: Hardback 9798314323052 Dimensions (cm): 21.59 wide x 27.94 tall |