Last but not least, suppose a person who hopes to evade military service by pretending to be mad. That person may well get the discharge he wants – the reason being that, if a person is that good at pretending to be mad, most probably he is mad. By granting it, the examining psychiatrist as good as admits that the distance between madness and sanity is small, possibly nonexistent. Could it be that the reason why so many academics and service personnel profess to despise reenactments, reenacting, and reenactors is precisely because the latter, either by sloppiness or by the meticulous way in which they try to duplicate the reality of war, present them with a mirror into which they do not care to look?
1 P. Schrekenbach, Der zusammenbruch Preussens im Jahre 1806, Jena: Diederichs, 1906, p. 24 .
2 D. Lamothe, “[Marine] Corps Researching New, Light, Combat Gear,” Marine Times, July 31, 2009, available at: www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2009/08/marines_high_speed_gear_083109w/ .
3 See, for a graphic account of what is involved, G. R. Christmas, “A Company Commander Remembers the Battle for Hue,” Marine Corps Gazette, 62, 2, February 1977, pp. 1–26.
4 For example, Guibert as quoted in H. Camon, Quand et comment Napoléon a conçu son système de bataille, Paris: no. pub., 1935, p. 173 ; Clausewitz, On War, pp. 541–2.
5 Xenophon, Cyropaedia, LCL, 1914, 1.9–13.
6 Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, LCL, 3.5.1.
7 See on those books and the evolutions they advocated, R. S. Quimby, The Background of Napoleonic Warfare, New York: Columbia University Press, 1957 .
8 V. Marcu, Das Grosse Kommando Scharnhorst, Berlin: Deutsche Buch Gemeinschaft, 1928, p. 38 ; G. H. von Berenhorst, Betrachtungen, Leipzig: Fleischer, 1796, vol. II, p. 423 .
9 See on this van Creveld, The Culture of War, pp. 354–7.
10 J. Luvaas, ed., Napoleon on the Art of War, New York: Touchstone, 1999, p. 40 .
11 Clausewitz, On War, p. 122.
12 E. M. Spiers, The Late Victorian Army, 1868–1902, Manchester University Press, 1992, p. 263 .
13 US War Department, Autumn Maneuvers of 1898, Washington DC: GPO, 1899, p. 73 .
14 William Robertson, From Private to Field-Marshal, London: Constable, 1921, p. 160 .
15 Anon., Bestimmungen fuer das Kaisermanoever 1908, no place: no pub., 1908 .
16 Ibid., p. 13.
17 G. A. von Mueller, Regierte der Kaiser? Kriegstagebucher, Aufzeichnungen und Notizien des Chefs des Marine-Kabinetts Admiral Georg von Mueller, Goettingen: Musterschmidt, 1959, p. 216 , entry for August 25, 1916.
18 According to B. Matthews, Military Music and Bandsmen of Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, Winchester: Tomahawk, 2002, p. 16 .
19 See Theodore Roosevelt Association, Life of Theodore Roosevelt, 1998, available at: www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/biopictures.htm .
20 See D. Porch, The March to the Marne: The French Army 1871–1914, Cambridge University Press, 1981, pp. 177–8 .
21 See on these maneuvers Anon., “Gli aeroplani et i dirigibili nelle grandi manoevre del Monferrato,” in Ufficio storico dell’aeronautica militare, ed., I prime voli de Guerra nel mondo, Rome: Ufficio storico, 1961, pp. 10–13 .
22 See Experimental Mechanized Force, available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Mechanized_Force.
23 Anon., “Radio-Equipped Army Tanks Direct Maneuvers,” Popular Mechanics, December 1927, pp. 910–11, available at: http://books.google.co.il/books%3Fid=iNgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA910&lpg=PA910&dq=salisbury+plain+maneuvers&source=bl&ots=3957js28bk&sig=oSZ58KrQX2wZMmElFRDzVWKe92k&hl=iw&ei=LrJ8TZOqC8ey8QO4xfC6Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=salisbury%20plain%20maneuvers&f=false .
24 See B. Bond, British Military Policy between the Two World Wars, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980, pp. 140–7 .
25 See, for what followed, J. S. Corum, The Roots of Blitzkrieg, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1992, pp. 183–6 .
26 M. R. Habeck, Storm of Steel: The Development of Armor Doctrine in Germany and the Soviet Union, 1919–1939, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2000, pp. 163–4 .
27 H. Guderian, Panzer Leader, London: Cassell, 1953, pp. 10–11, 18 .
28 See C. Hartmann, Halder, Generalstabschef Hitlers 1938–1942, Paderborn: Schoeningh, 2010, pp. 49–50 .
29 F. Halder, “Warum Maneuver?,” Die Wehrmacht, special number, September 28, 1937, p. 1 .
30 The story appears in the German version of Guderian’s memoirs; H. Guderian, Erinnerungen einen Soldaten, Neckargemünd: Vowinckel, 1976 [1951], p. 39 .
31 Corum, The Roots of Blitzkrieg, p. 192.
32 See the account in Time, October 10, 1925.
33 Combat Studies Institute, Sixty Years of Reorganizing for Combat: A Historical Trend Analysis, Army Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, KS, 2000, available at: www.cgsc.edu/carl/resources/csi/reportno14/reportno14.asp.
34 See, for what follows, P. Lauterborn, Louisiana Maneuvers (1940–1), HistoryNet, 2008, available at: www.historynet.com/louisiana-maneuvers-1940-41.htm/print/
35 C. R. Gabel, The US GQ Maneuvers of 1941, Washington DC: Center of Military History, US Army, 1991, pp. 45–6, 49 .
36 See, for the US side of this story, Operation Upshot-Knothole, available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Upshot-Knothole; for the Soviet one, M. Simons, “Soviet Atomic Test Used Thousands as Guinea Pigs, Archives Show,” New York Times, November 7, 1993 .
37 D. Middleton, “In NATO Maneuver US is Hitting its Stride,” New York Times, September 20, 1981 .
38 C. Wren, “Canadians Debate a Feeble Military,” New York Times, December 15, 1985 .
39 Dupuy, Numbers, Predictions, and War, p. 28, tables 2–4.
40 See, for an exceptionally thoughtful critique of this kind, Robertson, From Private to Field-Marshal, pp. 163–6.
41 B. H. Liddell Hart, The Liddell Hart Memoirs, London: Cassell, 1965, vol. I, pp. 125–6 .
42 Israeli Defence Force Archive, Tel Aviv, file-40/103.53, pp. 5–7.
43 The speech is available at: www.charmaineyoest.com/2007/06/the_camera_misses_nothing.php.
44 See, for what follows, Paintball, available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintball.
45 S. Davidson et al., The Complete Guide to Paintball, New York: Hatherleigh Press, 2007, p. 9.
46 See www.shop4paintball.com/.
47 See, for Israel, Paintball Israel, at www.paintball.co.il/index_en.asp; “In Tehran, Enjoy a Game of Paintball”, Middle East Online, October 28, 2002, available at: www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=2998.
48 See www.actionpursuitgames.com/.
49 Davidson et al., The Complete Guide to Paintball, pp. 18, 19.
50 Ibid., p. 3.
51 D. Wagner, Handbook of Infantry Tactics for Paintball, Based Upon US Army and Soviet Doctrine for Light Infantry Combat Operations, Booksurge, 2009 .
52 C. E. Larsen, Paintball and Airsoft Battle Tactics, Minneapolis, MN: Voyeur, 2008 .
53 See, for some figures, United Nations, Department for Economic and Social Affairs, World Urbanization Prospects, 2005, available at: www.un.org/esa/population/publications/WUP2005/2005wup.htm.
54 See, for urban warfare in general, R. W. Glenn, Combat in Hell: A Consideration of Constrained Urban Warfare, Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1996 .
55 US Army, Field Manual 90–10–1, An Infantryman’s Guide to Fighting in Built-Up Areas, Washington DC, 1993, pp. 8–1 .
56 See, for the kind of training that is available, Bagira Systems, Urban Warfare Training, at www.websplanet.com/var/1059/135467-PAINTBALL%20brochure.pdf.
57 Yahoo! Answers, at: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100310053901AAALH3F.
58 See, for much of what follows, laser tag, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_tag.
59 “Denies British Invented ‘Death Ray’: E. R. Scott Asserts He and Other Americans Preceded Grindell-Matthews,” New York Times, September 5, 1924 .
60 See, for an all too exhaustive discussion, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_weapons_in_
Star_Trek.
61 See Star Trek Electronic Phaser Guns, at: www.google.co.il/#hl=iw&source=hp&biw=1065&bih=664&q=%22Star+Trek+Electronic+Phaser+Guns%22+&btnG=%D7%97%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A9+%D7%91-Google&rlz=1R2ADSA_enIL420&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=%22Star+Trek+Electronic+Phaser+Guns%22+&fp=91d766f1751cd80f.
62 International Laser Tag Association, History of Laser Tag, at: www.lasertag.org/general/history.html.
63 J. Diehl et al., “Germany May Seek Ban on Paintball,” SpiegelOnLine, July 5, 2009, at: www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,623518,00.html .
64 See, for a description of one such system, Laser Tag System, at: www.lazerrunner.com/mod.php%3Fmod=userpage&menu=13&page_id=30.
65 Whyteville Lasertag Home Page, Tactics and Strategy, at: www.erikritch.com/wythelasertag/Club/tactics.shtml.
66 “aashanta,” August 16, 2003, at http://everything2.com/title/laser+tag.
67 J. Munro, “Advanced Tactics to Win at the Game of Laser Tag,” March 2, 2010, at: www.associatedcontent.com/article/2745151/advanced_tactics_to_win_at_the_game.html .
68 Quoted in A. W. Chapman, The Origins and Development of the National Training Center, 1967–1984, Washington DC: Center of Military History, US Army, 1997, p. 16 .
69 Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_Integrated_Laser_Engagement_System.
70 See, for the details, Hohenfels Training Area, at: www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/hohenfels.htm.
71 See B. Reece, “Training Today’s Soldiers at NTC,” Soldiers Magazine, September 2005 .
72 R. W. Cone, “The Changing National Training Center,” Military Review, May−June 2006 .
73 See M. Goldsmith et al., Applying the National Training Center Experience: Artillery Targeting Accuracy, Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1990, available at: www.randproject.com/pubs/notes/2009/N2984.pdf, pp. 4–7 .
74 See, on the way it is done, OPFOR, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposing_force.
75 Chapman, The Origins and Development of the National Training Center, p. 88.
76 Allen, War Games, p. 319.
77 Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, LCL, 1929 , 1.2.8.
78 J. Gassner and E. Quinn, The Reader’s Encyclopedia of World Drama, Toronto: General, 1969, p. 551 .
79 See, for what follows, Eglinton Tournament of 1839, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eglinton_Tournament_of_1839.
80 J. Aikman and W. Gordon, An Account of the Tournament at Eglinton, Edinburgh: Paton, 1839, p. 15 .
81 “Reliving the Boer War,” at: http://exhibits.slpl.org/lpe/data/LPE240023571.asp?thread=240029422.
82 New York Times, May 21, 1905, available at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F1071EFB3F5E12738DDDA80A94DD405B858CF1D3.
83 See for these events Historical Reenactment at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_reenactment.
84 See 1913 Gettysburg Reenactment at: http://kiki.mx.am/nose.html.
85 Collectie Tropenmuseum, at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Het_naspelen_van_een_oorlog_door_een_groep_mannen_Karolanden_TMnr_10004848.jpg.
86 Historical Military Reenactments, at: www.mmmr.com.au/hmr/events.html.
87 Battle of Jena at: http://forums.starcraft.org/threads/22025-Battle-Of-Jena-200th-Anniversary-Re-enactment.
88 J. Fowler, “Tabards On, Visors Down: Fans Relive the 1410 Battle of Grunwald,” Agence France-Presse, June 17, 2010, at: www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h5iMAZg5DRs8GN-80COPjCbuQqbw .
89 The following is based on J. Thompson, War Games: Inside the World of 20th-Century War Reenactors, Washington DC: Smithsonian, 2004, especially pp. 76–94, 201–36 .
90 9th Reenactment Society, at: www.9thsspanzer.com/FAQ.htm#type.
91 Thompson, War Games, pp. 147, 149.
92 C. Grenand, So You Want to be a Soldier: How to Get Started in Civil-War Reenactment, Lynchburg, VA: Schroeder, 2003, p. ix .
93 The Scottish Military Reenactment Society, at: www.combinedops.com/SMRS2.htm.
94 See, for the details: www.pacpubserver.com/new/enter/12-16-98/crossing.html.
95 Rome around the World, at: www.romanempire.net/romepage/Links/roman_reenactment_groups.htm.
96 Thompson, War Games, p. 68; Axis History Forum at: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php%3Ff=40&t=102045&start=15.
97 New Zealand Military Reenactment Society at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Reenactment_Society.
98 WWII Historical Reenactment Society at: www.wiking.org/.
99 The 9th Reenactment Society at: www.9thsspanzer.com/FAQ.htm; Battle Group South at: www.battlegroupsouth.com/recruit.html.
100 WWII Battle Reenactment at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0epNR8XKMT8.
101 See on this “Die Farm der boesen Deutschen,” Der Spiegel, 30, July 26, 2010, p. 98 ; Living – or Falsified? – History at: www.wimag.kiev.ua/index2.php%3F=pgs20093/92.
102 See, for some pictures of an event held in May 2006: www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=80549.
103 How to Make Hardtack for War Reenactments at: www.ehow.com/how_2082699_make-hardtack-war-reenactments.html; Civil War Store at: www.aurorahistoryboutique.com/ahb_civilWarStore.cfm.
104 See, for this weapon, MG-34 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_34.
105 Thompson, War Games, p, 187.
106 Grenand, So You Want to be a Soldier, pp. 258–9.
107 9th Reenactment Society at: www.9thsspanzer.com/FAQ.htm#notnazis.
108 See, above all, T. Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War, New York: Vintage, 1999, especially pp. 6–9 .
109 L. Steiner, “Historic Battle Reenactment Cancelled [in Canada],” February 17, 2009 at: www.suite101.com/content/historic-battle-reenactment-cancelled-a96929 .
110 See S. McGonigal, Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, London: Penguin, 2011 ; and B. Reeves and J. Leighton Read, Games at Work: How Games and Virtual Worlds are Changing the Way People Work and Businesses Compete, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 2009 .
111 Enjoy England at: www.enjoyengland.com/ideas/heritage-and-culture/historic-places/re-enactments-in-yorkshire.aspx.
112 Thompson, War Games, pp. 284–5.
113 Junkelmann, Gladiatoren, pp. 148–65.
114 See, for example, T. Christou, “Gone but Not Forgotten: The Decline of History as an Educational Foundation,” Journal of Curriculum Studies, 41, 5, 2009, pp. 569–83 .
115 Thompson, War Games, p. 59.
6 Enter the computer
Present at creation
Starting in 1945 and lasting for about a decade and a half, a vast wave of change swept over armed conflict as well as the wargames used to simulate it, prepare for it, and, of course, play at it. Largely responsible for the change were two technologies in particular: digital computers and nuclear weapons. Separately and together, so revolutionary were they that those who designed them, developed them, considered ways to employ them, and put them to use (or non-use) could truly claim to have created a new world: one in which humanity, like it or not, will have to live until the end of time.
To speak of computers first, considered from one point of view they have a very long history going back all the way to the ancient Egyptian abacus that Herodotus describes.1 Considered from another, they only date to the years immediately following World War II when the first multifunction, programmable machines were introduced. Even if visions of such machines that never made it into reality are included, one need go no further back than the “analytical engine” that Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace built during the first half of the nineteenth century.2
Once computers had become available they very quickly proved their worth in designing and playing wargames. One of the first things they did was to take the place of dice in generating random numbers to simulate processes too complex to be gamed in other ways as well as the impact of chance (the so-called Monte Carlo simulation). Not only was such simulation
much faster and cheaper than working with multiple dice, but by making possible a much larger number of repetitions it provided a much better statistical basis on which to base one’s conclusions.3 Soon computers also started to be used for storing, retrieving, and displaying the information players needed. As we have seen, many wargames, both professional and amateur, require large numbers of calculations to relate the various factors to one another and determine outcomes. The more complex the battle, campaign, or war being gamed, and the more detailed the simulation, the more serious the problem. Computers made it possible both to introduce as many additional factors as those who design the games could think of and to “crunch” the necessary numbers at a speed no human can even remotely match. As computer memory was expanded, the task of record-keeping for subsequent analysis and evaluation was also made much easier. By 1960 the Navy Electronic Warfare Simulator at the Naval War College, built at the cost of ten million dollars (approximately seventy-five million in 2011 dollars) to replace the old wargaming hall with its checkered floor, was performing all these functions. Described as a “two sided . . . electro-mechanical war gaming device which enables players to make command decisions at real-world or more than real-world time,” it would provide them with “significant combat experience in a realistic setting.” Other organizations had their own machines, though computer simulations of ground warfare tended to lag behind the rest.4
Wargames Page 37