William Molinie
modified to
5:58 p.m., January 06, 2023
The Ukrainian soldiers owe him several recent victories, the Americans have never stopped playing it, the French army is getting back to it… Europe 1 deciphers the astonishing success of “wargame”, a military strategy board game, especially useful in preparing for high-intensity warfare.
A board game with military strategy virtues? War is also an art that is sharpened behind a game board. Beyond its educational, friendly, recreational aspect, the game is a tool for strategic thinking. In the army, it is called the “wargame” and it has recently made a triumphant return in the Ukrainian army but also among French soldiers. The Earth War School even organized an international wargame meeting two months ago for the first time. At the Invalides, French and allies clashed with pawns and dice.
From the Kriegsspiel to the war in Ukraine
The “wargame” is inherited from the famous war game, the Kriegsspiel of the Prussian staffs of the 18th century. The Germans then practiced it a lot in the interwar period. These virtual games allow you to test strategies, identify enemy flaws, but also your own weaknesses.
The Ukrainian and American staffs have moreover, according to the New York Times, played on set the Ukrainian double offensive of Kherson and Kharkiv at the end of last summer. And it was during one of these games that they would have decided to distribute the effort of the counter-attack, both north and south, and at the same time to disorganize the Russian army. It then remained to put this maneuver into practice.
The French Army has been developing its own “wargame” for two years now which, over the course of the games, has become richer and more complex, in particular by introducing space warfare or cyber attacks into the game scenario.