A certain article by Max Hastings was brought to my attention. In it, he notes that he has seen a sharp decline in the amount of military history being taught in western universities. Margret McMillian, too, noticed the decline, as well as, in some cases, revulsion against the very idea of teaching military history. With colleges right and left outside of the service academies turning against the very idea, and history departments at many major universities in general decline, one is finding that one must turn away from the academy to get military history its due.
I submit to you that one place this could occur is the humble wargame.
Where Wargames Excel at the Teaching of History
Some teachers and professors are getting the message that wargames can teach history in unique ways if properly incorporated into their lesson plans. Wargames can put people into a historical role, and the players can get an appreciation for the tasks and the limitations faced by the persons in that role.
In fact, organizations such as the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society have established military history grants to preserve this discipline of historical study, and thus, preserve the hobby of wargaming in a roundabout way.
Wargaming is practical as a classroom tool because it brings the study of history alive for students. This isn’t just a study of dry facts and a recitation of dates. It’s dynamic, interactive, and it can be fun as a byproduct. It’s one thing for an instructor to cover the “Whys” and the wherefores of, say, the Battle of Antietam. But run a wargame of it with one of the many commercial wargames, or even a miniature event with plastic figures and simple rules, and throw in a “staff ride?” You have now given that student a full appreciation of why the battle was shaped the way it was and why it was both a bloody day and an imperfect victory. You also soon learn why linear tactics worked for so long and why they no longer did when the latter part of the 19th Century rolled around.
Wargames can also develop logical and critical thinking. It takes a honed mind to determine what’s the best way to winkle an enemy out of a well-supported position. Usually, the answer is not “frontal assault” like we see in many of the Marvel movies where the two sides rush at each other with no regard for things like “flanks” and “supporting fires.” Like martial arts train the body, wargaming trains the mind.
And it can be carried out at almost any level of education, from 3rd Grade to the University. The Junior General is an excellent historical resource for teachers at the elementary and middle school levels. It has paper figures that can be printed out for any war in history and have simple rules for most of them.
In short, classrooms and the study of military history specifically (in fact, the study of history in general) can only be enhanced through incorporating wargaming into the lesson plan. The wargaming isn’t the be-all-end-all for teaching history, but it can be a great adjunct.
The Limitations Wargames Face
As anyone will tell you, wargames aren’t perfect simulations of what can or should happen in a given battle. Sometimes, against historical precedent, the Texans do win at the Alamo, or Custer manages to rout the Indians. This is usually because a player makes different decisionsthan those of his historical counterparts. But even then, those limitations are teaching something. Through the study of counterfactuals in a dynamic way, the student is gaining a better understanding of just what did happen in reality.
Wargames also don’t teach the other skills one needs to be a good historian. They don’t teach how to do research, write papers, or use primary or secondary source material. But, they are a good way to show how all that work pays off. You can show your students where the bibliography of the game came from. What decisions did the designer make on what simulation models to use in his game, and why? Is the use of those models a good history or bad?
They also should be used with the appreciation of, well, war is hell. Students (and wargamers) should never forget that your recreation or classroom activity is recreating some of the worst moments of someone’s life. Always use some primary source materials from the “soldier’s level” to tie it all together and bring this lesson home. The study of war and military history, properly executed and accomplished, is to prevent war. If we can arm future generations of soldiers, policy makers, and academics with an appreciation of what war really is, not the spoon-fed pap Hollywood turns out in a (sometimes) well-intentioned blockbuster, then military history and wargaming will have done their jobs.
Further Reading
- Perla, Peter J – The Art of Wargaming, Naval Institute Press, 1990, Annapolis – Link to Kindle Edition
- A US Army presentation on how to conduct a Staff Ride, it has a ot of tips that are practical for civilian educators as well.