Simulating War: Conflict Study Through Simulation Games by Philip Sabin | Historical Strategy Board Game for Military Enthusiasts & Educators

This book takes a look at the development and use of 'Conflict Simulations' or wargames. The initial chapters of the book were a slow read for me and seem to be a little too academic for what I would consider a book trying to reach a general audience about this topic, but after these inital chapters the pieces of his reasoning and his design logic seem to fall more into place, so I would suggest the reader be patient and keep reading for a little bit.I have been a wargamer for a good part of my life and over the years have collected a sizeable group of different types of games. This book goes into the details of items that are present in a lot of wargames like zones of control and explains what they are representing and not treating is just as a game mechanic. The author spends a lot of time describing how different types of conflict situations (or wargames) are designed and developed. He talks about the differences that you would see about fighting in Ancient Roman times versus a more modern conflict like World War II.One thing I have noticed that since I started reading this book, whenever I am playing either a board wargame or a computer version, I seem to be examining and thinking about what the designer was thinking or try to get across regarding certain elements of their design. What are they stressing as being important versus what might have been glossed over as a simple side-note or something beyond the player's control. Before reading this book, I do not remember thinking about such items in the games I play.I would recommend this book to anyone who has every played a board wargame and might have wondered what has gone into the making of it. He even discusses computer wargames and indicates which ones he thinks are good simulations and which ones are more geared less toward recreating a conflict and more towards the general entertainment category. This book will get you thinking differently about the games and how the modern military in a lot of countries use very similar games to train the soldiers of today.