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Inner Sphere

2023-03-03T00:53:04Z

2607:FB90:6CA3:5C65:7117:7AF9:75D:541E:

The '''Inner Sphere''' is an region in the [[BattleTech]] universe comprised of the space within about 500 Light Years from [[Terra]]. It is home to some 2000 inhabited star systems and is the core of human inhabited space. This is on contract to [[The Periphery]] and is home to the Five Great Houses, known as the Successor States after the Amaris Civil War, and mankind’s homeworld of Terra that was/is the capital of the Star League and the Terran Hegemony before the latter two collapsed.

==General History==

==The Great Houses==
===The Successor States===
===Historical Houses===

==Life in the Inner Sphere==

==Powers in the Inner Sphere==
{{Stub}}
[[Category:BattleTech]]

Inner Sphere

2023-03-03T00:52:39Z

2607:FB90:6CA3:5C65:7117:7AF9:75D:541E:

The '''Inner Sphere''' is an region in the [[BattleTech]] universe comprised of the space within about 500 Light Years from [[Terra]]. It is home to some 2000 inhabited star systems and is the core of human inhabited space. This is on contract to [[The Periphery]] and is home to the Five Great Houses, known as the Successor States after the Amaris Civil War, and mankind’s homeworld of Terra that was/is the capital of the Star League and the Terran Hegemony before the latter two collapsed.

==General History==

==The Great Houses==
===The Successor States==
===Historical Houses==

==Life in the Inner Sphere==

==Powers in the Inner Sphere==
{{Stub}}
[[Category:BattleTech]]

War

2023-03-02T16:11:55Z

2607:FB90:6CA3:5C65:7117:7AF9:75D:541E: /* Why do we go to war? */

{{topquote|War, what is it good for?|Edwin Starr}}
{{topquote|Everything!|[[Team Fortress 2|Soldier]], replying to the upper question.}}

War, for some the be-all-end-all of civilizations, the harbinger of death to others. For thousands of years, perhaps even millions, us humans have gone to war for as long as we've been able to create weapons. Whether it be over matters of ideology, natural resources, or territory, men have fought for millennia on end for the betterment of mankind as a whole... or for their own interest.

War has been part of human society for a very long time. So long in fact that we can hardly even pinpoint when did the fashion of [[Orks|bashing someone else with a big pointy stick]] even started originally. Some even theorized that the practice of warfare is not something proper to humans, but perhaps to animals as well, as our cousins the apes have learned how to manipulate sticks and machetes. Meanwhile, ant colonies have waged a global war since time immemorial. In any case, wars have been omnipresent for a long while. So much so, in fact, that we humans have draw a lot of inspirations for our stories and cultures. War is present in our books, our ancient texts, our games, our movies, our shows, and so on and so forth.

==/tg/ relevance==
{{topquote|War in its ensemble is NOT a science, but an art. Strategy, particularly, may indeed be regulated by fixed laws resembling those of the positive sciences, but this is not true of war viewed as a whole.|[[Fulgrim|Antoine-Henri Jomini]] in his military treatise, Précis de l’Art de la Guerre (Summary of the Art of War)}}

[[Warhammer 40k|Are]] [[Warmahordes|you]] [[The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game|seriously]] [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|asking]] [[Horus Heresy|that]] [[BattleTech|here]] [[Flames of War|of]] [[Team Yankee|all]] [[Beyond the Gates of Antares|places?]]

Barring any horror, mystery, civilization-building, RPG, and puzzle tabletop games, you’re more likely than not to find a tabletop game focused on war. Hell, the earliest version of modern tabletop [[wargaming]] came from military war games using set miniatures pieces and military unit markers for strategists to sharpen their tactics with wargaming skills. Even their board game relatives of checkers, shogi, chess, and go all have military strategy overtones associated with them. And ironically it’s still a practice that continues to this day despite the proliferation of [[Video games|software simulations]] and [[LARP|live fire]] [[RPG|training exercises]]. Both with hypothetical scenario exercises for governments and think-tanks or private service members finding some peace and quiet from painting miniatures before marching them to war.

==War in practice==

{{topquote|Men, steel, money, and bread, are the sinews of war; but of these four, the first two are more necessary, for men and steel find money and bread, but money and bread do not find men and steel.|[[Perturabo|Niccolo Machiavelli]] in his military treatise, Dell'arte della Guerra (The Art of War)}}

{{topquote|All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.|[[Alpharius|Sun Tzu]] in his military treatise, 孫子兵法 (The Art of War)}}

Warfare. A profession for many, an art to some. Wars can be waged by just about anyone, but they cannot be won by everyone. At the end of the day, as long as there's still conflict to be settled, [[Team Fortress 2#Sniper|someone is gonna want someone else dead]]. To maximize the chances of winning, plenty have elaborated plans of actions to conduct war in a proper manner. Any regime that had plenty of men and who knew how to use them made some pretty drastic changes in history, plenty left their mark through sheer force of will... And lethal application of weaponry.

So, you wanna wage a war, son? Or... Well, have some tips to write a good war for your '''worldbuilding considerations?'''

First of all; you need to decide what kind of war do you want, and for what purpose. Authors don't bring up wars for the same reason, they can either serve as the primary source of conflict, a means to a greater end, or the consequences of unfortunate situations. You also need to establish the stakes; are people fighting for a greater philosophical cause and for the good of the country, or is it just a matter of natural ressources and successions?

For instance, fantasy tends to invoke that the entire world is at stakes because a dark lord, or a demon, or an order, or anything for that matter, is/are trying to change the way of things. This serves for an effective if manichean way of generating conflict. It's vague enough to have little to no political implications, prefering to rely on philosophy and morality to justify itself. This usually means that the consequences of the war could have an impact on a cosmic scale; as in, the world might literally change depending on who's the victor. This usually ties into the cosmology or the way the whole world function on a magical/literal level. For instance, in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], Chaos is the primary opposing force that drives the conflicts present in the Warhammer world, that is due to its destructive nature and its main emphasis on spreading corruption. While it isn't exactly the only antagonistic faction of the game, it remains one of its biggest threats.

If you wish to take a more realistic approach...

==Why do we go to war?==

{{topquote|War is merely the continuation of policy by other means. We see, therefore, that war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means. What remains peculiar to war is simply the peculiar nature of its means.|[[Roboute Guilliman|Carl von Clausewitz]] in his military treatise, Vom Kriege (On War)}}

{{topquote|[[Ogre#Shrek|Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make.]]|Any ruler worth his crown in History.}}

<span style='color:green;font-size:115%'>BECOZ IT'Z A ZOGGIN' GUD TIME, DATZ WHY!</span>

Okay, seriously, why do we go to war? You might have heard philosophers, politicians, artists, thinkers, or even people on the street saying that war is terrible and should be avoided at all cost. Even military officials highly suggest to not apprehend conflict at all. As it seems that War brings more bad than good. But if that is so obvious, then why do people '''still to this very day''' fight to the death? It has been a very frequent subject of debates and researches. Despite the disapproval of war as a concept, it is ever omnipresent in our media and culture. Even games! How many tabletop games do you know are based around the concept of war? Isn't that enough proof that despite the odds, there is an interest in the matter of conflict?

Over the years, many explanations for war were given, but none really serve as a definitive answer.

*Natural resources have been a frequent one in the early days of civilization. The Euphrates river, for example, has been the theater of a metric ton of conflicts and battles over the water the river provided. And given how it was one of the only sources around in Ancient Mesopotamia, you better believe people were going to fight over it. With the first development of agriculture and infrastructures made to circumvent problems created by the river, the disputes lasted until the establishment of the first Akkadian civilization.
**Later down the line, natural resources kept being a main motivation for war; but instead of it being based on its literal rarity, most cases were economic matters. Say a country is doing a blockade on certain trades and another needs said trades to complete certain megaprojects. In most cases, negotiations were cut short in favor of a simple cut to the throat. In desperate times, men can get very violent. Or repress with a lot of violence.
**Additionally, said wars can not be just merely for seeking more favorable terms regarding resources, trade access, and political prestige at another’s expense but also conquest and annexation of land and subjugation of people inhabiting it (whether it be for labor, tax sources, or pacification of unruly neighborhoods). Even nomadic migrations of armed displaced people or nomads is a thing as seen with the Mongols, German Barbarian Migrations, and the Sea People.
* Following the "realist" political theories, war is the result of nations trying and failing to produce stability with their neighboring nations by maintaining a balance of military power with each other; often by using coercive actions to w neighbors to take their considerations into account when all other options (such as tense diplomatic negotiations, embargoes, tariffs, and blockades) are either nonviable or failed. If that does not work out (say, because one nation is believed to be [[Nazi|developing nuclear weapons]] and [[USA|we'd rather be the ones holding that particular trigger]]), war happens to try and balance it out so war can be avoided in the future. This also works with other resources; if a country is in need of water, oil or other necessities, war becomes more likely as their desperation rises (see current east-European/Russian relations).
* If you're an authoritarian regime, war is one of many ways to keep your regime propped up. This serves multiple purposes; it provides the populace with jobs in the form of industry and conscription, it directs people's negative sentiments towards an external foe and away from the state itself, and if the war is successful, gains the state prestige and resources (which are intended to not only offset the cost of the war but also grow the state's overall power). The threat of an external foe also justifies an increase in the state's power, such as cracking down on civil liberties. That being said, if the state is already unstable or overextended and you fail to make any meaningful gains, people will start questioning the legitimacy of the ruling class.
* Ideology may be a major dividing line between two opposing forces; while political ambitions and desire for power usually coincide as motivating factors, a major ideological difference can make it intolerable for two different groups of people to live with each other due to the fundamental incompatibility with their ways of life. This dividing line can be further exacerbated by ongoing bad blood between the two different factions, making long-term reconciliation difficult.
* Sometimes wars are because diplomacy can be a huge clusterfuck. Let's say you're Country A, a mercantile power who has a vested interest in keeping your home region nice and stable and not constantly mired by war. Country B, meanwhile, is a very militaristic power that's looking to increase its power and prestige, potentially by gobbling up smaller countries C, D, and E. Were this to come to pass, not only would you lose many trading partners, but country B would also be in a much bigger position to boss you around, so you form an alliance with C D and E, telling B that if they were to attack any of you, you all go to war with them. Well, B decides to call your bluff and attacks C. If A doesn't go to war with B, then other countries won't want to form any more treaties with A, and B will look for new ways to throw its weight around. This is WWI and the alliance system in a nutshell; while the intention is to prevent war, it has no power if the threat has no follow-through.
* Civil Wars usually start with some segment of the population being upset with who's in charge of the nation, be it an interest group, a socioeconomic class, or a particular head of state. This can take a number of different forms, occasionally multiple of these at once:
** Rebellion - A group of people are unhappy with the current state of affairs and want to set something on fire about it. Rebellions are, if we're defining things for categorization here, mostly just an outlet for pent-up frustration or some unbearable conditions, not a fully formed attempt to establish a new order. You don't need a manifesto, just a brick. They tend to be the prelude to something more serious.
** Coup d'Etat - The rebel faction wants to replace the current ruler. Generally, this happens as a conspiracy by military officers, government officials, the nobility, or some outside force that's gotten the ear of any of the previous three.
** Succession Crisis - more common in a [[Monarchy]]; if it's unclear on who will be the next ruler, if the heir apparent is deemed unfit to rule, or if the next in line is someone that everyone absolutely can't stand, the different claimants will fight each other for the throne.
** Secession - The rebel faction wants to splinter away from the country to form their own country. This undermines the authority of the previously united national government, leading to high tensions even if the secession itself is peaceful, and often leads to war afterwards when the seceding party throws the emperor's diplomats out a window, finds a big strong friendly nation with a vested interest in building a canal, or starts a war in a fit of jingoistic arrogance then cries about losing for the next 160 years.
** Revolution - The rebel faction wants to change the system of government entirely. These are, generally speaking, The Big Ones. Since the concept of a revolution in the modern sense, beginning in the late 18th century, revolutions hardly ever stay in one country. Power bounces around into new and unknown hands, long-established societal norms are challenged openly, and more often than not the neighbors start to get nervous about it and decide to help, quietly or in full force, one side or the other. No matter the outcome of one single revolution, in a world that has grown ever more interconnected, it's bad news for the powerful and unpopular everywhere when the barricades and banners start showing up.
** Failed State - If the central government fails altogether, local populations will start fighting each other to reestablish a new state; usually with different warlords wanting to eventually defeat the rivals and become the new ruler of the country.
*** Partition - if a country (often a buffer state) between neighbors is unstable to the point of having conflict spill over national borders, then said neighbors may consider such a state as an existential threat and should be split between each other for the sake of keeping their realms in order. Oftentimes, this means mutually agreed annexation of land at the expense of the locals (whether it be via political marriage, puppet states, or plain old forced population transfer).

War

2023-03-01T21:23:55Z

2607:FB90:6CA3:5C65:7117:7AF9:75D:541E: /* /tg/ relevance */

{{topquote|War, what is it good for?|Edwin Starr}}
{{topquote|Everything!|[[Team Fortress 2|Soldier]], replying to the upper question.}}

War, for some the be-all-end-all of civilizations, the harbinger of death to others. For thousands of years, perhaps even millions, us humans have gone to war for as long as we've been able to create weapons. Whether it be over matters of ideology, natural resources, or territory, men have fought for millennia on end for the betterment of mankind as a whole... or for their own interest.

War has been part of human society for a very long time. So long in fact that we can hardly even pinpoint when did the fashion of [[Orks|bashing someone else with a big pointy stick]] even started originally. Some even theorized that the practice of warfare is not something proper to humans, but perhaps to animals as well, as our cousins the apes have learned how to manipulate sticks and machetes. Meanwhile, ant colonies have waged a global war since time immemorial. In any case, wars have been omnipresent for a long while. So much so, in fact, that we humans have draw a lot of inspirations for our stories and cultures. War is present in our books, our ancient texts, our games, our movies, our shows, and so on and so forth.

==/tg/ relevance==
{{topquote|War in its ensemble is NOT a science, but an art. Strategy, particularly, may indeed be regulated by fixed laws resembling those of the positive sciences, but this is not true of war viewed as a whole.|[[Fulgrim|Antoine-Henri Jomini]] in his military treatise, Précis de l’Art de la Guerre (Summary of the Art of War)}}

[[Warhammer 40k|Are]] [[Warmahordes|you]] [[The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game|seriously]] [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|asking]] [[Horus Heresy|that]] [[BattleTech|here]] [[Flames of War|of]] [[Team Yankee|all]] [[Beyond the Gates of Antares|places?]]

Barring any horror, mystery, civilization-building, RPG, and puzzle tabletop games, you’re more likely than not to find a tabletop game focused on war. Hell, the earliest version of modern tabletop [[wargaming]] came from military war games using set miniatures pieces and military unit markers for strategists to sharpen their tactics with wargaming skills. Even their board game relatives of checkers, shogi, chess, and go all have military strategy overtones associated with them. And ironically it’s still a practice that continues to this day despite the proliferation of [[Video games|software simulations]] and [[LARP|live fire]] [[RPG|training exercises]]. Both with hypothetical scenario exercises for governments and think-tanks or private service members finding some peace and quiet from painting miniatures before marching them to war.

==War in practice==

{{topquote|Men, steel, money, and bread, are the sinews of war; but of these four, the first two are more necessary, for men and steel find money and bread, but money and bread do not find men and steel.|[[Perturabo|Niccolo Machiavelli]] in his military treatise, Dell'arte della Guerra (The Art of War)}}

{{topquote|All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.|[[Alpharius|Sun Tzu]] in his military treatise, 孫子兵法 (The Art of War)}}

Warfare. A profession for many, an art to some. Wars can be waged by just about anyone, but they cannot be won by everyone. At the end of the day, as long as there's still conflict to be settled, [[Team Fortress 2#Sniper|someone is gonna want someone else dead]]. To maximize the chances of winning, plenty have elaborated plans of actions to conduct war in a proper manner. Any regime that had plenty of men and who knew how to use them made some pretty drastic changes in history, plenty left their mark through sheer force of will... And lethal application of weaponry.

So, you wanna wage a war, son?

==Why do we go to war?==

{{topquote|War is merely the continuation of policy by other means. We see, therefore, that war is not merely an act of policy but a true political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse carried on with other means. What remains peculiar to war is simply the peculiar nature of its means.|[[Roboute Guilliman|Carl von Clausewitz]] in his military treatise, Vom Kriege (On War)}}

{{topquote|[[Ogre#Shrek|Some of you may die, but it's a sacrifice I am willing to make.]]|Any ruler worth his crown in History.}}

<span style='color:green;font-size:115%'>BECOZ IT'Z A ZOGGIN' GUD TIME, DATZ WHY!</span>

Okay, seriously, why do we go to war? You might have heard philosophers, politicians, artists, thinkers, or even people on the street saying that war is terrible and should be avoided at all cost. Even military officials highly suggest to not apprehend conflict at all. As it seems that War brings more bad than good. But if that is so obvious, then why do people '''still to this very day''' fight to the death? It has been a very frequent subject of debates and researches. Despite the disapproval of war as a concept, it is ever omnipresent in our media and culture. Even games! How many tabletop games do you know are based around the concept of war? Isn't that enough proof that despite the odds, there is an interest in the matter of conflict?

Over the years, many explanations for war were given, but none really serve as a definitive answer.

*Natural resources have been a frequent one in the early days of civilization. The Euphrates river, for example, has been the theater of a metric ton of conflicts and battles over the water the river provided. And given how it was one of the only sources around in Ancient Mesopotamia, you better believe people were going to fight over it. With the first development of agriculture and infrastructures made to circumvent problems created by the river, the disputes lasted until the establishment of the first Akkadian civilization.
**Later down the line, natural resources kept being a main motivation for war; but instead of it being based on its literal rarity, most cases were economic matters. Say a country is doing a blockade on certain trades and another needs said trades to complete certain megaprojects. In most cases, negotiations were cut short in favor of a simple cut to the throat. In desperate times, men can get very violent. Or repress with a lot of violence.
**Additionally, said wars can not be just merely for seeking more favorable terms regarding resources, trade access, and political prestige at another’s expense but also conquest and annexation of land and subjugation of people inhabiting it (whether it be for labor, tax sources, or pacification of unruly neighborhoods). Even nomadic migrations of armed displaced people or nomads is a thing as seen with the Mongols and the Sea People.
* Following the "realist" political theories, war is the result of nations trying and failing to produce stability with their neighboring nations by maintaining a balance of military power with each other; often by using coercive actions to w neighbors to take their considerations into account when all other options (such as tense diplomatic negotiations, embargoes, tariffs, and blockades) are either nonviable or failed. If that does not work out (say, because one nation is believed to be [[Nazi|developing nuclear weapons]] and [[USA|we'd rather be the ones holding that particular trigger]]), war happens to try and balance it out so war can be avoided in the future. This also works with other resources; if a country is in need of water, oil or other necessities, war becomes more likely as their desperation rises (see current east-European/Russian relations).
* If you're an authoritarian regime, war is one of many ways to keep your regime propped up. This serves multiple purposes; it provides the populace with jobs in the form of industry and conscription, it directs people's negative sentiments towards an external foe and away from the state itself, and if the war is successful, gains the state prestige and resources (which are intended to not only offset the cost of the war but also grow the state's overall power). The threat of an external foe also justifies an increase in the state's power, such as cracking down on civil liberties. That being said, if the state is already unstable or overextended and you fail to make any meaningful gains, people will start questioning the legitimacy of the ruling class.
* Ideology may be a major dividing line between two opposing forces; while political ambitions and desire for power usually coincide as motivating factors, a major ideological difference can make it intolerable for two different groups of people to live with each other due to the fundamental incompatibility with their ways of life. This dividing line can be further exacerbated by ongoing bad blood between the two different factions, making long-term reconciliation difficult.
* Sometimes wars are because diplomacy can be a huge clusterfuck. Let's say you're Country A, a mercantile power who has a vested interest in keeping your home region nice and stable and not constantly mired by war. Country B, meanwhile, is a very militaristic power that's looking to increase its power and prestige, potentially by gobbling up smaller countries C, D, and E. Were this to come to pass, not only would you lose many trading partners, but country B would also be in a much bigger position to boss you around, so you form an alliance with C D and E, telling B that if they were to attack any of you, you all go to war with them. Well, B decides to call your bluff and attacks C. If A doesn't go to war with B, then other countries won't want to form any more treaties with A, and B will look for new ways to throw its weight around. This is WWI and the alliance system in a nutshell; while the intention is to prevent war, it has no power if the threat has no follow-through.
* Civil Wars usually start with some segment of the population being upset with who's in charge of the nation, be it an interest group, a socioeconomic class, or a particular head of state. This can take a number of different forms, occasionally multiple of these at once:
** Rebellion - A group of people are unhappy with the current state of affairs and want to set something on fire about it. Rebellions are, if we're defining things for categorization here, mostly just an outlet for pent-up frustration or some unbearable conditions, not a fully formed attempt to establish a new order. You don't need a manifesto, just a brick. They tend to be the prelude to something more serious.
** Coup d'Etat - The rebel faction wants to replace the current ruler. Generally, this happens as a conspiracy by military officers, government officials, the nobility, or some outside force that's gotten the ear of any of the previous three.
** Succession Crisis - more common in a [[Monarchy]]; if it's unclear on who will be the next ruler, if the heir apparent is deemed unfit to rule, or if the next in line is someone that everyone absolutely can't stand, the different claimants will fight each other for the throne.
** Secession - The rebel faction wants to splinter away from the country to form their own country. This undermines the authority of the previously united national government, leading to high tensions even if the secession itself is peaceful, and often leads to war afterwards when the seceding party throws the emperor's diplomats out a window, finds a big strong friendly nation with a vested interest in building a canal, or starts a war in a fit of jingoistic arrogance then cries about losing for the next 160 years.
** Revolution - The rebel faction wants to change the system of government entirely. These are, generally speaking, The Big Ones. Since the concept of a revolution in the modern sense, beginning in the late 18th century, revolutions hardly ever stay in one country. Power bounces around into new and unknown hands, long-established societal norms are challenged openly, and more often than not the neighbors start to get nervous about it and decide to help, quietly or in full force, one side or the other. No matter the outcome of one single revolution, in a world that has grown ever more interconnected, it's bad news for the powerful and unpopular everywhere when the barricades and banners start showing up.
** Failed State - If the central government fails altogether, local populations will start fighting each other to reestablish a new state; usually with different warlords wanting to eventually defeat the rivals and become the new ruler of the country.
*** Partition - if a country (often a buffer state) between neighbors is unstable to the point of having conflict spill over national borders, then said neighbors may consider such a state as an existential threat and should be split between each other for the sake of keeping their realms in order. Oftentimes, this means mutually agreed annexation of land at the expense of the locals (whether it be via political marriage, puppet states, or plain old forced population transfer).

Wargame

2023-03-01T21:22:25Z

2607:FB90:6CA3:5C65:7117:7AF9:75D:541E:

[[Image:Hgwells.jpg|right]]
Wargames are games which attempt to simulate [[war|combat]] of some sort. Forming one of the four most popular forms of traditional game(along with card games, TTRPGs, and board games), Wargames have been enduringly popular and influential.

==History==
[[Chess]] is probably the oldest wargame still commonly played, though it's generally counted among board games instead because of how heavily abstracted it is. Modern wargaming as we think of it originated around the Napoleonic Wars, when Prussian officers developed a series of wargames, referred to as "[[Kriegsspiel]]" (literally german for War Game). Kriegsspiel was intended as an officer's training tool rather than a game played for entertainment, but it caught on, first among the officer corps and then eventually among civilians. By modern standards, Kriegsspiel is very clunky and difficult to play, but some dedicated players do still follow it. Kriegsspiel used paper chits to represent groups of soldiers, and did use dice rolls to account for chance.

The first wargame marketed towards civilians was actually developed by early science fiction author H.G Wells, who developed a codified ruleset for playing with toy soldiers and spring loaded toy cannons that fired wooden plugs, both of which were common toys at the time. Almost a direct opposite to Kriegsspiel in many ways, Wells' system, which he dubbed Little Wars, was very rules light, using no dice and emphasizing maneuver over chance. The main element of player skill involved was in the use of the artillery, where you would actually fire wooden plugs at the other side's soldiers in order to kill whichever soldiers you hit. The rules are available online for free, so [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3691 be classy and take a look at the rules for the first ever Wargame, right here.]

Little Wars was published in 1913, and didn't enjoy huge success. Wargaming didn't truly take off as a hobby until after World War II. The early wargames of this era were historical, many of them themed around the days of the Roman empire, but the publication of [[Lord Of The Rings]] caused a major interest in medieval and fantasy warfare in the 60s and 70s - a notable entry in this was the wargame Chainmail, which was spawned a little hero-focused spinoff called [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. The 1980s were mostly notable for wargaming delving into science fiction and fantasy. The popularity of Star Wars, the plethora of excellent Fantasy films, and the enduring enthusiasm for Lord of The Rings lead to the introduction of more and more fantastical games. Most notable were [[Battletech]], influenced heavily by Mecha anime before codifying the western Mecha genre, and [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]. Warhammer was the first wargame meant to be played with proprietary miniatures, serving as a product first, and it was a major success, spawning its eventually more popular science fiction equivalent Warhammer 40,000. The 1990s and 2000s saw a slow but gradual spread in wargaming's popularity, with many wargame properties adapted to video games. In this time period, the various Warhammer properties solidified a hold on the market that they keep today - the 2010s saw challengers such as [[Warmachine]] and [[Hordes]], both from Privateer Press, and [[X-Wing]] and [[Star Wars: Legion]], both from Fantasy Flight Games, but neither managed to disrupt Warhammer's dominant position.

==Types of Wargame==
Wargames can be broadly categorized into two groups - Miniature Wargames and Chit Wargames. Chit Wargames are wargames which use paper or cardboard chits to represent the units involved in the battle. Some good examples include Kriegsspiel, Wooden Ships & Iron Men and various other Avalon Hill wargames. Almost every naval wargame also falls in this category. Chit Wargames often straddle the line between wargame and board game, and have waned in popularity in the last few years. By contrast, Miniature Wargames are games in which the units in the game are represented by miniature models. Miniature Wargames combine the aspect of playing the game with a craft hobby element - miniatures are often supplied unassembled, and almost always unpainted. This is seen as a feature, not a bug, as the ability to build and paint your own unique force is a major draw for many wargamers. Warhammer(in all its incarnations), Bolt Action, and Star Wars: Legion are all miniature wargames. Battletech is notable as a hybrid of the two - the game can be played with paper tokens on a hexagon based grid representing units, or with detailed miniature models and no grid.

Chit wargames are generally played on a map, usually supplied with the game, blurring the line between them and board games. Miniature wargames, by contrast, expect the players to produce a miniature battlefield for their models to fight over. Some players lovingly craft unique tables out of common and specialist materials, many companies produce purpose-designed wargaming terrain, while plenty of players, especially those starting out, just use piles of books and whatever else fits on the dining table to produce a playable battlefield.

Wargames are also categorized by scale. While there are no solid guidelines on what a scale consists of, there's generally two important points - how big each unit is in gameplay, and how many units are expected to take part in a battle. The size of the units is often referred to by how tall an individual soldier is, in millimeters, while the number of units expected to take part is generally referred to by the military unit that a player's force is meant to emulate. For example, [[Bolt Action]] by Warlord Games uses 28mm scale miniatures, meaning that an individual soldier stands a little over an inch tall, and the game is referred to as "Reinforced Platoon" scale, meaning that each player commands a platoon, sometimes reinforced by a tank, artillery piece, etc. Some games are also referred to as "heroic scale" - this is a simple acknowledgement that the scales aren't exactly consistent, and elements are exaggerated for dramatic effect or just for visibility at a distance.

There's also the matter of the other kind of scale, i.e., "how many people do an individual chit or miniature represent?", and "how many pieces does each side have?". As for the former: Some games have them represent tens of thousands of men; some games have them represent exactly one person, and everything in-between is also commonly seen. (This is (usually) less of an issue with naval or space-fighting wargames, where a ship is a ship is a ship, but is still an issue there as well.) The latter, well, everything from one (in games about one big unit against a bunch of smaller guys, e.g. [[Ogre (Wargame)|OGRE]]), to hundreds (e.g., [[The Campaign for North Africa]])

==Genres==
*'''[[/tg/ History|Historical]]:''' Replicas of specific wars or periods of wars. The most popular are World War 2, the American Civil War, and the Napoleonic wars, though many others are supported.
*'''Fantasy:''' [[Orc]]s, [[Dwarves]], and dirty [[peasant]]s fighting alongside half-crazed [[wizard]]s. Often features large monsters and magic. The most well known is [[Warhammer: Age of Sigmar]], a continuation of the previous most well known [[Warhammer Fantasy]], [[Dungeons & Dragons]] started out as a variant of another called [[Chainmail]]. Some other examples include [[Kings of War]] and [[WARMACHINE|Warmahordes]].
*'''Science Fiction:''' Laser guns, space ships fighting among the stars, mechs and more. The most well known is [[Warhammer 40,000]], some other examples include [[Infinity (wargame)|Infinity]] and [[BattleTech]].

[[Category:Wargames]]