THE FIRST WORLD WAR, MINIATURES, WAR GAMES AND THE LIMITS OF IMAGINATION
Little Wars by H.G. Wells, 1913
I found my Airfix figures of the First World War up in my parents’ attic. These were war game figures, arranged by company, battalion, regiment, brigade and division, including supporting field artillery and machine guns.
The figures I collected were from the 1914-15 era. These wore colorful uniforms, especially the French infantry and cavalry. I also put together smaller fighting units typical of trench warfare during the 1916-18 period, but these were almost impossible to operate in any kind of interesting game.
When I viewed the boxes of cuirassiers and dragoons, I imagined the spectacle they made long ago rather than the practicality of horsemen in modern war. Surely it was the spectacle of power and romantic notions of past Napoleonic victories that the French dredged up when they outfitted their military in 1914.
At the height of my collection I think I had the equivalent of a French and German corps and a British division, with assorted cavalry brigades. I also had a French colonial regiment.
Replicating battles from August 1914 presented huge problems. For all the color and mass they presented, the rules guiding any war games ended the same: huge casualties inflicted from afar by a few machine guns and field pieces.
First World War games defied rules and dice rolls that sought to determine morale. After fifty percent casualties, what was the point of calculating morale?
I'm not sure why I became interested in the era. First World War was clearly a modern war, but it seemed guided by very old ideas, hopes and assumptions. Even though it was extensively photographed, it was hard to visualize. Men ran forward with bayonets they would never use and wore hats that had no practical value against bullets. The only serious items appeared to be gigantic artillery weapons and industrial machine guns.
For me, war games were less about games and more about translating modern war into something I could grapple with. It provided me with a way of crudely analyzing abstractions like morale and horror.
I also had sets of Britains Horse Guards, Life Guards, Royal Marines, and Grenadier Guards which seemed unreal, except for the military histories associated with the actual regiments they represented.
The contrast with the Airfix figures couldn't be greater. The Britains figures were visual and remained visual. My First World War figures were visual but they meant something more. Sticking with the Britains figures led to Wells' Little Wars and perhaps, ideas like elan and the spirit of the offensive and the hundreds of thousands deaths that marked the opening months of the war. In other words, play war.
Little Wars by H.G. Wells, 1913
I found my Airfix figures of the First World War up in my parents’ attic. These were war game figures, arranged by company, battalion, regiment, brigade and division, including supporting field artillery and machine guns.
The contrast with the Airfix figures couldn't be greater. The Britains figures were visual and remained visual. My First World War figures were visual but they meant something more. Sticking with the Britains figures led to Wells' Little Wars and perhaps, ideas like elan and the spirit of the offensive and the hundreds of thousands deaths that marked the opening months of the war. In other words, play war.
