Kriegspiel, the German word for wargame, was a system for training Prussian troops. The first of these was created in 1812 by father-and-son Georg Leopold von Reiswitz and Georg Heinrich Rudolf von Reiswitz. It was named Instructions for the Representation of Tactical Maneuvers under the Guise of a Wargame.
The grid system for the game field was born from a specifically-designed table for King Friedrich Wilhelm III. The field was divided into a grid, which would be come core for war games and roleplaying games the world over ever since. Game pieces were specialised, from specific playing pieces, to pre-cast terrain models, and dice. Reiswitz created the original gamemaster, as it were, as his game employed an impartial third party who would oversee the game and assess every move made. He referred to this person as a confidant.
Reiswitz created elements of his game that became staple fr all other games since. Opposing forces were colour-coded red and blue (as practically all games are these days), using maps, uniforms, and complex combat rules. Some pieces even had different speeds to move and play their turn, and each turn would last two minutes. The game had two sides of up to five players each, and there would be an hierarchy of command between them to communicate signals and so on, and if the units are out of sight of one another, those players could not communicate.
It became wildly successful among military forces, not just in Prussia.
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