Examinations of wargaming for entertainment, education, and military
planning, in terms of design, critical analysis, and historical
contexts.
Games with military themes date back to antiquity, and yet they are
curiously neglected in much of the academic and trade literature on
games and game history. This volume fills that gap, providing a diverse
set of perspectives on wargaming's past, present, and future. In Zones
of Control, contributors consider wargames played for entertainment,
education, and military planning, in terms of design, critical analysis,
and historical contexts. They consider both digital and especially
tabletop games, most of which cover specific historical conflicts or are
grounded in recognizable real-world geopolitics. Game designers and
players will find the historical and critical contexts often missing
from design and hobby literature; military analysts will find
connections to game design and the humanities; and academics will find
documentation and critique of a sophisticated body of cultural work in
which the complexity of military conflict is represented in ludic
systems and procedures.
Each section begins with a long anchoring chapter by an established
authority, which is followed by a variety of shorter pieces both
analytic and anecdotal. Topics include the history of playing at war;
operations research and systems design; wargaming and military history;
wargaming's ethics and politics; gaming irregular and non-kinetic
warfare; and wargames as artistic practice.
Contributors
Jeremy Antley, Richard Barbrook, Elizabeth M. Bartels, Ed Beach, Larry
Bond, Larry Brom, Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, Rex Brynen, Matthew B. Caffrey,
Jr., Luke Caldwell, Catherine Cavagnaro, Robert M. Citino, Laurent
Closier, Stephen V. Cole, Brian Conley, Greg Costikyan, Patrick Crogan,
John Curry, James F. Dunnigan, Robert J. Elder, Lisa Faden, Mary
Flanagan, John A. Foley, Alexander R. Galloway, Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi,
Don R. Gilman, A. Scott Glancy, Troy Goodfellow, Jack Greene, Mark
Herman, Kacper Kwiatkowski, Tim Lenoir, David Levinthal, Alexander H.
Levis, Henry Lowood, Elizabeth Losh, Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Rob
MacDougall, Mark Mahaffey, Bill McDonald, Brien J. Miller, Joseph
Miranda, Soraya Murray, Tetsuya Nakamura, Michael Peck, Peter P. Perla,
Jon Peterson, John Prados, Ted S. Raicer, Volko Ruhnke, Philip Sabin,
Thomas C. Schelling, Marcus Schulzke, Miguel Sicart, Rachel Simmons, Ian
Sturrock, Jenny Thompson, John Tiller, J. R. Tracy, Brian Train, Russell
Vane, Charles Vasey, Andrew Wackerfuss, James Wallis, James Wallman,
Yuna Huh Wong
