Why should radicals be interested in playing wargames? Surely the Left can have no interest in such militarist fantasies? Yet, Guy Debord - the leader of the Situationist International - placed such importance on his invention of The Game of War described it as his most significant of his accomplishment. Intrigued by this claim, a multinational group of artists, activists and academics formed Class Wargames to investigate the political and strategic lessons that could be learnt from playing his ludic experiment. While the ideas of the Situationists continue to be highly influential in the development of subversive art and politics, relatively little attention has been paid to their strategic orientation. Determined to correct this deficiency, Class Wargames is committed to exploring how Debord used the metaphor of the Napoleonic battlefield to propagate a Situationist analysis of modern culture and politics. Inspired by his example its members have also hacked other military simulations: H.G. Wells' Little Wars; Chris Peers' Reds versus Reds and Richard Borg's Commands & Colors. Playing wargames is not a diversion from politics: it is the training ground of tomorrow's communist insurgents. Fusing together historical research on avant-garde artists, political revolutionaries and military theorists with narratives of five years of public performances, Class Wargames provides a strategic and tactical manual for subverting the economic, political and ideological hierarchies of early-21st century neoliberal capitalism. The knowledge required to create a truly human civilisation is there to be discovered on the game board!

Heres a Hobby for those who love:toys, games, role playing, military history, action movies, science fiction, paintball, and having friends and family over. This book has it all, from gladiatorial combat to space warfare. Test your skills and luck as you re-fight famous battles or explore the world of what ifs. Heres your chance to be Alexander, Saladin, Cromwell, Washington, Napoleon, Nelson, Lee, Grant, Pershing, Rommel, Patton, Nimitz, or any of the great military leaders of history. Lead a patrol in the Ardennes or in Afghanistan. Its paintball without the pain! You can fly your Wildcat against a Zero, your Phantom against a Mig. See if you have what it takes to be a pirate in the Carribbean. Can you conquer a galaxy or master magic? The rules contained in this book cover all this and more. They are easy to learn, fast to play, and contain background information for anyone whos not a historian. You can get started on any budget and with whatever space you have available. Rediscover reading for fun! Teaching History? There are sample history labs included. Have your class experience the past! Watch their interest and enthusiasm grow!

Guy Debord is known principally for being the chief instigator and theorist of the Situationist International and as the author of The Society of the Spectacle. His first volume of autobiography, Panegyric, revealed his interest in classical war theory as espoused by Clausewitz, and A Game of War was written in collaboration with his future wife Alice Becker-Ho. This is the first version of the book to include a game board and counters, which allow the game to be played according to the instructions enclosed.

Between the First and Second World Wars, the U.S. Navy used the experience it had gained in battle to prepare for future wars through simulated conflicts, or war games, at the Naval War College. In Playing War John M. Lillard analyzes individual war games in detail, showing how players tested new tactics and doctrines, experimented with advanced technology, and transformed their approaches through these war games, learning lessons that would prepare them to make critical decisions in the years to come. Recent histories of the interwar period explore how the U.S. Navy digested the impact of World War I and prepared itself for World War II. However, most of these works overlook or dismiss the transformational quality of the War College war games and the central role they played in preparing the navy for war. To address that gap, Playing War details how the interwar navy projected itself into the future through simulated conflicts. Playing War recasts the reputation of the interwar War College as an agent of preparation and innovation and the war games as the instruments of that agency.

This is the first book-length, critical analysis of Lieutenant General James Longstreet's actions at the Battle of Gettysburg. The author argues that Longstreet's record has been discredited unfairly, beginning with character assassination by his contemporaries after the war and, persistently, by historians in the decades since. By closely studying the three-day battle, and conducting an incisive historiographical inquiry into Longstreet's treatment by scholars, this book presents an alternative view of Longstreet as an effective military leader, and refutes over a century of negative evaluations of his performance.

"Kill class is based on two years of fieldwork the author conducted within combat trainings in simulated Middle Eastern villages erected by the US military across America"--

What do stories in games have in common with political narratives? This book identifies narrative strategies as mechanisms for meaning and manipulation in games and real life. It shows that the narrative mechanics so clearly identifiable in games are increasingly used (and abused) in politics and social life. They have »many faces«, displays and interfaces. They occur as texts, recipes, stories, dramas in three acts, movies, videos, tweets, journeys of heroes, but also as rewarding stories in games and as narratives in society - such as a career from rags to riches, the concept of modernity or market economy. Below their surface, however, narrative mechanics are a particular type of motivational design - of game mechanics.