pre-Kriegsspiel

[hammurabi70]

Nothing But My Sword: The Life of James Keith

I am currently reading this and it contains a reference to a Kriegsspiel-type of activity being used by Friedrich II (the Great) in the 1750s. Has anybody heard about this and can comment on it?

[Guy]

It rings a bell but I can't think where from.
I thought it might be in Andrew Wilson's 'War Gaming' Penguin 1970, but it isn't although there are fleeting references to other 18th Century (and even 17th Century) forerunners of the Prussian experience.
Charles Grant in his introduction to 'The War Game' A&C Black 1971 mentions the fact that Louis XIII and XIV had model soldiers as did Frederick the Great and various Czars but omits to mention whether they used them for gaming.
Any luck in tracking it down anybody?

[Martin]

This isn't much help I know, but I recall a reference (somewhere) that there had been several military games produced in the 18th C, but they had all been two-player games, based on styalised maps with a square grid.

Martin