Author | Guy Debord and Alice Becker-Ho |
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Original title | Le Jeu de la Guerre |
Language | French |
Publisher | Champ libre, Atlas Press |
Publication date | 1987 |
Publication place | France |
Published in English | 2006 |
Media type | Book |
Part of a series on |
Wargames |
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A Game of War is a book by Guy Debord and Alice Becker-Ho that illustrates a game devised by Debord by giving a detailed account of one of their table-top conflicts. It was first published in French as Le Jeu de la Guerre in 1987, but unsold copies were later pulped in 1991, along with other books by Debord, at his insistence when he left his publisher Champ libre. The book was reissued in 2006, with an English translation published by Atlas Press in 2008. [1]
In his 1989 book Panegyric, Guy Debord remarked:
Apart from the books which contain the game, free online versions of the game are available.
London based group, Class Wargames have reproduced A Game of War and taken it on a campaign around the globe, at Belo Horizonte, pictured above, St. Petersburg and a variety of other locations. [2]
The basics of the game are close to those of chess, in that it is based on war and the strategy that surrounds it. [3]
Two players take turns moving troops across the board. Each player can move up to 5 troops each turn and is allowed 1 attack. Attacking is decided by summing all the offensive power in the range of an enemy target square. Then subtracting the total defensive power of the other player. If this number is greater than 2 then the attack is a success. Power is added from all the attacking pieces in a straight line either vertical horizontal or diagonally to the attacking square. The game board has natural obstructions that simulate the different terrain on a battlefield. The winner either defeats all their opponent's troops, or destroys their arsenals. [4]
When making the game Guy Debord said there were only three things that stopped his game from being 100% accurate and those were climate conditions and the cycles of day and night; the influence of troop morale; and uncertainty about the exact positions and movements of the enemy. The game and book of the same name did not receive much success but a copy can still be bought today. [5]
Kriegsspiel is a genre of wargaming developed by the Prussian army in the 19th century to teach tactics to officers.
Guy-Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, philosopher, filmmaker, critic of work, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International. He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.
688 Attack Sub is a submarine simulator video game designed by John W. Ratcliff and Paul Grace and published in 1989 for MS-DOS and in 1990 for Amiga by Electronic Arts. A Sega Genesis version developed by MicroProse was released in 1991 by Sega.
The Ancient Art of War is a computer wargame designed by Dave and Barry Murry of Evryware and published by Broderbund in 1984. It is one of the first real-time strategy or real-time tactics games.
Under Fire! is a computer wargame released by Avalon Hill in 1985. It was released for Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. Initial packaging had the name of the designer, Ralph H. Bosson, over the title on the box front so as to read Ralph Bosson's UNDER FIRE!, but subsequent packaging replaced his name and read Avalon Hill's UNDER FIRE! instead. The C64 port was by Dyadic Software Associates.
GATO is a real-time submarine simulator published in 1984 by Spectrum HoloByte for MS-DOS. It simulates combat operations aboard the Gato-class submarine USS Growler (SS-215) in the Pacific Theater of World War II. GATO was later ported to the Apple IIe, Atari ST, and Mac. In 1987, Atari Corporation published a version on cartridge for the Atari 8-bit computers, to coincide with the launch of the Atari XEGS.
Alice Becker-Ho, also known as Alice Debord, is a Chinese-born French intellectual closely associated with the Situationist International. Among other works, she has written poetry, a scholarly study of slang, and a travel memoir. The widow of Guy Debord, she is best known for being the editor of his complete letters, which have been published in eight volumes.
Conquistador, originally subtitled "The Age of Exploration: 1495–1600", is a board game published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) in 1976 that simulates the exploration of the New World in the 16th century. Players take on the role of European countries sending expeditions to find gold and establish colonies. Although the design uses the trappings of board wargames such as a hex map, combat is not a major part of the game.
The Game is a dice game designed by Reinhold Wittig. It was first published in Germany in 1979, without rules and under the German name Das Spiel.
Panzergruppe Guderian is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications, Inc. in 1976 that simulates the 1941 Battle of Smolensk during World War II.
The Hunt for Red October is a video game based on the 1984 book The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy. It was released in 1987 and was available for the Atari ST, Amiga, Apple II, Macintosh, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64, and IBM PC. A port for the Apple IIGS was released in 1989. The game is a combination of a submarine simulator and strategy. The player navigates the Red October towards U.S. waters while avoiding the Soviet Navy.
Class Wargames is a situationist ludic-science group based in London. Founded by Richard Barbrook and Fabian Tompsett in 2007, the group has since reproduced Guy Debord's Le Jeu de la Guerre and proceeded to tour Europe, Asia and South America. In contrast to the electronic version of Debord's game, created by the Radical Software Group, Class Wargames is based on a real rather than digital version of the Game of War and allows for convivial interaction through which anyone can become a situationist.
Napoleon's Last Battles is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications in 1976 that simulates the last four battles fought by Napoleon. It was one of SPI's most popular games, and also received many positive reviews.
Chronicles of Osgorth: The Shattered Alliance is a computer wargame published in 1981 by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. Programmed by John Lyon, it relies on a new game engine, called RapidFire, intended to make faster and easier access to wargames published by the studio. During a turn, the program selects the units each in turn and the player only has to order them to move, attack or cast a spell. The order is then executed immediately before the program selects another unit. The game offers two categories of scenarios. The first is composed of medieval-fantasy confrontation, including a free adaptation of the Battle of Gondor against the Mordor forces in the Lord of the Rings. The second is composed of historical battles of antiquity.
War in Russia is a 1984 computer wargame developed and published by Strategic Simulations for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. It was designed by Gary Grigsby.
Objective: Kursk is a 1984 computer wargame designed by Gary Grigsby and released by Strategic Simulations in 1984.
MBT is a board wargame published by Avalon Hill in 1989 that simulates hypothetical World War Three tank combat between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces in Western Europe. A second edition was published by GMT Games in 2016.
Frederick the Great, subtitled "The Campaigns of The Soldier King 1756–1759", is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI) in 1975 that simulates several of the campaigns of Frederick the Great in Central Europe during the Seven Years' War. When SPI ran into financial difficulties, they sold the rights to the game to Avalon Hill, who produced a second edition in 1982.
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Luftwaffe, subtitled "The Game of Aerial Combat Over Germany 1943-45", is a board wargame originally published by Poultron Press in 1969 under a different title, then subsequently sold to Avalon Hill, who republished it in 1971. The game is an operational simulation of the American bombing campaign against Germany during World War II.
J'ai d'ailleurs réussi, il y a déjà longtemps, à faire apparaître l'essentiel de ses mouvements sur un échiquier assez simple...