This was originally an article I pitched to Pyramid Magazine in the late 90s. The editor at the time -- Scott Haring, I think -- thought it was a little too esoteric and gave it a pass. Actually, it's incredibly esoteric, but I just found it while reorganizing my files and decided I'd go ahead and post it for anyone who is interested in this kind of thing. Ten years later, I think I'm a better writer, but this is still an entertaining and eclectic read.
For my possibly confused Magic-playing readers, this article is about running a roleplaying game based on nineteenth-century war fiction.
Games in the imagined wars at the end of the nineteenth century
From Fearful Times
When The Battle of Dorking was published in the popular Blackwood's Magazine in 1871, it made an immediate and lasting impression throughout Europe. It wasn't the first fictional speculation about war, or even the first to address contemporary issues in the field. It was,
however, well-written and extremely timely. Bare months prior to its publication, the Franco-Prussian war had ended decisively in Germany's favor. People across Europe were shocked at the rapid downfall of what had been the strongest army in the theater -- strong enough to warrant earlier stories describing a French conquest of England. As the Tom Clancy of his day, General Sir George Tomkyns Chesney drew on this rapid conquest to deliver an engaging cautionary tale about the need for a well-prepared army.
Click through to the extended entry to read the full article.
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Come Tales of Woe and Valor
The Battle of Dorking, which saw popular editions and plagiarization until the late 1920s (and is still in print today), spawned a whole field of related war fiction. Driven by fear of being outpaced and a desire to show the rightness of their pet theories, authors devised a plethora of fictional wars. Some followed Chesney's lead, describing the downfall of their nation by more or less practical means. Others took a different tack and wrote vibrantly jingoistic stories in which their nations swept past all opposition -- sometimes with the conquered people thanking them for doing so! Like modern techno-thrillers, the speculative war books combined pressing fears, popular issues and cutting-edge technology. Chesney's story featured live coverage of a war (and the first micromanagement by higher authorities) via undersea cable. Other books featured the recently-invented torpedo, including the prophetic Danger by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in which a submarine blockade prevents naval resupply of England. Curiously, amidst submarines, airships, dreadnoughts and other inventions, many authors missed such basics as the Maxim gun (invented in 1882). Also like current techno-thrillers, the stories were quickly bypassed by the real world. When the Great War came, the field dried up, paling next to the real thing. Just as the last was, the next generation of books were defined by the most recent disturbing experience.
The World (at War)
Last Wars campaigns occur in the world of 1871-1914, with only those changes necessary to the plot. Basic background can be found in libraries and book stores; Call of Cthulhu also does an admirable job of giving good "facts and feel" coverage of this era, especially since it's written to present what gamers usually want to know. The differences are much like those seen in modern thrillers -- simply take the world situation and project it forward a few years, usually with a technical advance or two. Much like modern fiction and military doctrine, speculative warfare books tended to be colored by the last war. Thus, while Chesney had the specter of well-trained Prussians to use in his work, Sir S. Eadley-Wilmot's The Battle of the North Sea in 1914 was motivated by a combination of the British-German naval arms race and the stunning defeat of Russia by Japan in 1905. Even if you can't find any of the original books, grab a history book and pick a year, then project from there. Don't be shy in handing out the warfare -- everyone had some reason to fear everyone else. Books were written for all sorts of warring parties, including a revitalized France happily conquering England again by the turn of the century.
The key element to remember in building an authentic Last Wars campaign is the moral. Entertainment value aside, the bulk of these stories were meant to convey a message. Some did so subtly, most did so in sledgehammer fashion, but the taste of "the point of the story" is always there. Some of the most common are summarized below:
We're unprepared for the coming war. Here's what will happen because of that. If only you had
listened..
- I know what we need to do. Here's how we'll win gloriously because we did it.
- We're morally right. It's our destiny to win eventually.
- That other guy's wrong, the Truth is (one of the first three).
It shouldn't be necessary to state things outright to make the message clear. In The Battle of the Moy, the righteous Irish home troops win their independence through spirit and valour; It's an obvious commentary on both the rightness of their cause and relative quality of Irishmen and the occupying English. Of course, it's perfectly within genre to simply declare the point of the game or campaign, preferably near its conclusion. The Battle of Dorking cloaks its message in basic German, as voiced by one of the successful invaders:
"Hast recht, lange Peter," answered number one; "wenn die Schurken so gut exerciren wie schutzen kannten, so weren wir heute nicht hier!"
"Recht! recht!" said the second; "das exerciren macht den guten Soldaten."
(The Battle of Dorking, p. 87)
Elements of Modern Warfare
As mentioned in the introduction, stories in the wake of Dorking contained elements that their authors thought mattered most in the wars to come. Though these authors rarely agree completely, two of these elements show up time after time:
Training
First demonstrated by the Germans as they defeated the long-feared French army, the well-trained, easily-mobilized army is seen as a key element in modern warfare. The Battle of Dorking highlights both the power of such an army and the devastating effects of its lack in Britain. In Dorking, the inadequate size of the regular army combines with a pathetic deployment effort by the volunteers to leave the hapless British driving at feints until the German army rolls right over them. Later books with such straightforward names as The Battle of Dorking: A Myth and What Happened after the Battle of Dorking; or, The Victory of Tunbridge Wells disputed Chesney's conclusions about the preparedness of British troops and the effectiveness of the volunteer system. General Friedrich von Bernhardi's Germany and the Next War looks at the relative size of fully trained armies as a part of its overall political analysis. Of course, many books hold to the idealized view seen in The Battle of the Moy and fully expect spirited armies to rule the day (despite the lessons of the Franco-Prussian war, the American Civil War and others).
Not only did the trained army outlook give the edge to those with fast-deploying, well-drilled troops, it continued the idea that the next war would be a decisive affair decided by armies in the hundreds of thousands at most. None of the books leading up to Great War foresaw the massive grinding machine that war would become. Many authors, including Chesney, saw their upcoming wars as awful affairs, but not on the scale of the real future.
Technology
Sometimes the decisive element, more often a simple tool, technological advances frequently appear in these stories of future warfare. Chesney's story only looks at the weapons as tools of war, though issues of supply problems are emphasized as a key theme. Other authors extolled the increasingly deadly effects of weapons as a boon to mankind, since war would soon become too deadly to even be considered.
Curiously, the most imaginative inventors of new weapons were civilian authors, most notably H.G. Wells. They looked forward to flying machines, poison gas and other devices. Military authors tended to project the familiar, expecting arms races along conventional lines. This is amply demonstrated in Battle of the North Sea, which extrapolates the British-German naval arms race with fair accuracy, but thinks of nothing more imaginative than small torpedo-carrying ships as far as new arms are concerned. Only the slightly flaky Doyle could see a primary role for undersea craft in interdicting trade, though Wells hinted at military use of submarines in a few of his books.
Thus, depending on the mood you wish to convey, there are two options. A military-style projection is typically "bigger and more of the same," although it still falls short of what would come in 1914. More fantastic stories following the lines of the historical romances should freely toss in airships, poisons, submarines, giant walkers and other machines of destruction.
Characters
The players in a Last Wars campaign can take on almost any role from the era described. Since the stories of war typically affect everyone in the countries involved to one degree or another, any individual is fair game. That said, there are some roles clearly laid out in books in this genre. It's easiest if everyone is generally the same type of character, unless the game is to occur in an "after the invasion" setting.
Soldiers
Where there's war, there are soldiers. They range from the trained, professional soldier ready to defend his nation or prosecute a just war to the hapless volunteer. The professional types are skilled, even if they happen to end up on the losing end due to the ineptitude of their superiors. In some cases, they are given a moral high ground by their goal during the war; This gives them a tangible edge over their enemies, even when the moral high ground is as seemingly ridiculous as "liberating the poor English from the mismanagement of their government" (unsurprisingly, this idea is from a French novel). Hapless volunteers typically haven't trained properly, even if they really do want to fight. In Dorking, though hardly cowards, the volunteers are overrun pretty badly. Of course, not all volunteers are hapless, as written with vehemence in the 'sequels' to Dorking.
Plain Folks
Generally not the primary characters in these novels, the citizenry of the invaded nation will quickly find themselves involved in the action. While the classic civilian role involves being shot and oppressed, player character roles can be wider than that. The easiest option is to include them in the action as conspirators in a plot to undermine a country from within (see Conspiracies, below, for ideas). They can also form unofficial resistance movements. It's up to the plot whether this will prove futile or show how those who are in the right always succeed. A less conventional arrangement casts the players in the role of the press, attempting to maintain proper reporting in the face of complete news blackouts by the dastardly invaders.
The Planners
This is a grand-scale approach to playing out the next war, with characters who are military and civilian officials of the European power of your choice, working to ensure that they are appropriately prepared for the coming war while still balancing issues of expense and popular opinion. Recall that Chesney himself was one of those arguing about his nation's defense, as were the military and civilian authors who wrote retorts to his work. Characters at this scale should be people of stature, usually employed by the government of their nation, though private figures of great repute can be fun as well.
A Good War of the Worst Kind: Campaigns
All Last Wars campaigns revolve around war. With that limitation in mind, there are some classic campaigns that fit the genre:
A Great Disaster
The situation presented in The Battle of Dorking, The Human Slaughterhouse and others, a total military defeat, may not seem like the ideal situation to roleplay. The easiest way to make a fun Disaster game is to follow the efforts of a competent band of soldiers as they desperately attempt to stop a superior enemy force. Though their efforts will be ultimately futile due to the blunders of those above them, the troops still have a chance to make a heroic showing even as companions and volunteers die around them. A mixed cast of characters will also work. In that case, it's easiest if the battered remains of a regular army unit collect volunteers and militant civilians during their fighting retreat.
Right Will Win Out
The Great Disaster from the other side. It's either a good game for people who just need an evening or two of complete success or a sort of pulp action feel. The former is easy enough -- think of the opposing troops as goblins and let the player characters go! Games with more of a pulp feel take their cue from those books describing righteous victory, both by reason of a good cause and superior training. These soldiers are usually defending their nation (often 'defending it' well into the other guy's territory) or rebelling against oppressive overlords. Cinematic rules are an excellent idea, as most wounds should be flesh wounds, easily shrugged off by virtue of bravery and patriotism -- in this setting, morale is everything. Right campaigns are less entertaining for nonmilitary types, since they usually spend most of their time cheering from back in the home country. For a civilian variant, however, see the next entry.
Conspiracy!
Several of the books feature conspiratorial goings-on, chiefly in relation to crossing the English Channel. Since the Channel, combined with England's fleet, was her chief defense against invasion, it became an obvious target for underhanded efforts. Barring airborne assault and stratagems to keep the fleet involved elsewhere, the only obvious method of crossing the Channel is a tunnel. Indeed, this was one of the chief arguments at the close of the century against a trans-Channel tunnel. Most often, French agents operate in England looking for a safe place to create the exit for their massive underwater passageway. In French-authored books, right-thinking English peasants help the French troops open a tunnel in their property. Conversely, English citizens or government agents may heroically discover such a dastardly act, perhaps even trapping the French during their passage. A Last Wars espionage game is an action-packed race between the competing governments and English peasants of varying loyalties while French troops make their way across the Channel ñ sort of a nineteenth-century James Bond movie.
There are, of course, many other conspiracy options. Chesney solved the channel problem by a combination of drawing away the bulk of the British fleet elsewhere and some kind of torpedo attack. Just think of your favorite techno-thriller plot and anachronize!
The Architecture of War
In a campaign that takes its cue from Bernhardi's Germany and the Next War, the planners (see Characters, above) prepare their nation to meet the future. The first version of the Architecture campaign follows the debate and effort within a single European power as it moves onward toward war or peace. This is a good game for a group which is into the history and issues of the times -- it works well as live action, since much of what happens occurs in parliamentary debate, behind the scenes dealing and the occasional burst of creative literature. A different form of Architecture game casts the players as major movers in the governments of several of the major powers, each maneuvering and developing their forces to ready themselves for war. This latter concept is especially good for a PBEM (play by email) game, since most character interaction will take place via diplomatic communiques and public statements.
Bibliography
Chesney, Sir George Tomykins. The Battle of Dorking: Reminiscences of a Volunteer. The granddaddy of the genre and the easiest book to find, this follows a volunteer's experience during a crushing defeat of Britain by Germay. Editions were released up until the 1920s; the author used a 1914 edition published by Grant Richards Ltd. This is one of the few books from the time still available in print (Amazon has it). It can also be found along with some of the others in a well-stocked university library.
Clarke, I.F. Voices Prophesying War: Future Wars 1763-3749 (second edition). A modern book that is a tremendous resource for this genre. Clarke covers not just the books in question, but what motivated their writing and their contents. It also features a massive bibliography of the books in question, which will tell you what to look for in musty college stacks. 1992, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-212302-5
Bernhardi, General Friedrich von. Germany and the Next War (1914 English Edition, published by Chas. A. Eron, New York). This is a very statistical approach to a coming war, suitable for very large-scale campaigns. Note that the original was written in 1911 or earlier.
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