What is... Stonkers?

Although there were other games with similar gameplay around the same time, Stonkers is considered the first Real Time Strategy video game to be released, with many features similar to modern RTS's. It released in 1983 on the ZX Spectrum and was created by John Gibson and Paul Lindale. It was the first game to feature war emulation with control over military units such as tank's, infantry and supply trucks. The player is essentially commanding an army like a high ranking officer, deploying troops where they see fit.

It is interesting due to the fact it was the first time a video game let a player re-enact the role of someone in charge of an army. A once stressful and difficult job was turned into a strategic, fun game to be played for entertainment. Real Time Strategy games have gone on to feature real life wars and 3D life like graphics.

What is... Kriegspiel?

Kriegsspiel, from the German word for wargame, was a war game first created in 1812 by von Reiswitz and was named Instructions for the Representation of Tactical Maneuvers under the guise of a wargame. It is considered one of the very first proper war games. Prior attempts had simply been iterations of chess or some other game without much change, the creator of Kriegsspiel set out to create a new experience entirely. For exmaple he decided instead of being based on a rigid square grid, the game would feature an area of terrain. Reiswitz' system for simulating war was initially based around a specially designed table which he created for his King Friedrich Wilhelm III before creating something that then established many of the classic war game features seen today.
After its initial development, this particular style of wargaming became very popular among the Prussian Army officer corps. After numerous successful Prussian campaigns in the late 1800s, Kriegsspiel became more widely adopted by many militaries.

What is... Little Wars?

Little Wars was a set of rules and guidelines on how to play with toy soldiers written by H. G. Wells in 1913. It was attempting to introduce a sense of structure to playing with toy soldiers which had otherwise been used simply for fun in any way the player's imagination saw fit. Wells actually came up with the idea when playing with toy soldiers himself and decided it would be fitting to come up with a specific rule set for the toys. The book itself changed the toy soldiers from toys which are simply played with for fun an entertainment with no clear goals or rules into an actual miniature tabletop game with regulations and directions for use.

It was interesting how something that was originally intended for simple fun for children, which in itself is was an odd thing due to the fact the toys were soldiers of war, was then adapted to create a more rigid emulation of real life.

What is... Stratego?

Stratego is a strategy board game played on a square grid which represents a battlefield, and like actual battlefields, there are sections that aren't traversable. The game is played by two players, each having an army made up of a number of troops and some bombs. Each player also has a flag to defend, the aim of the game is to capture the opponents flag. Each troop has an individual rank, in a conflict the piece with the highest rank wins. At the start of the game, each player places their pieces anywhere they choose onto their side of the board, arranging their troops and bombs to protect their flag. Unlike games such as Chess, although both players have the same amount of pieces, neither player knows where their opponents pieces are placed as the backs of them are blank.

The most interesting thing with the game is that, quite like an actual war, each player has no idea where their opponent has deployed their troops and quite like a leader of an army, they have to decide how to arrange their ranks of troops, whether that be having the lower ranks leading the charge, or putting their strongest soldiers up front. Although the game clearly took influence from chess, it built upon it to reflect the thing it was emulating. I like how the player is able to position their own troops how they see fit and use different tactics and strategies to try and defeat their opponent.

Although the modern version of the game was released originally in 1946, there were earlier games with similar rules and gameplay that clearly influenced the now classic Stratego. There are a number of similarly playing games originating in China, and whilst often considered old games, their date of inception is unknown. There was however an early predecessor designed by Mademoiselle Hermance Edan in France. The patent for the game was filed in 1908 and released in 1909. Although Edan had not given the game a name at the time, a manufacturer started producing and selling the game as "L'Attaque".