Wargaming Waterloo

by Charles J. Esdaile

Wargaming—the simulation of complex war situations—is becoming increasingly more relevant to political and military discourse as U.S. armed forces lean more heavily on it as a training tool to hone warfighters’ decision-making skills and to shape defense plans and policies. And while wargaming can be useful for informing predictions of future military conflicts, it is also an excellent tool for understanding past conflicts.

Wargaming Waterloo explores three key aspects of wargaming as a practice by focusing on the iconic battle that led to Napoléon Bonaparte’s defeat in 1815. A longtime subject of both fascination and controversy, the Battle of Waterloo presents particular problems as a board, map, or tabletop wargame and also poses a serious research question: just how good a chance did Napoléon have at victory when he confronted the duke of Wellington at Mont Saint-Jean and how would the strategic situation have to be different to enable Napoléon to prevail?

336 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Ben Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

An in depth overview of several classic wargames that seek to emulate the Battle of Waterloo, and the conclusions that can be gained from these. The hidden gem of this book is the wealth of knowledge about Waterloo- I finished the book with a much more in depth understanding of why Napoleon lost the battle— and why he never could have won the campaign.

While the writing style can be occasionally dry or repetitive, the firsthand accounts are indispensable, the author’s research solid, and his demonstration of the importance of wargaming both important and conforming to my own biases :)