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Reply To: Historical and Modern Wargaming – Where the "Fluff" is Real Life

April 2, 2023 at 6:26 am #1810490

oriskany

60771xp

@wolfie65 – well, Napoleon was a great general, but a terrible historian. He constantly quotes history in his writings and continuously misapplies the lessons learned within, on the strategic, operational, and tactical level.

Strategic: “I know history. Let me invade Russia! Charles the XII had no idea what he was doing.
Operational: “How do I handle an insurgency in Spain? Put my brother in charge and hope for the best.”
Tactical: “Look at how Wellington is deploying in front of a forest. He’s no student of history. Infantry can never pass through thinned woods like that.”

So the quote of his: “History is a set of lies agreed upon …”
Well, it’s not a lie (at least good history), and it’s never agreed upon. 🙂
So there’s another mark against you, Napoleon.

The reason we cite things like the mistakes in movies like Patton is precisely because they are not history (as you say in your post). I also agree that the history printed in most “historical” wargaming is trash, which is why we don’t use it and set a higher standard for our content.