First Battle - American Divisional Wargaming in the Cold War

The first battle simulation system was designed to exercise American divisional commanders and staffs in the control and coordination of combined arms operations. The game was played using 1:50000 maps using simple counters. Movement and firing were measured using the 1 km grid squares that were already printed on the maps.

The system was an open ended flexible training tool that could be applied to any scenario, level of control, or mode of play. It could be played with all the players using one central map or it could be the basis for a large headquarters based wargame.

The rules include:

Maneuver

Long range fire

Close combat

Artillery

Plus optional rules on the use of smoke, flanking shots, unit reconstruction and reconnaissance.

There are also some sample ORBATS for American and Russian units. The discussion of the reasoning behind the game system and guidance for umpires is still relevant of modern wargaming.

The first battle rules are well written, with examples; so it is quite feasible for a dedicated hobby wargamer to recreate a game from the Cold War using these rules. All one needs is a standard 1:50000 or 1:25000 map, some counters, two ORBATS and a simple scenario. Playing a game using these rules is harking back to the days when two huge armies were facing each other across a divided Germany.