A closer look
If you know exactly what your enemy is doing, you aren't playing a wargame; you're playing chess. True military simulation requires blind panic. Before computers could hide units behind digital shadows, the Prussian military used double-blind tabletop boards moderated by a neutral umpire. Commanders sat in separate rooms, passing written orders to the umpire who resolved the combat out of sight. This flawlessly modeled friction and miscommunication, forcing officers to make life-or-death strategic commitments based on outdated, wildly inaccurate courier reports from a frontline they couldn't even see.
