Paddy Griffith, PhD was a freelance military historian and a prolific author on military history and tactics. He was Oxford-educated (Corpus Christi College) where he obtained a first-class honours degree in Modern History. He was a lecturer and then senior lecturer at RMA Sandhurst from 1973 to 1989.

Games

In addition to writing books and teaching, Dr Griffith was highly regarded in the field of wargaming and military simulations. He was a notable creator of wargames rules and systems, many popular with amateurs, while others were used by the UK Ministry of Defence and NATO. On occasion, Dr Griffith also adjudicated UK and NATO wargaming events conducted as command exercises, or participated as a member or leader of a Warsaw Pact command due to his recognized comprehension of the doctrine of those Soviet Union-dominated forces.

While not as prolific as James Dunnigan, Paddy Griffith's work is highly praised by British wargamers in both professional military and amateur circles. Unlike the wargame industry in the United States, which is oriented towards the use of maps made discrete by a hexagon grid, Griffith's work was more oriented towards the non-discrete, and were often very free-form.

Wargames Developments and COW

In 1980 whilst he was still a lecturer in War Studies at RMA Sandhurst, Paddy Griffith organised a conference entitled "New Directions In Wargaming". The conference was held at Moor Park College near Farnham, and lasted over the weekend of 23rd to 25th, May 1980 and it set the pattern for all the subsequent conferences. At this conference Dr Griffith was the primary force behind the foundation of Wargame Developments, a group consisting of professional military personnel, civil servants, educators, and both professional and amateur wargame designers. Since 1981, these conferences - the Conference of Wargamers or (COW) - have been held at Knuston Hall Residential College for Adult Education.

A regular at COW during its early years, Paddy Griffith was one of the most highly respected and admired attendees, and many of the participants acknowledge the profound influence he had on the development of new wargames and simulations; many attendees were greatly disappointed when news of his death arrived just before the 2010 conference. This was the 30th Conference of Wargamers, and the first that Paddy Griffith would have attended for some years. He had already planned to run a stimulating and innovative session about the First World War, and it was a great tragedy that this session did not take place.

The Conference of Wargamers continues to be attended by professional military personnel, professional simulation designers, military historians, and amateur wargame enthusiasts. They all share a keen interest in developing accurate simulations of historical events and command problems as well as studying current events and foreseeable future situations from the perspective of simulation. They are not afraid to ask difficult morale and ethical questions, something that Paddy Griffith encouraged with what he termed 'black wargames'. The typical COW consists of presentations in the form of papers and lectures, workshops, and practical sessions.

Beginning in November, 1980, the Wargame Developments group has published a regular journal called The Nugget. Currently there are 9 issues per year, and it is subscribed to by a wide range of people including both professional military personnel and civilians. Paddy Griffith was the editor of the first 15 issues, as well as the 50th.

Books

Paddy Griffith's books include:

'French Artillery 1800 — 1815’ (1976)

‘Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun’ (1980; Revised 2008) Link

‘Forward into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to Vietnam' (1981)

‘A Book of Sandhurst Wargames’ (1982)

‘Not Over by Christmas’ (1983)

‘Wellington-Commander: the Iron Duke's Generalship’ (1985)

‘Rally Once Again’ (1986)

‘Battle in the Civil War: Generalship and Tactics in America 1861-65'’ (1986)

‘Military Thought in the French Army 1815 — 51’ (1989)

‘Battle Tactics of the Civil War’ (1989) [a revised edition of ‘Rally Once Again’ that was published in America]

‘Armoured Warfare’ (1990) — Chapter entitled ‘British Armoured Warfare in the Western Desert 1940 — 1943’

‘America Invades’ (1991)

‘How to Play Historical War Council Games’ (1991)

‘The Ultimate Weaponry’ (1991)

‘Forward into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to the near Future’ (1992) [a revised edition of ‘Forward into Battle: Fighting Tactics from Waterloo to Vietnam']

‘Battle Tactics on the Western Front 1916 — 18’ (1994)

‘The Battle of Blore Heath, 1459’ (1995)

‘The Viking Art of War’ (1995)

‘British Fighting Methods on the Western Front’ (1996)

‘Verification 1995: Arms Control, Peacekeeping and the Environment’ (1995) — Chapter entitled ‘The Body Bag as Deterrent and Peace Dividend’

‘Verification 1996: Arms Control, Peacekeeping and the Environment’ (1996) — Chapter entitled ‘The Military Need for Contact Mines’

‘Passchendaele in Perspective: the Third Battle of Ypres’ (1997) — Chapter entitled ‘The tactical problem: infantry, artillery and the salient’

‘The Art of War of Revolutionary France, 1789 — 1802’ (1998)

‘British Fighting Methods in the Great War’ (1998)

‘The Peninsular War: Aspects of the Struggle for the Iberian Peninsula’ (1998)

‘A History of the Peninsular War, Vol.IX, Modern Studies of the war in Spain and Portugal, 1808 — 1814’ (1999)

‘The Napoleon Options: Alternate decisions of the Napoleonic Wars’ (2000) — Chapter that describes the effect of a successful French invasion of Ireland

‘Battle Tactics of the American Civil War’ (2001)

‘Fortifications of the Western Front 1914 — 18’ (2004)

‘The Vauban Fortifications of France’ (2006)

‘French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics 1792 — 1815’ (2007)

‘World War II Desert Tactics’ (2008)

‘The Great War on the Western Front: A Short History’ (2008)

‘Sprawling Wargames Multiplayer Wargaming’ (2009) link

Wargames

Amongst the wargames that Paddy Griffith designed, the following were published and may still be available:

‘Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun’ (1980; Revised 2008)

:Napoleonic skirmish-level wargame

:Napoleonic brigade-level wargame

:Napoleonic divisional-level wargame

:Napoleonic army-level wargame

:Napoleonic Generalship game

:Map Kriegsspiel

:Tactic Exercises Without Troops

‘A Book of Sandhurst Wargames’ (1982) N.B. The descriptions are taken from the notes on the back cover of the book.

:Aquitaine (1355 & 1356) - 'A simple game of strategy for two players, based on a 'war ride' by the Black Prince during the Hundred Years War.'

:The Battle of Craonne (1814) - 'A more sophisticated Napoleonic game for two players, based on battlefield tactics in the last French campaign against the Russians in 1814.'

:Fjord - 'An advanced air and naval game for two players on both strategic and tactical levels, highlighting the problems encountered by Arctic convoys in the Second World War.'

:Men Against Fire - 'A role-playing skirmish for three or more participants, based on infantry combat in the Pacific islands during the Second World War. Players must achieve personal as well as group aims in order to win.'

'How to Play Historical War Council Games' (1991)

:The Chinese Committee 1927 - Eight members of the Chinese Communist Party have to choose one from a possible eight party lines for the revolution.

:Sidi Ferruch! - The French high command have to plan the successive stages of the colonisation of Algeria from 1830 onwards, with the possibility of a new Governor General being appointed each year.

:The Pentagon Committee 1991 - Different US defence agencies have to discuss the merits (or otherwise) of a new secret weapon, 'The Gopher', and decide on a relevant procurement policy.

‘Sprawling Wargames Multiplayer Wargaming’ (2009)

:Definitions, and Principles of Game Design

:Operation Sealion 1940

:Operation Mercury, 1941

:Operation Barbarossa, 1941

:Suvarov in Alsace, 1799

:The 'Black Isle' Magical Viking Game

Amongst the wargames that Paddy Griffith designed, the following are recorded but as far as it is known no copies of the rules and/or player briefings are available:

:'Young Team' - A game about urban skirmishing (i.e. Glasgow gang fights) based on James Patrick's study Glasgow Gang Observed. (1979)

:'Memphis Mangler' - The first true Megagame, it was set in Vietnam

:Sans Culotte - A Megagame of Revolutionary Warfare 1793 (20th September, 1981)

:Kaiserschlacht - A Megagame of the German offensive of 1918 (12th February 1982)

:'Chickasaw Bruiser IV' - A brigade-level map free kriegsspiel set in Vietnam, 1968 (Conference of Wargamers 1982)

:'The Guns of August' - A Megagame about the first six weeks of the First World War (Co-designed with Jim Wallman) (1986)

:'Tajo!' - A multi-player game about the 1809 Talavera campaign (1987)

:'Wellington in Euskadi' - A Megagame about Wellington's 1813 campaign in the Pyrenees (1989)

:'The First Bombing Raid in History' - A 'cardboard' simulator of the bombing raid carried out by the Italians against the Turks in Libya in 1911 (1989)

:'Crusader!' - A multi-player map game about the Allied attempt to relieve Tobruk in November 1941 (1989)

:'Red Star Express!' - A combined political committee/armoured train 'cardboard' simulator set during the Russian Civil War (1989)

:'Guadalquivir!' - A multi-player game about the 1808 Bailen campaign (1990)

:'Vaucluse!' - A game of diplomacy and theology set around 1440 (1990)

:'Dog's Dinner - a Game of Bwitish Wegiments' - A game in which each player had to justify why their regiment should not be disbanded (1990) N.B. Bwitish Wegiments is not a typographical error; it merely reflects the way in which some British Army officers - amongst others - pronounce the letter R as a W.

:'Fleet in being' - A 'cardboard' simulator of the attack on the German battleship Tirpiz by two X-Craft miniature submarines (1990)

Amongst the wargames that Paddy Griffith designed, the following were published in The Nugget and are no longer generally available:

:The "Mint Julep Finger-Licken' American Civil War" Rules (No.2, January 1981)

:The "Donner Und Blitzen" WW2 Micro-Armour Rules (co-written with Peter Foxton) (No.2, January 1981)

:Scraeling - an experimental decision-making game that pitched Vikings against the Inuit (No.8, March 1982)

:'Flight to the Front' Solo Wargames Rules (No.23, October 1983)

The following articles about wargaming design philosophy and the philosophy of wargaming were also published in The Nugget and are no longer generally available:

:An Umpire's Handbook for Running Megagames (co-written with Jim Wallman) (No.7, January 1982)

:Voice Games (No.9, May 1982)

:Wargames and Research (No.18, December 1983)