bThe convergence of military strategy and mathematics in war games, from medieval to modern times.bpFor centuries, both mathematical and military thinkers have used game-like scenarios to test their visions of mastering a complex world through symbolic operations. By the end of World War I, mathematical and military discourse in Germany simultaneously discovered the game as a productive concept. Mathematics and military strategy converged in World War II when mathematicians designed fields of operation. In this book, Philipp von Hilgers examines the theory and practice of war games through history, from the medieval game boards, captured on parchment, to the paper map exercises of the Third Reich. Von Hilgers considers how and why war games came to exist why mathematical and military thinkers created simulations of one of the most unpredictable human activities on earth.ppVon Hilgers begins with the medieval irythmomachiai, or Battle of Numbers, then reconstructs the ideas about war an