Wargaming

A wargame is a game that simulates or represents a military operation. Wargaming is the hobby dedicated to the play of such games, which can also be called conflict simulations, or consims for short. The somewhat similar, professional study of war is generally known as a military exercise or "war game," (note that wargamers have traditionally run the two words together, but the military has generally kept them separate; it is not a hard and fast rule, however). Although there are occasional disagreements as to what qualifies as a wargame, the general consensus is that they are not only games about organized violent conflict or war, but that they must explore and illuminate or simulate some feature or aspect of human behaviour directly bearing on the conduct of war. Wargames are generally categorized as "historical", "hypothetical", "fantasy", or "science fiction". Historical games are by far the largest group and are based upon real events and attempt to represent a reasonable... full article at wikipedia