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The nineteenth century saw dramatic changes in military technology that profoundly changed the nature of warfare, and integrating the performance of that new technology into the existing operational and tactical thinking became hugely important. In Prussia, from 1824 onwards, the Kriegsspiel, the world’s first professional conflict simulation in official use, became a key element for learning how to make best use of the new technology. Between 1824 and 1871, the rules went through several different editions, each one revised according to the latest technological and tactical developments. The paper will provide a brief historical introduction, then concentrate on the impact of technological innovations on the rules, and finally show that the Kriegsspiel and its non-Prussian counterparts are essential for understanding how military establishments in and beyond Europe reacted to the impact of technology on war.

Ever since its invention around the beginning of the 4th century bc artillery found employment not only during sieges, but also in the field. By the time of the Roman principate, artillery was regularly employed as field artillery, and to considerable effect; field artillery was both an integral and an important element of Roman land forces. The present article focuses on the operational challenges posed by integrating artillery into a land battle, which were considerable, but obviously met by the Romans – though unfortunately the evidence is mostly insufficient to reconstruct Roman operating procedures.