This 2,500-year-old decorated amphora (a ceramic vessel) features two Greek heroes of the Trojan War — Achilles and Ajax — leaning on their spears as they
play a game. They may be playing Petteia, a game of skill in which players attempted to entrap their opponent’s pieces.
Black-figure amphora showing Achilles and Ajax playing a game (c. 525 BCE)
Lent by the Royal Ontario Museum, 925.97
“Games have long been intertwined with war,” said Dean F. Oliver, Interim Vice-President and Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “This timely and relevant exhibition will have multigenerational appeal. We hope War Games broadens visitors’ understanding of what war games are and helps them see wargaming as both a popular hobby and a professional activity with real-world impact.”
These toy soldiers from H. G. Wells’s personal collection were used by Wells in mock battles before the First World War, and long afterwards by his son and grandchildren.
The lead army Wells deployed in imaginary battles was styled after the infantry, cavalry and artillery units that fought in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).
Lent by the H. G. Wells Estate
In five chronological zones, War Games presents major trends in the evolution of war games. The first two zones cover a period extending from ancient times to the world wars. They are followed by an exploration of gaming in the Cold War era, and of the influence of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on gaming. The final zone highlights present-day wargaming challenges.
The world’s most popular role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons, began in the 1970s as the war game Chainmail, which simulated medieval warfare.
Dungeons and Dragons Game Box
Canadian Museum of History 2009.71.1082.1 a-b
Objects range from a 2,500-year-old ceramic vessel featuring Greek heroes from the Trojan War to contemporary games and media. Rare games from countries around the world, such as the Dunn-Kempf tabletop war game developed for the U.S. Army, are on display alongside more familiar favourites like chess, Dungeons and Dragons, and Missile Command. The exhibition also includes current and topical games such as Settlers of Catan, This War of Mine (a simulation of civilians surviving in a war zone), and Bury Me, My Love (a mobile game that invites players to follow a refugee’s journey from war-torn Syria to Europe).
Home gaming experienced a boom in the 1970s and early 1980s, driven by the popular Atari television gaming console. The war-themed Atari games Missile Command
and Battlezone first appeared in arcades in 1979 and 1980 and were later released for the Atari home system.
Atari 2600 Game Console
Canadian Museum of History 2009.71.2264.2
Interactive experiences in War Games give visitors opportunities to play games. The exhibition also includes thought-provoking perspectives from veterans, gamers, artists, academics and military planners. They offer deeper insight into complex topics associated with wargaming and provide information on the wide-ranging types and applications of war games.
In 2020, the Canadian military was mobilized under Operation LASER to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Wargaming was one of the tools used by senior leadership to plan and prepare
for this new mission, including in providing aid to provincial health units and in developing plans for vaccine distribution.
Senior Canadian military staff are briefed on the plans for Operation LASER, April 2020.
Photo: Master Corporal True-dee McCarthy, Canadian Forces Combat Camera
All visitors — from gamers to military buffs and beyond — will find fascinating objects to examine and interact with, perhaps even to play. War Games opens to the public tomorrow and runs until December 31, 2023. Visitors are welcome to reserve their tickets online, ahead of their visit. For more information, please visit https://www.warmuseum.ca/war-games/.
Bury Me, My Love invites players to make decisions based on the challenges encountered by Nour, a refugee travelling from war-torn Syria to safety in Europe.
Bury Me, My Love Game Art
© Pixel Hunt, Mathieu Godet
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The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national and international dimensions.
The work of the Canadian War Museum is made possible in part through the financial support of the Government of Canada.