Theaterspiel

## Description

_Theaterspiel_ is a military training simulation game similar to Hutspiel.
The primary difference is that it models an entire theater of war. It was used
by the United states for studying Army problems with a focus on ground combat
operations, but it also includes air operations, air defense and logistics.
All the bookkeeping and most of the assessment procedures are handled by the
computer. The player takes the role of the theater commander and must make all
the decisions. Combat results are generally resolved on division level. Input
for the game is handled with punch cards and the results are printed using a
line printer. Each player is supplied with a status of all forces at the start
of the game and a map and intelligence which differs between the two teams.

In each turn a team generates orders (movement, posture, designation, etc.)
for its units. A third “control” team has to inspect the validity and
feasibility of the orders and compares the orders with the other team’s orders
and determines the outcome of the combined orders. The computer then further
processes that data and updates and prints the battlefield status. The game
ends after a predetermined number of days or a specific event such as being
overrun.