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in 1875, Meckel published his proposed reinterpretation of wargaming (Anleitung zum Kriegsspiel), which notably considered martial activities on three distinct scales: a “detachment” game at a map scale of 1:6,250 which emphasized the study of minute tactical details, a “grand war game” at a scale of 1:12,500 governing the larger movements of forces, and finally a “strategic” game at the massive scale of 1:100,000. It is the 1:6,250 detailed tactical maps that borrow his name, the “Meckel maps,” for which he is largely remembered: he emphasizes that the maps should depict in sufficient detail such terrain features as rivers and villages that the tactical benefits of stationing troops in these locations will be clear from the map. His greatest contribution to the future development of wargaming, however, is the idea that a single action might be considered at several scales, and thus effectively in several modes.
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