If a wargame is commissioned by several clients, then the designer will have to juggle their competing demands. Military wargames, by contrast, are typically commissioned by the military that plans to use them. ДЄlthough commercial wargame designers study consumer trends and listen to player feedback, their products are usually designed and sold with a take-it-or-leave-it approach. As a consequence, errors in wargame models tend to persist. Whereas a commercial wargame might have thousands or even millions of players, military wargames tend to have small player bases, which makes it harder for the designers to acquire feedback. Secrecy also makes it harder to disseminate corrections if the wargame has already been delivered to the clients. The data the designers require, such as the performance characteristics of weapons or the locations of military bases, are often classified, which makes it difficult for the designers to verify that their models are accurate. Military organizations are typically secretive about their current wargames, and this makes designing a military wargame a challenge. As military wargames are used to prepare officers for actual warfare, there is naturally a strong emphasis on realism and current events. Ones that do not include modern armaments and tactics are of limited interest to the military, though wargames covering famous historical battles can interest military historians. Recreational wargames can cover a wide variety of subjects, from pre-historic to modern вЂ“ even fantasy or sci-fi combat. A recreational wargame is one played for fun, often in a competitive context. Main articles: Military wargaming and Recreational wargamingДЄ military wargame is a wargame that is used by a military as a serious tool for training or research. Civilian enthusiasts also played wargames for fun, but this was a niche hobby until the development of consumer electronic wargames in the 1990s. After Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, wargaming was widely adopted by military officers in other countries. Modern wargaming was invented in Prussia in the early 19th-century, and eventually the Prussian military adopted wargaming as a tool for training their officers and developing doctrine. Likewise, activities like paintball are sports rather than wargames. Some writers may refer to a military's field training exercises as 'live wargames', but certain institutions such as the US Navy do not accept this. Generally, events based on live action (people actually performing simulated combat activities) are not considered wargames. Many simulate land combat, but there are wargames for naval and air combat as well. Many wargames recreate specific historic battles, and can cover either whole wars, or any campaigns, battles, or lower-level engagements within them. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to study the nature of potential conflicts. A board wargame displaying an amphibious assault by the red player against an island defended by the green playerДЄ wargame is a game that realistically simulates warfare, as opposed to abstract games such as chess.

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