A few months ago, I was toying with different methods to depict battles for people. I arranged RISK pieces on a map of Harpers Ferry to depict Stonewall’s capture of the city (1862). It was a laborious task and I determined that while it looked neat, the effort was not worth it.
Yet, I am not the only one who uses RISK pieces to depict battles. In the document Restrepo, a U.S. commander in Afghanistan built a makeshift model of the terrain, so he could explain the details of Operation Rock Avalanche (2007) to other troops.
One close up of the model reveals RISK pieces to depict soldiers.
If you have not seen Restrepo, I highly recommend it. The documentary follows a platoon in Afghanistan as they establish an outpost in a hostile region. The movie is raw and provides a fascinating snapshot of what some of the U.S. troops embedding in the region have faced. It is currently available on Netflix streaming.