''Tractics: Rules for WWII Miniatures'' is a set of

wargaming A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

rules for conducting

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

style combat with 1:285 scale micro armour miniatures. It was originally written to use 1/87 scale miniatures which were easily available at the time of its writing. Written by Mike Reese and

Leon Tucker Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

with contributions by

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

, the game was published by

Guidon Games Guidon Games produced board games and rulebooks for wargaming with miniature wargaming, miniatures, and in doing so influenced Tactical Studies Rules (later TSR, Inc.), the publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Guidon Games'' publishing imp ...

in 1971 and republished by

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been ...

in 1975.

Product overview

It came as a boxed set containing three booklets with illustrations by

Don Lowry Don Lowry is a wargamer, businessman, illustrator, and game designer who is best known as the publisher of ''Chainmail'' and the editor of ''Panzerfaust Magazine''. Lowry was active in the International Federation of Wargaming in the late 1960s ...

. It has the distinction of being the first published game to use a 20-sided die.Timeline of the Historical Miniatures Wargaming Hobby : Courier Magazine
/ref> TSR printed about 5,000 copies of the game and then let it go out of print in 1977.
/ref> The name of the game recalls the popular

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company' ...

board

wargame A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...

'' Tactics II'' (1958). Although World War II style combat was popular with board wargamers, few miniature wargamers were enacting World War II battles in the mid-1960s, in part because appropriate miniatures were scarce. In 1968 Reese and Tucker, two members of the LGTSA, began play-testing rules for tank combat that would eventually form the core of ''Tractics''. Gygax contributed some rules on infantry, covered in the second booklet, and the third booklet would cover additional topics such as airstrikes and the MODERN period (which at the time included rumors of the XM-1 tank). Mike Reese authorized a new edition December 2021 that combines the Classic Rules of 1971, Modifications of 1976 from Little Wars magazine and his new Updates. It is available from www.combatrules.com/tracticsrules. There is a PDF version and eight identical print versions apart from binding (softcover, hardcover, coil), and shape of game reference charts (landscape or portrait), and interior pages (black ink or full color). 9TracticsCover-Coil

Gameplay

The rules are for the dedicated wargaming enthusiast. The players must first acquire the miniatures and build the terrain. Reese and Tucker were interested in an accurate simulation, and as a result the game provides data describing the rate of movement, thickness of armor, and rate of fire for the makes of tank in service from 1940 to 1970. The game is consequently slower to conduct than a board wargame such as '' Tactics II''. For miniature wargamers who felt that the amount of detail was excessive, Reese and Tucker recommended their earlier '' Fast Rules'' (1970) although that set covered World War II only. ''Tractics'' is not a

perfect information In economics, perfect information (sometimes referred to as "no hidden information") is a feature of perfect competition. With perfect information in a market, all consumers and producers have complete and instantaneous knowledge of all market pr ...

game and requires the use of a judge. A player does not initially know where his enemy is located, and pieces are placed in the playing area only when they come into open view or are detected by active observation. Tanks have a base 30% chance (i.e. must roll a 15 or higher on a 20-sided die) to hit a target. Modifiers apply depending upon factors such as how well the target is concealed.

References

External links

* Gary Gygax games Guidon Games games Miniature wargames Playscale miniaturism TSR, Inc. games Wargames introduced in 1971 {{wargame-stub