Postscript:

The original design concept for Battle here remains as it was conceived in September, 2023. This past weekend, of February, 24-25, 2024, I found the design wanting and redesigned it to cover the Early Modern period from 1453 thru 1864. Five chapters cover the 5 phases of play: Mapping, Mustering, Marshaling, Battle and Rout. Chapters 6-11 cover period forces from ancients through Victorian colonial engagements. as I sit here in bad health in Portland, i hope to complete this design by March 1 and post the game for August. I leave the content below as a seed, to be compared to the complete article.

-JL, 2/26/24

Due to illness, Battle will not be done until March 10. But, the first installment is scheduled to post on Monday, August 26, 2024.

-JL, 2/28/24

Copyright 2023 James LaFond

A Crackpot Book

Lynn Lockhart Publisher

…

Battle is a gaming system intended to introduce historical war gaming to the leisure gamer and video gamer. The gaming components required are everyday items found in many households and retail outlets. The basic game covers the era of musketry, spanning from 1700 through 1864. The advanced game addresses medieval and ancient warfare.

The intention of Battle is to demonstrate the fundamentals of modern warfare, based as it is in the Age of Musketry, during which the principles of combined arms maneuver were adapted to firearms technology without abandoning the ancient technologies of muscle powered warfare. Adaptation of the most ancient weapon system, the spear in the form of the bayonet with the gun, in coordination with the ancient horse & sword, supported by canon, formed the basis for the modern science of combined arms warfare.

…

Unit Types Are:

-Battalions of Infantry, represented by dominos

-Batteries of Artillery represented by dominos

-Troupes of Cavalry and irregular infantry, represented by ordinary dice

…

Game Components

-set of 28 double six dominos

-10 to 12 dice

-a deck of cards for issuing commands and resolving actions

-pennies, to represent the Penny Dreadful Army and track unit strength

-dimes, to represent the Dastardly Dime Army and track unit strength

-nickles for designating horsemen

-quarters to track army morale

…

Inspirational and Dedication

“James, thank you so much for introducing me to a whole new level of autism!”

-Cody, “The Brickmouse” at Baltimore coffee house, Sunday, September 24th, 2023

Author’s Notes

In attempting to explain such war games as Tactics 2, Terrible Swift Sword, Empires in Arms, the Civil War, Panzerblitz, Squad Leader, Lock and Load and the various ancients games ingeniously designed by Mark Herman, who is the Dean and Undisputed Champion of table top war game design, I sought for counters and randomizing devices in order to demonstrate the basic concepts of war gaming.

There sat a box of dominoes, counters that might represent units of soldiers in line and column.

There was also a deck of cards, providing an obvious means of issuing commands.

Dice suggested themselves as less strictly formed and smaller units, such as horsemen or irregular units such as rangers, riflemen and Indians.

Coins offered themselves as faction identifiers and strength counters.

I sincerely hope that this learning game provides hours of enjoyable play to the reader and serves as an introduction to the art of war gaming to which I owe so much.

-James LaFond, Pittsburgh, Friday, October 13th 2023

Contents

-1. Game Structure & Order of Play

-2. Battalions, Batteries & Movement

-3. Troops of Cavalry, Irregulars & Guards

-4. Generalship, Commands and Combat Resolution

-5. Casualties, Routing, Morale & Victory

-6. Ancient and Medieval Battle

-7. Feudal Estates, a card Game designed with the late Jacob Johnson in 2020