A thick heavily illustrated and very colorful rulebook. Ground scale varies with base size varying. Bases represent battalions. There is no figure scale I can find. The rule book seems split fairly evenly between the rules and organization and leader rankings for the nationalities involved. There is also a brief section on scenario and a short sample scenario.
A set of rules for Napoleonic land combat written by Peter Gilder and first published in 1970.
Designed with 25mm figures in mind, the figure scale is 1 to 20, 1 gun to 2, 6” to 100 yards, with a game turn representing about 30 minutes. The game uses 15 phases with order writing and simultaneous movement.
An adaptation of the American Civil War rules Fire & Fury the rules are nicely presented with a chatty presentation covering all aspects of the game in a style tailored to beginners especially in the opening chapter and introduction.
Graphics are very good, evocative of AH’s Napoleon’s Battles. Finer points of the rules are well illustrated. A single tear-out page containing critical charts and tables can be found at the end of the book. Several scenarios are included containing graphic representation of each army’s organization.
Figures are mounted in a manner similar to Napoleon’s Battles with 1 figure equaling 90 actual soldiers. one inch equals 120 yards. A game turn represents 30 minutes. The rules require 10-sided dice. Optional rules are few and scattered through the text for example, a rule limiting Austrian commanders from leading from the front.
There is also an attractive website associated withe the rules and an expansion for 18th century conflict. In addition to an online store. there are downloadable player aids and scenarios. One useful aspect is the inclusion of moderate sized battles in the scenarios. not everyone is ready to game Leipzig or Waterloo.
A game turn consists of a roll for initiative followed by alternating player turns composed of 3 phases, movement, fire, and melee. Leaders impact die rolls that allow the brigade size units to act. Casualties are indicated by removal of multi-man stands. Stands are grouped into formations though brigades themselves are also considered at a lower level based on the nationality of the army and the year of the scenario.
C-in-C Miniatures is a pretty long lived company with its ups and downs traveling muchthe same ground as GHQ with some unusual offerings like ancient ships in 1/1200 scale.
Working on down to the itsy bitsy scale, there is Oddzial Osmy from Poland. I know little about this manufacturer other than that they specialize in 3mm 1/600 figures along with ranges in 15mm and 20mm. Detail is reasonable. Painting is a challenge. A lot depends on how far you want to go. The 3mm figures are available through Pico Armor.
Some unusual 1/350 scale tanks made by OKB Grigorov, a European company specializing in 1/72 armor and 1/350 submarines. They also produced a range of 1/350 armor, mostly eastern front WWII vehicles. The items are still listed on their website though they do not appear to be for sale at the moment. The packages include PE detail pieces so expect to do a little work to make these pieces look good.
Tacforce is a game that was published in1980 under the dual banner of GHQ and GDW though the rules were designed and written by Frank Chadwick lending more weight to the GDW side with regulars like Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman, and Greg Novak along for the ride. The rules have a current incarnation as Tac II. The rules cover then contemporary tactical land combat with 1/285 miniatures.
The 3 book format was still in use. The rules seem reminiscent of the other 3 book tactical combat series of the moment written by Chadwick, Striker for the RPG Traveller.i
As a quick aid, information on vehicles and weapons is carried on a series of cards. Organizational material necessary to approaching the scenarios is included in book3, the scenarios and advanced rules are foundin book 2, and basic rules in book 1.
There is also a banal set of counters, and some charts and organizational sheets.
Scale is 1 to 1 for vehicles and guns. Infantry units represent squads or fireteams. A turn represents a minute of actual time. An inch is 50 meters. A turn consists of a movement phase and fire phase, first for Soviet forces, then for the US. Morale is effected by fire. Close assault also occurs as a portion of the fire phase.
As with so many GDW rules sets, rules appear in the oddest places. The rules for basing for example appear on the very last page of book 3.
GHQ has been around for a long time carving an extended niche with their own eccentric 1/285th scale for armor. Additional ranges include 1/1200 and 1/2400 naval miniatures, and as illustrated above 10mm miniatures. There is also a range of vehicles in n-scale for model railroads.
This is a range new to me, from England of course. They present an eclectic assortment of figures from a number of different ranges as well as expanded entries on these ranges and some of their own. The package above, part of the North Star 1672 range, was originally part of Copplestone’s Glory of the Sun range. The company also produces ranges for Osprey’s rules.
Tactical Game 3 had an impact that reverberated for years. SPI and Avalon Hill batted the concept around for years. Here is an early entertaining but flawed iteration from the early 70s as the system is applied to then contemporary warfare in western Europe. The game would ultimately be replaced by the ambitious Mech War 77.
As suits a game of this sort where scenarios are ahistorical, the game relies heavily on contemporary military documents and organizational layouts. Scenarios explicitly list on-paper elements as well as idealized conflict situations meant to illustrate doctrine.
The game is a remarkable change from the series games up to this point. Most noticeably, the board is large, with few hills, divided into a number of sections. Infantry and artillery include their vehicular component in a single counter. Ranges for HE weapons can be as large as 72 hexes. Helicopters can move swiftly across the board with relative immunity. TOW offer enormous AP attacks that can guarantee destruction of armored units.
There are also odd rules. TOW units disappear after firing. Units may also triple their fire for single turn then disappear as well. There were a bunch of other complaints addressed in a sheet of errata including the unpardonable sin of missing a counter for a scenario. One complaint was that the Russian forces were modeled on outdated and incorrect data that left the Russians far too weak.
The game of course hints at changes to come. Soon, SPI would introduce their SiMove system while covering a range of WWII theaters. The final iteration of the system would be October War designed by Mark Herman who would go on to rewrite the system as Mech War 2.