Board game battle print. An old board game "battle". Where without cubes

Does this picture say anything to anyone? No? Then you lost a lot of gold in childhood. This is a 10x10 box for an old board game Battle!
"Moi" managed to sow this toy, but in the net I found its rules (I added something from memory myself, we personally cut into it this way) and itself http://romeo.by.ru/download.htm in the form of a toy for the Spectrum, there is also an emulator. What buttons to press to play, I did not understand, but I copied from there

Rules.
Play together. Everyone chooses an army of one color. The player's goal is to capture the enemy's banner.
The game is played by 40 chips on each side. The numbers on the counters correspond to military ranks.

Number Rank Number
1 Marshal 1
2 General 1
3 Colonel 2
4 Major 3
5 captain 4
6 Lieutenant 4
7 Sergeant 4
8 Minesweeper 5
9 Soldier 8
10 Scout 1
- Banner 1
- Mine 6

Units 1-10 are mobile, mines and the banner cannot be moved.
The outcome of the battle will depend on how each player places the pieces of his army in the initial position. Try to do this in the most rational way.
Arrange the chips on your side of the field in 4 rows.
Mines can be placed around the banner. They can be placed on other cells to mislead the enemy. You can put several officers on the front line, but you must try to keep them at least at the beginning of the game. During the game try to save sappers as well, as sappers are the only ones who can defuse mines.
In the game, the chips can be moved in any direction (one square at a time), except for the diagonal. It is impossible to pass through the "lakes".
when the piece is next to the opponent's piece, they can attack each other. If the player wants to attack, he turns the piece to the opponent and says "Attack". If the player believes that the attack is not necessary, he may not do it. You can start a move with an attack.
When attacking, the rank of both pieces is displayed, and the piece with the lowest rank (higher number) loses and is removed from the field, and the winning piece takes its place, the move goes to the winner in the attack. If counters with the same numbers attacked each other, then both die.
Mina herself can neither walk nor attack.
The scout can be removed from the field by everyone, but he has one advantage: he can remove the marshal if he attacks him first.
If a mine is attacked, it destroys everyone except the sapper, and itself remains standing where it was. The sapper disables the mine and occupies its square.
The winner is the player who manages to capture the enemy's banner. You can win even if you manage to block all the opponent's moves.

The chips are made like this: a long cardboard strip is bent into a triangle. On one side - a blue or green color visible to the enemy, under the other - a chip number. In short, there would be a printer, cardboard and self-adhesive.

Most board games, as well as computer games, are made with an eye on boys. And what do they like (in the traditional sense)? Tanks, war, defeat each other and tell everyone how they did it. Of course, there are enough family and simply conflict-free games, and they have a larger market segment, but all the most complex and interesting mechanics often find an extremely “aggressive” embodiment. So designers have to reinvent the wheel over and over again, figuring out how to play the battle of two armies for King's Landing, Mecatol Rex or an unnamed hex on the map.

And it turns out, in essence, the same thing! Not much has changed since H.G. Wells wrote Little Wars and popularized the dice war game. Battle mechanics introduced Avalon Hill and GMT long before our golden age. The boom in deckbuilding, the triumphant march of the Legacy format, cross-platform games using a tablet - despite all the evolution, the mechanics of conflict resolution remain practically unchanged. By the way, by conflict, I mean not only a battle, but also any local situation in which players spend resources in order to determine an unambiguous winner.

This column is not intended to scold developers for being retrograde. If the same idea wanders from game to game, almost unchanged, maybe it's because everything is fine with it? Let's take a better look at the most popular approaches to playing out game conflicts and remember exotic alternatives, and then we’ll decide whether we need to discover America, or everything works just fine.

If you think it all started with cubes, think of chess. In most classic games, each, even the strongest figure, only has one life. A pawn eats a queen, an ordinary checker eats a king. Well, further along the chain, other figures can clear half of the board. In its pure form, this mechanic rarely appears outside abstract games, but if you change it a little, it is quite competitive. In The Little World, a lone hobbit on a dragon can chase away stacks of orcs and giants. It is still necessary to take into account the strength of the units, but the result is the same - the defending army loses a soldier and retreats. In Neuroshima Hex, most creatures also have one life. A nuance that turns a thousand-year-old technique into a witty mechanic - battles in the game take place on big holidays. The units are placed on the field, and they aim at each other ... until someone draws a battle token. Then, in the order of initiative, shots are heard over the field, and it becomes much more spacious.

Wall to wall

In the games of the European school, battles are not so common and are played out quickly. War in them is a continuation of economic policy, a costly but sometimes profitable way to gain an advantage. In Eurogames, troops often kill each other, depriving both players of a significant share of resources. Mack Gerdts's games are indicative. Take Imperial 2030, for example. You must manage states, trying to earn as much money as possible for their territories, and if some states cease to be profitable, invest in others. Combat in the game is a simple exchange of figures. Attacking an opponent with a lone soldier, you first break your economy, and only then him.

"Game of Thrones" is ideologically closer to "Imperial" than to modern "dysomets". The strength of the troops is still determined by the number of figures (although house cards can change the situation a little), swords and skulls on the cards destroy the troops forever. But the balance in it is clearly shifted towards the attack. Siege towers, useless in defense, ships capable of transporting an army across half a map, against a +1 bonus for a defense order - easy to capture, difficult to hold.

Where can we go without cubes?

Rolling a die, counting damage is probably the most popular way to determine the winner in a battle. This mechanic is used everywhere from Warhammer to Eclipse. Six almost always hits, one misses. In Games Workshop games, dice are thrown with whole buckets: first to hit, then to wound, and then to saving throw. Such a number of throws allows you to get closer to the normal distribution of the dropped values \u200b\u200b(which would be useful if the British were more careful about the balance in their games). The value required for success depends on many factors: weapons, protection, cover, and so on. In non-wargames, one throw is usually enough to hit the target.

The second popular battle model is the 5-6 mechanic. These two values \u200b\u200bare considered successes. Dice are usually thrown a little, on average 5 pieces at a time. This mechanic is found in a variety of games, from The War of the Ring to Arkham Horror. In the first, successes inflict wounds on monsters, in the second, they remove enemy figures from the field.

The third model is a complex multi-stage firefight with initiative. Not much has changed since Axis & Allies, Eclipse happily takes the same approach. In the old wargame there are even more nuances (rules for submarines, cruisers, artillery support), in space strategy, only missiles somehow
stand out from the usual roll modifiers. Interestingly, Shadowrun uses a similar mechanic, no longer a wargame. Why is this dice fight so popular? You can attach anything to it! Ship upgrades from Eclipse, skills in Lovecraftian games, “4 cubes \u003d success” rule from RPG. Dice allow you to solve the same situation in many different ways and make battles unpredictable. They are also cheap to manufacture and easy to test the game.

Maps are everything

Speaking of card battles, let's leave MTG and other CCGs aside. With rare exceptions in this genre, each card has health and attack, and in battle these numbers are simply compared. In Doomtown, with its poker cards, conflicts have been made more interesting, but let's turn to strategy games anyway. Often the cards in them simulate cubes. A deck of cards allows you to distribute the probabilities as you like and wind up as many mechanics as needed. Runewars takes full advantage of the cards' capabilities. Hits on the enemy for the four types of units are unevenly distributed; In addition to the wounds icons, there are symbols of a magic ball that activate special abilities. In Gloomhaven, attack damage is fixed, and instead of dice, a 20-card deck of modifiers is used. Heroes, increasing the level, can get rid of bad cards, add good or cards with special effects (stun, immobilize, and so on).

Tug of war

The most curious mechanic on our list. Appears in a variety of games. Unlike the examples mentioned earlier, in tug-of-war games, you do not inflict injuries on your opponent, but you are claiming some kind of winnings, taking turns making bids. In the historical game Few Acres of Snow, the siege of forts is implemented in this way - the British and French players take turns playing "military" cards and moving the token from neutral until they get bored or the cards run out. In the "Red Dragon Tavern" in between drinking, heroes can risk coins in a gamble. Striving to win, the players throw cards on the table with suitable actions and "turns" in the game (trump cards, tricks, raising stakes). Only one wins, and he takes all the gold if the others pass. Interestingly, it is possible to leave everyone with a nose by playing the card "The waitress thought it was a tip."

In wargames, such a technique also appears - take at least the recently republished “Hannibal. Rome against Carthage. " Before the battle, the Romans and Carthaginians determine the number of available tactics cards for a long time (it is influenced by the size of the army, the presence of allies nearby, the place of battle and the talents of the generals). Then the duel begins. On the card "Attack with the left flank" must be answered with "Attack with the right flank". On "Attack in the center" - the same card. There are also "Ticks" and "Reconnaissance in force". There is no required card - the battle is lost, even if you have twice as many soldiers. The Battle of Cannes followed a similar scenario.

* * *

Let us be subjective for a second. The most suitable mechanic for difficult and interesting battles is still card mechanics. On a cardboard the size of a calendar, you can easily fit five different mechanics without overloading your perception. In addition, by varying their number and content, you can achieve good balance and replayability. Cubes are quite applicable, but they can be seriously upsetting (for some reason, ones are more angry than "empty" cards in Runewars), and the role of chance in playing with them can only be compensated for by the number of throws. Tug-of-war and figurine exchanges work well in games where strategy is more important than tactics, but in tactical board games they are simply not needed.

All current parents were once children. They played on the street, asked for toys from their mothers and fathers, rejoiced in simple little things, took their first steps towards their future life. They also played board games, which they are trying to share with their children. Parents want to acquaint children with the culture they received in their childhood.

Every year, a lot of entertainment for children is invented and developed. Games look very colorful, bright, beautiful. It seems that the old entertainment does not have the opportunity to fight for the audience, but the essence of board games is not in appearance, but in semantic content.

In many ways, this is why "Battle", which has all the attributes necessary for a strategic board game, does not become obsolete. A well-known analogue of this game is.

Packaging

Description of the game

The Soviet board game "Battle" occupied the boys from the USSR for hours, days, weeks. Girls joined them. Serious battles unfolded. The battles are associated with real battles. For example, the Northern War of 1700-1721 between Russia and Sweden or the Battle of Borodino of the Patriotic War of 1812. The goal of the competition is to capture the enemy flag. The winner is the one who can do it first.

The main advantage of this game in our time is the ability to print it yourself, without running around in search of shops, without spending a lot of money. Because "Battle" is interesting for its "stuffing", the ability to awaken in the players the desire to fight like a man, to beat their rivals. Modern teenagers can give their parents a gift, arrange a tournament for them in this lesson.

Difficulty level

The game was released a long time ago, at a time when on every cartoon, book, movie or box with table entertainment, the age of users who had access to these things was not yet indicated. "Battle" cannot be called a difficult task, but in order to win you always need to be attentive, accurate, a little cunning, thoughtful. In the USSR, children played the table attack in whole yards. Children and teenagers who were older took part.

The Soviet board game occupied the boys from the USSR for hours, days, weeks

Number of players

Despite the fact that there are a lot of characters in "Battle", only two people can fight in one party. In the USSR, the guys organized whole tournaments that could last a whole day. Everyone waited for their turn, and the strongest stayed until the evening to identify the best participant. Even adults came to see such battles.

What does the game develop?

In the Soviet Union, most of the children's activities, entertainment were primarily aimed at their development, so "Battle" refers to them. She can teach a lot to young guys. Therefore, today's parents are looking for this board to instill useful skills, good qualities in their children.

What the lesson teaches:

• Strategic thinking. The entertainment received the second name "Stratego" for a reason. It teaches you to correctly distribute your forces, to think several steps ahead.
• Patriotic mood. Protecting the Motherland is an important man's duty. The game gives the child a patriotic mood, a desire to save and protect his native land in any situation.
• Fight until victory. Nobody likes to lose, but it is Stratego that makes the participants feel defeated if they lose. Therefore, the participants fight persistently, confidently.
• Mindfulness. To win, you need to constantly monitor what the enemy is doing, every step he takes.
• Ability to work with your hands. Early versions of the game assumed that the player himself must collect his army, equipment, locations. To do this, I had to glue for hours, express, sometimes even paint.

Mothers and grandmothers bought their kids "Stratego" so that kids could learn all these things without adult intervention. They learned from personal experience.

What's in the set?

The old board didn’t look like the current one, but it was just as enjoyable. Many had to glue their own army, background, weapons and so on. However, "Stratego" was a wonderful gift for a birthday or any other occasion. Now it is difficult to find it in stores or on websites, but you can print it yourself and do the same job.

What's inside:

• Playing board.
• Two figure sets (red and blue). Each set contains 40 figures of 12 different values.

Advantages:

• Banner (1).
• Marshal (1).
• General (1).
• Colonel (2).
• Major (3).
• Captain (4).
• Lieutenant (4).
• Sergeant (4).
• Miner (5).
• Scout (8).
• Spy (1).
• Bomb (6).

The number of advantages in the set is indicated in brackets.

Game kit

Rules and course of the game

At the beginning of the competition, it is determined who will get which color. Players can decide this in any way: drawing lots, throwing a die, or any other decision. After that, the participants place their pieces on the field, developing their own tactics, but observing the general rules of placement.

An important step in this matter is to hide the dignity of each figure from your opponent. The next action will be the red move, after which the players take turns making their move. Any of the pieces can be attacked, except for bombs and the banner, which remain in place.

The main goal of "Stratego" is to capture the banner of its enemy. You can quickly search for the banner, figure out the system it is defending with, hack it and capture the trophy before your opponent. Usually the banner is defended by bombs, which makes the opponents think about the location of the target. Some players, wanting to confuse enemies, throw bombs all over the field, while leaving a few to protect the banner.

If a player loses his scout, he risks suffering heavy losses.
If the participant is not afraid to take risks, he puts several figures of high military ranks on the front lines. This method destroys a significant part of the enemy army. However, the loss of these important figures could greatly weaken the army.

It is better to save the miners for defusing bombs and not to put them in regular battles.
A spy who can easily be endangered is best protected until you determine where your enemy's marshal is. After that, try to destroy the marshal using cunning tactics and maneuvers.

Use your memory and mindfulness. When mutual battles take place, opponents can see the location of some of each other's pieces. Memorizing them will make your future battles easier.

Entire battles unfold during the game

Who will like it?

Currently, Battle is hard to find on store shelves or even websites. However, people still continue to play it. Adults tell their children, grandparents find old boxes on the mezzanine, show them to their grandchildren and arrange serious battles.

Who likes:

• Children of the USSR. All young people who were born during the Soviet Union still remember this board with love and are looking for a lost game at home. If today's teenagers do not know what to give mom and dad, then Stratego will help them out a lot.
• Adults and children who want to try their hand at the military field.
• Boys who dream of being in the military.
• Old school people.
• Girls who are not afraid to fight.
• Companies of teenagers who don't like to waste time.
• Families who like to have fun home evenings.

The "battle" will always be relevant.

Impressions of the game

The board game "Battle" was released back in the years of the USSR and was received very warmly and cordially. The guys organized tournaments and competitions, were engaged in real business. Parents have always supported this activity, because Stratego instills good qualities in children, teaches useful things. Some moms and dads still use Stratego as their first military textbook and personal educator.

Recently I found on the Internet a photo with a fragment of my favorite game of my childhood - "Battle". There is no other information about this game on the Internet, so I decided to write a short review of this unique, tabletop strategy, in which real battles unfolded between two paper armies ...

Board game "Battle"

It was a box, the contents of which included a large playing field, consisting of two or three (I don't remember) sheets of thick cardboard. There are many sheets with patterns for headquarters, redoubts, fences, bridges, cannons, gunners, infantry, cavalry for two armies. Two game cubes in red and green and of course instructions. Judging by the uniform, it was about the battles of the Northern War of 1700-1721, between Russia and Sweden.

Before making the first move in the game, it was necessary to work hard. Cut out all patterns, glue soldiers, cannons, redoubts, bridges and other buildings. This work lasted for about 2 weeks, but upon completion it turned out to be two real armies.

Before the start of the battle, each player placed his troops on his territory, which was limited by the river. The river could be crossed by two bridges (the player installed them himself) or through the ford, which was on the map. The player had at his disposal: two bridges, several redoubts of different sizes, several fences, a headquarters, two cannons (one of them is a mortar), six cannons (three for a cannon), infantry and cavalry. The goal of this battle is to capture the enemy headquarters! A headquarters was considered captured if there were at least three soldiers of any kind of troops in the cells adjacent to it. It was from this strategic goal that the whole arrangement followed.

After the troops took their positions, the battle itself began, which lasted for hours. The player making the move rolls one or two dice of a certain color:

• Only a red cube meant that the player was firing artillery, the number on the cube was multiplied by five, a countdown was made from the cannons and a radius of five cells, all living force was destroyed. You can shoot with a cannon or mortar, while if you shoot with a cannon, then there should be no obstacles in the path of the nucleus. Mortar shoots with a canopy, its core flies over all obstacles.
• Only green dice - means the player moves in cavalry. The number dropped on the die is multiplied by two. The cavalry moves with three horsemen, if they attack, then the move should only be in a straight line, without maneuvering. All the living force of the enemy, in the path of the attacking cavalry, is destroyed. The cavalry does not fire.
• Both dice are infantry. Six people are walking and shooting. The move is made on the green dice, and shoots at the red one, multiplying its number by three. Infantrymen can go to bayonet, according to the same rules as cavalry (only in a straight line), in this case the shot disappears. During normal shooting movement, each infantryman can change the direction of movement no more than once. You cannot walk less than the dice rolled. After the turn, a shot is made. The first one who got in the way of the bullet is considered killed. You can shoot without moving, the move is lost in this case.

The redoubt is bullet proof, unlike a fence. An infantryman standing on an adjacent square with a redoubt (or another soldier) can shoot through it. Thus, the second rank or soldiers who have taken refuge behind the redoubt can shoot. When the infantry crosses a fence or redoubt, the entire turn is spent (the number on the die does not matter), the infantryman is placed on the other side of the obstacle without shooting. The cavalry freely overcomes obstacles. If the number of moves falls directly on the redoubt or worries, then it stops in front of it. Similar