Tri-Tactics
Tri-Tactics Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Game
Tri-Tactics is a game for two players, and is played on a special board with 112 pieces of various values, each player starting with 56.
The sides are distinguished by the backs of the pieces being of a different colour; the board is set between the players so that each has his "Headquarters" ("H.Q.") in front of him; and the pieces, which throughout the game stand with their backs toward the opponent, are arranged at the discretion of the Commander, on his nearest five rows.
The board illustrates a part each of Land and Sea, and each side of the board has an equal portion of both. On each side there is a space marked "H.Q." (Headquarters) and also a River leading into a Lake, the latter being the player's Naval Base.
The object of the game is to occupy either your opponent's H.Q. or his Lake, with one of your pieces. The first player to do this is the winner. It is only necessary to occupy one base, either H.Q. or Lake.
The 56 pieces at the disposal of each player are divided into three sections, a Land Force, Naval Force and Air Force. The Land Force is further divided up into Infantry and Artillery. There are also 8 Searchlights which belong to neither section and are known as Auxiliary Pieces. As the pieces become more powerful, they become fewer in number. These forces are made up of the following details:
Land Force — Infantry
| Number | Name | Identification |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Battalions | 1 |
| 4 | Brigades | 2 |
| 3 | Divisions | 3 |
| 2 | Army Corps | 4 |
| 1 | Army | 5 |
Land Force — Artillery
| Number | Name | Identification |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Anti-Aircraft Gun | AA |
| 3 | Field Artillery | FA |
| 2 | Heavy Artillery | HA |
Naval Force
| Number | Name | Identification |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Destroyers | 1 |
| 3 | Cruisers | 2 |
| 2 | Battleships | 3 |
| 1 | Aircraft Carrier | 4 |
| 1 | Submarine | SM |
| 4 | Flying Boats | FB |
Air Force
| Number | Name | Identification |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Reconnaissance Planes | 1 |
| 3 | Bombers | 2 |
| 2 | Two-Seat Fighters | 3 |
Auxiliary Piece
| Number | Name | Identification |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Searchlights | SL |
The Play of the Game
The object of the game, as has already been stated, is to occupy your opponent's H.Q. or his Lake. This is done by moving a piece onto the square representing the H.Q. or the Lake.
Only Land Force Infantry pieces can capture the H.Q., and only Ships (including the Submarine but excluding the Flying Boat) may capture the Lake Naval Base.
Moves are made alternately throughout the game, one space at a time only (except Searchlights, see special rule), and are taken either Backwards, Forwards, or Sideways, but NEVER Diagonally, on to any unoccupied space.
There is no advantage in having the first move, which is usually settled by lot, and an attacker has no advantage over the attacked.
The Attack
An "Attack" is effected by a player moving a piece either sideways, backwards or forwards on to any space next to an opponent's piece, and saying "Attack". Immediately an attack is made, both players tell each other their pieces concerned, and the lower valued piece is captured (i.e. removed from the board), the higher piece remaining on the same space it occupied at the time of the attack.
A player may not ask his opponent to declare the value of his pieces without first attacking in the legitimate way. Whether the attack is successful or not, the move passes in the usual way.
Attacking is optional, however, and for tactical reasons a player may wish to move his piece alongside an opponent's piece, without revealing its nature. In this case, the player must say "No Attack", and the move passes in the usual way.
Should a player refrain from attacking, when in a position to do so, the opponent cannot attack the piece in question without first moving one of his own pieces. YOU MUST MOVE A PIECE IN ORDER TO ATTACK.
A player may only move one piece per turn.
The Value Table
Two copies of this table are provided, one for each player. The table gives the result of the conflict between any two pieces, and should be studied very carefully before playing the game, and kept handy at all times during play, although once a player has mastered the game, it will rarely be required. Very basically, the higher numbered pieces defeat the lower numbered pieces of each section.
Disposition of the Pieces
A player may place his pieces, either Land, Naval or Aerial, on any spaces he likes of his first five rows, except spaces marked H.Q. or Lake, which must be left unoccupied. There will be two empty spaces on each side once the board has been set up.
It is dangerous, however, to place Naval pieces on land, and Land pieces on the sea. Strictly speaking, Artillery and Infantry cannot operate at sea, nor can Ships go on Land. In this game, however, in order to give more room for pieces to move about in, and also to allow more scope for the skill of the players in tactics, pieces may move "out of their element".
There is, however, a heavy penalty for pieces caught bluffing in this way. A Land piece (Artillery or Infantry) caught on the sea, when attacked by ANY Naval piece, Aircraft or Searchlight is immediately forfeit and removed from the board. The same applies to any Naval piece (excluding the Flying Boat) that is caught on land and attacked by Infantry, Artillery, Aircraft or Searchlight.
It will thus be seen that although it may be profitable to move a piece out of its element, it is dangerous. However, this rule gives increased scope for the exercise of tactical skill, particularly in the use of the sea by Land pieces for sea invasions.
The Lake
Although the lake must not be occupied by a piece at any time it may be moved over freely during play, but a piece may not remain on it for more than one move (i.e. moved on to, and then with the player's next move, moved off again). Any piece remaining on a base for more than one move is forfeit and removed from the board.
To attack the Lake a Ship must enter from the mouth of the River and move up the River. In this special case, while on a river space, the Ship captures all Land pieces except Heavy Artillery, when attacked or attacking. Should it meet another Ship, the rule governing Naval Forces (see table) applies. A Ship, however, that goes on Land and moves eventually on to a River space may not attack the Lake. It may only go on to the River to escape to the sea again.
H.Q. (Headquarters)
The space representing H.Q. must not be occupied by a piece at any time, but it may be moved over freely during play as in the case of the Lake. Only Land Infantry pieces 1-5 can capture the H.Q., Artillery cannot.
The River
Spaces occupied by the River may be used by Land, Sea or Air pieces, and are deemed to represent the element of the piece occupying it at the time. In other words, if a Land piece occupies the mouth of the River, that River space is deemed Land, and its connection with the Sea would make it the Coastline. Or, if a ship occupied a River space, that space would be Sea, and the rule governing ships on the River would apply.
Coastline
It should be made clear that as the Coastline is not straight the spaces with just a little Land on but nearly all Sea are SEA spaces, and those with just a little Sea are LAND spaces.
Should a Ship attack a Land piece or vice versa, over the Coastline (i.e., one on Land and the other on Sea) the attacker is forfeit and removed from the board, except in the case of Heavy Artillery and Anti-Aircraft guns, when the ordinary ruling (see table) applies.
However, since the placement of certain Land pieces along the Coastline could set up an impregnable defence limiting the tactics of the game, the following rule has been made: Bombers and Flying Boats can destroy Infantry pieces 1-5 and Field Artillery over the Coastline.
Searchlights
Searchlights are allowed a special move. They may move any number of spaces in a straight line, either forwards, backwards, or sideways (but not diagonally), provided the intervening spaces are vacant, but they may only do this to attack a piece, and MUST NOT do this simply as a positional move.
Hints on Play
The first and most important thing is to master the table, and know by heart what captures what. After playing a few games, you will not have to refer to the table that often. Knowing it helps you into out-guessing your opponent's manoeuvring, making it easier for you to conduct successful attacks.
Study the pieces carefully, and arrange them on the board in small groups, as far as possible. That is to say, an Aeroplane, an Artillery piece and two Infantry pieces in a small group, and follow this plan all over the board as far as possible. This prevents a damaging raid by an opponent's piece, and also assures the availability of any piece you may require. Mobility lies in the equal distribution of your pieces at the beginning of the game.
Take care to have one of each of the more important pieces well protected at the rear. The loss of all three bombers, for example, at the beginning of the game would be serious.
There is no harm in hiding a few Naval pieces on Land at the rear in the beginning of the game and moving them on to sea as the game has progressed, but do not put any Land pieces on the Sea, as they are almost sure to be attacked soon, and wasted.
As Searchlights may be used on the Sea, and as Reconnaissance Planes capture them, do not be afraid to put one or two on the Sea in the beginning of the game.
Keep a Heavy Artillery piece near your Lake or River.
Since the only way to ascertain the value of an opponent's piece is through attacking, once an attack is made try to remember the piece's value, and keep track of it as it moves around.
In general, it is best to fight the Sea battle first. Control of the Sea means control of your opponent's Coastline. Remember that Bombers and Flying Boats have great power over the Coastline. Control of the Sea also leaves you the option of a Sea invasion by Land pieces.
Also remember in this light that if your opponent controls the Sea, to beware of Coastal attacks by his Bombers and Flying Boats.
Watch that you do not accidentally leave a piece on a base, but move it off at once or your opponent will claim it. Watch and claim your opponent's pieces in the same way.
Finally do not be afraid to risk a fairly valuable but powerful piece, by making a raid of successive moves. With ordinary luck you will probably do much damage before you lose the raider.
Do not raid blindly, however. Select your raider, after calculating what likelihood there is of you losing your piece quickly.
For instance, if you decided to raid with a Heavy Artillery piece, you could do it fairly confidently if you knew the position of two of your opponent's Bombers. You could then estimate the chance of his having a Bomber among the group you propose to raid.
If you place each of your opponent's pieces carefully, in some order, in your box after capturing, you will also be able to add the number of any captured piece against the total number your opponent has of that piece, thus giving you a further indication of any raider's possibilities.
After a few games, players will have their own idea for the ideal placing of pieces and plan of attack. Good luck!
Tri-Tactics Value Table
To use this table, when two pieces are attacking, find the name of the attacking piece in the left hand column and move along until you come to the column with the name of the attacked piece on the top. In this space is the identification mark of the winning piece. For example, Field Artillery (FA) and Army Corps (4) come into conflict. No. 4 (Army Corps) wins and Field Artillery is removed from the board.
The explanations and rules given should be studied in conjunction with this table.
- Where the space is left blank, nothing happens, both pieces remaining.
- X Where a space is marked thus, both pieces are removed.
- * Where a space is marked *, Flying Boats win over Air Force (Reconnaissance Planes, Bombers, and Two-seat Fighters) on the Sea, Air Force wins over Flying Boats on Land. When Flying Boats and Air Force are in opposition over the Coastline, nothing happens, both pieces remaining.
- # Where a space is marked #, pieces are only in conflict on a River space or with the Coastline in between, and Heavy Artillery sinks the Ships and the latter are removed from the board.
- + Where a space is marked +, pieces are in conflict on a River space or with the Coastline in between, and the Ships destroy the Anti-Aircraft guns and the latter are removed from the board.
- & Spaces marked & show that a Bomber and Flying Boat can destroy Infantry pieces 1-5, and Field Artillery over the Coastline.
In all cases of "attacks" not covered by the above special rules, the ordinary ruling as per table applies.
Column abbreviations: Bn 1 = Battalion, Bde 2 = Brigade, Div 3 = Division, AC 4 = Army Corps, Army 5 = Army, AA = Anti-Aircraft Gun, FA = Field Artillery, HA = Heavy Artillery, RP 1 = Reconnaissance Plane, Bmr 2 = Bomber, TSF 3 = Two Seat Fighter, FB = Flying Boat, SM = Submarine, Dst 1 = Destroyer, Cru 2 = Cruiser, BS 3 = Battleship, Car 4 = Aircraft Carrier, SL = Searchlight.
| Attacker ↓ / Attacked → | Bn 1 | Bde 2 | Div 3 | AC 4 | Army 5 | AA | FA | HA | RP 1 | Bmr 2 | TSF 3 | FB | SM | Dst 1 | Cru 2 | BS 3 | Car 4 | SL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battalion 1 | X | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | FA | 2 |