#tractics

“Monty and the German High Command, The Adventures of Monty Haul #2,″ was Jim Ward’s article in Dragon 15 (June 1978) recounting a fictionalized player’s perspective on a famous game GM’d by Gary Gygax.  Gary originally described the scenario as “Sturmgeshutz and Sorcery” in Strategic Review V1 N5 (December 1975).  He famously told one group of players that they were playing D&D as the army of an evil high priest, and told another group they were playing Tractics as a WWII German platoon.  He then surprised the two groups by having them play against each other on one table using a mash-up of both rules.

Space Marines, the 1977 sci-fi skirmish game from FanTac -- From A Mark Ratner’s 5-page article with detailed designer notes, explaining the different inspirations for the races, some rules corrections, and adding new rules, Dragon 14, May 1978.  He starts with a nod to Guidon/TSR’s Tractics and John McEwan’s Starguard!, then adds his justification for ground combat in a far future setting, something some people still seem to struggle to understand.

https://www.twitch.tv/lodgeofthecat Hey I’m streaming this little obscure indie tactics game, check it out!

This was Gygax's infamous scenario based on a battle he refereed between a team prepped to play as an SS patrol using the WWII rules Tractics and a team prepped to defend a castle with their wizards, orcs, trolls, and giant scorpion using D&D rules.  The fog of war turned out to be a magical fog between realms, and after the troops advanced all the players were surprised to see the forces that were placed on the opposite side of the table.