This paper describes a clean and coherent system for relating mid-18th century battle tactics to the wargame table. It establishes the foundation for a set of game rules, originally inspired by those outlined by Young & Lawford in Charge! or How to Play Wargames, that I have been developing for 28 years [off-and-on].

I have never accepted the excuse proffered by Young & Lawford [and others] for the admitted absence from their game system(s) of internal consistency with respect to scales of time and distance, of movement and fire effect - namely, that its achievement would require "regulations that resemble acts of parliament in bulk, and which are only marginally more intelligible" (page 43). On the contrary! What creates the need either to legislate separately for every contingency, or to abandon objectivity altogether in favor of an umpire's caprice, is the lack of internal consistency, or real system. Its presence allows rules to be concise, and arbitrary judgments eschewed. But the achievement of such elegance does require the investment into rule writing of a good deal more thought than is needed to produce a collection of rules hodgepodge. It is the rule-writers' mental laziness, not solicitude for rule-users, that is back of their expressions of contempt for "dull consistency." Moreover, because reality, unlike fiction, must be internally consistent in order to work, there is no natural conflict in game design between elegance and realism.

A system both logical and authentic, once conceived, not only contributes to the enjoyment of wargaming, but provides a context for the critical appreciation of battle histories. Figures for distances marched, durations of firefights, casualties inflicted, etc. will have meaning beyond the like of "Wow! That sure is a big number!", and may even embolden us to challenge the veracity of reported accounts of famous tactical feats.

This article is not the product of first-hand research, but is rather an attempt to pull together into a coherent whole such drabs and snippets of information bearing upon its subject as are to be found in published materials presumably widely distributed among members of the Association, which should allow readers the satisfaction of being able to verify for themselves many of the statements made herein. These materials are:

1.) The Seven Years' War Association Journal, Vols. VI-XI
2.) Nosworthy, The Anatomy of Victory: Battle Tactics 1689 - 1763
3.) Young & Lawford, Chargel or How to Plav Wargames
4.) Kennett. The French Armies in the Seven Years' War
5 ) Duffy (-P), The Army of Frederick the Great (Second Edition)
6.) Duffy (-A), Instrument of War: The Austrian Army in the Seven Years' War
7.) Duffy (-R), Russia's Military Way to the West
8.) Duffy (-F&S), Fire and Stone: The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660 - 1860
9.) thru 20.) Haythornthwaite, Konstam, Chartrand, et alia, Osprey Men-an-Arms Series on the Seven Years War armies of Prussia, Austria, Russia and France, Numbers 236, 240, 248, 271, 276, 280, 296, 297, 298, 302, 304, & 308.
21.) Esposito et alia, A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars
22.) St Paul, Ed. by Cogswell, Reichenberg and Malleschitz
23.) St. Paul, Ed. by Cogswell, Defence of Prague and the Campaign of Marshal Daun
24.) Dubois, Camp Topographies of the Campaign of 1757 in Westphalia
25.) No. 43 (Mar/Apr 1974) Davis & Toelke, "The Soldier Kings" Strategy and Tactics Magazine
26.) No. 44 (May/Jun 1974) Isby, "Sea War in the Age of Sail" Strategy and Tactics Magazine
27.) No. 49 (Mar/Apr 1975) Davis, "Frederick the Great: The Campaigns of the Soldier King" Strategy and Tactics Magazine
28.) Clauswitz, Principles of War
29.) DuPicq, Battle Studies
30.) Jomini, The Art of War
31.) Bucholz, Molike, Schlieffen, and Prussian War Planning
32.) Showalter, The Wars of Frederick the Great
33.) Corbett, with Introduction by Duffy, England in the Seven Years' War

More Notes Relevant to the Simulation of Seven Years War Scenarios

I. Introduction
II. Tactical Unit Dimensions
III. Marching Distances Per Unit Time: Infantry and Cavalry
IV. Weapons Ranges, Rates of Fire, Endurance and Lethality

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