These rules do not have a particular space scale in mind. Scale is adapted to accommodate the Critical Distance, the amount of playing space and the nature of the models or markers used. Use of battle maps and the like help to scale down to what is practical. You have a board that is 6ft by 6ft and wish to re-stage the small tactics surrounding the Hougoumont position near Waterloo on the morning of the battle. In your opinion, this battle took place in a 720-yard box surrounding the farm buildings. To reduce this distance to the scale of the available table, requires a scale of 360:1 (720 yards x 3 feet = 2160 feet / 6 feet = 360). The minimum critical distance would be 0.1 x (72” + 72”) = 14.4”. This would represent a distance of (360 x 14.4” = 5,184” = 144 yards). We decide that in the close country around the farm, the cannon present at the battle would have an effective ball or canister range of no further than 300 yards or 30”. The longer distance of 30” would be used as the Critical Distance. Generally, as scales get smaller, Critical Distances get relatively greater. This makes movement less manageable in the confusion of a tactical engagement as opposed to the careful plans of a strategic manoeuvre. Terrain can now be built to this scale according to the Players’ taste and skill. The only requirement is that important features of terrain are easy to identify and relate to the movement, positioning and interaction of forces. More Table Top Matrix Games: Historical Miniatures Introduction Preparation: The Battle Arena and Critical Distance Scales Ground Formations and Units Players The Battle Rules Arguments and Results Players and Umpires Notes Back to Table of Contents -- Matrix Gamer #30 To Matrix Gamer List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by Chris Engle. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com