(Editor's Note: Reprinted THE WARGAME DIGEST, Fall, 1971, with the kind permission of Jack Scruby) It seems incredible thatjust 20 years ago wargaming with military miniatures was almost unheard of In my own case several of us were fighting miniature battles with Britians 54mm soldiers based on a copy qf H G. Wells "Little Wars " which Pat Gorman owned, Since this book had been out of print already for many years, this was more than worth its weight in gold! I think it was 1952 when I was able finally to get a small 8 page mimeographed booklet from the British Model Soldier Society with Captain J C. Sachs rules, and his ideas were as an explosion in our wargaming, for here at last were rulesfor rifle and machine gunfire, tanks, etc. that Wells had not had available. The reader should remember then that this particular set of war game rules were next in line to Wells -- that a whole new world was opened up to those wargamers who were able to procure a copy of Sachs' rules. And I include this set of rules (even though personally I always find rules dull to read) because those students of war games will by careful reading, come across many basic ideas that are still in use today, or which have become commonplace in all war game rules. In other words, these rules which date back to the 1930's, should prove that there is nothing realty new in rules - someone always was using them before ! In the following story, I have copied the Sachs rules word for word The italics are my own comment. Captain J C. Sachs was a member of the British Model Soldier Society, and he was a pioneer in wargaming. One must remember that in his day any man belonging to a Collectors society who played war games carried a stigma. Yet Captain Sachs doggedly pursued his hobby, talked the BMSS into using his rules as their "official set", had stories that he had written printed in the BMSS bulletin, and in general gave many of us interested in war games the boost we needed to keep going in it. Rules 1 -Both sides move simultaneously, and play proceeds without interruption except for such halts as may be necessary to remove casualties and to adjudicate combats. 2-No counter-acting move may be made until an interval of two moves has elapsed. i.e. If Red makes a threatening move, say on a flank, Blue may not take steps to deal with this until Red has completed his second move, This does not apply to troops in actual contact. (This is still a revolutionary concept in war games, and one that led us to many an argument years ago. We later abandoned it, but the idea lingers on and someday someone may clarify it enough to make it workable!) 3-Each commander must start moving his troops from his own left and must finish on the right. There is no exception to this. 4-MOVES - Infantry 6 " - Cavalry, tanks, horse-drawn or mechanised artillery 12" - mechanised 4.7 guns 9" - motor machine guns on roads 12" in open country 6". On roads all troops move in single file, one man behind the other. No troops may pass other troops on the road, so that if it is desired to push guns forward, any infantry, wagons, etc. must first move off the road leaving it clear, which constitutes a move. (Shades of World War I can be seen in this rule! And you must remember Captain Sachs wrote these rules for movement of individual 54mm Britians soldiers) 5-Dead must be removed from the table and not used as cover. 6-When hostile troops come into actual contact the combat must be adjudicated at once before the next move is started on. 7-A brigade must always be accompanied by a wagon or a lorry, and a division by a wagon and a lorry. This transport must be on the table. 8-A force cut off from its line of communications is defeated unless it can reopen the line within four moves. 9-Troops may be considered to have dug entrenchments when they have been in position for six moves. One man can dig 1" trench length, but if engineers with infantry then one man can dig 1.5" 10 - RANGES - Rifle, machine gun, anti-tank guns 12". Artillery - entirely according to the power of the gun (At this time all wargamers actually shot pellets from spring-loaded Britians cannon at their soldiers) 11 -Prior to the first move, each commander must arrange the order in which his troops will march on to the table. 12-Hostile troops, particularly cavalry, within a move or range of each other need not fight, but may remain in observation if the enemy allows them to do so. 13 -If a force consists of more than a brigade of infantry the commander must write down the orders of each brigade before deployment and if the brigade signaler is killed that brigade cannot vary its instructions until a signaler from divisional H.Q. has arrived with new orders, which must be written! (Here is the grandaddy of all "written order" rules) 14-Except when marching along a road, infantry need not be stood up, but can be moved in a prone position. Infantry on a road can always lie down to avoid hostile fire but if they lie down on a road they cannot move. In open country lying down is no bar to moving in any direction. (By using this rule in our own war games, we found we could have many casualties since a 54mm soldier lieing face down is much harder to hit with a spring-loaded cannon than one standing up) HAND TO HAND FIGHTING 17-First deduct from the weaker force as many men as it is inferior, then, starting with the weaker force, every second man on both sides is killed. a-The winning side may reorganize, the loser must retreat one move. There will be no pursuit until the following move. b-All troops within 6" of the center of combat are in the melee. c-If both sides are equal in combat, half the men on either side will be killed and victory will depend on which side brings up reinforcements. d-A weaker force may attack a stronger force from the flank, in which case the only men to count will be those who can use their weapons. Of course on their next move the stronger force may maneuver to get out of their weaker position. (This Melee Rule was very revolutionary after the H G. Wells rule, and for the first time in our games made a hand to hand fight something more than a suicide mission. When one considers that for years the Wells melee and the spring loaded cannon were the only means of "killing" in war games, you can understand why the Sachs rules for melee and fire power below- were so exciting to the early war game players struggling to make wargaming better for himself.) RIFLE AND MACHINE GUN FIRE 18-All troops are supposed to shoot equally well. It must not be assumed that infantry shoot better than cavalry. The fire of a machine gun is equal to that of 6 men. Fire range is 12" or less. In a fire fight opposed equal machine guns will be mutually put out of action after the first move. a-Troops in position will be considered as being one-quarter stronger if attacked frontally. i.e. 13 men have firing strength of 16. b-Troops entrenched either on a hill or not, will have double firing strength. c-A force attacking any position frontally will lose: 1 -on advancing 12" to 6" - 1 man for every 4 of firing strength of 2-From 6" to closing - man for every 3 (same) defender d-When attackers reach the position, defenders fight melee with their actual strength. e-DEFENDERS lose in defending against the attack in c- 1 above: 1 man of 4 of the actual strength of attackers: In c-2 above 1 in each 3 of actual strength of attackers. (These were the first rules that I know of that did give advantages to defensive firepower or position. The key words are 'firing strength" of defenders, which gives additional firepower because of position; and "actual strength" which of course refers to the actual numbers of soldiers involved in the combat). 19-Oblique Fire and Flank fire is more deadly (against the one caught in bad position) since those inferior position are limited in return fire to the individual soldiers who can actually turn and return the fire. CAVALRY Cavalry usually precede the infantry and when screens (on the table top) are in use they will not be removed until the cavalry have got such a position as will enable them to see the enemy's side of the table. 22-Cavalry must rely mainly on surprise. A frontal attack on infantry will usually end in failure as the cavalry cannot fire while charging. A surprise attack on flank and rear will cause the infantry to lose as many men as the cavalry force numbers. The cavalry would lose one-fourth its strength and must risk losing men on its retirement from the combat from the fire of the infantry if this can be brought to bear. It is as well that the cavalry should post their machine gun, if any, to cover this retirement. 24-When two hostile bodies of cavalry charge one another, if of equal strength and the attack is frontal, both sides will lose one third and retire. If of unequal strength, Rule 17 will apply. If attacked in the flank, the outflanked force loses two men and retires. 25-Cavalry may lie down and fire. ARTILLERY (The reader must remember the Artillery rules were drawn up to consider that spring loaded cannons, firing missiles, were used by the players. One had to actually hit - and knock over- a soldier to kill him. In rule 2 7, it says the player is allowed 4 shots (from his cannon) for each game move. I well remember this section of war games, bending over the table top, aiming the guns, and firing at will. The action was hot and heavy at these times. I also think Rule 32 is perhaps a classic in the history of war game rules!) 27-An artillery move consists of either moving the gun or firing it, not both. Four shots constitute an artillery move, but only two shots a move can be fired by 4.7 guns or larger. A gun hit by a hostile shell will lose one shot per move thereafter if a smaller gun, but if of larger caliber, the gun will be knocked out. Gunners - one must be at gun at all times. Loss of a gunner cuts down one shot per move thereafter. To count, artillery hits must be direct, and cannot ricochet off buildings, the table top, etc. This means aim must be taken carefully; nothing counts on man, horse or material that does not hit - to use the cricket term - full pitch. 30-Artillery may not be lifted (off the table) to fire. Wedges may be used to raise the gun, but such equipment must accompany the limber when the gun is brought upon the table. It cannot be brought out at the whim of the commander. 32-It is permissible to fire at the enemy artillery when it is firing at you; a smart rap on the knuckles is likely to-spoil the aim, and the author, after playing this game for over 20 years, has never found an opponent so foolish as to put his face near a gun when the enemy artillery has been firing at it. 33-Fired ammunition must not be retrieved from the battlefield further forward than the most advanced man of the retrieving side. 34-Dumps of ammunition must be made within 3" of each gun before the gun commences to fire. If the dump becomes exhausted and no more ammunition can be retrieved from the battlefield, fresh supplies must be obtained from the ammunition column. 35-If an enemy shell falls into a dump, the dump is exploded and fresh supplies must be obtained from the ammunition column, and if a shell hits ammunition in the column itself, that ammunition is totally lost. There are several more pages of the Sachs rules, considering such things as Engineers, bridging, blowing up pill boxes and the laying of wire entanglements. Most of these rules are based on World War I fighting. In the section regarding Air Forces, the use of dice is mentioned several times, but most interesting is the fact that model planes were attached to a string strung across the table, and as the planes "moved" over the battlefield- the commander must actually drop a bomb from the plane, hoping to hit a target. Likewise, any anti-aircraft guns had to actually be fired by the player at the moving plane! This must have led to a lot of action, and one has a picture of one player attempting to drop his bomb while under heavy fire of wooden missiles from his opponents anti-aircraft gun! The rules for Tank fighting are more juvenile and lead one to suppose that this was an afterthought in the Sachs war game. For example, opposed tanks mutually knock each other out if a tank loses its tracks and become immobile the crew may jump out and fight as infantrymen. Transport rules are well thought out, and apparently in all these war games one had to depend on ammunition wagons constantly bringing in supplies throughout the battle. With artillery firing at these huge targets, the casualty rate in the transport system must have been heavy! At any rate, fighting war games in this manner was a lot of fun. I think any oldtimer in this hobby who was raised on the Wells-Sachs type of war game will agree with me that very fond memories remain of the battles that were fought to the last man, or last Britians cannon, back in the early 1950's when some of us got hold of such fantastic rules as those worked out by T C Sachs! 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