“Now YOU command an ARMY GROUP in this realistic Tournament WAR GAME”
No. 502, 1961, $5.98
Designed by Charles S. Roberts
Players 2 or more
Playing Time Basic Game 2 hours, Tournament Game 4-6 hours
Period Modern
Scale strategic
Map not stated
Unit division

A strategic scale conflict between the land based forces of Red and Blue, two post-WWII nations occupying a hypothetical continent.

Tactics II was a revision of Tactics, the first wargame published by Charles S. Roberts. Although quite simple by today’s standards, Tactics II addressed concepts such as weather, hidden reserves, paratroops, amphibious operations, replacements and nuclear weapons.

According to Roberts: “the decision to republish Tactics as Tactics II was made at the last minute simply to fill out the opening line” which otherwise consisted of Gettysburg and Dispatcher. He “really didn’t think it would sell well.”

Contrary to his expectation, Tactics II managed to live on and on. Over the years it gracefully made the transition from being at the forefront of the AH game line to serving a more mundane role as the perennial introductory game of “military chess”. Except for a brief period in the early seventies, Tactics II was in the AH catalog from the start to the finish!

The following component manifest applies to sets published from roughly 1963 to 1973 (with the exception of differing catalog inserts). Subsequent sets used components that are similar to those described here.Earlier editions are a different matter. There were a number of component variations from 1958 to 1962. Those will be covered in my upcoming Collector’s Guide to Tactics II.

Components
Map Two 22"x14" mapsheets mounted on blue boards attached at adjoining longer edges by a strip of black tape, east mapsheet marked copyright 1958

Rules
1 8”x10” Instruction folder (4 pages) marked copyright 1961
2 8”x10” Reference Folder (8 pages) marked copyright 1961

Counters 100 1/2” counters: 44 pink, 44 blue, 12 spare/blank (6 of each color.)

Charts, Pads, and Play-Aids
1 7 1/2”x5-3/4” two-sided Time Record Card
2 5”x7” Weather Table on yellow card
3 7-5/8”x10” Combat Results Table card, marked copyright 1963

Inserts
1 8 1/2”x11” AH game catalog, slick paper folder (4 pages) with photos in black and white, text in purple and black, marked “prices applicable only until December 31, 1970”
2 5 1/2”x3 1/4” “This card came from” yellow postage paid registration postcard
3 5 1/2”x3 1/4” DO A FRIEND A FAVOR magenta postcard

In Memoriam: Revisiting the Avalon Hill Classics, Part II Old Games Never Die, Their Counters Just Fade Away

Introduction
Gettysburg '58
Gettysburg Battlefield Edition
Tactics II
U-Boat
Chancellorsville
D-Day
Civil War
Waterloo
Bismarck
Stalingrad
Jutland
Conclusion