Fast Rules
for Table Top Battles using Miniature WWII Armor, Artillery, & Infantry© 1970 Leon L. Tucker
Printed by Guidon Games (2nd printing, January 1972)
Monograph WM104 - 075
$0.75 post paid
Don Lowry was very active in the early years of the hobby. Not only was he an illustrator of some renown, but he was owner and editor of Campaign magazine after he bought Panzerfaust from Don Greenwood and renamed it. Under the banner of Guidon Games, he edited and published booklets and games, and was a well-known retailer and mail order specialist.
Fast Rules was one of many booklets available from Guidon Games, including Wargamers Guide to Afrika Korps, Gamer’s Guide to Squad Leader, and a number of other publications on rules for miniatures such as Chainmail (medieval and fantasy); Tractics (modern warfare); Hardtack (Civil War); and Don’t Give up the Ship (Age of sail).
Fast Rules can claim to be fast in part because it is also short. The monograph consists of only 24 5½”x8½” pages, six of which are advertising and other impedimenta. The booklet was prepared under the auspices of the Armored Operations Society, an affiliate of the International Federation of Wargaming.
The Table of Contents includes:
I Turn SequenceII Movement Capabilities
III Observation
IV Weapon Procedures
V Tank & Anti-Tank Fires
VI Artillery Fires
VII Infantry Fires
VIII Melees
IX Morale
X Notes
The author notes that “[t]hese rules have been compiled especially to introduce collectors of HO scale military miniatures to the rewarding hobby of conducting small battles with their collections. Utmost simplicity has been the constant concern of the authors...”
The rules provided are indeed very simple and should result in a shallow learning curve and quick comprehension. Movement is defined in inches for on- road, off-road and constricted ground. Tank armor is classified as front, flank and rear. Weapons are defined as light, medium or heavy (tanks are further categorized into medium-light, medium- heavy and super-heavy). And combat consists of a to-hit dice roll followed, if successful, by a to-destroy dice roll.
Fast Rules is a great way to be introduced to miniatures. My only complaint with the system is the lack of a good summary chart or table.
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