Straight Dope Message Board

[kk fusion]

The game was played on a regluar sheet of paper with terrain and artillery units drawn on it by hand. Rules were pretty flexible, but one core element was that you had to draw the trajectory of your shot in a smooth motion and try to hit your opponent's units with it.

There were of course disagreements as to what constitues a valid shot, but mostly we were of the impression that we were actually playing this competitively.

It is quite possible that artillery video games were inspired by this. But was the "hardware" version ever picked up by the boardgame industry? Were there ever printed maps? Codified rules? Organized tournaments? A widely recognized name that produces Google results?

Anybody else even remember such games? 1

[Dead Cat]

I've never played the game you describe, and I'm not a boardgame expert, but the nearest thing that comes to mind is Captain Sonar, in which two teams pursue each others submarines around a map with neither knowing where the other one is to begin with. 2

[kenobi 65]

I remember playing this (or something like it) in grade school in the 1970s. As I remember it, you'd place the writing end of your pen on one of your "guns," and then press down on the top of the pen at an angle, to get it to draw a line as it slid out from under your finger.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like it that'd been commercially produced, however. 3

[Boozahol Squid, P.I.]

I played something like this in the late 80's. We used those terrible two-piece metal compasses that never held their angle as you drew. The way we played, each player would draw their half of the battlefield on a sheet of paper, which would then be placed against each other. You would then place the needle point anywhere near the join of the two papers, then extend the pencil bit out towards one of your "howitzers", and then try to draw an arc to hit the other guy's guns. I suppose it was a better use of our 3rd grade math time than the other way 8 year old boys would use compasses, which, of course, was stabbing each other with them.

Captain Sonar is a great game, Dead Cat and it does have a few elements in common with this game, only, you know, actually designed by someone talented (and someone who can wrangle 7 of their friends to play a tactical game for a few hours.) 4

[RioRico]

I served in a Field Artillery unit where the game was played in earnest. Someone miscalculated and lobbed shells into the local university's parking lot. Oops. 5

[ralfy]

Originally Posted by kenobi 65

I remember playing this (or something like it) in grade school in the 1970s. As I remember it, you'd place the writing end of your pen on one of your "guns," and then press down on the top of the pen at an angle, to get it to draw a line as it slid out from under your finger.

I don't think I've ever seen anything like it that'd been commercially produced, however.

I remember that. In one version, you start from your base from either end of the paper, and at the end of each line, you draw a symbol, like a star. In subsequent turns, you can launch strikes from your base or one of your symbols. If you hit one of your opponent's symbols, it gets disabled. The one who hits the other's base first wins. 6