Battle Command

Generic land battle strategy board game. Box measures 20" x 11 1/4". Single-fold mounted color game board with 21 x 19 one-inch-square grid superimposed to regulate movement. Terrain represented includes Mountain, Forest, Plains, Fords, and Rivers. Multi-square Airfields also represented.

Miniature plastic pieces include Tanks, APCs and Airplanes (six Tanks, six APCs and three Airplanes per side; complete set of each in Yellow, Brown, Green, and Blue). The APCs are eight-wheeled turreted vehicles strongly resembling a USMC LAV. Tanks resemble a cross between the US Army M-109 SP gun and an Israeli Merkava tank. Airplanes slightly resemble early speculative depictions of a Stealth fighter with twin tails and an unflattering forward-swept projection on the leading wing edge.

All of these units are moved according to the roll of two six-sided dice. Die results are added together; the sum ("dice units") is allocated among friendly pieces for movement.

Terrain costs vary for Tank and APC units. Pieces may be moved in any direction including diagonally, but may not stack together or pass through an occupied space.

All unit types have a "range" of two spaces. Tanks may not attack Airplanes (unless all friendly Airplanes are destroyed). Airplanes must be "airborne" in order to attack (they must "take off" down the "runway" of their "airstrip").

Combat is resolved by die roll, "attacker" and targeted "defender" each rolling one die. The result of subtracting low roll from high roll is referenced to a "Battle Chart" yielding a result of "Safe," "Disabled" or "Destroyed." APCs are destroyed on a difference of "1" or more. Tanks are "disabled" by a difference of "1" or "2" and "destroyed" by a differential of "3" or more. Airplanes are "destroyed" by a differential of "3" or more vs. another Airplane or an APC or a "4" or "5" if beaten by a tank. Airplanes are "disabled" by a "1" or "2" differential vs. another Airplane or an APC.

Destroyed units are removed. Disabled tanks are turned on their side. "Disabled" tanks may be "captured." A friendly or enemy APC may "capture" a "disabled" tank by moving adjacent and surviving until the next friendly turn. At the start of the next friendly turn, the tank is turned rightside-up and is considered friendly to the capturing player.

Disabled Airplanes "crash land." The "disabled" Airplane travels three spaces in a straight line (in any direction the owning player chooses) and is turned upside-down. During this "descent" the Airplane may "pass over" other units, but the space it "crashes" in must be vacant. An APC (friendly or hostile) may "recover" the downed Airplane in the same manner as a Tank is recovered; however, when the Airplane is turned rightside-up, it is immediately returned to a friendly Airbase parking space.

"Disabled" pieces may be attacked and destroyed instead of being captured if a player so chooses.

A unit may only inflict damage on the first unit to attack it in a given turn. If a piece survives an initial attack and is attacked again, it rolls in defense as usual, but will not inflict any damage on its attacker even if its die roll is higher.

Airbases may be captured by disabling or destroying all hostile pieces on the Airbase and then occupying at least one square of the Airbase with a friendly Tank or APC.

The object of the game is to be the last player with a surviving APC unit.

Rules include options for a short game with less equipment. A small paper insert, dated 1991, provided a simpler version using the same movement rules but capturing by simply moving a piece onto an opposing piece space, moving and capturing until all "dice units" have been used.

The box art painting accurately portrays the pieces inside. One of the modernistic tanks advances firing, evading a near miss while the moon lights APCs crossing a stream to the rear in Ardennes-type terrain as jets swoop above. The title "Battle Command" appears in large red letters all the way across the top of this illustration. In smaller white letters across the bottom: "A Fast-Playing Game of Strategy, Daring, and Chance!"

In the lower right corner is the logo of "Precision Toy," white letters superimposed over a line of evergreens with the title and evergreens "reflected" oppositely beneath. The back cover features a large black-and-white photo of the board and components. "Precision Toy" was located in Julian, CA 92036. The game was made in USA.