succession. One realises with a sickening sense of
error that one is outnumbered and hard pressed here and uselessly cut
off there, that one's guns are ill-placed, that one's wings are spread
too widely, and that help can come only over some deadly zone of fire.

So the fight wears on. Guns are lost or won, hills or villages stormed
or held; suddenly it grows clear that the scales are tilting beyond
recovery, and the loser has nothing left but to contrive how he may get
to the back line and safety with the vestiges of his command....

But let me, before I go on to tell of actual battles and campaigns, give
here a summary of our essential rules.

III

THE RULES

HERE, then, are the rules of the perfect battle-game as we play it in an
ordinary room.

THE COUNTRY

(1) The Country must be arranged by one player, who, failing any other
agreement, shall be selected by the toss of a coin.

(2) The other player shall then choose which side of the field he will
fight from.

(3) The Country must be disturbed as little as possible in each move.
Nothing in the Country shall be moved or set aside deliberately to
facilitate the firing of guns. A player must not lie across the Country
so as to crush or disturb the Country if his opponent objects. Whatever
is moved by accident shall be replaced after the end of the move.

THE MOVE

(1) After the Country is made and the sides chosen, then (and not until
then) the players shall toss for the first move.

(2) If there is no curtain, the player winning the toss, hereafter
called the First Player, shall next arrange his men along his back line,
as he chooses. Any men he may place behind or in front of his back line
shall count in the subsequent move as if they touched the back line at
its nearest point. The Second Player shall then do the same. But if a
curtain is available both first and second player may put down their men
at the same time. Both players may take unlimited time for the putting
down of their men; if there is a curtain it is drawn back when they are
ready, and the game then begins.

[Illustration: Fig. 2--Battle of Hook's Farm. A Near View of the Blue
Army]

[Illustration: Fig. 3--Battle of Hook's Farm. Position of both Armies
after first move.]

(3) The subsequent moves after the putting down are timed. The length of
time given for each move is determined by the size of the forces
engaged. About a minute should be allowed for moving 30 men