d you may have brought up a dozen men all round the hostile gun, but
if there is still one enemy just out of their reach and within six
inches of the end of the trail of the gun, that gun is not captured: it
is still in dispute and out of action, and you may not fire it or move
it at the next move. But once a gun is fully captured, it follows all
the rules of your own guns.
VARIETIES OF THE BATTLE-GAME
You may play various types of game.
(1) One is the Fight to the Finish. You move in from any points you like
on the back line and try to kill, capture, or drive over his back line
the whole of the enemy's force. You play the game for points; you score
100 for the victory, and 10 for every gun you hold or are in a position
to take, 1-1/2 for every cavalry-man, 1 for every infantry-man still
alive and uncaptured, 1/2 for every man of yours prisoner in the hands
of the enemy, and 1/2 for every prisoner you have taken. If the battle
is still undecided when both forces are reduced below fifteen men, the
battle is drawn and the 100 points for victory are divided.
Note--This game can be fought with any sized force, but if it is fought
with less than 50 a side, the minimum must be 10 a side.
(2) The Blow at the Rear game is decided when at least three men of one
force reach any point in the back line of their antagonist. He is then
supposed to have suffered a strategic defeat, and he must retreat his
entire force over the back line in six moves, i.e. six of his moves.
Anything left on the field after six moves capitulates to the victor.
Points count as in the preceding game, but this lasts a shorter time and
is better adapted to a cramped country with a short back line. With a
long rear line the game is simply a rush at some weak point in the first
player's line by the entire cavalry brigade of the second player.
Instead of making the whole back line available for the Blow at the
Rear, the middle or either half may be taken.
(3) In the Defensive Game, a force, the defenders, two-thirds as strong
as its antagonist, tries to prevent the latter arriving, while still a
quarter of its original strength, upon the defender's back line. The
Country must be made by one or both of the players before it is
determined which shall be defender. The players then toss for choice of
sides, and the winner of the toss becomes the defender. He puts out his
force over the field on his own side, anywhere up to the distance of one
move of
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