"Tractics - how rare is it?" Topic

I recently inherited a very nice copy of Tractics that I will probably end up selling. My question is, how rare is this particular game? I could go the ebay route, but my local game store has an in-store consignment auction coming up next month that's very well attended.

You can find them on E-bay any time you want, so not all that rare I don't think. I got a copy just a few months ago, and paid $19 USD for it, plus $5 USD shipping.

That doesn't stop some people asking $185 USD for it though…

auction

Some people have more money than sense thank God.

There's a copy on ebay uk for £199.00 GBP at the moment.

it's like most things – you need the high price and the buyer with the cash at the same time.

Cool, thanks for the responses.

I have one copy and bought another for about $75 USD mainly to replace the charts that were lost. Mark, you got really lucky! I think I've seen them go for as low as $40 USD or so.

Unless one is a collector, I cannot imagine what one would do with those rules.

Played with them extensively in the '70s and wasted hours determining shot angles and penetration. High marks for "realism" and very low marks for playability. Sold my copies of the rules years ago and never feel bad about that.

Dan

Played with them extensively in the '70s and wasted hours determining shot angles and penetration. High marks for "realism" and very low marks for playability.

You probably did the same thing we did. Get as many vehicles and infantry on the table as you can and have at it! The games plays pretty well with smaller amounts of troops. Maybe a platoon of infantry and a few tanks. Our monster games lasted all day.

Only lasted all day? You call that a Tractics mo monster game?

Kenny Beard and I did a couple when we were in high school that kept us busy all day for a month. Of course we alternated those with expanded versions of Blitzkrieg.

I have to point out that Kenny built a full US Combat Command. My two battalions of German infantry and attachments always had a hard time.

Oh to have the time for such things today.

Played 'em like John and Dan did, back in the '70's.

After some 'issues,' we scaled-back and found that you
could reasonably play an infantry platoon, supported
by a HW squad and an armor platoon vs. a similar force
in about 4-6 hours (a Saturday, basically).

Oh, forgot. I have two sets and if someone wants to pay
me the USD equivalent of GBP 199.00, one set is all
your's !

there are copies available at NobleKnight for under 50 $US.

After some 'issues,' we scaled-back and found that you
could reasonably play an infantry platoon, supported
by a HW squad and an armor platoon vs. a similar force
in about 4-6 hours (a Saturday, basically).

Indeed! The games we played were probably closer to a company of infantry and a company of tanks per side. They lasted a day +. I remember having to go home for dinner and then coming back later to finish up.

The rules are not so ultra detailed that you can't get it done fairly quickly with reasonable forces. I think it is the tank combat that slows you down. There are quick resolution rules for infantry and they do speed things up a bit in that department with rolling only a D6 per man and having much fewer modifiers.

Compare that to the tank where you roll to hit, get the location, look up the slope of the armor, get the angle of attack and figure out armor thickness compared to the penetration value. It really isn't as bad as it sounds but with multiple tanks, that can take some time!

Played Tractics back in the day. Never for big games, but it worked well for small actions.

We may use these rules for a few games this (coming) summer, but might just drop back and play using the earlier 'Fast Rules' for a faster/simpler game.

As for rarity; the Guidon Games edition(s) are more rare than the later/last TSR edition. Prices are what they are. Unless I really needed/wanted a copy I'd not pay more than $20 USD or so for a TSR edition (your mileage/price ceiling may vary).

Played them at conventions back in the day, too. It made for a great game if you were smart enough to hunker hull-down & shoot, while letting your opponent charge at you. Funny thing was that our club (who liked to game together on the same side) never had an opponent try the same thing back at us. It seems that nature abhors a static armor battle, just like it abhors a vacuum.

Rick

I think it's a great set for skirmish actions of up to a company per side.

Once you get the hang of it, determining the angles and shot penetrations doesn't take all that much time.

Great fun.

I think I paid around $20 USD – $30 USD when I bought them new, eons ago.

Reese's "Fast Rules" are a much simpler and playable set of rules. Played them for years and still have my copy. Easy to learn and could modify to include just about any weapon, vehicle or weapon system. Even used them for SF games.

Asked Reese a number of years ago if I could put them up on the web, but he thought that he might reprint them at some point, so said no. Too bad.

Dan

Battalions in Crisis cleaned up the sheets and put them on individual sheets for armor with the angles worked out etc.
Made playing these a much better game. Yes I agree that a smaller size force ,around platoon size ,works well

This discussion started with rarity so I will say that they seem to go eBay overpriced for what you can get through other second hard places (such as Noble Knights mentioned above). So they are uncommon, but not really rare.

I have my copy acquired in 1981, and the rulebooks are in great condition as it is the charts that have almost all the info you need to play. And the charts were in plastic binders from the moment I got them. As others have mentioned, played it lots – from small (ok, 6'x4') to large monsters that took all day at the club. I think we played with the infantry d20 rules once, and moved on to the d6 rules. Lots of tanks and infantry. The game plays fast when you know the location tables, auto damage results, damage result and penetration values. They are a product of their time but hope to have a game or to in the next few years. BoC is a cleaner and better ruleset, but I *know* Tractics, even after 25 years and will play that. Of course, if anyone in Brisbane wanted to play BoC instead, I would not say no…

Reviews and recent prices here:
link

Click on "complete" to see some past sales