(copied from the Old Rules Directory)
Battle Captain was designed because a group of gamers in central Iowa were looking for a fast set of rules which didn't end up in a number of "Rules Lawyers" fighting over some kind of small loopfole in the game's mechanics. As with all rules, elements have got to be left out to foster quick play and a "clean game."
Battle Captain, however, is accurate enough to be used to teach prospective Army lieutenants the basics of good tactics. Overwatch, fields of fire, use of obstacles, key terrain, massing fires, all the OKOCA factors in other words, plus the main elements of FM 100-5. The game gives the feeling of modern combat.
Because of the company/platoon level of the game, command control was not included. In most cases, morale does a pretty good job of limiting control of one's troops, however they must have taken casualties in order to suffer a bad morale effect. This is probably not too accurate, but it works, and keeps the game moving.
We have found that a game between two teams of knowledgeable opponents takes about three hours. Because of the logic of the rules, the learning curve is quite steep.
One Story:
One of the play testers of the game, now an Army captain, was in the 7th grade. He was setting up his defense (the time period was 1976). An Army battalion commander entered the room and questioned why two of the play tester's tanks were stationed so far back on the board. The play tester confidently stated that these were M60A2 tanks with missiles, and therefore the hit probability was excellent to the far edge of the table, and that moving the vehicles forward would do nothing to improve the probability. The colonel looked as though he had just been through a briefing, said that it looked good, and shut up.
– Bruce J. Conard, designer of Battle Captain
