Original D&D Discussion - Tractics (1975)

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May 22, 2013, 6:54am

Original D&D Discussion :: Other TSR Classics :: Other TSR Games :: Tractics (1975)

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Topic: Tractics (1975) (Read 2,241 times)

thorswulf
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #15 on Sept 13, 2009, 11:35pm »

The "Fast Rules set used to be available online, but alas it has gone away. The rules are very simple compared to tractics, but you had better know armor statistics to play. Speed, main weapon, and level of armor are streamlined into simple categories. And 2d6 are used.

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chgowiz
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #16 on Sept 14, 2009, 9:49am »

Sept 10, 2009, 1:12pm, coffee wrote:

Probably more a case of the incredibly slow serial connection the 1541 disk drive used.

It's even more scary that I pulled that memory from the old core banks...

Not to keep derailing this thread... but I do remember how slow the 1541s were, especially when playing Ultima 3 on my C64.

Another scary fact. I have a fully functional Pet 4032 with dual floppy drives - and they work.

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rabbit
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #17 on Sept 14, 2009, 10:25am »

Yes I have "Fast Rules", it is a very simple version of "Tractics". Tractics is a game I played a lot of with micro armor, many hours of fun and great times. Also, "Fast Rules" has at least three printing dates. May 1970, Jan 1972, and Aug 1973. by Mike Reese & Leon Tucker.

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thegreyelf
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #18 on Sept 17, 2009, 9:54am »

Here's one for you: could you play Tractics effectively with the common plastic "army men" you can buy in any toy store, pharmacy, or discount store?

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Finarvyn
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #19 on Sept 17, 2009, 2:55pm »

Sept 14, 2009, 10:25am, rabbit wrote:

Yes I have "Fast Rules", it is a very simple version of "Tractics".

Can you find these online, or are they only paper copies?

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rabbit
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #20 on Sept 17, 2009, 4:33pm »

I have a third printing copy of Fast Rules. According to the rule book Leon L. Tucker has the copyright to the game. Even though I prefer snail mail, please e mail me if you have any questions, I think you have my e mail address.

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gloriousbattle
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #21 on Oct 11, 2010, 7:36pm »

Probably this is a dead thread, but I have been doing some work on this recently.

If you have the D&D rules and the Sturmgeschutz & Sorcery article, you really don't need Tractics to do a roleplaying scenario, any relatively simple WW2 armor system will do.

Why? Because the article already tells us how the WW2 weapons effect the monsters. As to how the monster's attacks effect the armored units, just convert the monster's damage backwards to the nearest equivalent. Example: How does a Storm Giant's punch do against a King Tiger? Well, he does 7-42 points of damage, and on the Weapon Type, Damage, and Effect Area table from S&S, the nearest equivalent is the 6-48 damage caused by a 75mm gun. Since this is roughly the equivalent of a Sherman's gun, the answer is "not very well", but to find out exactly, you would simply use your WW2 combat system, and treat the attack as coming from a 75mm gun. Simple.

Other conversions are equally easy. For example, if you were using Axis & Allies as your armored combat system, most infantry move 1, so you would convert 1 hex into 12" of D&D movement.

Now, of course, you still need the skills of a good DM to figure out how the Storm Giant's lightningbolt would affect the Tiger (the crewmen confined in a steel box that has just conducted a massive amount of electricity), but Tractics wouldn't help you with that anyway, and, if you are a good DM, you already have that skill.

« Last Edit: Oct 11, 2010, 7:37pm by gloriousbattle »

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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #22 on Oct 11, 2010, 8:25pm »

Oct 11, 2010, 7:36pm, gloriousbattle wrote:

Probably this is a dead thread, but I have been doing some work on this recently.

Dead thread? On this board, no thread is ever dead!

I had a copy of Tractics years ago and gave it to a friend who was a big WWII fanatic. I occasionally peek on e-bay and wish I'd kept it.

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thorswulf
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #23 on Oct 11, 2010, 11:07pm »

regarding the question about using plastic army men. You could do this with the rules, as they do have seperate booklets for armor/anti-armor and infantry rules, but the scale of movement might have to be adjusted as these rules were scaled for 1:72 figures. Of course those figs aren't to spendy, but building tank models takes forever.....

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gloriousbattle
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #24 on Oct 12, 2010, 1:56pm »

Oct 11, 2010, 11:07pm, thorswulf wrote:

I play D&D in 15mm, so I just use A&A Minis and Flames of War figures.

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chicagowiz
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #25 on Dec 7, 2010, 10:22am »

I have the Sturmgeschutz & Sorcery article mentioned above and I'm trying to interpret the Area of effect rules.

For example, a hand grenade - it has dmg of 5-20 (3d6+2, I'm assuming), and an effect area of "1 target A". The "A" area of effect is 1" diameter circle.

I'm interpreting that to say "within a 1" circle, 1 target will take 5-20 damage". That seems... low? Especially when you get to mortars and bazooka/panzerfaust rounds - it seems like they would explode a bit and spread shrapnel around.

Is this a Tractics thing (the 1 target w/in an area) or some effort to simplify the amount of rolling for area of effect explosive rounds?

(I'm tempted to jigger with the area of effect, have targets make saving throws and apply damage that way... thoughts?)

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keltset
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #26 on Dec 23, 2010, 8:19am »

Dec 7, 2010, 10:22am, chicagowiz wrote:

For example, a hand grenade - it has dmg of 5-20 (3d6+2, I'm assuming), and an effect area of "1 target A". The "A" area of effect is 1" diameter circle.

I'm interpreting that to say "within a 1" circle, 1 target will take 5-20 damage". That seems... low? Especially when you get to mortars and bazooka/panzerfaust rounds - it seems like they would explode a bit and spread shrapnel around.

For an area effect I'd think that everyone in the area gets hit.

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thorswulf
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Re: Tractics (1975)
« Reply #27 on Apr 1, 2011, 6:20pm »

Remember though in OD&D 1"=10 yards outdoors! Thats 30' in a dungeon! So maybe the numbers are'nt so odd after all.

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