Tri-Tactics

Tri-Tactics

Also titled The Great Game of Tactics on Land, Sea and in the Air. Published by H.P. Gibson & Sons Ltd., London. Revised edition. A combination of the three Gibson hidden-rank games — Dover Patrol (Naval), Battle of Britain (Air), and L’Attaque (Army) — played simultaneously on a single board.

Two editions exist:

• Older edition: Air pieces named Scout/Bomber/Battle Plane/Sea Plane; naval named Destroyer/Cruiser/Dreadnought/Flagship.
• Revised edition (this file): Air pieces named Reconnaissance Plane/Bomber/Two-Seat Fighter; naval named Destroyer/Cruiser/Battleship/Aircraft Carrier plus Flying Boats and Submarine.

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Board

12 columns (A–L) × 12 rows (1–12). A custom printed board combining land (green) and sea (blue), bilaterally symmetric. Each player’s half of the board contains an equal portion of both. The coastline is irregular (not a straight vertical line); the rules specify squares that are mostly-sea count as SEA, mostly-land as LAND.

Terrain types:

Approximate terrain layout (based on physical board):

The sea area on each player’s half occupies approximately 8 columns wide × 6 rows deep, with the land on the remaining 4 columns. The coastline is irregular and expands: narrower at the front rank, wider toward the center of the board. H.Q. is in the center of each player’s back rank (front rank from their perspective) — column 6 (on the land side at the coastline). Each River is 4 squares long, running from the sea area toward the Lake; the Lake is 1 square at the end of the River.

Key squares (Player 1 perspective, rows 1–12 with row 1 = Player 1’s front rank):

Engine note: The exact per-square terrain map requires measurement from the physical board (photos available). The above coordinates are the best approximation from available photo references. The coastline is the primary uncertainty; all other rules are exact.

Setup: Each player places their 56 pieces face-down on their nearest 5 rows (rows 1–5 for Player 1; rows 8–12 for Player 2), excluding H.Q. and Lake squares. Exactly 2 squares per player will be left empty after placing all 56 pieces.

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Pieces (56 per player)

LAND FORCE — Infantry (native element: Land):

LAND FORCE — Artillery (native element: Land):

NAVAL FORCE (native element: Sea; Flying Boat is exempt from out-of-element forfeiture):

AIR FORCE (native element: Air; operates on both Land and Sea without out-of-element forfeiture):

AUXILIARY (no native element; immune to out-of-element forfeiture; may operate on Land or Sea):

Total per player: 56 pieces.

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Movement

• One square per turn: backwards, forwards, or sideways. Never diagonally.
• Pieces move onto unoccupied squares only.
• Searchlight exception: may move any number of squares in a straight orthogonal line, provided all intervening squares are vacant. This extended move may only be used to attack a piece (destination must be adjacent to an enemy piece being attacked). Searchlights may not use the extended move as a positional move without attacking.
• Players alternate turns; one piece per turn.
• First move settled by lot; no advantage to moving first.

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Attack

• Optional: when adjacent to an enemy piece, a player may say “Attack!” or “No Attack.”
• On “Attack!”: both players reveal their pieces; lower-valued piece is removed; higher piece remains on its current square.
• Equal values: both pieces removed (X).
• If a player declines to attack (“No Attack”), the opponent cannot attack that piece in return without first moving one of their own pieces. You must move a piece in order to attack.
• A player cannot ask an opponent to declare a piece’s value without attacking.
• Attacker has no inherent advantage — purely value-based.

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Out-of-Element Forfeiture

Pieces may move out of their native element for tactical purposes, but are immediately forfeit (removed) if attacked while out of element:

• Land piece (Infantry or Artillery) on Sea, attacked by: ANY Naval piece, ANY Aircraft, or Searchlight → Land piece forfeit.
• Naval piece (excluding Flying Boat) on Land, attacked by: Infantry, Artillery, Aircraft, or Searchlight → Naval piece forfeit.

Exempt from forfeiture:

• Flying Boats: may go on land without out-of-element penalty.
• Air Force pieces (Recon, Bomber, TSF): operate over both Land and Sea without penalty.
• Searchlights: no native element; immune to forfeiture.

These forfeiture rules override the Value Table entirely.

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The Lake (Naval Base)

• No permanent occupation: a piece may move onto the Lake square but must move off on its very next turn. Any piece remaining on the Lake for more than one move is forfeit.
• Entry restriction: to capture the opponent’s Lake, a Ship must enter from the River mouth and move up the River. A Ship that went on Land and returns to a River space may not then attack the Lake — it may only use the River to return to Sea.
• River combat: while a Ship is on a River space, it captures all Land pieces (when attacked or attacking) except Heavy Artillery — Heavy Artillery beats Ships on River spaces.
• Naval victory: only Ships (Destroyers, Cruisers, Battleships, Aircraft Carrier, Submarine) may capture the Lake. Flying Boats are excluded.

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H.Q. (Headquarters)

• No permanent occupation: same rule as the Lake. Piece may transit through but must move off next turn; any piece remaining more than one move is forfeit.
• Infantry victory only: only Land Infantry pieces (Battalion 1, Brigade 2, Division 3, Army Corps 4, Army 5) can capture the H.Q. Artillery pieces cannot capture the H.Q.

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River

• River squares may be used by Land, Sea, or Air pieces.
• The element of a River square is dynamically determined by whichever piece currently occupies it.
• If a Land piece is on the River mouth, that square is Land, and its connection to the Sea counts as Coastline.
• If a Ship is on a River square, that square is Sea, and Ship-on-River rules apply.

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Coastline Rules

• Squares mostly-Sea = SEA; mostly-Land = LAND.
• Cross-coastline attack (Ship vs Land or Land vs Ship): the attacker is forfeit and removed — EXCEPT:
  • Heavy Artillery attacking Ships across the Coastline: HA wins (ships forfeit). (# in table)
  • Ships attacking Anti-Aircraft Guns across the Coastline: Ships win (AA forfeit). (+ in table)
• Anti-coastal-defence exception: Bombers and Flying Boats may destroy Infantry 1–5 AND Field Artillery across the Coastline. (& in table)
• Aircraft vs Aircraft over Coastline: when Flying Boats and Air Force are in conflict across the Coastline, nothing happens; both remain. (* at coastline)

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Searchlights: Special Rules

• Can move any number of squares in a straight orthogonal line (not diagonal) to attack only.
• May operate on Sea as well as Land without penalty.
• Trigger out-of-element forfeiture when attacking out-of-element pieces.
• From Value Table: defeated by Flying Boats (FB wins). Defeats Reconnaissance Planes (value 1) and Battalions (value 1).

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Win Conditions

First player to achieve either of the following wins:

1. Occupy the opponent’s H.Q. with a Land Infantry piece (Battalion 1, Brigade 2, Division 3, Army Corps 4, or Army 5). Artillery cannot capture H.Q.
2. Occupy the opponent’s Lake with a Ship (Destroyer 1, Cruiser 2, Battleship 3, Aircraft Carrier 4, or Submarine SM). Flying Boats cannot capture the Lake.

Only one base needs to be captured.

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Value Table

Full cross-service combat resolution table. Row = Attacker; Column = Defender.

Table key:

• [blank] = nothing happens, both pieces remain.
• X = both pieces removed.
• Piece ID (e.g. 4, FA, SM) = that piece wins; the other is removed.
• & = Coastline special: Bomber or Flying Boat destroys Infantry (1–5) or Field Artillery across the Coastline.
• * = Element-conditional: Flying Boat wins over Recon/Bomber/TSF on Sea; Recon/Bomber/TSF win over Flying Boat on Land; nothing happens over the Coastline.
• # = River/Coastline special: only in conflict on a River space or with Coastline between; Heavy Artillery sinks the Ship.
• + = River/Coastline special: only in conflict on a River space or with Coastline between; Ship destroys the Anti-Aircraft Gun.
• FB = Flying Boat wins.
• SM = Submarine wins.

ATTACKER          Bat1 Brig2 Div3 AC4 Army5  AA   FA   HA  Rec1 Bom2 TSF3  FB   SM  Des1 Cru2 Bat3 AiC4   SL
------------------+----+-----+----+---+-----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----
Battalion (1)     |  X |  2  |  3 | 4 |  5  |  1 | FA |    |    |  2 |    |  & |    |    |    |    |    |  1
Brigade (2)       |  2 |  X  |  3 | 4 |  5  |    | FA | HA |    |  & |  3 |  & |    |    |    |    |    |
Division (3)      |  3 |  3  |  X | 4 |  5  |    |  X | HA |    |  2 |    |  & |    |    |    |    |    |
Army Corps (4)    |  4 |  4  |  4 | X |  5  |  4 |    | HA |    |  & |    |  & |    |    |    |    |    |
Army (5)          |  5 |  5  |  5 | 5 |  X  |    |  5 | HA |    |  & |    |  & |    |    |    |    |    |
Anti-Aircraft AA  |  1 |     |    |   |     |    | FA |    | AA | AA | AA | AA |  + |  + |  + |  + |  + |
Field Artillery FA| FA | FA  |  X | 4 |  5  | FA |  X | HA |    |  & |  3 |  & |    |    |    |    |    |
Heavy Artillery HA| HA | HA  | HA |HA | HA  |    | HA |  X |    |  2 |    |    |  # |  # |  # |  # |  # |
Recon Plane (1)   |    |     |    |   |     | AA |    |    |  X |  2 |  3 |  * |    |    |    |    |    |  1
Bomber (2)        |  2 |  &  |  2 |  &|  &  | AA |  & |  2 |  2 |  X |  3 |  * |    |    |    |    |    |
Two-Seat Ftr (3)  |    |  3  |    |   |     | AA |  3 |    |  3 |  3 |  X |  * |    |    |    |    |    |
Flying Boat FB    |  & |  &  |  & |  &|  &  | AA |  & |    |  * |  * |  * |  X | FB |  1 |    |    |    | FB
Submarine SM      |    |     |    |   |     |  + |    |  # |    |    |    | FB |    | SM | SM | SM | SM |
Destroyer (1)     |    |     |    |   |     |  + |    |  # |    |    |    |  1 | SM |  X |  2 |  3 |  4 |
Cruiser (2)       |    |     |    |   |     |  + |    |  # |    |    |    |    | SM |  2 |  X |  3 |  4 |
Battleship (3)    |    |     |    |   |     |  + |    |  # |    |    |    |    | SM |  3 |  3 |  X |  4 |
Aircraft Carrier 4|    |     |    |   |     |  + |    |  # |    |    |    |    | SM |  4 |  4 |  4 |  X |
Searchlight SL    |  1 |     |    |   |     |    |    |    |  1 |    |    | FB |    |    |    |    |    |

Key interactions summary for engine:

• Anti-Aircraft (AA) defeats all Air Force (Recon, Bomber, TSF, Flying Boat) in normal combat.
• AA loses to Battalion (1) in direct combat; Infantry 2–4 do not interact with AA (blank).
• Heavy Artillery (HA) beats all Infantry and FA, ties HA, loses to Bomber (2); has River/Coastline (#) rule vs Ships.
• Flying Boat (FB) beats Submarines (SM) and Destroyers (1) in naval combat.
• Submarine (SM) beats all other Ships but loses to Flying Boat.
• Searchlight defeats Battalions (1) and Reconnaissance Planes (1); is defeated by Flying Boats (FB).
• Division (3) vs Field Artillery (FA): X (both removed).

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Attribution

“Tri-Tactics” or The Great Game of Tactics on Land, Sea and in the Air (Revised Edition). Published by H.P. Gibson & Sons Ltd., London. Part of the Gibson hidden-rank warfare series alongside L’Attaque, Dover Patrol, and Aviation/Battle of Britain. Public domain rule set. Source: original H.P. Gibson & Sons revised-edition rulebook (scanned from physical copy) and Value Table card.