Tunbridge Ware Game – Military German Tactics by SW Morris c1820

Description

Heading : Tunbridge ware game: Military Game of German Tactics by SW Morris  – Also known as Asalto
Date : c1820
Period : George IV
Origin : Brighton, Sussex
Decoration : Game described below
Size : 23.5×23.5cm
Condition : Good.- all pieces present, knocks and wear throughout commensurate with age and use
Restoration : None
Weight :  213 grams

The following infomration on the game is taken from the Hampshire Cultural Trust:

German Tactics is an unequal strategy game; one side controls more pieces than the other. The aim is for the attacker to take the fort by occupying all the spaces in it, and for the defender to use their two pieces to take enough of the attackers’ that this becomes impossible. The defending pieces can move one space in any direction and can take defenders by hopping over them, like in Draughts. The defending pieces can only move one space and can’t move away from the fort or take any pieces.

The game was first published in Germany in 1803, where it was known as Belagerungsspiel, meaning ‘siege game’. In Britain, it was published under various names: German Tactics, Siege and Fortress. The game was popular and, as military conflict occurred, it became named after famous actions in those conflicts – Sebastopol for the Siege of Sebastopol 1855 from the Crimean War and Officers and Sepoys from famous sieges in the 1857 ‘Indian Mutiny’.

It is played on a solitaire board and was an evolution of Fox and Geese, an older unequal board game. This meant players could purchase a German Tactics set and also be able to play the two other games, giving value. Fox and Geese was a favourite game of Queen Victoria and was itself developed from the 14^th Century Scandinavian game of  Halatafl. Scandinavian Tafl games were probably based on a Roman game called Latrones, which in turn was a version of a game from Egypt.

tunbridge-ware-game-military-game-of-german-tactics-asalto-flv004