Breakthru is an

abstract strategy Abstract strategy games admit a number of definitions which distinguish these from strategy games in general, mostly involving no or minimal narrative theme, outcomes determined only by player choice (with no randomness), and perfect information ...

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a ...

for two players, designed by

Alex Randolph Alexander Randolph (4 May 1922 – 27 April 2004) was a Bohemian-American designer of board games and writer. Randolph's game creations include ''TwixT'', '' Breakthru'', '' Hol's der Geier'', ''Inkognito'' (with Leo Colovini), ''Raj'', '' ...

and commercially released by

3M Company 3M (originally the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) is an American multinational conglomerate operating in the fields of industry, worker safety, U.S. health care, and consumer goods. The company produces over 60,000 products under ...

in 1965, as part of the

3M bookshelf game series The 3M bookshelf game series is a set of strategy and economic games published in the 1960s and early 1970s by 3M Corporation. The games were packaged in leatherette-look large hardback book size boxes in contrast to the prevalent wide, flat ga ...

. It later became part of the

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

bookcase games. It is no longer in production. The game has been compared to Fox and Hounds, although it shows more characteristics of the

Tafl games Tafl games (pronounced avl also known as hnefatafl games) are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Most probably they are based upon the R ...

of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, such as

Hnefatafl Tafl games (pronounced avl also known as hnefatafl games) are a family of ancient Nordic and Celtic strategy board games played on a checkered or latticed gameboard with two armies of uneven numbers. Most probably they are based upon the R ...

. As in Hnefatafl, the game features unevenly matched teams with different objectives. The 3M game set includes a board marked with an cell square grid, twenty silver-colored pieces, a gold-colored "flagship" and twelve gold-colored "escorts". The game is played out as a naval battle, with strategy analogous to the siege game of Hnefatafl.

Rules

The rules of play are as follows:

Objective

One player has a "gold" fleet consisting of one large

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

and twelve escorts, with the objective of evading

capture Capture may refer to: *Asteroid capture, a phenomenon in which an asteroid enters a stable orbit around another body *Capture, a software for lighting design, documentation and visualisation *"Capture" a song by Simon Townshend *Capture (band), an ...

while breaking through his or her opponent's

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which ar ...

, to move the flagship to the perimeter of the board. The other player has a "silver" fleet of twenty ships, and forms a blockade to trap the gold flagship and destroy the gold fleet's escorts, with the objective of capturing the flagship.

Setup

The "gold player" is determined arbitrarily or by

coin toss A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

, and the other player becomes the "silver player". Gold player places the flagship on the center square of the game board, and positions the rest of the ships anywhere within the boldly ruled central area of the board. Silver player then positions the silver ships on twenty squares in the lightly ruled peripheral area of the board.

Play

Gold player chooses who goes first. Players move alternately by making two moves or one capture anywhere on the board. When the flagship is moved, only one move or capture is made (thus only the flagship).

Moves

A player may move two of the smaller playing pieces any number of vacant squares either horizontally or vertically on the board (as a rook in Chess, except that no captures can be made with this move), although if the flagship is moved, the gold player may not move another playing piece.

Captures

A player may move any playing piece (including the flagship) one square diagonally to capture one of his opponent's playing pieces. (This move is similar to the capture-move of the pawn in

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

, except that captures can be made on any of the four diagonals.) This game uses displacement capture (like

), rather than Hnefatafl-style custodial capture, thus when a capture is made, the captured piece is removed from the board and the vacated square is occupied by the captor. Play continues until one player achieves his or her objective. If the flagship of the gold fleet reaches one of the outermost squares on the board, gold player wins. If the flagship is captured before it reaches the outer edge of the board, silver player wins.

Reviews

*''Games and Puzzles''

References

External links

* * {{3M bookshelf games Board games introduced in 1965 Abstract strategy games 3M bookshelf game series Alex Randolph games