Church Games: Tank Battle

I thought this one was mine, all mine. I thought I had created it. Until a friend told me today (1-14) that he played it in grade school. He lived in another state, and his grade school predated my junior high by several years. Well, can't something be "invented" by several people, unaware of each others' efforts? Man, I'm just stunned. I don't know what to say. Anyway,...

This one's my pet. And it's actually entertaining. And I played it during class in junior high, too, so I guess it's "not just for church anymore."

Materials needed: Pencil, paper

Object: Destroy your opponent's tank(s)

Game Play: The game is played by skipping your pencil across the page.

Draw a small circle or square (each of you decide which shape you'll be), about the size of the circumference of your pencil. The circle/square is your gamepiece, a "tank." (Just close your eyes and visualize a tank, okay?) To play the game, you move your tank across the playing field until you get in firing position to hit the enemy's tank. Both moving and shooting is accomplished by "skipping" your pencil.

To skip your pencil, hold the pencil vertically, with the tip of the lead (actually it's graphite and clay, but we won't go into that here) touching your tank. Hold the pencil against the paper with only your index finger pressing down on the eraser end. While pressing down, slowly lower the eraser end of the pencil in the direction opposite from where you want to move or shoot. At some point the pencil tip will slide across the page, making a line. (See figure 1 above.)

When you're moving your tank, the very end of the line you just made is where you must position your tank. Draw an "X" over the tank's former position, and your turn's over. (See figure 2 above.) To be precise, the new position should be at the end of the continuous line, so if your pencil bounces and makes a mark on the far edge of the paper, you don't get to move that far. The shortest move allowed (sometimes you just want to stay where you are) is one tank distance away, so you just re-draw your tank right alongside its previous position.

When you're shooting, if your line misses the enemy tank, that's the end of your tank's turn. (See figure 3 above.) If your line touches the edge of the enemy tank but doesn't go inside ("through") the shape, it's ruled a "nick" and you can take another turn with your tank. (See figure 4 above.) If your line goes through the tank, it's a "kill," and the targeted tank is dead. (See figure 5 above.) Draw an "X" through the dead tank. The same "continuous line" rule applies to shooting. The shot is a "kill" only if you can see white space between the line and the inside edge of the tank. A one-on-one battle, ending in the death of a square tank, may look like the one below:

Your turn consists of either a "move" or a "shoot," and you must declare which you're going to do. That way there's no argument when a player runs into an enemy's tank, and the player can't claim, "Oh, I didn't run into you. I was actually shooting." If you move your tank, but the line intersects another tank (enemy or friendly) or some other obstacle like a mountain, your tank has collided with that object, and your new position is right against the object. If a tank, better hope it's a friendly tank! You cannot skip your turn.

With a lot of trial and error, we've arrived at the above rules that seem to help make the game fair.

Variations: You can play one-on-one or with platoons of any number. If you play with tank platoons (say, five each team), you can play either one tank each turn or all of them each turn. You can make the game end when the other team is completely destroyed, or when the enemy's bunker is "killed." Your map can have mountains as obstacles (you can't move over mountains, and mountains can cut your "move" line short). The map can also have lakes as deadly traps (if you "move" into a lake you're dead). (See the map above.) You can have defensive scenarios, where one team just places their tanks and doesn't move (in these scenarios, the defensive team has the distinct advantage). Or use your imagination & do your own thing.

Long pencils with soft lead, logically, are best for long-distance moving & shooting. They also slam down harder, so they're a tad irreverent. Yell out "SHHhhh!" after each turn, and that will make it all better.

Hey wait, this is church--so maybe during church, call this one "Armageddon." Tell your mom you're not playing a game, your acting out biblical prophecy. She'll be so proud. If she doesn't buy it, consider the next game, which is a kinder, gentler variation on this one.

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