Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society - • Collecting Appraisal • The Acaeum

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Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -
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bclarkie
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 12:14 pm

So, I picked this booklet up and was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what it's value might be.

This is the the 1st printing that precedes the one that Guidon Games produced.

I did some searching and was not able to find any sort of sales history for it any where. The only other picture I was able to find for one was on Board Game Geek from apparently a copy Bill Owen received directly from Leon Tucker. The Guidon one doesn't seem to command much these days(one went unsold on Ebay a couple months ago and NKG has two for sale $90 each), but being this is apparently far more rare maybe it's worth more. Any one else has one of these and also any one has any ideas what it might be worth?

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

FoulFoot
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 1:59 pm

Ask Bill Owen directly for any additional background / print run size? Bill Owen Q&A

Foul

burntwire brothers
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 2:37 pm

Not sure about that copy but it was printed by Guidon also.

Available now from Die Cast Games: Night of the Black Swords by Allen Hammack (Author of C2-The Ghost Tower of Inverness) with artwork by Jeff Easley and Diesel.

bclarkie
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 3:20 pm

FoulFoot wrote in Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -:Ask Bill Owen directly for any additional background / print run size? Bill Owen Q&A

Foul

That's a good idea, I'll link it over there.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

bclarkie
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 3:30 pm

burntwire brothers wrote in Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -:Not sure about that copy but it was printed by Guidon also.

Copyright page indicates it is a first print (only)and no references to Guidon Games on it, just Leon Tucker with a 1970 copyright date. Title page says "This booklet has been prepared under the auspices of the Armored Operations Society, an affiliate of the International Federation of Wargaming". Unfortunately, I do not have a Guidon Games one to compare interiors.

Here's the BGG link to Bill's scan(s).

BoardGameGeek

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

dbartman
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Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2025 11:01 pm

bclarkie wrote in Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -:So, I picked this booklet up and was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to what it's value might be.

Nice pickup!

Bill Owen
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Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2025 4:13 pm

I ordered a copy of Tractics in 1970 for $10 (probably $83.26 after inflation, according to USinflationCalculator), and instead I got three copies of Fast Rules from Leon! He said Tractics wasn't done yet. Fast Rules was our first WWII ruleset on the new sand table downtown in the basement ICD location at Franklin Mall, where Judges Guild's first office was in 1976. At that game, Doug Cragoe came over from Springfield to Decatur and bought "GRT", the samzidat version of Tractics, much of which was hand-printed. He left it with me, and I retyped it all on a manual typewriter. And I xeroxed the AFV stat charts. That was also my first GenCon with Cragoe & Kronenburg.

When Mike Reese booked a WargamerTour.com battlefield trip in 2018, I asked him if he'd let me help get Tractics and Fast Rules back in print. He said that Leon had the copyright for Fast Rules but didn't know how to contact him. So I did some sleuthing and found him out east. FYI, while Mike had a copyright release from TSR for Tractics, I wanted to use some of the artwork from those 3 booklets in the new edition, and so I sleuthed down Don Lowry out west to license that art from him.

Leon died just before the new edition of Brew Up, but I have been in touch with his son.

I had not priced Fast Rules on eBay, so I don't know what it might get. Everything in my collection was posted at 99 cents on eBay and let the market decide. I'd priced Tractics and decided I'd rather make a new, updated version. A lot of work, but it's been great getting to know Mike. I was never able to talk to Leon and had to communicate through his wife.

It looks like a nice, clean copy.

Bob's buddy

bclarkie
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 8:43 am

dbartman wrote in Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -:Nice pickup!

Thanks! It's funny, because when I bought it, there was no picture, so I was just assuming it was going to the the Guidon Games printing. And then this arrived, and I had no idea it even existed, lol.

Bill Owen wrote in Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -:I ordered a copy of Tractics in 1970 for $10 (probably $83.26 after inflation, according to USinflationCalculator), and instead I got three copies of Fast Rules from Leon! He said Tractics wasn't done yet. Fast Rules was our first WWII ruleset on the new sand table downtown in the basement ICD location at Franklin Mall, where Judges Guild's first office was in 1976. At that game, Doug Cragoe came over from Springfield to Decatur and bought "GRT", the samzidat version of Tractics, much of which was hand-printed. He left it with me, and I retyped it all on a manual typewriter. And I xeroxed the AFV stat charts. That was also my first GenCon with Cragoe & Kronenburg.

When Mike Reese booked a WargamerTour.com battlefield trip in 2018, I asked him if he'd let me help get Tractics and Fast Rules back in print. He said that Leon had the copyright for Fast Rules but didn't know how to contact him. So I did some sleuthing and found him out east. FYI, while Mike had a copyright release from TSR for Tractics, I wanted to use some of the artwork from those 3 booklets in the new edition, and so I sleuthed down Don Lowry out west to license that art from him.

Leon died just before the new edition of Brew Up, but I have been in touch with his son.

I had not priced Fast Rules on eBay, so I don't know what it might get. Everything in my collection was posted at 99 cents on eBay and let the market decide. I'd priced Tractics and decided I'd rather make a new, updated version. A lot of work, but it's been great getting to know Mike. I was never able to talk to Leon and had to communicate through his wife.

It looks like a nice, clean copy.

Wow, very sorry to hear about Leon, I was not aware.

And thanks a bunch for adding some additional background to it. Much appreciated.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

Bill Owen
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 9:04 am

FYI mine were with an orange cover.

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bclarkie
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:11 am

Bill Owen wrote in Fast Rules - Tucker & Reese -Armored Operations Society -:FYI mine were with an orange cover.

It doesn't show well in the photo, but this one is too. It's sort of a burnt/brown orangish color. Not quite as orange as the scan you posted on Boardgamegeek, but pretty close. This one is a little bit darker of on an orange. Not sure if the cover is just a slightly different color or perhaps it's just darker from aging/exposure more. Definitely not as tan as it appears in the picture.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

Bill Owen
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:40 am

Here's the photo of two old editions from my WargameCampaign blog:

And the new edition which has some additions and clarifications:

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Bill Owen
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:48 am

Oddly enough, one can see that Fast Rules was Combat Rules first product and had a rejected website name RulesOfAttack instead of CombatRules!

In case you wonder why the above looks different than below, I think it is the Kindle thumbnail that must be legible even when tiny.

And the back cover:

Bob's buddy

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