A Military Game of Skill
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 4th May 1895
Complete Specification Left, 27th Jan, 1896-Accepted, 25th Apr, 1896
A Military Game of Skill
We JOHN JAMES WILLIAM BEAL, of 55 East Street, Brighton, Stationer,
ARTHUR EDWARD SAUNDERS, of 38 Ivory Place, Brighton, Builders' Merchant,
and WILLIAM HENRY CAILINGHAM of 14 Aberdeen Road, Brighton, Sign
Writer, all in the County of Sussex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows
1
Our invention relates to a military game of skill to be played indoors by two
players and consists of a board made of any suitable size and material rectangular
or any other shape and having a rim on two or more sides of same, the board is
divided by parallel lines an inch or so apart, four of the lines being designated
Bottom Line, Second Line, Home Fort Line, and Fung Line and at various
points on the parallel lines are erected what we term "forts" for the purposes
hereinafter described
The starting point is either on the bottom or second line, the firing line is at
the top of the board and the Home Fort line is about three spaces from the firing
line, in playing the game it is necessary to raise the board about two inches at
the firing line to give impetus to the shots discharged
The game is played by two players called respectively the Attacker and the
Defender, the position of the Defender being at the firing line, the Attacker
commences on the bottom or second line and his object is to get his soldiers
safely into the Home Fort, to enable him to do this he places his men in such
positions on the parallel lines referied to and avails himself of the protection
afforded by the various forts that are elected between the bottom line and the
Home Fort line
The object of the Defender is to prevent the soldiers from reaching the Home
Fort and for this urpose he is supplied with three or more shots as hereinafter
described which he sets off rolling from the firing line, should the shot knock
one of the soldiers down the man is considered killed and is removed from the
board
The manner in which the shots referred to are made is an important feature
in our invention, they are of different shapes one being like a cylinder and used
for a straight shot the others though similar in size are bevelled at various angles
and the Defender can by skilful manipulation kill the soldiers when almost in
any position whether protected by the forts or not
It will be understood that the rules of this game can be varied more or less
in detail therefore we do not bind ourselves to any one set of rules, but for the
purpose of illustrating our invention we give the following as an example
on
The Attacker has nine soldiers, three of them being officers and are
horseback, he commences by placing either an officer on the second line or a
man on the bottom line, the Defender then fires by rolling a shot from any part
of the firing line endeavouring to kill the soldier, if he succeeds the soldier is
removed from the board, this process is repeated alternately until all the soldiers
are placed either on the bottom or second line then the Attacker begins the
advance towards the Home Foit by moving the soldiers either an officer two
lines or a man one line and the Defender fires after each move
For every soldier killed after the advance has begun another soldier is to

page_text: advance double the usual distance, for instance if an officer is killed another
officer advances four lines or if a man another man advances two lines but should
a soldier be knocked down by a shot which in its progre s touches either one of
the forts on the sides of the board he is not to be considered killed but replaced
in the same position, when all the surviving soldiers have reached the Home
Fort the players exchange places the Attacker taking the place of the Defender
and the game is played again in the same manner and the one who succeeds in
getting the most soldiers into the Home Fort is the winner each soldier whether
officer or man being reckoned as 1
From the above description it will be evident that a considerable amount of
shill is required both on the part of the Attacker and Defender the former
having to place bis soldiers in such positions as to ensure their safety whilst the
latter can with the varied kinds of shots discharged from any point on the filing
line kill the soldiers although they may be protected by the forts
Dated this 2nd day of May 1895
THOMAS H MELLOR,
Agent for the Applicants
We, JOHN JAMES WILLIAM BEAL, of 55 East Street Brighton, Stationer,
ARTHUR EDWARD SAUNDFRS, of 38 Ivory Place, Brighton, Builders Merchant,
and WILLIAM HENRY CALLINGHAM of 14 Aberdeen Road, Brighton Sign
Writer all in the County of Sussex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement
Our invention relates to a mili ary game of skill to be played indoors by two
players and con ists of a board made of any suitable size and material rectangular
or any other shape and having a rim on two or more sides of same, the board is
divided by parallel lines an inch or so apart, four of the lines being designated
Bottom Line, Second Line Home Hort Line, and Firing Line, and at various points
on the parallel lines are erected what we teim "forts" for the purposes hereinafter
described The starting point is either on the bottom or second line, the firing
line is at the top of the board and the Home Fort line is about three spaces from
the filing line, in playing the game it is necessary to raise the board about two
inches at the firing line to give impetus to the shots discharged The game iS
played by two players called respectively the Attacker and the Defender, the
position of the Defender being at the firing line, the Attacker commences on the
bottom or the second line and his object is to get his soldiers safely into the Home
Fort, to enable him to do this he places his men in such positions on the parallel
lines referred to and avails himself of the protection afforded by the various forts
that are erected between the bottom line and the Home Fort line
The object of the Defender is to prevent the soldiers from reaching the Home
Fort and for this purpose he is supplied with three or more shots as hereinafter
described which he sets off rolling from the firing line, should the shot knock
one of the soldiers down the man is considered killed and is removed from the
board
The manner in which the shots referred to are made is an important feature in
our invention, they are of different shapes one buing like a cylinder, and used for a
straight shot the others though similar in size are bevelled at various angles and
the Defender can by skilful manipulation kill the soldiers when almost in any
position whether protected by the forts or not
It will be understood that the rules of this game can be varied more or less in

page_text: detail therefore we do not bind ourselves to any one set of rules, but for the
purpose of illustrating our invention we give the following as an example
on
The Attacker has nine soldiers, three of them being officers and are
horseback, he commences by placing either an officer on the second line or a min
on the bottom line, the Defender then fires by rolling a shot from any part of the
firing line endeavouring to kill the soldier, if he succeeds the soldier is removed
from the board this process is repeated alternately until all the soldiers are placed
either on the bottom or second line, then the Attacker begins the advance towards
the Home Fort by moving the soldiers either an officer two lines or a man one line
and the Defender fires after each move
For every soldier killed after the advance has begun another soldier is to
advance double the usual distance, for instance if an officer is killed another officer
advances four lines or if a man another man advances two lines but should a
soldier be knocked down by a shot which in its progress touches either one of the
forts or the sides of the board he is not to be considered killed but replaced in the
same position, when all the surviving soldiers have reached the Home Fort
the players exchange places the Attacker taking the place of the Defender and
the game is played again in the same manner and the one who succeeds in
getting the most soldiers into the Home Fort is the winner each soldier whether
officers or man being reckoned as one
From the above description it will be evident that considerable amount of skill
18 required both on the part of the Attacker and Defender the former having to
place his soldiers in such positions as to ensure their safety whilst the latter can
with the varied kinds of shots discharged from any point on the fing line kill the
soldiers although they may be protected by the forts
Masked A
lan of the bod
detail therefore we do not bind ourselves to any one set of rules, but for the
purpose of illustrating our invention we give the following as an example
The Attacker has nine soldiers, three of them being officers and are on
horseback, he commences by placing either an officer on the second line or a man
on the bottom line, the Defender then fires by rolling a shot from any part of the
firing line endeavouring to kill the soldier, if he succeeds the soldier is removed
from the board this process is repeated alternately until all the soldiers are placed
either on the bottom or second line, then the Attacker begins the advance towards
the Home Fort by moving the soldiers either an officer two lines ou a man one line
and the Defender fires after each move
For every soldier killed after the advance has begun another soldier is to
advance double the usual distance, for instance if an officer is killed another officer
advances four lines or if a man another man advances two lines but should a
soldier be knocked down by a shot which in its progress touches either one of the
forts or the sides of the board he is not to be considered killed but replaced in the
same position, when all the surviving soldiers have reached the Home Fort
the players exchange places the Attacker taking the place of the Defender and
the game is played again in the same manner and the one who succeeds in
getting the most soldiers into the Home Fort is the winner each soldier whether
officers or man being reckoned as one
From the above description it will be evident that considerable amount of skill
18 required both on the part of the Attacker and Defender the former having to
place his soldiers in such positions as to ensure their safety whilst the latter can
with the varied kinds of shots discharged from any point on the fing line kill the
soldiers although they may be protected by the forts
Marked A plan of the board
دو
وو
B Section of same Y to Z
Ridges called forts
)
"
C
D
Bottom line
E
Second line
"
F
Home Fort line
""
دو
G
"
I
Firing line
H Shots, face side
showing hias
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare what we
claim is
1 As a game of skill in which pieces of any metal or material (called shots)
shaped, round, oval or to a bias are allowed to run down an inclined board
2 On the said board are fixed ridges called forts, of wood, metal, cardboard
or any other material in different positions to stop or impede the shots from
reaching the bottom of the said board, also to prevent or shield any kind of small
figure to resemble horses or men from being knocked over by the shots on their
way down the board all as fully described in the above Specification, and shewn.
on the accompanying drawing
Dated this 28th day of March 1898
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare what we
claim is
1 As a game of skill in which pieces of any metal or material (called shots)
shaped, round, oval or to a bias are allowed to run down an inclined board
2 On the said board are fixed ridges called forts, of wood, metal, cardboard
or any other material in different positions to stop or impede the shots from
reaching the bottom of the said board, also to prevent or shield any kind of small
figure to resemble horses or men from being knocked over by the shots on their
way down the board all as fully described in the above Specification, and shewn
on the accompanying drawing
A E
WH
W W BEAL
SAUNDERS
CALLINGHAM
c/o Mr J J W Beal,
55, East Street, Brighton.