Recently while looking for something else I stumbled across a patent for a game based on the Sino-Japanese War. This was the first war in which Japan fought a foreign country using modern methods and materials, in 1894-95. The conflict was over Korea, which Japan took over after a relatively easy campaign.
Newton Sample of Philadelphia in 1895 applied for his Game apparatus. It consisted of a shallow oblong container with a gun at one end, with a map of the campaign area (the Yellow Sea and surrounding land) with little flags. "Puppets" on hinges were present to represent armies. The only drawing is shown here.
As perceptive readers will have guessed, the gun was loaded with marbles which were fired across the board. I thought at first the trick was to knock over the puppets, but they were placed next to holes which represented towns or forts. Getting a marble in a hole meant that the place was captured and the puppet removed. As Sample pointed out, any adjacent countries could be used, and China and Japan were used for illustration. He suggested other pairings were Germany and France, or England and the United States (only separated by a few thousand miles, of course).
I think this one can be a really interesting game. This is a really interesting posting.
Posted by: EVE Characters | 16 July 2009 at 11:12
The japanese games are truly awesome and the action sequences are unique.
Posted by: Buy WoW Accounts | 13 August 2009 at 07:33
A gun loaded with marbles sound intersting...yeah.
Posted by: FFXI account | 13 August 2009 at 13:40