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Star Wars pencil and paper?

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End of Time Games
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Has anyone here heard of this game:

When I was a kid, my uncle taught me this pencil and paper game he called Star Wars. He said he learned it in high school or something. Though, I have never heard of it from any source other than my uncle. I wonder if it is a widely played game or one of his friends made it up and it never spread outside of their little circle. I have long been out of contact with this uncle and couldn't ask about it if I wanted to. So I bring the game to the forum to see if it is known by anyone or if you would like me to teach it....post rules..etc.

Basically it's a two player game that you play with only a pad of notebook paper and a pencil for you and one for the other player. The basic map is drawn on the paper. It's a space environment of course, but vary condenced. There's a boundery line drawn in the middle of the board. The two sides look pretty much alike. They're symetrical. You have bases on each side for each player, and then big asteroid rocks in the middle and space to move inbetween. It would be easier if I posted pix of this game drawn on paper or gimp or something.

The main part that stands out for me is the method for shooting your oponents ships. It requires dextarity and practice but I think it is worth mentioning here. I will do my best to explain how this works.

1.Take out a pad of paper. A pad is best. If you use a single sheet, it will slide around and the pencil will tear through it if it's not on a hard surface. Use a long pencil, and make sure it is sharpened but slightely dull on the end. You want to make a mark but not rip the paper.

2. Draw a little square about 1/4" small on one side of the paper. Then draw a circle the same size about 6" from the square on the paper. In this example, the square will represent your ship, and the cirlce will be your target. This is not what the ships look like in the game but I will show you how shot are fired.

3. To aim your shot, place your left hand flat on the paper so that the edge your your left index finger rests just behind your target. (fingers together, thumb extended out so it is out of the way of the shot). This hand is going to stop the pencil on your target hopfully when you flick it with your other hand.

4. With your right hand, grasp the pencil with all finger tips except the index finger. The right index finger rests on the end of the pencil over the top of the eraser. Griping the pencil this way, set the tip of the pencil on your squar, intending to aim at the circle.

5. This is the tricky bit to explain. I am going to try to tell you in words how to flick the pencil so it produces a mark over the target, it your aim is correct. I will break this down into steps from position (4.) Remember where your left hand should be from step (3).
a. put a slight gentle pressure on the end of the pencil with your right index finger letting go of the pencil with the other fingers. Only the index finger is holding the pencil in place. In a steady motion, apply increasing pressure to the pencil with your index finger as you angle the end of the pencil back tuards you and away from the target, the tip stays where it's at until it gives way and it flung forward by the pressure you apply to the end. This take practice but should produce a mark next to the target you are aiming at or on the target if acurate. If done correctly, the tip will be on the target and your right index still on the end of the pencil. The left hand stops the pencil around the target and prvents the pencil from flying away. Like I sais it take a little practice to develop control.

Anyone heard of this? If not, maybe I should post some rules. That's all that would be required.

End of Time Games
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Oh, I found a couple videos

Oh, I found a couple videos about drawing games. I guess that's what this would be. The firing is similar to the method presended in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc77b5VihJ0, except the one I show has you using your left hand for control.

Black Canyon
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Joined: 05/30/2009
I used to play this

Although you explanation was pretty wordy, I do know what game you're talking about. My friends and I called it Pencil War or something similar. Our version didn't take place in space, but on a regular battlefield with rivers and bridges, and the units were soldiers, tanks, and turrets.

Shooting and movement are done the same way. You place the pencil right on your unit, straight up and down, then push down slightly until the pencil slips out form under your fingers, drawing a line in the process. If the line intersects your target, your shot hits. For movement, you erase your unit and redraw it anywhere along the line.

I used to play a different paper and pencil war game that simulated artillery attacks. Although less involved than Pencil War, it was fun nonetheless.

How old is you uncle, anyways? I'm wondering if we're near the same age.

End of Time Games
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Well, he's probably in his

Well, he's probably in his 40's now. I haven't seen him for ever though.

In observing how others shoot with the pencil, I think doing without the left hand as I talk about is hard to control. When I have done it that way the pencil usually flys off somewhere off the table. Using the left hand as well stops the tip where you place your hand. I found better control this way and it makes it easier to shoot longer distance. Also it represents setting the range or aim of your shot. But yah it was fun when you have an interested openent to play with. It's so simple and players can invent there own rules. Set up is easy, just agree on certain items that players get to place and agree on how many of each thing. We used to say that if a hole formed in the paper from wear and tear, it formed a black hole. If anyone moved into it their ship was destroyed. We have things like if you were moving your ship and accidentally collided into rock or something, that ship had three chances before it was destroyed. So each time a ship colided with something, we'd draw it more and more damaged. Sometimes we would make acceptions for the third time of collision. We may draw the ship as a little box showing heart rate waves, indicating it's almost gone but not quite and can't move but can shoot.

Armydillo978
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We used to play this in

We used to play this in English class all the time back in high school (about 25 years ago). We had three versions. One with tanks, one with fighter airplanes, and one with tie fighters and x-wings. Killed many an hour. With your pencil mark/slash you could use it to fire, or to move to a new location.

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