Tactics was released in 1983 as a 25th Anniversary Edition of the first commercial cardboard-counter wargame. The original Tactics was notable for being the game that inspired Charles S. Roberts to found wargame giant The Avalon Hill Game Co. Since Tactics was a particularly rare wargame, it was an especially appropriate candidate for an The Avalon Hill Game Co anniversary reprint. Tactics bore several similarities to both the original 1954 edition of Tactics and its 1958 redesign, Tactics II. The primary difference in the 25th Anniversary Edition was the unique mapboard layout. The map used in Tactics was said to have been based on an unpublished prototype that Charles S. Roberts had created for the original Tactics. In addition, the Anniversary Edition also included a colorful booklet which provided an illustrated overview of the first 25 years of The Avalon Hill Game Co.