Lightning War is a game of warfare during the age of machinery. It is a game of strategy and tactics where battles (of perhaps more than one day) are able to be played in a few hours.
The basic unit of control is the battalion (or national equivalent). This is a unit of individual bases (usually around four), where each base represents a company (or squadron of tanks). This battalion-sized unit is called a combat unit. A group of these combat units, usually two to four, is called a battle group.
An example of a battle group is a British armoured brigade, where the individual armoured regiments are the combat units. The four bases within each represent the squadrons within the regiments.
The focus of Lightning War is not on detail (for instance, range bands and armour penetration tables) but on troop types, the training of the soldiers involved and command control.
All troops and commanders have a quality rating from one (worst) to five (best). This is not the valour of the individual soldier, but a measure of how effective they are in combat.
A turn is two hours and a combat unit (battalion) can perform one or two actions a turn depending on the quality of the troops and a die roll.
Battle groups move sequentially between sides – not one side after the other – depending on the quality of the troops and headquarters involved.
Combat units can become fatigued once they suffer casualties and commands can become exhausted (once half the units within them are fatigued). The effects of fatigue and exhaustion are to slow or even stop advances.
Bases are usually 30mm by 30mm for micro armour, but other sizes can be used. Place as many infantry figures on a base as desired (four or five seems a good number). A vehicle or gun base has one model on it.