IT might be a children’s card game but it has exercised some of the top minds of the British Army for months and had commanding officers of prestigious regiments bickering over which “out-trumps” the other.

The first British Army version of Top Trumps, one of Britain’s most popular card games, is the brainchild of an army doctor working with the wives of soldiers serving in Afghanistan. The packs go on sale this week with the royalties from each one sold going to help to build schools in Afghanistan.

“We were all hearing in letters and e-mails from our husbands about these children with no classrooms, just sitting on the dirt, and living with no water, electricity or toys,” said Caroline Richards, whose husband General David Richards was commander of the Nato forces in Afghanistan until February. “We wanted to do something too.”

To start with the women’s contributions to the hearts and minds campaign was small scale, including a sponsored run, cake sale and plant sales. But with Afghanistan defined as one of the world’s poorest countries, the women wanted to do more.

Iraq timeline: five years of conflict

From accusations that the weapons of mass destruction dossier had been sexed-up to withdrawal of British troops from Basra

Multimedia

• Poll: Was Iraq war worth the sacrifice?

• Audio slideshow: Iraq conflict explained

• Pictures: Iraq, war and aftermath

Related Internet Links

• Read the Inside Iraq blog from our team in Baghdad

It was then that Dr John Ross, GP on the Rheindalen base in Germany and father of a seven-year-old boy, came up with the idea of trumps, a game which is experiencing a renaissance in school playgrounds. “I was looking round my son’s room and noticed the trumps cards,” said Ross. “I thought: every small boy goes through an army phase - what about an army set?”

Trumps cards sets are based on a theme such as dinosaurs or European footballers and each card has a list of six statistics with which players try to trump each other. Although there have been sets on warships and military jets, there has not been one on Britain’s armed forces.

“I thought it was a great idea,” said Caroline Richards. But she had reckoned without the bureaucrats at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) who muttered darkly about intellectual property. She decided that the only answer was to deploy her own lethal weapon - her husband.

“I pointed out that it’s a great opportunity to enthuse boys about the army,” said David Richards. “The MoD wanted to put in all sorts of caveats, but I said: don’t be childish, it’s a game.”

Even so it has taken almost a year to get the MoD licence to use regiments’ names, badges, mottos and photographs. The biggest hurdles were choosing which regiments to include and which criteria to judge them on.

Ross whittled his way down to 70 units, but a set of trumps has only 30 cards. In the end he decided to send a draft out to the commanders of all 70, then choose through a combination of first-come first-served and trying to be representative.

The first four criteria were easy: Ross chose year founded (although this was made more complex because units have been amalgamated), fighting strength, Victoria Crosses (VCs) won and battle honours.

The Grenadier Guards, currently serving in Afghanistan, trump all others on year founded, dating from 1656. Top for manpower is the Royal Horse Artillery, while the Duke of Lan-caster’s Regiment has the most VCs. A number of regiments, including the Parachute Regiment and 16 Regiment Royal Artillery, vie for battle honours.

Deciding on the final two categories was more controversial. Eventually they agreed on firepower, whereby regiments with large guns and tanks come out top - so the Army Air Corps trump all others. Last is combat versatility. In this, nobody beats the SAS.

“The vast majority are very happy to take part because of regimental pride,” said Richards. “But there have been problems like some obscure regiment having the same combat power as the Paras, which didn’t go down well, so there has been a lot of smoothing of feathers.”

- Sunday Times readers can claim an exclusive free Super Top Trumps card by printing cutting out this paragraph and sending it, with a stamped self-addressed envelope to: British Army STT Offer, PO Box 2575, Marlborough SN8 3ZR.

Conditions at www.timesonline.co.uk/uknews

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Everyone will get vaccine against swine flu
• Artificial sperm and the race to build a baby
• BBC jets out stars to tout for prizes