I finally got round to a game of What a Tanker! this afternoon, playing against my daughter instead of my X-Box fixated middle sprog. She had a Panther Ausf D and I took a Churchill MkIII for a spin, somewhere on the Russian Front in Winter 1943. The game went on for a total of nine turns (!) before we packed up for tea, with neither side scoring a knock out blow. I was surprised it lasted that long but reckon I know why.
The Panther had an Armour dice rating of eight against the Churchill's Strike value of five, so more often than not the rounds just bounced off, while the Churchill's heavy armour rating of nine negated the Panther's Strike value of nine, especially when some dodgy dice rolling was factored into the equation. She even managed to roll a double 1 to hit dice at one point, which automatically ended her activation and lost her aim and acquisition markers.
In the end, the Soviet tank crew firing flank shots managed to inflict two temporary and one permanent damage hits on the Panther, for no damage to the Churchill. This handed a marginal victory to the Russians but only in the last couple of turns before night fell and the two sides withdrew. I really enjoyed the game and so did my daughter, who picked it up really quickly and played some clever command dice combinations at several points in the game.
I only had one head scratching moment, which is unusual for me, when I had to work out if I needed to re-acquire a target that had hidden in partial cover. Other than that it was a breeze and moved quickly once we both knew what we were doing. I'll definitely set up another game soon using the 1/72nd scale tanks that I've been assembling. I do need some better terrain, however, so that will be on the to do list. Good fun!
Welcome to this fun game! Of course, as you probably found, if you can see even a bit of a tank, you maintain acquisition. What most people forget (including me!) is that a buttoned tank can only see in the forward 60 degree arc, so if the enemy goes out of that area, acquisition is lost!
ReplyDeleteExcellent game. Always good if you can drag the kids away from their tech!
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you havinga game. I may look into picking up a set to play with my nephews.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
That sounds great fun!
ReplyDeleteYep, that's what I decided, which seemed to fit in with the explanation in the rules. It's a really fun game and doesn't take itself too seriously, which I really like. I also like the randomized outcomes with the command dice, which throw up all sorts of tactical problems...I bet the FoW crowd absolutely hate that!?
ReplyDeleteThat is pure awesomeness, Jim! Though I fear you have woken a sleeping giant ;)
ReplyDeleteV/R,
Jack
Good to hear from you Jack. I think you may be right? :O)
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of it is, losing to your children doesn’t sting all that much, at least not until they’re grown! ;)
DeleteV/R,
Jack
I like the way your daughter is seen lining up a shot! Excellent. I must get a game of this in soon!
ReplyDeleteI didn't tell her about LoS..she just did that!
ReplyDeleteHow similar to Battlefronts Tanks I wonder, finally got around to playing that yesterday and thinking of investing in some 'Lardy' Rules
ReplyDelete