Welcome!

Welcome to the Blog of a Skirmish wargamer! I hope you enjoy reading it!



All my rule sets are freely downloadable from our club website's Downloads page





If you need to contact me my E-Mail address is richardbradley5@gmail.com







Saturday 28 April 2018

What a Tanker, a first try

Today, we tried 2 fat lardies 'What a Tanker' at the club, we ran 2 games, one with later war tanks, and our game using mid 1940 tanks.

Our opponents were 2 Char-B's, run by Lawrence and Stuart, which had a more effective gun (47mm) and heavy armour.
Phil and I ran Panzer 3's - with 37mm guns and light armour, supported by a Panzer 4, whose 75mm gun was no better than our 'Doorknockers' !!!

Fairly rapidly, one Pzkw IV was in flames, so Dave got a replacement!  
 My Panzer 3 spent the entire game trying to shoot from behind a barn!
The French were outnumbered, but this was countered by the inability of the Germans to damage them! They were positioned to prevent any chance of us getting a flank shot, which would be the only way we could hurt them! 
Phil, on our right, did manage minor hull damage on a Char, but took heavier damage in return, he ended by moving round the flank, while the 2 Chars engaged Dave and myself. 
The other game, Dave, Dave and Jack. 
Stuart, Lawrence, Phil and Dave. 
The end of the game, Stuart's Char raced across the table , my Panzer only being able to retire. 
With both other German tanks badly damaged, I decided to retire off table, followed by the limping Panzer 4.

Overall, our opinion was favourable of the rules, and I must admit I enjoyed this best of all the 2FL games I have played.
I did notice a couple of odd things, firstly, there was no allowance for the poor turret arrangement in the French tanks, which I thought could have been well represented by giving the French a starting allowance of 5 command dice.
I also felt that some slow tanks, like the Char could have a limit to the number of 6's that can be converted to movement?

Just my thoughts, though, I will happily play it again, unless there is an X-Wing game going like today!

I do still prefer Wings/Sails of Glory and X-Wing!

11 comments:

  1. Nice write up. You have convinced me to get a copy now. 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, or should that be 'Tanks'!! - I am convinced this game will be a winner, and you will not regret getting it!
      Happy gaming!

      Delete
  2. Our concern with the Char was the fact that it has two guns, but apparently this is being addressed (mostly to cover the Lee/Grant).

    In terms of the limited turret layout, my thought was to limit not the number of dice you roll, but the number of different dice types you can sped in a turn - say only three types, plus wildcards. So you could move, acquire, aim with a 1-2-3 but then not use a 4 to shoot. You could use a 6 to shoot, though. This would slow their activity a little.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was assured yesterday that the Char is only able to use its 47mm, as, like the Lee/Grant, the 75mm was primarily an HE/Smoke etc weapon.
      The poor Germans really were up against it, even with the 47 facing us, in our game!

      Delete
  3. "Tanks marked as Slow may never use more than two DRIVE dice to move forwards. They may use additional DRIVE dice to turn or rotate their turret or to negotiate obstacles."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Schogun, that makes sense.

      Delete
    2. The Char B isn't given the 'Slow'trait, though.

      Delete
  4. Even though these rules don't interest me in any way I have to say great terrain and nice vehicles...good looking game!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cheers CD! I am sure Lawrence will be pleased, it did look nice as a game!

      Delete
  5. Surprised the Char isn't given the "slow turret" trait as wasn't it hand cranked?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was surprised at some of the stats given for some tanks in these rules. I would have rated the Char Bis as slow, and the Sherman Firefly as the same as a normal Sherman, as their speeds were identical!!!

      Delete