The Thursday Gang gathered at Miniature Market Rock Hill for a second look at “Tank Club” presented by DJ Carter. Working up from our first game a few weeks ago, modifications were made and the 3D printed WWII armor once again took to the field.
Jay was kind enough to take a few notes and send some great photos of the event and we will turn the narrative over to him…..
“The semi-retired crew got together for a rematch of DJ’s Tank Club Rules 6 Shermans vs 6 Panzer MkIV in a meeting engagment from several weeks ago. DJ has been busy doing some research and came up with a few rule modifications. One of the big ones was that both Shermans and Panzer IV would normally be able to shoot and move on the same phase. Cards were drawn for each tank on who would get to go when. Hull hits would no longer be automatic, but chit driven.”
“Jay and Steve reprised their role of US tank commanders while Gregg and Tim did the same for the Germans. The setup was the same with an approach engagement into a village with two bridges that both sides wanted to control. Kevin, Pat and later David were there as well.”
“Round 1 saw Jay and Tim face off with mostly deciding to stand and do a western style gunfight in the street as Tim parked all of his tanks and Jay only moved one tank towards the bridge. Gregg and Steve headed into town for some more maneuvering. “
“Round 2 Steve continues his advance into town and Tim pops smoke to protect his flank against Steve. Jay and Tim otherwise exchange pleasantries with Jay popping one of Tim’s tanks for 3 red chits (max effective hit) while Tim hits Jay’s tank and causes a engine fire to start along with a loader to be injured.”
“Round 3 Things start to fall in favor of the Germans as the Germans not only move mostly towards the bottom of the order (better to move later usually), but then turn around and get to mostly shoot first. Their fire is pretty effective as they cause a lot of damage among several of the American tanks and Jay’s #1 tank blows up from the fire started in the engine. (Not only did I fail to put out the fire, but then I rolled a 10, which resulted in the tank blowing up. Dice: got to love them at times). Jay did manage to get the #1 tank up in a position to help provide cover for another of Jay’s tanks. Gregg and Steve continue to manuver in town and cause damage to each other as well. Jay does manage to get one of his tanks on the bridge.”
“Round 4 Tim loses his first tank due to an ammo explosion, but manages to destroy Jay’s tank on the bridge. Jay causes damage to another of Tim’s tanks. (We don’t know what damage we do for the most part because we don’t get to see the chit draws, which makes it interesting because you really don’t know if a tank is no longer a threat or not). Gregg and Steve continue to trade shots while moving around with my impression of Steve getting the worst of it”.
“Round 5 Steve’s dice go ice cold as he either misses or does very little damage to Gregg while Gregg does some damage to a couple of Steve’s tanks. An indication of what has happen comes when Steve asks about swapping crew around to re-man a tank so it can actually do something useful. Unfortunately that is not allowed with the rules. “
“Round 6 opens with a bang as Tim and Steve both have a tank blow up and Jay’s crew bails on his last tank (tank had two wounded crew including the loader commander and effectively could not move due to damage to its tracks). One of Steve’s tanks can’t shoot anymore so the Americans are in deep trouble here.”
“Round 7 sees Gregg get to the bridge on his side and he finishes off Steves last operational tank. Steves other tank that can’t do much of anything but move has been headed for the edge of the board to retreat. Steve does manage to finish off one of Gregg’s tanks.”
“At this point, the match is called in favor of the Germans. We get together to discuss the changes and the results are positive for the most part. A few more adjustments are talked about, including the parameters of the scenario. When accused of stacking the deck in favor of the Germans (hey, the Americans had to come up with some sort of excuse for their failure), DJ denies it. He doesn’t have any proof that he didn’t do it, but then the Americans don’t have any proof that he did. (The Germans did seem to get the better of the card draws as the game went along, but that is going to happen in any game where there is a luck element of rolling dice or pulling cards).”
“All in all, it was a fun day of doing some armored combat.”
Thanks to Jay for sending along the photos and write up. A Thank You to all the players who came out to enjoy a fun afternoon of gaming. As always we extend our ongoing appreciation to Miniature Market Rock Hill for their continued support.
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Big Muddy Historical Game Alliance of Greater St. Louis
Our public educational demonstrations including rules and game evaluation sessions use historical miniature and historical board gaming to explore military history, historical decision-making, and the people, places, and events of the past.
Historical Gaming in Action is a public educational program presented by the Big Muddy Historical Game Alliance of Greater St. Louis.
Using miniature figures, terrain, maps, historical research, and guided play, our games explore military history through the decisions faced by commanders, soldiers, and communities. Visitors can examine the table, ask questions, learn about the historical setting, and—when space and time permit—join the game.
Our scenarios are based on historical sources. While game rules simplify some details for practical play, each event is designed to encourage discussion of historical events, geography, leadership, logistics, strategy, and the human experience of conflict.
Historical gaming can be both enjoyable and educational. Big Muddy provides public educational demonstrations, seminars, and convention programming that promote historical miniature gaming and military history.
