Tanks - hit the beach!

I took part in the first round of the Tanks (by Gale Force 9) organised play season today at Athena Games and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The game shares many similar rules & mechanics with the hugely popular X-Wing, using simplified a version of its movement template system and just varying numbers of 6 sided dice for attack and defence. Typically an attacking tank may fire with 5 (this rarely changes in game) dice and will be looking to score 4-5 for a hit and 6 for a critical hit. The target tank will often start at a single defence die and gains extra dice for movement, positioning and cover up to a maximum of 6 dice. A roll of 6 will cancel out a hit (or critical) of the defenders choice and a roll of 4-5 will cancel out a hit of the attackers choice.

I decided upon going with mother Russia as my nation of choice and opted for two IS2 heavy tanks being backed up by a T34, concentration of fire was my main plan. The Russian national trait allows an additional attack die when firing at the same target that a nearby ally has already fired at this turn.

My 100 point Russian platoon.

As the games began I quickly realised the effectiveness of coordinated fire, operating in a tight formation the T34 would make the first shot with its 4 dice (any damage caused is a bonus) this would typically score two hits and depending on what the target is doing (speed & cover) they'll often be defending with 4 dice (typically saving both hits.) Now however, the real shooting starts! If I've been doing it right I have both my 6 attack dice IS2's firing on the same target with an additional 7th attack die and hopefully causing some real damage and/or destruction to the enemy vehicle.

The scenario of the day involved the attacking force making their way across the battlefield to capture an objective. This proved to be quite tricky for the attacking players as there was little time (6 turns) to make it all the way and if a defending tank was within a range stick of the objective, points could not be claimed until they'd been shifted.

My first game was against Chris and I opened up with volleys of coordinated fire as his tanks tried to scurry from cover to cover. I managed to destroy all his tanks, thus preventing any point scoring.

The Russian & German platoons face-off!

My second game was against Jack who bought a Super Pershing heavy tank to the table, this is a beast not to be trifled with! Supported by Sherman's he made it very hard work for me to get to the objective and scored 1 of 2 points needed before reaching the 6 game turn limit, at least I managed another total annihilation of the enemy with them falling under the coordinated bombardment of the IS2's in the final turn!

The Super Pershing was a monster, until it's crew bailed out!

My third game was against just two well equipped Panthers. Both formidable tanks. Dave decided to make tracks directly for the objectives, taking full advantage of the German's ability - Blitzkrieg! I was lucky to score debilitating damage on one of the panthers in the first volley and perform the coupe de grace on it in the next turn. This left a solitary Panther trying to outrun and outmaneuvere my full platoon. He made a valiant dash for victory but fell under my hail of high explosive rain!

The final battle!

I'm very much looking forward to the next round of the campaign, but I will certainly make note of a few things.

1. There's a big difference between 4 and 6 attack dice.
2. Coordinated fire is awesome.
3. If the enemy is destroyed they can still win!
4. Be sure to read the mission briefing in advance!