Upcoming Tanks - The World War Two Tank Skirmish Game Reviewed

[Ballardian]

One more thing before I forget, with regards to assembling the models from the core game or blister packs - the rulebook & the blister packs contain assembly instructions, those for the Panther are fine, but those for the Sherman contain a significant mistake as well as not explaining everything that's on the sprue.
 The instructions for assembling the 76mm T23 turret for the Sherman is wrong in that it tells you that there is a small piece to be fitted before you glue on the mantlet & gun, this is not the case & only actually applies to the 75mm version - if you put this piece on, the 76 mantlet will not fit (having never put any 15mm or Battlefront minis together this nearly caught me out).
 Also, the Sherman sprue contains a large number of options - extra armoured glacis, 105mm howitzer & late 76mm with muzzle brake - this is because it's a sprue from the Flames of War M4A3 box, where you might need those options. Neither the rulebook instruction page or the leaflet from the clampacks tell you any of that, so for more reliable assembly advice I'd recommend that you go to the Flames of War site where they have much better instructions for assembling the kits.

[Harry Faversham]

There's an article on the game in this months WI. 

[Vermis]

Got it! Paused a bit when I opened the box and the first thing I noticed was my favourite of game concepts - the arbitrary rule. (Nazi armies swept across the breadth of Poland and France, ergo panthers get a free move on a tiny battlefield ) But it won't slow me too much.

In the meantime, thanks for the assembly tips, Ballardian!

[Ballardian]

Your welcome Vermis, I don't know how the assembly error in both the rulebook & individual Sherman packs got past BF's editor since it's pretty glaring once you spot it. I think the trademark 'arbitrary rules' are a legacy from Flames of War where the Germans also get to enjoy the 'blitzkrieg' rule. It is potentially quite powerful (a free end of round move could set you up for the next turn) but in practise hasn't yet proved overpowered - the US special 'Gung Ho' rule is also useful, as counting as having made one less move than you have actually made helps out with your shooting (giving your opponent fewer defence dice).
 Hope you enjoy the game!

[Oldgamer]

Got mine today, picked up a Stug G expansion set too along with some British Sherman's.

[Belgian]

One more thing before I forget, with regards to assembling the models from the core game or blister packs - the rulebook & the blister packs contain assembly instructions, those for the Panther are fine, but those for the Sherman contain a significant mistake as well as not explaining everything that's on the sprue.
 The instructions for assembling the 76mm T23 turret for the Sherman is wrong in that it tells you that there is a small piece to be fitted before you glue on the mantlet & gun, this is not the case & only actually applies to the 75mm version - if you put this piece on, the 76 mantlet will not fit (having never put any 15mm or Battlefront minis together this nearly caught me out).
 Also, the Sherman sprue contains a large number of options - extra armoured glacis, 105mm howitzer & late 76mm with muzzle brake - this is because it's a sprue from the Flames of War M4A3 box, where you might need those options. Neither the rulebook instruction page or the leaflet from the clampacks tell you any of that, so for more reliable assembly advice I'd recommend that you go to the Flames of War site where they have much better instructions for assembling the kits.
[/quote

Contacted Battlefront for that reason, as the sprue only came with one of the pieces as you mention but said you could assemble both turret option to swap. They linked to the Flames of War website but totally slipped my mind when writing the review. Will add that along with the link, thanks for mentionning this.

[coopman827]

I hope that they do expansion(s) for the early war period at some point.

[Vanvlak]

The rules are quite easy to learn - I had a look at the free download on their website. Pleased I ordered it.

[Ballardian]

Coopman827 - I don't know if actual expansions are planned as yet (tend to think they see Tanks as a 'gateway drug' to Flames Of War) but they are, as has been mentioned previously on this thread, going to release stat cards for their whole range (hopefully some more character/gear/crew cards too). I agree, some for early war in both Europe & the Soviet union would be fun, though points balance will be an interesting task.
 Vanvlak - I wholeheartedly agree about the ease of use, got to love a game that you could explain to someone who'd never seen it before in less than ten minutes & yet have it contain enough tactical subtlety to keep you interested.

[Oldgamer]

I picked up the starter and Stug G expansion set, all very nice and the GF9 site states maps will be released soon including Villers Bocage.

[Vermis]

There's an article on the game in this months WI. 

Got it; read it. Very tanky issue overall! Gotta say batreps (or AARs, or such) usually bore me, but that one made me more eager to start playing.

I picked up the starter and Stug G expansion set, all very nice and the GF9 site states maps will be released soon including Villers Bocage.

Any suggestions for further expansions? I plan to build the Panther as a Panther, and the Shermans as brit versions. Tempted to go with a Stug too, but I'm not sure which to choose between the Cromwell and Comet.

[coopman827]

I've seen numerous pics. where the 15mm tanks are so close that their barrels are almost touching each other.  This makes me wonder if smaller scales such as 10mm or 6mm might be a better choice.  But people will play with what they have and that's the neat thing about it.  It gets your toys on the table.  Well, some of them anyways.

[Oldgamer]

At around £7 per expansion pack, why not get both? I would like to see some desert theatre stuff in the future so fingers crossed!

[Ballardian]

As to what other tanks to buy, I'd have to say to go with whatever takes your fancy, after all, this game is more about fun than historical accuracy. That said, with regards to the choice between Cromwell & Comet, troops of the former were often fielded with a mix of Cromwells & one or two Fireflies which could be fun to put on the table (the same was true for troops of Shermans for UK & Commonwealth forces). Comets on the other hand, seem to have made up troops/platoons of the one type.
 Coopman827 - the phenomenon of game tanks getting close enough to one another for their crews to have a fistfight is just one of those things - you do see it in FOW a fair bit, I assume because of the fairly short ranges given to the vehicles. This is one approach to producing an interesting game as it promotes a movement, preventing players from 'castling-up' & trying to snipe one another to death (the other, more old-school approach, would be to have modifiers for range, gun, armour thickness etc - both systems have merit) . In this game that doesn't apply as there are no set weapon ranges - it chooses to encourage movement from the perspective of how it influences the effectiveness of your shooting & defense (the shooting re-roll for not moving & more defense die for doing so). As previously mentioned, I don't think this game is intended to be a historical recreation, there are far more detailed rulesets out there that represent the ranges at which tank battles take place more accurately & yes I'd agree that 6 or 10mm are better scales for this, as at 15 or 28mm, the 3'x3' gaming table recommended is a touch point blank for tanks - but this game, as peviously mentioned, is more about having fun.

[Vermis]

As to what other tanks to buy, I'd have to say to go with whatever takes your fancy, after all, this game is more about fun than historical accuracy.
 Coopman827 - the phenomenon of game tanks getting close enough to one another for their crews to have a fistfight is just one of those things

Oh aye, I'm just wondering what'd gel better with the Shermans in-game. I agree that this is a Hollywoodish free-for-all - as said, like a tabletop version of World of Tanks, where teams of 15 tanks from any of 8 nations get thrown together and have at it, and ramming isn't an uncommon tactic.

yes I'd agree that 6 or 10mm are better scales for this, as at 15 or 28mm, the 3'x3' gaming table recommended is a touch point blank for tanks - but this game, as peviously mentioned, is more about having fun.

You mentioned that it feels like a gateway into FoW; I hope to use it as a gateway into Micro Squad or Micro Armour. As I mentioned, I've been meaning to restart WWII gaming with GHQ minis, and just sold a bunch of 15mm and 1/72 tanks to that end. I agree that 6mm, even with the same number of tanks, could create more of a 'grand' image, with more realistic ranges. Hence not wanting to go overboard with too many Cromwells and Comets. Just enough for quick games or intros.

That said, if plenty of folk round here have 15mms from their FoW (or BG, or IABSM, etc. etc.) collections, I could end up with a lot anyway.