Round 3

“We are too exposed! Look for cover or a place we can go hull down!” the SU-100 Commander shouts to his driver as the battle rages on. The Panther is on the move making it nearly impossible to hit. He flinches as the T-34/85 hidden in the woods on the hill opens up, firing at the PZ IV on the opposing hill – looks like a HIT! But his elation quickly wanes as the PZ IV returns fire at the T-34/85. A near miss, lucky. Looking back to the Panther, he is pleased to see it hit a patch of mud and come to a quick stop. Now’s our chance! 

“Gunner – Panther, 11 O’clock –fire at will!” The SU-100 slowly rotates to get the Panther in sight.

A T-34/76 moves up behind him and tries to conceal behind a small building but grinds to halt while still exposed to the enemy.

BAM! The T-34/85 on the hill rocks as a shell impacts it – that Stug has found the range!

“We’re ok, failed to penetrate. Reload! Hurry!”

The Stug moves further into the rubble – there isn’t much there to shoot at now. And the Commander notices the Panther’s turret turning towards him… can we get him in our sights before he has us in his?

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My thoughts on this round:

I had both good and bad card draws this turn. Good in hitting the PZ IV, having the PZ IV miss when it returned fired, and the Stug’s shot failing to penetrate, but bad in that the PZ IV failed to catch fire or explode, and no crew were injured or killed. Tough tank. Each side has captured a hill. This could go either way, and that Panther is a huge concern with that accurate and deadly 75mm gun, even in the mud. I need some good card draws for next round, both for Initiative and for actions.

Game Mechanics

Movement: Movement in Tank Duel is abstract. Each Movement and Flank card has a value assigned to it. Unlike some other games, in Tank Duel a lower number is desired. The number on the Movement or Flank can only be played if its value is less than or equal to the active Tank’s current movement value (tracked on the tank mat). In the figure below, the Move card can be played, but the Flank card cannot be played.

The player can choose to play up to two movement cards, with the appropriate movement levels, on a tank per round. When playing a move card, the player then decides to advance 200m, withdraw 200m or stay at the same time range for each move card played. A played move card allows one to capture an objective (a Hill in this scenario), seek out better cover (Terrain), attempt to avoid being flanked by an enemy unit or flank an enemy tank (when played with a Flank card).

When playing a move card, there will be times that the player does not want to change range but may want to seek better cover or attempt to avoid being flanked. In these instances the range on the tank mat does not change, but the tank is still in motion until Terrain is played on it.

Seeking Hull Down / Concealment: Note that seeking a hull down position or concealment does not require a move card – these are considered to be smaller scale movements where you try to use the terrain to your advantage. There are different cards that are used to allow these opportunities during the battle. This took me a while to get used to, but now it is second nature and makes a lot of sense. Move cards are used to gain ground or change terrain, whereas once you are in terrain, small movements may result in a hull down or concealed position.

Flanking is highly abstract in Tank Duel; it represents both the advantage conferred by maneuvering to fire at the weaker side and rear Armor of an enemy, as well as the ability of a flanked tank to traverse and rotate its hull to face an enemy and negate this advantage. 

There are specific Flank cards that can be used for offensive (Flank an enemy tank) and defensive (attempt to avoid being flanked) Flanking maneuvers. These follow the same rules as the movement cards – they have a move value on them that needs to be less than or equal to the tank’s current move value in order to be used.

Initiative checks

The Stug has a peril level of 2 and passes. The PZ IV has a peril level of 2 and also passes. The Panther also has a peril level of 2 and passes. Initiative results are a mix, as shown below.

The Panther goes first. Robata decides to move and has 1 success, but did not draw any Terrain cards. The Panther moves to 600m and stays in motion in a field as Robata did not draw a Terrain card. As a secondary action the Panther tries to spot the T-34/85 in the woods and fails to draw the binocular icons, ending its turn.

The T-34/85 goes next. The T-34/85 gets +1 VP for occupying the Hill. I decide to Fire at the PZ IV on the opposing hill (800m). Robata fails the tactics check, so I have a ~76% chance to Hit. I draw a card and the result is a Hit! Another card draw results in the round hitting the Hull. After adding the penetration modifier from the next card pulled from the deck, it results in a positive net value and is red so the shot Penetrates with heavy damage! 

I draw a Damage card and look at the Section for Hull – Heavy Damage. In this case, there are 2 fire checks and a check for explosion! No wounded or KIA crew members though. Pulling 3 cards results in an overall No effect (Robata passes the 2 fire checks and the explosion check by not pulling any cards with the Fire or Explosion Icons). That is disappointing! Robata also passes the morale check by looking at the morale icons on the right side of the Damage Card. Overall that was not what I hoped for!

NOTE:  This is not the card I drew during the game, but an example that shows the different sections of the damage card. 

I decide to have the T-34/85 acquire the PZ IV to increase the chances of a hit next round. This means that the T-34/85 will not be able to spot any other tanks until I either drop the acquire marker or the PZ IV or T-34/85 is destroyed. All Robata spot the T-34/85 due to seeing the shot from the woods. As a Field action I place the Panther in mud. The Panther pulls a card but fails to Bog. Next turn I can take a better shot at the Panther unless he moves first. 

The replacement T-34/76 up next and moves forward 200m to 600m and finds a building ( I had a building terrain card in my hand). Pulling a card for concealment fails so all German tanks spot the T-34/76.

The SU-100: Not too many options in my hand so I discard a card to try and find a hull down position, but fail. Note that attempting to go Hull Down does not change your range or have you leave cover. 

The PZ IV is up next and gets +1 VP for being on a hill. Robata decides to try a High Quality shot on the T-34/85 at 800m. The pulled cards include a fire 1 card for +10. The PZ IV has 2 successes and chooses the lowest armor value, in this case the hull. There is a ~82% chance to hit as I do not have any tactics cards to try and reduce it. But Robata draws a 90 and misses!  Robata decides to acquire the T-34/85 and as a secondary action loads an APCR round, ending its turn. All Russian tanks spot the PZ IV. 

The Stug goes last and only pulls 2 cards due to the KIA Commander. Robata decides to attempt to fire at the T-34/85 at 1200m. The 2 pulled cards result in 2 successes so Robata chooses the hull, and has a 53% chance to Hit. I do not have any cards to reduce the chance to hit. I pull a card to see if Robata hits the T-34/85 – and it is a Hit! Pulling the next card shows a Pen mod of -4, which results in no penetration! Whew! Robata decides to acquire the PZ IV and attempts to gain a hull down position as a secondary action. The Pulled card shows success and the already small Stug gets even smaller….

End of round 3. Robata has 15 VP, Russians 6. The failure to knock out Robata tanks is hurting the Russians. Each side occupies a hill as everyone reloads and continues the battle.

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Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Setup and Introduction

Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Round 1

Tank Duel Scenario 2: Hold the High Ground – Round 2