The Commander can only watch as the T-34/76 comes to a sudden stop, mud spraying.  Get out of there! But it is too late – the Panther’s gun barrel settles in, aimed at the T-34/76. He isn’t sure what came first, the sound of the shot or the explosion as the T-34/76’s hatches blow clean off and the turret is lifted up! Incredulously, two men crawl out and drop to the ground next to the destroyed tank.

This attack is falling apart. 

A shell whistles past his head, and another explosion rocks the earth, throwing dirt and debris into the gully where he and his men are desperately searching for better cover. Looking at the T-34/85, he sees that the turret is blown off the hull – there isn’t much left. There’s no way anyone survived that.

“I think the PZ IV went into those woods over there” the gunner shouts above the din, pointing to the right. Looking back to the battlefield, he is unable to see the PZ IV. 

Behind him, the SU-100 manages to find a small depression in the field, only the superstructure is visible. He sees the SU-100’s cannon adjust, taking aim at the Panther! Fire! Fire!!!

A T-34/76 and T-34/85 appear further to the rear, additional meat for the meat grinder. How much more of this can we take?

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Game Mechanics

Robata playing Terrain cards:

“When Robata is instructed to resolve any revealed Terrain cards during the Tank Phase, Robata will attempt to play revealed Terrain cards on enemy tanks that are In Motion. Robata will only play Brush, Field, Mine, and Mud cards on enemy tanks. Robata will play a Terrain card on every moving enemy until all Terrain cards are played. Use Target Selection Priority to determine order in which to resolve moving enemies. If multiple eligible Terrain cards are revealed, Robata will use this order of precedence: Mine, then Mud, then Field, then Brush.”

On to Round 7:

I draw cards to replenish my hand, and get ok cards. I found terrain for the T-34/76 and another flank card, so I am going to try and flank the Panther again and find cover. The T-34/85 is going to try and go early in order to shoot on either the Panther or the PZ IV, and the SU-100 is going to wait until the end to do something since I don’t have any great cards for him to use. 

Peril and Initiative: Stug passes Peril, chooses 12! PZ IV is In PERIL! Flip the Peril card to the IN PERIL side and choose the lowest revealed number (51); The Panther passes peril and draws a 8! Once again, Robata is aggressive and steals the initiative.   

The Panther goes first. Panther gets +1 for being on the hill. For the Tank action phase, Robata draws cards and one is a Mud Card! Per the rules and target priority Robata plays Mud on the T-34/76 on the hill – just my luck! I am unable to counter it. Fortunately the T-34/76 does not bog. Robata draws another card to replace the Mud card that was just played.

Robata chooses a High Quality shot against the T-34/76 that is now stuck in the mud – smart choice. 89% chance to hit, with APCR! Ouch. Hits! Had 2 successes so per rules chooses the lowest armor, which is a tie, so then chooses turret. Penetration with APCR is all but guaranteed – only the Bounce result can prevent it, but the draw is a black 0, so there is Penetration of the turret. Light damage to turret: I pull a Damage card and the result is EXPLOSION! So much for light damage! 

I next check for crew escape by pulling cards for each crew member and looking for the explosion icon (in my case, I do NOT want the explosion icon to be there!): Commander KIA, Loader safe, Driver safe, Assist Driver KIA. Panther gets +3 for the tank, +5 for the Commander and +2 for the AD = +11 VP this round (including the +1 for being on the hill). Ouch. The SU-100 spots the Panther. The Panther attempts to spot the SU-100: Fails. 

I discard half my cards at random. 

SHUFFLE CARD DRAWN, end of Deck 3. That was a fast Deck. After the next shuffle card is drawn, the GAME END card will be added to the deck. Time is running out!

The STUG goes next. +1 VP for the hill. Ironically I was hoping to drop Mud on the Stug but lost that card when I discarded half my cards due to the destroyed T-34/76. The Stug has a VP finally! Robata has a HQ shot at the T-34/85 thanks to having APCR loaded (needed the additional penetration to meet the High Quality shot requirement), and stops in the field and tries to shoot. Has 2 successes, and a Leadership card! And a Fire 2. Chooses the hull, 1200m, 88% chance to hit as I have no tactics card, no cover. Paying for poor initiative cards. Hits! Chooses the hull, and pulls a red 0. Thanks to being on the hill, also gets a +1 to penetration, which makes the difference in this case! Penetration, Heavy Damage! 

Pulling the Damage card, I get the dreaded CATASTOPHIC KILL Card (see below using play test art), no survivors! 

The Stug Gets +21 VP (+1 Hill) = +22 VP! Secondary action: tries to spot the SU-100: Fails.

And just like that, the Germans take a commanding lead. I discard half of my remaining cards at random, leaving only 2 cards.

The PZ IV goes next. IN PERIL. Flipping the personality card to the IN PERIL side, Robata has a different set of priorities to use. In this case, Robata chooses to move, and has 1 success. Robata has a Woods cards, so will move forward 200m into the woods. Pulling a card results in the PZ IV Concealing in the woods. Secondary action: tries to spot the SU-100: Succeeds! 

The PZ IV pulls a new personality card – BOLD – as it is no longer in Peril (happens automatically at end of its turn). I have not run across this personality before, and it is different. The requirements for a High or Low Quality shot are different (lower) than before, and the priorities are slightly different as well. Very cool.

The SU-100 is next. Only two cards left after losing half and then half to blown up tanks: Flank 3 and Leadership. Not much to do besides go Hull down in the field and try to minimize the exposure. End of a very bad round. 

Reinforcements: both T-34’s reset to 800m. 

VP: Germans 62, Russians 33. Burning through Deck 4. And like that, this game is getting away from me. I really need to kill that Panther.

Situation Map at the end of Round 7 using play test art in VASSAL:

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