I have really enjoyed this game. It is a complete departure from games like this I'm used to. Mainly, Team Yankee and Flames of War. However, it is a game made by the same company that does make Team Yankee and Flames of War.
My main experience of the game Tanks is going to be from the USA and Soviet side. I have not played Germany or Britain but have played against them. Therefore, since I haven't played either of those countries I am going to limit my discussion to my thoughts abut how USA and Soviets play in Tanks.
Let's start with the USA. Their national special rule is called "Gung Ho." The rule states "Treat this tank as making one less Move than shown on its Speed token when calculating its target's Defence dice."
In the game of Tanks when you move a tank it is harder for that tank to get an accurate shot on the opponent's tank. If you stand still you have a better chance of damaging your target. So, why not just stand still? Well, if you move it is harder to damage your tank when the opponent shoots at it. For example, if I have a tank with one armor. That means I receive one die to roll for defense to nullify successful hits made by my opponent against that tank. If I move one movement arrow's worth my tank will receive another bonus die to roll to nullify successful hits. If I move two movement arrows worth my tank will receive two bonus dice to roll to nullify successful hits. Most tanks can only move two arrows a turn. Therefore, if I move one arrow worth I receive one die from my armor and one die for movement. This will allow me to roll two dice to nullify successful hits against my tank.
The amount of movement the attacker did that turn is bonus dice the defender receives for trying to nullify successful hits. So, anytime you move and/or the opponent moves is the amount of bonus dice the defender receives. The number of dice used in the attack generally never changes in the game (unless some rule or effect changes it). So, if your tank has five attack dice you are normally going to roll five dice to attack with this tank the whole game.
Let's say a Panther is going to shoot at a Sherman (75mm). The Panther gets five attack dice.
The Panther player rolls those five dice. The Panther player is gong to keep any die that roll four, five, or six. The Panther player rolled this:
Three dice are four or higher so the Panther had three successful hits against the Sherman. The Sherman gets to roll his defense. The Sherman has an armor of one. So that means the Sherman will roll one defense die.
But the defense roll can be modified. Remember, the attacker's dice generally never change. Instead, you change the amount of defense dice. Did the Sherman move? Yes, it moved one movement arrow. Since, the Sherman moved one that means it receives one more die to its defense roll. Now the Sherman is up to two dice.
Next, did the attacker move? Yes, the Panther also moved one movement arrow. This will add one more die to the Sherman's defense roll. So, the Sherman will receive one bonus defense die from the Panther. This means the Sherman will roll three defense dice to try to nullify successful hits the Panther just made. These are not all the modifiers, but I just wanted to keep the example simple.
Now, let's reverse the scenario and say a Sherman (75mm) is going to shoot at a Panther. The Sherman gets four attack dice.
The Sherman player rolls those four dice. The Sherman player is gong to keep any dice that roll four, five, or six. The Sherman player rolled this
Two dice are four or higher so the Sherman had two successful hits against the Panther. The Panther gets to roll his defense. The Panther has an armor of two. So that means the Panther will roll two defense dice.
But remember the defense roll can be modified. Did the Panther move? Yes, it moved one movement arrow. Since, the Panther moved one that means it receives one more die to its defense roll. Now the Panther is up to three defense dice.
Next, did the attacker move? Yes, the Sherman also moved one movement arrow. This will add one more die to the Panther's defense roll. NO! This is where the USA special rule comes into play. The USA have the special rule Gung Ho. So, we subtract one from the Sherman's movement it made that turn to see how many defense dice the Panther will receive from the Sherman's movement. 1 - 1 = 0. So, the Panther will not receive any bonus defense dice from the Sherman. This is how the USA special rule works. It allows defense dice for the Sherman when it moves but gives one less defense die to the target of its attack than it would normally give. So, the white die below would have normally be given to the defense roll of the Panther, but Gung Ho removes it.
With the Gung Ho rule it generally never hurts the USA tanks to move one movement arrow. In fact, it helps them. They receive die/dice on defense when they are shot at but does not grant the same bonus to the target of their attack. Therefore, when the Sherman moves one movement it receives one defense die but does not give a defense die to the opponent. So, my experience with the USA is your tanks generally never sit still. You are constantly moving to have a better defense, but give none or a little advantage to your opponent's defense because of your movement.
Now, I'm not saying the USA tanks will always move. If you don't move and shoot you can reroll your attack dice. Not bad. However, it seems with the bonus you get in defense, which you don't receive any for your tank's movement if you don't move, is pretty good and hard to pass up. So, my thoughts are that the USA is probably one of the few forces that will hardly sit still on the battle field. They will constantly be moving to get bonus defense dice but it will not help the opponent with their defense dice. Plus, some of that movement may cause the opponent to have to move and that means they don't receive rerolls on attack dice. So, if you face the USA expect them to constantly be moving around the battlefield but giving you no help on your defense from that movement. USA will just have trouble staying in one place turn and after turn.
Next blog I will discuss the Soviet tactics used in Tanks.
As always, have a good game.
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