Tank Action

[Primarch]

Before NagoyaHammer there were a few varying opinions about the use of armoured vehicles in Bolt Action. After a couple of warm up games at Joshin last month and the games at NH, what do people think?

I lost my Pamzer IV on the second turn of my first game, but in my second, it survived through the game (unlike the rest of my army). While Lovejoy's Home Guard couldn't kill it, it didn't achieve much in the game itself.

Now personally I'm a bit of a treadhead and I like to see not only tanks, but also the toys you use to kill tanks on the tabletop. AT guns, bazookas, panzerschreks etc, all look cool, so I'd like to continue seeing them in games. However, I'm well aware that not everyone has tanks and anti-tank guns, so an all infantry game works fine for me too.

[job]

Personally I've found tanks to be a mixed lot. At first they are imposing, especially at 1:48 scale. but in truth they can only do so much and there effect I felt could be minimized if you used cover and pinned them a bit with heavy weapons. The main guns are often hit or miss. The MGs are maybe their most effective weapons but at 200+ points, it is a steep price for 4-8 shots. On the other hand they are tough to actually kill.

In my 4 games with tanks:
Mike's Sherman tank was able to suppress my panzershrek, but conversely I can't recall it being murderous. The Maori infantry charges were the most powerful killers of the game.

Prim's sherman was actually bailed and panicked off the field by an extraordinarily lucky shot from my light howitzer (three sixes in a row!) Otherwise I don't recall the tank having a huge effect other than dominating the middle of the battlefield.

Lovejoy's MkII was possibly the most effective despite it being rated a light tank as it shot up a squad of infantry before I hit it in the flank with a light auto cannon on my recce car and immobilized it.

Satoru's Sherman blew to pieces my light howitzer and my panzershrek team, but I was able to attack and annihilate the rest of his attacking force.

Overall my opinion is that tanks are powerful, but not necessarily the bees knees. They are very hard to kill without another tank and unfortunately bazookas/panzershrek/Piat teams are not the most effective against them. Tactically it seems it would be better to put your points in a light tank or recce car which can give mobility and firepower at half the price. Also your opponents may feel less aggrieved if they dont have the requisite weapons to knock out or deal with a tank.

My only concern with balance is having an infantry force attacking in an attacker-defender mission against an opponent with a tank. That would be ugly. I think there should be a house rule a force with a tank should attack a force without a tank.

Well that's my 2-cents.

[Lovejoy]

I would love to use, and face tanks more. The problem is that in games of 750 to 1000 points there isn't much possibility of using more than one. I agree with Job that light tanks do seem to give you a lot of bang for your buck (pun intended) as it were, the heavier they get the less the return seems. My WWI Mk IV (counts as Vicker's 6 ton tank) is fifty odd points but it seems to pay for itself every time so far.

Were I to face more tanky armies, I would be using a different force with decent AT. My Home Guard can't easily deal with armour - I had no choice but to ignore Prim's tank in my second game at Nagoyahammer after I lost my puny QF 2 pounder.

If there are any takers, I'd love to give the Armoured Platoon rules on pdf a whirl, perhaps even play a 4 player game, 2 players a side, one handling say 1000-1250 pts of armour, his team mate with 750 pts of infantry. I smell a Market Garden scenario somewhere in there..