What a Tanker test run.

Set up a board and tested out the rules for What a Tanker tonight. I like them, and I think they are going to work well for the big group game planned for this weekend.

The rules are pretty simple but give players opportunities to make their own choices and put their own stamp on the game, which is just how I like it. Of course, the dice play a big part, but I think we can live with that!

This was a five vehicle solo game, and although it would usually be a bit onerous to run five vehicles at once, it was easy to get into the swing of things and the situations that came up were quite interesting. I think the terrain will be good to play on, and I hope that people will enjoy the game.

I was also pleased to see that the vehicles looked the part on the table. All in all, a satisfying trial run!

1/72 What a Tanker progress

We're finally getting somewhere with the What a Tanker Project. I'm glad there's been some movement, because first game is on the 29th, with seven players booked in, so no pressure!

There's quite a mix of models here. Hasegawa make up the bulk of them, but there are also Revell, Trumpeter and pre-painted Dragon models (which ones these are will probably be quite obvious, given that they are so much better painted than my own).

Sadly, despite youtube videos on how to do late-war German camo making it seem like a piece of cake, there is something of a glaring quality gap here between the idea and its plastic incarnations...

Anyhoo, we'll be right for a game, and that's the main thing.

There are still a few more things to touch up on these, but we're almost there.

I made a couple of 1/72 models in my youth but never painted them, so these are actually my first crack at doing armour in this scale. I can now begin to understand why people want to use airbrushes.

I've actually really enjoyed the change, but I have a lot to learn before I'll be able to churn out models at a standard I'm happy with.

So there are a few things to tidy up and then it's on to making some terrain.

Ooops...

I set up a table for a solo run-through of What a Tanker 6mm last night, and realised that 6 blokes around a table each with one 6mm tank is just not going to cut it, so I popped into a couple of model shops to see what they had.

It turns out they had quite a bit. Do I blame Two Fat Lardies or my own poor impulse control? Anyway, it's done now, so next task is to smuggle them into the house without drawing too much attention to how much I've spent!

Tanker Plan

Since I don't have the right models ready for WWII What a Tanker quite yet, I'm thinking I might use some early modern AFVs instead and give them WaT appropriate stats.

If, as a starting point, we make the M48A1 Patton (with its 90mm gun) roughly equivalent to the M4A3E2, that gives us 9 armour, 9 strike, and the heavy armour characteristic, worth 19 points all told.

If we make the T-54/55 roughly equivalent to the Panther A/G, that gives us 9 armour, 9 strike, and the fast characteristic, again worth 19 points.

Based on this comparison I'll drop the Patton's heavy armour characteristic and replace it with rapid fire to reflect its greater ammo capacity, its greater firing capacity, and its better sights. I'll also drop the Patton's strike value by 1 due to inferiority in gun calibre vis a vis the T-54/55. For the T-54/55, I'll also add low profile and slow turret, and keep the fast characteristic.

The points formula for WaT seems to be fairly easy to reverse engineer. It looks as if it's just 1 point for each armour and strike factor, and then a series of pluses or minuses for other factors, these being:

-1	slow; slow turret
0	TD (usually)
+1	fast; small; rapid fire; low profile; TD (once or twice)
+2	heavy armour; iron fist

So that gives us this:

	Arm.	Str.	Special	Pts.
M48A1	9	8	rapid fire	18
T-54/55	9	9	slow turret fast low profile	19

Next step then is to look to get a solo game in this weekend and see how we get on.

Adversaries line up for the national anthems...

EDIT: stats using Bill Butler's suggestions:

	Arm.	Str.	Special	Pts.
M48A1	8	9	rapid fire	18
T-54/55	9	9	slow turret low profile	18

First impressions of 'What a Tanker'

Well, having read through the What a Tanker rules now I must say that they have piqued my interest. They seem to use nice clean mechanisms and have effectively grafted on a clever activation system based around the hand management concept. The major difference here from a traditional hand-management game such as the Commands & Colors series is that the Lardies rules writers have you managing dice instead of cards.

To continue with the hand management parallel, the dice act as if they were move cards, acquire target cards, aim cards, shoot cards, reload cards and wild cards. Players 'play' their dice in the order they choose, and resolve each action before moving on to the next. In addition to the activation play, the player may need to dice for move distance or for combat.

So while the game play relies on random 'hand generation', the system gives players some control over their own destiny, and I think gamers all appreciate that, even if that sense of control is more illusory than real!

I think this will work well with a casual group, and I can envisage five or six people, a big table, and a few tasty beverages making for a very pleasant evening or afternoon.

It also has an interesting role play aspect that you can factor in if you want to. Your tank crews gain experience, which gives them some advantages on table. After a certain number of kills, they can 'level up' to a better tank, and start over again. I think you would really appreciate this if you had a dedicated crew of people meeting fairly regularly, and it's something I'd like to try if the conditions at some point prove propitious.

But for now my main concern is building forces. What do I use? I have some 6mm models and I can find 1/72 kits here in Japan, but probably 15mm (1/100) is a better scale: more durable models than the 1/72 modeller's kits and a better look for a skirmish game than 6mm.

The downside is that I have to order in from overseas, pay quite a bit, wait for them to arrive, make up the kits, paint them, and then source terrain. If I go with 6mm I can start right away, can easily and cheaply expand forces through the trusty Heroics and Ros, and I already have a bit of scenery I can use.

Hmm, decisions, decisions!

Anyway, it's quite nice to have another project to work on and in a different style from what I'm used to.