Don't worry too much about knowing everything though. I'll be using the advanced rules for AP combat, basic rules for everything else. Basically I'm going to keep it simple. You will command 1-3 T34s (haven't decided yet) and you will be tasked with taking an objective and in the process, doing battle with German armor.
Basically there are 5 phases to every turn, the spotting phase, the command phase, the fire phase, the movement phase and the adjustment phase (which we won't be using really so fuck it, 4 phases.)
The first thing you will do is determining what your tank can and cannot see. I can do all of this on Vassal and just relay the information to you like an RPG, or I can show you the whole board and go through all the rules, honestly leaning toward the former.
Next there is the command phase. Based on what you see you will decide exactly what your tank(s) is going to do this turn. you can either fire, move, fire and move (at a penalty for both) Overwatch (wait for an opportunity to fire, at a penalty also), or no command. you place your commands before you know the initiative of the turn, which simulates the uncertainty of combat. After you make your commands you roll initiative. If you roll higher than the opponent you decide whether you want to go first or second. Then firing begins. Firing damage is applied immediately (this is why initiative is so important). And then you move. Moving your tank will make it harder for the enemy to hit it on the next turn. However if a tank has selected overwatch and you move into their line of sight, they can fire on you during the movement phase (at a steep penalty)
Read the rules if you want, the AP combat determination is complex and awesome, but we can go over that when we get to it.
The basics of AP combat are this: the amount of hexes (1 hex = 100m) and some other modifiers determine the probability to hit (determined by rolling percentile die) The angle of attack determines which part of the tank you are likely to hit, then you roll a d10 to get the specifics of where you hit the tank, which determines what kind of penetration you need to make a hit. After that you roll another d10 to determine damage. A tank can be damanged, which gives it severe penalties, or Knocked Out, which effectively destroys it, or Brewed Up, which destroys it and creates a cloud of smoke which obscured LOS, all depending on your damage roll. I'll provide more supplementary material on how to determine that, but honestly you don't need to worry about it. You are effectively assuming the roll of a lowly tank commander, if you take a shot that's too far thinking you can hit your enemy, well that's just war.
But the basics are attacking an enemy from behind is far more effective, as is attacking them from higher ground. Flanking is extremely important. moving around decreases your chance of being hit, but also decreases your ability to make accurate hits.
James Myers
Sounds lovely, but how long are you willing to wait? I sadly don't get off of work for 5 more hours.
David King
I can wait whenever. I'm just going to be posting more information to get the game going, and eventually just start asking for commands. whoever replies to my posts first decides what the move is. I have stuff to today so it probably won't start instantly. Given the speed of this board and the niche topic I doubt it will be underway for very long by the time you get back from work
Owen Ward
can you link the vassal mod? looks pretty cool, and i'm occasionally autistic enough to play GMT games
i assume you're using vassal, though the one vassal mod i see doesn't look like the same one
Asher Jenkins
Pretty much every asset you could want for the game (including the vassal mod, hell pretty much the entire game itself) is here
I plan on doing a "play by post" thing here, mostly because I'm somewhat new to the rules
Christian Miller
Ok so time for the historical context:
The game will take place in early fall of 1943, somewhere near Kharkov. You will be commanding a platoon of Russian T34/m43 tanks (that's 3 tanks) through a small dirt road to take control of a bridge. As with any battle in the eastern front, with every advance you have a high chance of ending up dead in a flaming pile of burning rubble, while extreme cowardice will reward you with a 7.62 X 25 to the back of the head and a shallow grave. Things have been looking up in the war, your advance has been increasingly swift and the quality of equipment has been improving, but like any day during the great patriotic war, death is always just around the corner.
I'm going to go ahead and disregard the advanced command rules for this scenario. By 1943 radios were becoming more common in Russian tanks (although the T34 initially did not have them) and since we will be dealing a small part of a battle map that only spans 4.4km, I think it's fair to assume that you can individually command any of your 3 tanks at any given time.
Cameron Cook
As the dawn breaks you stare at the map given to you by the high command. Your objective is to take control of the bridge by 3pm until reinforcements arrive. If you are able to advance even farther toward the crossroads there is a good chance you will be given a promotion and an extra helping of borscht, but who knows what lies behind those woods. Your cursory glance at the map is interrupted by ..... youtube.com/watch?v=CzsWC1UKwbc
the monstrous roar of the engines engulfs you and with it, any fears and doubts you may have about this mission. It's time to give Fritz his 6 feet of Russia!
Ok I know Panzer is meant to be played at the company level (9 tanks and a command tank) but this is my first play by post thing, so we're going to keep it at the platoon level for now. if we complete this we can do a "village assault" with a full platoon of tanks and command rules, but just take the damn bridge for now.
Give me a command for each tank, if you want to move just say the number of the hex or better yet draw a picture. In your post you might as well roll initiative too (d100), then we can begin the fire and move phase.
spotting-You look out upon the green fields and can spot the bridge on the horizon. However you cannot see any enemy armor. The coast looks clear. For now.
Jose Taylor
Your counter displays how far you can move. Your T34 Model 43 tank can move 5 hexes per turn over clear ground, 8 hexes over paths, and 12 hexes over roads. You can only gain the movement bonuses on paths and roads if you began the turn on them, so you cant enter a road from a field to gain the extra movement points, then disembark from it in the same turn. There are also terrain effects on movement which can be viewed here (under the T-H column) drive.google.com/file/d/0B0ysLflSAQusUFhmMkg0blNmQW8/view
While your at it feel free to get acquainted with your tank data card
TL:DR-The T34 has a front hull and turret armor of 18 which is really fucking good. It's main armament can shoot up to 10 hexes (1000m) without suffering any penalties and maintaining an can penetrate up to level 15 armor at that distance.
Jeremiah Gray
Tovarishchi, my tank shall be marked with red. We shall proceed along the indicated route. My intention is to capture an elevated position, so that we are not ambushed by the fascists as we cross the bridge.
I'm going to hold off from rolling initiative in case another user wants to give commands to another tank.
Eli Cooper
OK. You can move all the tanks if you want. No one is replying right now. I was going to mark the tanks as T1, T2 and T3, but actually colors might be a better option since there's only 3
Easton Lopez
Ok, then I will move them as indicated by the colored tracks, just in case some other user arrives and wants to tonk. If I'm understanding this right, this should be the furthest I can move, because turning costs a point of movement.
Sebastian Sanchez
Whoops, never used the dice roll feature b4. Here is the initiative roll
Nathaniel Turner
dice+d100
James Long
Rolled 97 (1d100)
Carson Peterson
Rolled 36 (1d100)
One more failed dice role and you were about to be liquidated comrade
Michael Nelson
This is all done in vassal?
Jaxon King
Rolled 36 (1d100)
kind of? this is my first time using Vassal actually but all it does is hold the map, the counters and data cards, it also allows you to roll dice. It doesn't do any calculations though (Which I'm actually glad. It would just feel like a video game at that point) and I'm just taking screenshots and marking it up with an image editor to make it easier to read.
Anyway so you obviously get the initiative so you go first. There was no initial fire in the fire phase so we'll skip right to the movement phase.
You advance your tanks forward, ordering red to diverge off the road and set up along a rocky hill. Blue and Green advance upon a path when they begin to make out the portrusions of a long barrel protruding from a gully. A spotter on a tank recognizes it as a Stug IIIG. Covered in Brush and backed into a Gully, it overlooks the bridge. You did not see it because it was behind light cover and you were more than 10 hexes away
It fires at Green. Since this is Overwatch fire he is already at a -1, since it is a reaction to you moving that adds another -3 to his attack roll. However since it is 5 hexes away, which is under 7 hexes. Source: drive.google.com/file/d/0B0ysLflSAQusdXhfMWdpYWV2dUk/view
hint (sort of): In case you don't know Stug IIIs do not have turrets, they are basically just assault guns with tracks. This particular one is backed up into a ditch. Maneuvering that thing would be a real bitch. Your tank crew is well aware of this.
Matthew Phillips
Rolled 9 (1d10)
(36)
Frittata!
Now I said earlier that a moving target adds a -3 to attack, However according to this chart it's actually -2.
So a Stug IIIG commences overwatch fire (-1) on a moving target (-2) at short range, which means he has to roll under 49, and he does. So that's a hit.
Now it's time to determine where this thing just hit you.
Nicholas Hughes
>In case you don't know Stug IIIs do not have turrets, they are basically just assault guns with tracks Comrade, pls
Kayden Young
Well shit. Turns out I overlooked a Line of Sight rule. Since the Stug was firing from a height of -1 in a Gully, he wouldn't have been able to spot you let alone fire at you, since he would only be able to spot one hex outside of his position, aka the river.
Ok scratch that. There was no stug. There was never a Stugg. It was actually a large branch sticking out of the gully. That boom you heard was simply a side effect of the encroaching PTSD you are suffering from years of constant armored warfare and war atrocities you have witnessed.... you snap out of it immediatly and resume your mission. It's quiet out here......too quiet.
TL:DR - IGNORE THE PREVIOUS TWO POSTS COMPLETELY
Kayden Garcia
"Not there. There you idiot!" Blue would smack green upside the head if he could. He points to a patch of brush concealing a Stug III tank, with it's gun trained directly on you.
It seems that in your decision to rush right into battle while daydreaming you have wandered into an ambush. The good news is the Fascists missed a valuable opportunity to fire upon you as well, so now you are in a white knuckle close range armor battle.
Give your orders and roll initiative....shits about to get real.
Jose King
Hi is it possible to enter the game? I know well vassal, and have been a wargamer for a long time.
Caleb Price
One more here, what room are you in?
Hunter Baker
room?
Samuel Gray
When you go online on vassal there are rooms aren’t they
Zachary Brooks
Oh wait you’re not playing live
Parker Taylor
no live.
Asher Wilson
I hate to break it to you, op, but while I think trying to recruit people into a game or teaching them a game - especially an obscure title - is pretty cool, what you're doing right now is pretty much a quest thread.
>Veeky Forums users play-by-post >Op gives flavor text for each move.
I'm not going to report it, but don't be surprised if it gets janitor'd.
