Modern Wars in Miniature: 2021

Our Tanks! cooperative campaign continued today and our platoon from the 3rd Panzer Division is now attacking on French soil, driving towards the Channel.

The Allies scratched up a hodge podge force to try to slow the German drive.

In today's game, the Allies had 2 Belgian T15 light tanks, 2 heavy French Char B1bis tanks and the British chipped in two A13 Cruiser tanks. A formidable force, but each ally moved their tanks independently using our simple AI. The T15 and A13 tanks get the Fast keyword and Semi-Indirect Fire and the French get the Assault Gun, Slow and Tough keywords. Tough was recommended by another Tanks! fan and allows the French tanks to reroll one defense die each turn. The German force consisted of 4 Panzer III tanks. Some notable German tank aces were commanding the tanks today: Josef Rettemeier and Hans von Luck. Our crews have improved as they have made a name for themselves fighting from the Spanish Civil War till now... A new tanker joined the group today. Let us call him Armin Kron. Our fourth tank commander is also a veteran, Rudiger Esser.

Here is a picture of the battlefield. The Allies actually chose to strike first today and attacked from the top of the map, the Germans approached from the bottom.

On turn one, the French Char tanks chose to drive up the middle of the map towards the village. The Belgian cavalry tanks split up on each flank. The British came on from the woods area, but one take paused behind the woods...perhaps brewing up a cup of tea? The Allies made the crossroads their objective and the Germans placed an objective to the southwest of the key road junction. Each objective can give a team a point per turn, starting on turn two. Note the blue die in the upper left being used as our turn indicator. The German force concentrated in the woods in the southwestern quadrant and planned to drive on their objective. The hapless T15 in the field to their front would become a target, but so did a fast moving A13 cruiser tanks zipping on the eastern side of town.

Concentrated fire damaged the T15, but the fire from the fast moving A13 heavily damaged Rettemeier with a lucky shot. Rettemeier and Von Luck would blitzkrieg move to the east, to take on the A13.

Esser and Kron ended up taking damage both from the T15's and a Char Bl bis, but Kron destroyed a T15 and Esser hit the Char hard. Rettemeier took heavy damage from the A13 and sought a better position by blitzing towards the southernmost building in the village, where he might fire concealed from the open car park running through the first floor. Von Luck held the objective, but the French held theirs as well. One point for each side.

Rettemeier would destroy the A13 with a lucky shot trough the garage. Von Luck began to slug it out with the Char tank holding the Allied objective. The second T15 joined the French tank in the town. The new guy was crippled in the fire fight, his crew bailing out and their tank immobilized! Kron tried to rally his crew, but the new recruits had seen enough today. Both sides hold their objectives, score 2-2.

Now the second Char showed up to catch the German tanks in the woods in a pincer. Kron and his men were killed. The second British tank moved up fast into the village and it seemed that the German tank platoon might have met its match. Rettemeier stayed in overwatch while Esser and Von Luck grimly dueled with the beastly Char tanks. Frantic German calls for air support had thus far not been answered. The score now 3-3.

Finally, the Luftwaffe arrived and a Stuka strike took out the onrushing British A13 tank before it could join the battle. This dramatically helped the German cause. Von Luck closed the range to the Allied tanks with a blitz move toward the village in a bid to contest their objective. The French actually pulled back as the Germans advanced. The AI got it right that time! The score now was 4-4. The French tank in the village was down to its last hit point.

On the final turn, Rettemeier crippled the T15 in town and the Belgians bailed out. Esser's tank was knocked out and his driver, Willy, was killed, but not before Esser killed the Char in the town. Von Luck now was contesting the objective and denying the Allies a victory point, but collecting the German victory point at the same time. Final score, a very narrow 5-4 win. The Allies had lost a T15 tank, a Char tank and both the British cruiser tanks. The victory was costly, the Germans losing one entire crew and another driver, but as they controlled the battlefield, Esser's tank was recovered. Kron's tank was a writeoff, but he would receive a new mount soon. The German command congratulated 3rd Panzer on their hard fought victories, but warned of yet another approaching Allied counterattack. The Allies are trying to prevent the Germans from reaching the channel and cutting off a large part of the Allied forces in the north.

Thanks to Aaron, 'er Von Luck, for taking the photos.