What A Tanker - first games

Earlier this week the Austin Historical Gamers of Dragon’s Lair tried out “What a Tanker,” Too Fat Lardies’ WWII tank skirmish game.  It is a single-tank to platoon level game, the same as GF9’s “Tanks” game, but with very different mechanics.

Each turn, you roll a hand of six order dice for each tank. Each number of pips corrresponds to a different order or action by the tank’s crew: drive, acquire target, aim, fire, and re-load.  A six is wild, and so very useful. 

We played two games in a single evening, both times matching up three T-34/76s against a pair of PZ IV-Hs and a STuG III-G. 

The rules are really simple, and fast.  My eight-year old really enjoyed it and remained engaged through both games.

Ouch, in the second game, Jake’s T-34 snuck around behind me, brewing up my PZ IV.  He went on to single-handedly take out the other Panzer IV and the STuG.

Warlords of Erehwon - first game

Albert and I tried out Warlords of Erehwon today.  This is Warlord’s new fantasy warband skirmish rules, written by Rick Priestly, and clearly a close cousin to his Gates of Antares sci-fi rules.  Like Antares, WoE uses the “order dice” system from Bolt Action.

We played the “Pillage the Village” scenario, with 1000 points per side.  That is a mid-sized game, the rules recommend using 500 to 2000 points.

I once again pressed my SAGA Anglo-Danes into service, using the “Knights” army list in the rule book.  This list covers generic fantasy humans pretty well, and would allow you to field your old Warhammer Empire or Brettonnians.  I added my rules-traveling wizard Aethelstan, and rounded out my force with a couple mercenary ogres.

Albert brought Warhammer Beastmen, intent on pillaging said village!

Turn one: a general advance by both sides.  My archers and wizard all sprinted to reach the top of the big hill.  My plan was to spend a couple rounds fighting a delaying action with spells and archery, and then fall back off the hill.


“Sprinting” lets you move triple your normal movement, but at the risk of picking up a pin marker.  All my sprinters picked up pins...


Aethelstan got the party started with a fireball spell that toasted no less than five Ungor archers! One survived, with only a pin marker to remind him of his lost friends.


Round 2: I really hoped I would draw the first order die... but Albert got it.  A unit of mounted chaos marauders pretending to be centaurs used their amazing speed and the Sprint rule to gallop right up the hill, charging my archers.


But amazingly, the archers held!  Between the defensive shots they were able to take, and some lucky rolls in melee, they wiped out the centaurs, losing three men in turn.


However, over the next couple rounds, the beastmen cleared the hill, wiping out one unit of archers, the ogres, and defeating my wizard.  A rolling melee between the hill and the small wood saw heavy losses to both sides.  It was looking bad for the humans.


However, the battered defensers held on, forming a new defensive line right outside the village.  Wave after wave of braying beastmen charged down the hill, but each was thrown back in turn.  At this point, we had completed six rounds, which meant the scenario was over.  Since the village was intact, it was technically a victory for the handful of surviving men.

We really enjoyed these rules and agreed we actually like them better than Dragon Rampant (which is a lot of fun too).  We are already planning a sequel, when the beastmen (who are convinced the humans must have some really valuable loot in the village since they fought so hard for it) come back with more friends to have another go.