PanzerBlitz RAW Wrap-Up

 We are now at the top of Turn 4, the dispersed German units were flipped back over to indicate they are 100% still in the fight, and the Russian Combat Phase is up.

Turn 4

The Russian decides to open up on the town again with his armor. All on the Engineer unit.

One of the Russian armor units opens up on the mixed stack in town, this is a selectec attack (one unit firing on one unit) at (12)2 = 24 AF’s. The Russian actually has to fire on the total stack of three because of the town hex. There is the usual +1 added to the attacker’s die roll per the TEC (Terrain Effect Chart. The German situation hasn’t changed much. Their defensive posture nets 10 DF. The odds break down 2.4:1, final 2:1 when the rounding factor is completed. Roll 3+1=4, the stack of Germans are cowering again under more rubble. The 4 nets a D (Dispersed) and the three German units are turned over to reflect this. If the Russians want to force this fight they will have to bring in more firepower. This comes in the T-34 plt.s rumbling into town to crush all who oppose them. There is no more attacks for the Russian and the moves are now completed.

20mm howitzers and 50mm armor piercing shells are hurled at the enemy from the only combat-ready troops in town. Their combined AF is 12, but the anti-tank gun gets to double its attack value because of the close range. Let us see how I am supposed to calculate values with a “mixed” stack. In the open a mixed stack would be determined by the “type” of units in the stack. Whatever is more is the target type. Ties and the attacker has to take the least favorable target for the attack. But this is combat in town so we can throw that all out.  This is where I might be getting my first rules interpretation wrong, but I double the AT gun from 8 to 16, and add the howitzers at their normal value for 20 AFs. Maybe the factors are combined before doubling, but this doesn’t seem right to me. Somewhere in the rules I will come across the rules for this. The Russian armor DFs are doubled for a total DF of 36 for a 1:1.8 odds ratio. Defender favor on round offs and the Germans are struggling with a 1:2 odds on attack. There is the +1 for fighting in the city. Total of 4 yields no effect.

Let’s take a look at the Russian submachine gun coy. In the woods south of town. Could the Germans in the town hex to the north, the ones which fired on the T-34s in town, has LOS on the Russian infantry. If there is line of sight those units wood be a “soft” target and may have had better odds? Brief look at the rules and the answer is no. I can trace a line of sight through an open hex and a town hex at the same distance to the target, line of sight is blocked. Then there is the nail in the coffin, the rule that bugs the shit out of everybody,  the Spotting Rules! When a defender is in a Woods or Town hex he may not be fired upon by units which are not directly adjacent. I’m going to give the designers the benefit of the doubt here. The spotting rules close in the battlefield. If there is a bunch of shit blocking your LOS this means you are going to have to get closer to your target. There are no grand tactical maneuvers to be made in this game. It is purely grab ‘em by the throat and kick their balls in till their eyes bleed!

I’m sending the security unit from the 88 in the woods and I have them running across the open ground to reinforce the fortification. This is really like not a good idea. If the Russian can get at them in the open they are smoked. I don’t think they can with a quick glance over the board. A German submachine gun plt. is moved out of the woods in the north and scurries under the nearby fortifications. The dispersed units are flipped back to normal and German turn 4 is done.

Turn 5-6 see Russians greasing boogies with the guts of their enemies. That is what I wanted to see! The battle heats up with a massive combined attack. 48 times 2?! 4 tanks all shooting at 24 AFs? This is 96 AFs versus 10 DFs. 9 to 1 on the attack is what I see. This is balanced out by the fact the CRT only goes to 4-1. The other attack factors are wasted. But check this out, 4-1 odds are all X’s, total kills. The tank coy.s on their right flank are looking at similar results. 4-1 odds means dead Germans.

I’m now at the  top of Turn 7 and have cavalry units charging over the clear ground at the German fortification, supported by the T-34s in town. I need to stop and read up now on fortifications to calculate accurate CRT odds.

The Germans are holding on to a tactical victory here in turn 7 but that should evaporate quickly. The Germans win by not losing units and the Russians win by destroying German units. The Russians have crushed 5 Germans at this point. But the sands of time are winding down. I think the game is playing as it should so far. If the Germans can figure a way to stall Russian attacks with successful dispersel they can get out with a marginal win. More than likely though, the Russians are going to bag 3-4 Germans before time runs out. For the Germans to win this one the player is going to have to give up on the idea of stopping the Russian advance and figure a way to suppress the Russian firepower as it approaches. Less shots means less deaths.

 I’ll stop here because I am satisfied the game is playing out as the designer intended. Further, I can see the scenario is well balanced. Each side can win this one and it won’t be determined until the last turn! The game turns must move pretty swiftly between players who have been playing it 4-5 times. If the variants mess with this fast, bloody play I hope it is giving something back in return. Any game is a system of compromises so I am undeterred from busting this game out with a friend who enjoys tactical war games and play RAW.