"12mm - Tank On Tank - Eastern Front Action" Topic

Hi 12mm/1/144th scale fans,

Got some pics of a WW2 Eastern Front game I put on at our local con, using the Tank On Tank board game system (slightly modified) and with a fields-type mat instead of on a hex grid.

Half of the Soviet minis to be deployed for the game (med. tank battalion with a tank rider company) -

From the German side of the board, defensive unit placement in progress –

Initial recce action completed, the Soviet forces maneuver to take the first twin village objective -

Across the attack front, the Soviets have secured both initial objectives and prepare to exploit their success -

SU-122 batteries hold the 2nd twin village as a German tank/armored infantry counterattack force begins to arrives (out of view) –

Part of a reinforced PanzerGrenadier company presses forward, but with the villages already in enemy hands, the counterattack cannot be put in (a hasty withdrawal is instead in order) –

I have both ToT East and West Front games. Nice adaptation using miniatures.

Tank on Tank is a brilliant game…love the way you have used it with miniatures. Very cool!

Thank you guys – from another ToT fan!

With my adaptation here, where units (taken from the original board game's counters) now contain elements within each unit. So for example in this last picture above, each group of 4 halftracks is a platoon [unit], and players roll for each halftrack present to hit with (or to be destroyed when fired at). Other units can join an attack, and add their elements firing to the total number of dice rolled (no "bump-up" per counter joining used anymore – just roll the additional elements involved in any combined attack together).

You can see two sets of the matching colored 6-siders in the last picture used for this, and so when firing multiple elements at their target, the players roll a hand of 6-sider sets altogether to determine the number of total hits on the elements of the targeted unit – each color-matching set of dice represents a single element firing (from one AFV, squad, AT Gun, etc. participating in an attack on an enemy unit).

This works pretty well as a simple "expansion" of the board game's individual counters [units], to a miniatures game's "units", that can now have their actual strengths in vehicles, squads, or hvy. weapons reflected within them (and accounted for in the combat mechanics).

I don't see any hexes on your mat. How is movement handled?

Hey Coopman!

The bordered field areas pattern on the mat serves as the measurement means for movement and firing (with movement allowed diagonally between areas). LOS is traced from the specific location of a unit within each area, just like most miniatures game's sighting is handled, so specific placement within an area can impact firing opportunities too.

Since the field areas have varied sizes, there's a "granularity" implied – one reason roads no longer need to be indicated – some areas being larger impart better mobility, and smaller areas more rough going. The different size fields also makes ranging less predictable, and can reflect the effects of tactical, intervening terrain characteristics not physically modeled [local obscuration implied], different atmospherics (mist, humidity, fog), as well as range-prediction variances implied (when few landmarks exist to allow for good ranging judgment).

Lastly, the hex-grid "pattern" is largely preserved, but there are sometimes differences in traversing opportunities (not to mention again the variances in movement distance granted between the differently sized fields) – all which imparts a terrain "cost" inherently-exerted to the map board.

Areas that have overlaid terrain placed within them – for towns and woods, still cost extra movement pts. (as per ToT), and the terrain within such areas is deemed to fill the whole enclosed area for LOS tracing.

My goal here was to get away from a map with what many miniatures gamers think is an unattractive hex-grid pattern, but with an attractive alternative, while still largely preserving the usefulness of a board game's gridded game system.

Btw, I've got a snowy and desert version of the above mat near completion.

Thanks. This is a great adaptation of ToT to miniatures and it really looks great. Well done!

that looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing. I needed the inspiration!

what manufacturer are these?

Hi Daler,

The vehicles are plastic 1/144th scale models (mine are all re-paints). The Soviet soldiers are Pendraken, and the German infantry in their dug-in positions are Pegasus Models (cut off at their waists and placed in epoxy putty foxholes).

Here's a list of the vehicle model makes -

World Tank Museum (the tanks and assault guns).
21st Century/New Millennium (the lend-lease US halftracks).
Pegasus Models (the German halftracks).
The 2nd photo above shows two batteries of Nashorns not featured in a close-up, but these are also WTMs.
Most of the buildings, with my weathering and custom bases, are Pegasus Models.

Also, a good, recent thread on the forum here about 10mm & 12mm – 1/144th scale model availability and collecting -

TMP link

thanks, I've just started 10mm. Good info!

This is something that looks like what I'd like to accomplish. Not a lot of terrain!

What is used as a battle mat?

What manufacturer are the houses?

What are you using for bases?

How did you make your tree canopies?

Would 10mm work in this case?

Beautiful work!!!

Thank you Sir!

The battle mat is a modified rendering (colors lightened and some fields were eliminated/enlarged) that I had printed out on advertising banner vinyl using Ivan's "Arable plain" texture file bought from Wargame Print, for my print shop to work from:

link

Btw, Tiny Wargames Battlemats has a pre-made mat that is close to what I use – not as many field areas on it (maybe half as many), so not as much "granularity" for moving and ranging battles, but also an option I would think:

tinywargames.co.uk/farmland

They also sell nice pre-made and textured hex mats too.

The plastic houses are from Pegasus Models (come in a 2-pack – they're timber-sided – they also sell "Ukraine houses" but these are too large for 12-10mm games). Bases are mine made from epoxy putty, any fencing submerged into the putty, and then flocked up. The buildings can be removed from the bases, to denote a destroyed area, and there's a small "imprint" outline of the model sides on each (done by pushing down each building model to make a "foundation" impression, then removed before the putty cures).

The hex bases are from Litko (2" plywood with die-cut sheet magnet bottoms – for storage retention). The tops of the plywood hexes are covered with railroad hobby "grass sheet" – glued on, then cut to each hex's edges. All my vehicles have rare earth magnets glued underneath them, and there's a small metal base placed underneath each grassed hex top – the vehicles therefore affix to the hex base, but aren't directly attached [not glued on] – so swapping to and from these bases reduces the need to make lots of them. Infantry bases have the figures permanently attached – epoxy putty textured, figures planted in the putty (it's a glue) and then flocked to match.

Ah, the tree canopies – a friend found this at Michael's craft store last year. It's a plastic floral material that is sold as a 12" X 12" sheet, might be 10" X 10" (it's a block of foliage), with each "plant" affixed to a protruding peg, and with each peg molded onto the product's block "frame" underneath. The plants (they look like individual miniature trees) can be pulled off from their pegs and based for using as a single tree – or, as seen above, as an area of miniature trees. This idea made "stacking" miniatures on top of the woods terrain possible, and eliminated the issue of gamers having to move trees around to place their units within the woods areas. I cut up the blocks to fit the areas on my mat, for a custom fit. These woods features were also covered with Noch-brand leaf flocking, but the plastic look of the stock foliage material has an appearance of small tree branches anyway.

10mm scale miniatures would work great! I've done this with both 3mm & 6mm figures too (see pics of both scales linked below – and with different style boards/woods). It's a pretty mature conversion now, and the local buds love it (really – "love" is the expression used). After 30-40+ years of playing WW2 armor games, and designing a few rules systems along the way too, this little setup is offering all us old grognards need:

link

Btw, I might preview a low-res view of my custom winter mat here – it's looking really cool!

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain your playing area.

Awesome stuff!!

A few pictures of the progress on my Tank On Tank "The Bulge" project -

The plan is to have all the vehicles painted, and the scenics finished for the planned con game in June (and hopefully the scenario playtested prior to that).