"What a Tanker questions" Topic

Hi guys. Plannng on our first WAT game later this week. Quick question. Is Aim lost after hitting target with superficial damage and has to move straight back 1-5 inches? Also, Tanks without turret have a 60º buttoned and 90º unbottuned view for target acquisition/aiming? How does this works? Thanks.

Any movement causes Aim to be lost by each tank.

Acquisition is 180º (90º to each side) if unbuttoned and 60º if buttoned up. (Tanks without a turret can be unbuttoned, the commander standing in an open hatch.)

A tank that is being aimed at must be within the 60 degree firing arc of the main gun, whether turreted or without a turret.

Have fun!

Chuck

Thanks very much Schogun. It's clear now. to get such degrees closer to ideal what is the optimal printing size per sidesof the hexagon of the universal tanker tool for 1/56 models like Warlords Bolt Action ones? Thanks again.

I ended up drawing lines on my tanker tool with a sharpie pen so I could see the angles better.

You can use a regular protractor if you wish.

Excelent tips. Thanks again Schogun.

Ok, I am running a solo game to practice with the rules before teaching the game to my gaming group next weekend. There was a situation where a Panzer III was acquired previously by a Sherman and during its turn it passed behind a woods area and was out of the sights of the Sherman momentarily in the process and ended it's movement in the woods less than 4 inches from the edge again being visible to the Sherman. Is the Panzer III still acquired by the Sherman or not? Targets loose acquired status by disappearing completely momentarily during the same movement activation? Thanks.

Yes, even temporary loss of acquisition means it needs to be re-established.
You could perhaps'House Rule' for such situations, giving predictable reappearance a -1 needed to reacquire?

Yeah, that might be a fair alternative for a house rule.I forgot to mention that the Panzer had also previously acquired the Sherman so I guess they were in the same situation. Thanks Herkybird.

BTW, How many 3's can you use to help aiming per shot and reduce hitting? Is there a diference if were 6's turned to 3's? Also, how many 6's can you use to add dice to shooting? For recovering temporary damage dice?

I got the answers to my last questions. After a couple of solo games and taking into consideration that is a "fast light" game I find a little strange that a tank can keep its original armour value after being hit several times, including temporary and permanent damage.

Still is a promising and very fun casual game. I am sure my gaming group will enjoy it.

If a tank begins the game with 75mm of frontal armour, how much would it have after being hit several times? I think the answer is 75mm. Hence the value remaining the same.

Yeah, the damage a tank sustains due to fire is rarely something that blasts off big chunks of armor or substantially weakens the plate/chassis. Damage is usually more specific and granular than that, and generally involves damaged subsystems (which is reflected in both the permanent loss of Action Dice and the "critical hits"). A flank hit resulting in shrapnel rattling around in your transfer case might make it hard to shift gears, but doesn't make your turret more vulnerable to penetration.

It's also worth noting that even in cases of tank "kills," the damage isn't always catastrophic. That sort of thing is generally reserved for cooking off ammunition stored internally (which means HE detonating in a confined space). A penetrating hit that causes an immediate vehicular kill usually does so because it either a) started an internal fire, or b) killed the entire crew due to spalling/fragmentation. Both of these can be accomplished by making a pretty small external hole in the armor.

Almost everything else is a "mission kill," meaning the tank is damaged and out of the immediate action, but can be brought back into serviceability relatively quickly – often with the same crew who operated it previously (i.e. they bailed out, but lived). The German motor pool technicians with the Afrika Korps were notoriously adept at repairing tanks knocked out by enemy action in a very short time, for instance.

Well, I understand the technological and the physics part of your argument is solid, which by the way I am completely aware of. I appreciate your efforts to illustrate me in such facts. What I was trying to say is that the game is too "light" and "arcade" style to my taste, but still fun.

With such rules literature, you cannot compromise to make realistic judgements specially after 2 solo games. I will come back with a closer to the truth judgement after the group session.

Thanks again

Oh, yeah, WAT isn't designed to be hyper-realistic. It's designed to capture just enough of the important concepts of tank command to be interesting, but simplify and abstract the difficulties enough to play quickly and be easy to learn. "Arcade style" is actually pretty apt.

But it's a ton of fun! :)

Yeah, you are right Munin llor. So far my biggest concern is that the game might become a "cannon contest" with 2 tanks shooting at each other from cover endlessly. But we will see.

By the way, how do you guys handle to determine and agree with other players when a tank is shooting front, side, rear? Firing tank have to cross the front/rear line of the other tank? Is there a formula for diagonals or visibility?

Thanks again guys. Cheers.

I find 1 on 1 tank battles are often a 'sit and throw dice at each other till one dies' unless using a lot of terrain to manoeuvre round. Using several tanks a side makes things more interesting, at least to me.
The angle template…
link
is very easy to use, and the 'formulas' for calculating the variables are in the rules. Essentialy if shooting a tank from outside a 60 degree arc on the targets front, the shooter is firing at its flank (or rear if shooting at the rear 60 degree arc)