I've played WaT three times. Disclaimer: I've lost every game I've played so maybe I'm biased.
It's a command dice driven game like all TFL games. That means you don't always get to do what makes sense or do what you want to do when you want to do it. You do what the dice allows you to do and you figure that out yourself and there are generally many options. That gives players a lot of agency which can be a good thing. Some people call it the tail wagging the dog. There is a lot of thinking that can go into game turn which can take time.
On the other hand, if you need a specific die roll # to perform your next action and you don't get it your turn is over after you roll the dice and you do nothing for the turn. I think that's one of the biggest complaints.
What many players like is looking at the 4-6 command dice they've rolled and attempting to put together strategy and tactics for a turn that can allow you to perform from 0 to 3+ actions. Randomly limiting what you can or want to do is a good way to simulate friction and Fog of War.
Most games have a system that when it is your turn or you activate, a shooting command is magically executed immediately, no planning or real engage and shoot maneuvers are needed. WaT is more historical and realistic in that manner.
WaT is one of the only games that has players performing the same spot, engage, shoot and reload, shoot & scoot actions of a real tank crew. Great if you like that level of detail in a 1:1 game.
I've always said you should judge a game based on how well the designer met his goals of what he wanted to achieve. I think the TFL use of command dice does reflect the friction of war and limit what player can do achieves the designers intent. It really does not matter if you like it or not as that's a personal preference.
The multiple options for actions the dice presents forces players to think "tactically" what they can do next. Some vehicles have an advantage and can convert a die to a different command they want to issue so not all vehicles perform the same which is a good thing. Do all players like that approach? No.
In one game my opponent got a good roll and moved into my LOS directly into where I was over watching, spotted, halted, engaged, shot, reversed back out of my LOS and reloaded but since it was not my turn I was helpless.
Overall, I was impressed but it took him almost 2 minutes to figure just exactly how he was going to do it. However, as a player I was muttering to myself, "That could never happen." Could it have happened historically? Possibly but a long shot. Ideally, I'd like to see the reason for it.
I don't recall if there is a way to react or interrupt an opponent mid turn but the GM never gave me the option but there is probably a way I'm not familiar with.
I've seen players line up a shot and then three turns in a row get bad rolls resulting to no shot. It would be nice if there was some historical reason attached to it.
My limited experience with WaT is that it normally takes too long, especially for new players, to figure out what he is going to do after rolling the dice because there can be so many options. It seemed like operating more than two tanks was going to be a long game. I think the damage rules are too dice based, complicated and not historic but does work within the framework of the game. You could always use your own.
My OODA Loop timing approach uses the same basis for player actions and the sequence you need to perform them as WaT but with a different approach. The player decides what order he wants to issue and rolls a die to determine how long it will take. It plays a lot quicker so you can command more units. The game is more predictable than WaT but there is the unexpected surprise with a reason behind it.
When playing a game the more I mutter to myself, "Well, that could never happen" the less I enjoy the game. I also don't normally like games where a random die roll determines the initiative.
WaT is a great game if you enjoy the mechanics, tactics and Fog of War it creates. For some players they feel too much at the mercy of the dice. It is playable and fun for our group and we'll play it again this year but you will never please everyone.
Wolfhag
surprises her grandmother on her 80th birthday.
