Hell on Wheels

The purpose of the game is to simulate the tactics and command and control problems facing individual tank troop/platoon commanders. Of necessity, such a game cannot expect to cover fully all aspects of tank combat at this level, and therefore I have chosen to gloss over the detail of the tank gun Vs armour battle, in favour of a more detailed communications and reactions system. Everything is very simple, but it is very difficult to do the simplest things.

The game requires a minimum of two participants, Control and Player. The Control determines a fixed (or semi-fixed) defence for the player to fight through. Since such actions are likely to be fast and furious, there is often plenty of opportunity for Player and Control to swap roles. The Player is the commander of a single tank troop/platoon of whatever type the scenario dictates. These rules are written with the European campaign, 1944 in mind, but the structure can be applied to almost any tank engagement, with some small modifications.

– Hell on Wheels introduction

Designer

Jim Wallman

Year Published

1986

Status

In Print

Contents

Available online (15-page PDF)

Scale

It is vital that the scale of the terrain is identical to that of the vehicle models used.

As a guide, ground/model scales would be:

1/300 scale = 1" to 8 metres or 12" to 100 metres.

1/200 scale = 1" to 5 metres or 20" to 100 metres.

1/76 scale = 1" to 2 metres or 50" to 100 metres.

Clearly the smaller scales are more practical, and the rules assume 1/300 models where appropriate.

Each move represents about 20-40 seconds.

Each player represents one platoon/troop commander.

– Hell on Wheels page 2

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