Celles II – What a Tanker, After Action Report

 This was a rerun of a Bulge based ‘What a Tanker’ game, run a couple of years ago. The tanks were changed around a bit, but this was an excuse for a lightweight game and another chance to try out some rule mods. These rule mods are unashamedly cribbed from John Savage’s excellent ‘What a Cowboy’ rules, plus a couple of things from our own experiences with WaT.

The vehicle line up was;

·        Panther (Rob)

·        Panzer IVH + Stug IIIG (Steve)

·        Cromwell + Sherman M4 (Mal)

·        M10 Achillies II + Churchill IV (Dave)

The objective was to secure the bridge (South West corner). This would be achieved by having an operational tank within 18” of the bridge, while denying the opposition from having an operational tank within 18” of the bridge, for one complete turn. The minimum game length was 4 turns, so no easy dash to win.

The Brits got off to a flying start, with the Achillies dashing down to grab an overwatch slot at the back of the woods, near the bridge and the Cromwell making a sprint for the village centre. The Churchill & M4 brought up the rear, more sedately.

The Germans made a slower start. The Stug seemed to have trouble getting out of first gear and the Panther proved to like the woods a little too much!

Being in the van of the German forces proved fatal to the Mark IV, as it quickly succumbed to a lucky shot from the Cromwell. Seeing this burning wreck, the Stug decided to hang back, but then got into a long range, ineffectual slugging match with the Churchill, that had lumbered into the field to the North East of the village.

Deciding that the bridge had to be contested, the Panther pushed forward, to the South of the village. However, its advance was spotted and rapidly contended by the Achillies to it’s front and then by the Cromwell to it’s rear. When the M4 turned up too, the Panther decided to make a dramatic sprint around the M4, through the village and out to the West (what else do you do with three 1s and 2 6s?!).

While the M10 tried to hold the Panther’s attention to it’s front, the Cromwell dashed around the Panther’s rear. Easy shot! Missed twice!! The brave Cromwell crew paid dearly for these misses, as the Panther pivoted and blasted the Cromwell to pieces.

Sadly, while the Panther was dealing with the Cromwell, the Achillies was unable to exploit the exposed rear of the Panther, as it had become bogged down in the woods. So, it was left to the lowly Sherman to tackle the raging cat!

The Sherman bravely distracted the big cat, while the Achillies untangled itself, enabling it to slide into a firing position, from where it despatched the cat, with a well placed 17 pounder shell!

This left the Stug crew with a dilemma. Retreat with dishonour or charge on, to a glorious end?! After the earlier stuttering, the Stug was now positively flying! Passed the Churchill, despatching the Achillies, then around Sherman and into the village. However, the Sherman had other ideas and roared after the Stug and exploiting the flexibility of the turret, it despatched the Stug with a close range flank shot!

Another fun and fast game of ‘What a Tanker’ and another chance to test out the ‘bonanza’ style rule mods, which seem to add a little extra dimension to the game.