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[Mark 1]

This is the first post in a series. I am trying to re-post here some AARs that have originally been posted in other forums.These are the stories of the BATN-PPs (Bay Area TankNet Pewter Pushers). TankNet is the web's premier military discussion forum, with thousands of current-serving and veteran members worldwide. BATN-PPs are not so much a club as a collection of treadheads in the SF Bay Area who like to get together to play with tanks ... sometimes true scale, sometimes micro scale.I have been wargaming with micro armor for over 30 years. Started in about 1972 or 3 with WRG Armor and Infantry rules. I've played at least half a dozen rulesets since then. I have been on a sort of Quixotic quest to find rules that are 1-to-1 unit scale, have enough detail to drive my imagination, and yet are fast-playing enough so that an experienced set of gamers can manage battalion-sized battles.After much searching I have settled on Mein Panzer. This series of AARs traces our experiences from our first game over two years ago.This AAR describes our first game played with the Mein Panzer rules. It took place in April of 2006 at my home in Pleasanton, CA. The only house mod to the rules is the use of chits for hidden-units, an approach which is described in the AAR below and is an artifact of all of my gaming.Our cast of characters from this particular battle (all TankNet screen names):Mark-1: That's me.C.G. Erickson: Plumbs the depths of WW2 armor. Heavy construction tradesman who has done some of the welding on the Littlefield's Panther restoration project. Also an amature historian who likes to spend time in the national archives.yak_v (Vlad): Russian ex-pat well known in the scale modelling community for his amazing photo walk-arounds of Soviet museum pieces (check out SVSM.org), who's first book (Raising the Red Banner: The Pictoral History of Stalin's Fleet) is now available on Amazon for your holiday shopping pleasure.Manic Moran: Currently a US Army captain commanding a squadron in the 11th Cav. Some of the photos of his experiences commanding a platoon of Abrams MBTs in Iraq a few years back have become fairly famous. Here's his online gallery: http://www.primeport..._home.htmHarold Jones: Drove an Abrams in Desert Storm back in the day...Colin Williams: Surveyor and military history hobbyist living in the Bay Area.And now to the battle..._____________Our battlefield was on the northern portion of the Eastern Front, in the spring of 1943.C.G. provided the battle terrain. He makes marvelous game boards. These are his newest. He has finished only four in the series so far. 18 total are planned. They are 1 x 2 foot boards, built up with foam on top of birch plywood.Our game scale was 1 inch = 50 yards. Unit scale was 1-to-1 (one tank model = 1 tank).And so we see our battlefield. We are looking from the South. The paved road runs across from east to west, then northward up the west side of the board. There is a dirt road running south to north along the east edge. There are two sets of ridges between these roads. The higher steeper ridge to the east runs only halfway from north to south. The lower gentle ridge line to the west runs up the whole length of the board, but with several passes. Running down the norther half of the board there is a little valley between the ridges. A logging trail cuts across the high ridge from the eastern dirt road.In our battles, we use paper "chits" for the units until they have been spotted. Players often also get some extra blank chits to move as if they were units. Using this technique screening forces, recon, reserves, and bluffing all become much more common in wargaming.Here we see the Germans coming on the board along the roads, seen from the northwest corner. C.G. started with one platoon of 4 Pz IIILs and one platoon of 4 StuG IIIGs. We Soviets did not know what forces he had.Soviets are coming on, as seen from the southeast corner. Manic had a short company of T-34s, two platoons of 3 each, and a company commander. I had a company of KV-1s, two platoons of 2 each with a company commander.Manic brought one of his platoons, and his company commander, on along the dirt road from the south edge, seen in the foreground. I came in with my whole force cross-country from the east, with my sothernmost flank along the road, with Manic's second platoon a bit to my north, seen here in the distance.The chits start shadow-boxing, as each side maneuvers without knowing the enemy's true strength. C.G. pushed his StuGs down the road, and took his Pz IIIs (seen here) into the small valley. Manic maneuvered his second platoon of T-34s along the opposite side of the ridge, looking for the logging road.The StuGs advance southward down the road.Which just happens to be the same road Manic's first platoon and company CO are orienting on.The StuGs draw the first blood.(more to come...)

[Mark 1]

The T-34s maneuver for position along the low ridge.Now the StuGs have another problem. Note the KVs in the distance, drawing their attention from the T-34s!This is becoming an unhealthy environment. This StuG was disabled by the T-34s, and then killed by a flank shot from the KVs.And the KVs advance. Manic's T-34s make a dash across the road.One is hit by a StuG. The vehicle is not damaged, but the crew is disoriented by the hit, and the tank roles to a stop in just the wrong place.Where it is hit again, with more permanent results.But the remaining T-34s advance, stunning, and later killing, the StuG in the road. The surviving StuGs now face T-34s to their front, and KVs to their side, and start pulling back. (more...)

[Mark 1]

(cont'd)In the meantime, to the north and east ...C.G.'s Pz IIIs are moving up the small valley, carefully picking their way through the trees.While the KVs have decided to do just the same.Hmmm, I wonder what's up there?Nevermind!Speedbump? Comrade, I did NOT feel a speedbump. What speedbump do you speak of?(Notice that only three KVs are advancing. That's one platoon, plus the company CO. Hmmm, I wonder where the other KVs have gotten off to?)C.G. has to worry not only about the KVs, but he also has the problem of the T-34s finding their way up to the top of the ridge along that logging trail.Manic's T-34s have successfully turned the Pz III's flank. They now hold the high ground.While the KVs are still advancing to their front.C.G.'s position is difficult. He tries to do a fighting withdrawal verus the KVs while T-34s snipe at him from the high ground. He looses another Pz III to Manic in the process. His In the meantime, the StuGs are fighting to the death, and dying, on the road.The situation is grave.(more ...)

[Mark 1]

(cont'd)At this critical juncture, the re-inforcements arrived!Colin Williams came on with a platoon of 4 Pz IVf2s, and a platton of 4 TIGERS!At the same time, Yak_v came on with another short company of T-34s, while Harold rolled on with a short company of T-70s (each with 2 platoons of 3, and a company CO).Colin split his force on the same lines C.G. had. He sends his Tigers south on the road, and diverts his Pz IVs towards the little valley. As C.G. had been giving ground, the action was already in the German's side of the board, and Colin's Pz IVs found themselves in action almost immediately.A furious exchange of gunfire, and the Pz IVs find themselves on the short end of the stick vs. the KVs advancing with T-34s firing in support.Soon a single Pz IV remains, sheltering behind the trees. A KV has been immobilized, but Manic's T-34s are now advancing. C.G.'s sole remaining Pz III tries to find a sniping position of his own, but more chits are coming up the eastern dirt road, so his position becomes progressively more risky. There will be no stopping the Soviet juggernaut at this end of the board.South down the road, perhaps a different story will be told. The Tigers advance past the wreckage of their compatriots.Manic's T-34 TC says: "Shhh, maybe if we're very quiet, they won't notice us..."GONG! Wrong answer! Thank you for playing. Next?Colin's Tigers set to work merrily chopping up Manic's T-34s.Oh look, we've found the other KVs! At less than 6 inches (300 yards), Colin discovers that his sides are vulnerable. The lead Tiger to the west of the road dies.And then just as suddenly, Yak_v (Vlad)'s T-34s arrive on the scene, and charge headlong at the Tigers. At this moment the next Tiger down the line, in the middle of the road, makes a particularly bad roll. His gun is jammed! We find that, at a range of 100 yards or less, even the frontal armor of the Tiger is not immune to T-34 fire!(more ...)

[Mark 1]

(cont'd)Now it is the Colin's turn to try to withdraw.But of course Tiger's are not optimized for running. They are not faster than T-34s, much less faster than 76.2mm AP rounds, and their backsides are even MORE vulnerable.The last Tiger turns to make his stand. It was a brief and futile gesture.C.G. managed to sneak off the base of the board to the north with his remaining Pz III, while Colin managed the same with his surviving Pz IV.The bells rang in Moscow that evening. I hope a good time was had by all.This was a test game of the ODGW rules. We started with the "basic" rules, with only three of us. We found them playable, but not entirely satisfying. Two issues bothered us -- while range affected the accuracy of guns, range seemed to have no impact on the penetration of an AP round; and it was entirely too easy to be killed when you were in an ambush position. To this latter point, C.G. positioned a Pz III to watch the logging road, but Manic was able to crest the rise and kill the Pz III before it got a shot off. We all agreed that was what the rules provided for, and also that it was not reasonable.So at that point we switched to the advanced rules. We found these to be quite a bit more satisfying. Range affected both accuracy and penetration. And vehicles in overwatch got reaction fire to targets that entered their observed zones. With that, we found that C.G. was able to pick-off one of Manic's T-34s as they crossed the road. The reaction-fire mechanism gives these rules a capability similar to one of the strong points of the prior rules we were playing -- namely that a stationary unit (on overwatch) will shoot up a unit that tries to charge it. I like the Eastern Front from 41 to 43 as a test of wargaming rules. It is hard for rules makers to reconcile the strength of Soviet tanks with the actual results of that period. I find too many rulesets that discount Soviet armor and guns. I found that these rules fit my own notions better than most -- Soviet armor was strong, Soviet guns were adequate, particularly at close range. But there is much room in these rules to replicate German successes, as every shot starts with a base number set according to crew quality, which is then modified by the details of the gun, the ammunition, and the situation. In our game the German tanks shot more accurately, and more often, than the Soviet tanks did. But the battlefield was small, and the fighting took place at close quarters, where the Soviets' number carried the day. On the open steppe, it might have been a very different story. So we have more reason to play again, and soon! Watch for other AAR threads in this series! Questions and comments are quite welcome.-Mark 1

[Sacha]

Awesome write up!

[Tu Tran]

Enjoyed reading your AAR. Look forward to more. :)

[Bob Benge]

Excellent AAR! :)