Tanks: Panther vs Sherman Starter Set
Tanks: Panther vs Sherman Starter Set Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Tank Heroes of WWII
German
The legendary Michael Wittmann is the most recognised tank ace of World War II. After a short stint in Poland commanding an armoured car, he took command of a Sturmgeschütz assault gun for the Russian Campaign. There his talent for knocking out tanks became obvious.
Shortly after D-Day, now in command of a Tiger tank, he almost single-handedly, stopped an entire British armoured division, destroying dozens of tanks in the process. His single-handed attack saved the elite Panzer Lehr Division from being cut off and wiped out. For this feat, he was awarded the Swords for his Knight's Cross.
Featured tanks: Panzer IV, Panther.
British
During Operation Totalize, the breakout after D-Day, Joe Ekins fought his first and only battle as a Sherman Firefly gunner. During the battle Ekins knocked out three Tiger tanks in less than twelve minutes with just a handful of shots. One of his victims may have been Germany's top ace, Michael Wittmann. Later that day he added a Panzer IV to his tally. For Joe Ekins one day behind a 17 pdr gun was enough to prove his status as an ace gunner.
Featured tanks: Sherman Firefly, Comet.
American
Golden Gloves boxer and tank commander, Lafayette Pool's combat career was so successful that many historians consider him to be not just the greatest tank ace of World War II, but the greatest tank ace ever—destroying 258 enemy vehicles and twelve tanks (most of them dreaded German Panthers). His tank crew called him 'War Daddy' and he called them his 'Pups'.
The first tank they rode into combat was a Sherman tank named 'In the Mood'. During Pool's tour in combat he had three tanks of that name shot out from under him.
Staff Sergeant Pool left Europe with the Distinguished Service Cross, Legion of Merit, a Silver Star, and a Purple Heart—as well as 17 bits of shrapnel in his neck, and an artificial leg. In 1946 he re-joined the army to train a new generation of tankers.
Featured tanks: Sherman (76mm), Pershing.
Soviet
When the Germans killed her soldier husband, Mariya Oktyabrskaya sold all her possessions to donate a tank to the Red Army. She had one condition, that she got to drive it. Stalin quickly agreed to Mariya's simple demand.
Mariya arrived at her unit in a T-34 tank emblazoned with the turret slogan 'Fighting Girlfriend'. Mariya quickly distinguished herself as a skilled and fearless driver, manoeuvring her tank like a veteran. In several engagements enemy shells damaged the tracks and halted her T-34. Mariya, often disregarding orders not to, would jump out of the tank while under fire and effect repairs to get back into action as fast as possible.
In August 1944, after leading the way in dozens of battles, Mariya was posthumously awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union—the Red Army's highest award for military valour.
Featured tanks: T-34/85, SU-100.
Turn Sequence
During the game players will play through a number of turns until one player achieves victory. Each turn consists of three Phases:
1. Movement Phase
This is when your tanks move. Players will move each of their tanks in Initiative order starting with the lowest Initiative tanks moving on to the highest Initiative.
2. Shooting Phase
This is when your tanks get to shoot. Players will shoot with each of their tanks in Initiative order starting with the highest Initiative moving on to the lowest Initiative.
3. Command Phase
In this phase you will mark destroyed tanks, repair special damage, check for victory conditions, shuffle the Critical card deck, and clear all the Speed tokens.
Components
Tank Cards
Tank cards are easy reference cards that you can use to keep track of your tank's stats and the damage they have taken.
Crew and Upgrade Cards
You can use Crew and Upgrade cards to modify your tank. These are usually hidden until used for the first time.
Tank Cards — Card Anatomy
- Tank Name — This is the name of the tank.
- Point Value — This is how much the card costs to add it to your army.
- Country — This identifies the country that fielded this tank.
- Initiative — This determines the order in which tanks move and shoot during the turn.
- Keywords — These keywords tell you what rules apply to your tank.
- Attack — This shows how many dice you roll each turn when shooting.
- Damage Capacity — This shows how much damage this tank can sustain. This is shown as a number and with Damage Points that can be marked with a dry-erase marker.
- Defence — This shows how many defence dice you roll when shot at.
- Crew Slots — You can add one Crew Card to your tank for each Crew Slot.
- Tank Description — This text describes the tank.
Crew and Upgrades — Card Anatomy
- Card Name — This is the name of the Upgrade or Crew card.
- Point Cost — This is how much the card costs to add it to your army. This is printed on the back of the upgrade card as well.
- Card Effect — This tells you what the card does during the game.
- Country — This identifies which country can use this card.
- Card Type — A tank is limited to one Upgrade or Crew card of each type.
- Hero — Hero cards are marked with a medal. You may not have multiple copies of a Hero card in your force.
Critical Cards
These cards are used when a tank scores a Critical Hit.
Card Anatomy
- Card Name — This is the name of the Critical card.
- Damage Effect — Some Critical cards do damage.
- Special Effect — Some Critical cards have additional and lasting effects on the target.
- Repairable — Some Critical cards with Special effects are Repairable, these are repaired during the Command Phase.
Tokens
These tokens are used to mark Objectives and to keep track of each tank's condition.
- Speed — These numbered tokens indicate how many times a tank moved this turn.
- Damaged or Destroyed — Place these tokens to indicate which tanks have been damaged or destroyed this game.
- Objectives — These tokens are used during certain missions (see Missions).
- Tank Identification — These paired tokens can be used in bigger games to keep track of which card belongs to which tank.
Measuring Arrow
The Measuring Arrow is used for many Tasks in TANKS. Including terrain set up, mission setup, movement and checking for short range shooting.
The tail shows how far a tank can move. The whole template is used for other measurements.
Game Set Up
Attackers will gain the upper hand when their opponent's army has similar Initiative stats, while a Defender can make the most of the terrain.
Table Setup
TANKS is played on a 3'x3' or 90cm x 90cm table. Both players start the game by rolling a die. The player with the higher roll places the first piece of terrain. Players alternate placing terrain, starting with the two woods and moving on to the four buildings, until all six terrain pieces have been placed. Terrain pieces may not be placed within a Measuring Arrow of another piece of terrain or any table edge.
Attacker or Defender
After the terrain is set up, each player rolls another die, and the player with the higher result may choose whether to be the Attacker or Defender. The attacker wins all ties in Initiative while the defender chooses which side of the table they want to deploy on.
Deployment
The Defender now chooses a table side to deploy from. The Attacker will deploy on the opposite table edge.
The players place their tanks on the table in Initiative order. The tank with the lowest initiative is placed first, before moving up through higher initiative values.
To deploy a tank place the Measuring Arrow so that it is touching your edge of the table. Place the tank square against the tail of the Measuring Arrow.
Deployment example: After the German player has placed their StuG G assault gun (Initiative 3) and Panzer IV tank (Initiative 5), the US player places their Pershing, Sherman (76mm), and Sherman (75mm) tanks (Initiative 6). Because the German player is the Attacker, they place their Jagdpanther (Initiative 6) after the US player places their Initiative 6 tanks.
Initiative Ties
When you have a tie in Initiative between two players' tanks the Attacker's tank always counts as having a higher Initiative than the Defender's.
If you have Initiative ties between tanks in the same army, the owning player chooses the order in which those tanks take their actions.
Movement
In the Movement Phase, both players move any or all of their tanks.
Initiative
The Movement Phase starts with the tank with the lowest Initiative and proceeds up through the Initiative order to the tank with the highest Initiative.
Tanks with high Initiative move later in the turn, allowing them to react to their opponent's every move.
Moving a Tank
To move your tank, place the Measuring Arrow touching any part of your tank and facing in any direction. Then pick up the tank and place it anywhere along the Arrow squared up against the Tail. Tanks move along the Measuring Arrow, ending their move square against the tail. You cannot move past the Tail of the Measuring Arrow. Tanks can rotate using the Measuring Arrow.
Rapid Movement
If your tank is moving rapidly, it can move again in exactly the same way. Tanks can move twice in a turn. Complete the first move before making any subsequent move.
As a tank races across the battlefield, and dodges enemy shells, its crew find it hard to fire accurately. Only when they come to a halt can they employ their gun to full effect.
Place Speed Token
After moving your tank, place a Speed token showing how many times it moved. The faster your speed, the harder you will be to hit, but the harder it will be for you to hit the enemy.
Staying Stationary
Your tank does not have to move. If you leave the tank where it is, you do not gain a Speed token. Instead, your shooting becomes more effective.
Terrain
Your battlefield has several different types of terrain to fight through and around.
Buildings
Buildings block Line of Sight to tanks hidden behind them and give Cover to tanks partially behind them. Buildings are Impassable to movement.
Woods
Woods block Line of Sight to tanks hidden behind them and give Cover to tanks partially behind them. Woods can give Cover to tanks on their edges. Tanks completely within a Wood, and anything they shoot at, are in Cover. Woods do not hinder movement.
You can use Gale Force 9 Battlefield in a Box terrain to replace the card terrain for a three-dimensional battlefield.
Destroyed Tanks
Destroyed tanks block Line of Sight to tanks hidden behind them and give Cover to tanks partially behind them. Destroyed tanks are Impassable to movement.
Impassable Terrain
A tank cannot end its movement in Impassable terrain. If the Measuring Arrow crosses Impassable terrain, the tank must stop moving when it reaches the Impassable terrain.
Card Terrain
When using the cardboard terrain supplied with the game, treat the whole piece of cardboard as the terrain piece, regardless of where the illustration ends.
Shooting
In the Shooting Phase, both players shoot with any or all of their tanks.
Initiative
The Shooting Phase starts with the tank with the highest Initiative and proceeds down through the Initiative order to the tank with the lowest Initiative.
Pick Your Target
The first thing to do when shooting with a tank is pick a target. There are no range limits, so your choice of target is only limited by Line of Sight, and in some cases, the tank's Firing Arc.
Line of Sight
A tank has a Line of Sight to its target if you can draw a line from the tank's turret to any part of the target tank without passing through any other tank or any Blocking terrain.
Line of Sight for tanks with the Assault Gun keyword is measured from the point the gun barrel crosses the front of the hull.
Firing Arc
Most tanks can shoot in any direction. As an exception, an Assault Gun can only shoot at a tank if either:
- its entire hull (excluding protruding gun barrels) is in front of the Assault Gun, or
- any part of its hull (again excluding protruding gun barrels) is directly in front of the Assault Gun.
Example: Pete's Panther has an Attack value of 5, so it rolls five Attack dice, scoring 2, 4, 5, 6, and 6. This gives it two Hits (the 4 and 5) and two Critical Hits (the two 6s).
Roll Attack Dice
When shooting, you roll Attack Dice. The number of dice you roll is your tank's Attack number modified by any relevant Crew and Upgrade cards.
Each result of 4 or 5 scores a Hit, and each 6 scores a Critical Hit.
Shooting While Stationary
You may re-roll all of the Attack dice for a tank that remained stationary instead of moving. If you do so, you must use the new roll, even if it is worse than the original roll.
Example (continued): Andrew's Sherman tank has a Defence value of 1 and moved twice to get itself into the middle of a wood. It is being shot at by Pete's Panther tank, which moved once. Andrew starts with four Defence dice: one for its Defence, two for its Speed, and one for the attacker's speed.
Roll Defence Dice
Once the shooting player has made their Attack roll (and any re-rolls), the target player rolls their Defence dice. The number of dice you roll is your tank's Defence number, modified for Movement, Cover, Close Range, and Side Shots, and by any relevant Crew and Upgrade cards. A tank can never roll more than six Defence dice.
Each result of 4 or 5 cancels a Hit or Critical Hit chosen by the shooting player, and each 6 cancels a Hit or a Critical Hit chosen by the target player.
Shooting Tank's Movement
Add one Defence die for each move that the shooting tank made (as shown by the Speed token beside it).
Target Tank's Movement
Add one Defence die for each move that the target tank made (as shown by the Speed token beside it).
Example (continued): Andrew's Sherman tank is in Cover, but also within one Measuring Arrow of Pete's Panther. So it gains a die for being in Cover, but loses one for Close Range, leaving it with its original four Defence dice. Andrew rolls and scores 1, 2, 4, and 6. This cancels two Hits or Critical Hits, one chosen by Pete (the 4), and one chosen by Andrew (the 6).
Cover
Add one Defence die if the target tank is in Cover.
A target is in Cover if you cannot draw a line from the tank's turret (or the point the gun crosses the hull of an Assault Gun) to at least three corners of the target tank without passing through any other tank or any terrain that Blocks Line of Sight or gives Cover.
Ignore terrain directly underneath the shooting tank (not the whole terrain piece) when determining if the target is in Cover.
Close Range
Subtract one Defence die if the shooting tank is within one Measuring Arrow (including the head) of the target tank.
Side Shot
Subtract one Defence die if any part of the shooting tank's hull (excluding protruding gun barrels) is behind the front of the target tank.
Example (continued): Pete chooses to cancel one of the Hits, while Andrew chooses to cancel one of the Critical Hits, so Andrew's Sherman tank takes one Hit and one Critical Hit. Andrew crosses off a Damage Point on the Sherman's card for the Hit, and draws a Critical card. He draws Busted Tracks. The Busted Tracks card has a Damage Effect of 1, so Andrew crosses off another Damage Point. It also has a Special Effect - preventing the tank from moving - so he places the Critical card on his tank's card as a reminder.
Assess Damage
Compare the results of the shooting player's Attack roll and the target player's Defence roll.
Hits
Each Hit that is not cancelled after the Defence roll does one point of Damage to the target tank. Cross off a Damage Point on the tank's card with a dry erase marker, or place a Damage token on the tank.
Critical Hits
The target player draws a Critical card for each Critical Hit that is not cancelled after the Defence roll.
If the card has a Damage Effect, mark off the number of Damage Points shown from the tank's card with a dry erase marker, or place Damage tokens on the tank.
If the card has a Special Effect, apply that effect immediately. If the card is Repairable (marked with a wrench symbol), place the Critical card on the Tank card to remind the players of its effect, otherwise place the Critical card on the discard pile.
Final Fury
Even if a tank has all of its Damage Points crossed off, and will be destroyed at the end of the turn, it can still shoot when its turn in the Initiative order comes around (unless prevented from doing so by a Special Effect).
Command Phase
The Command Phase has four steps.
1. Destroy Tanks
Mark any tank that no longer has any Damage left by placing a Destroyed token on the tank and discarding all Critical cards placed on it. For the rest of the game this tank stays in place as Impassable terrain.
2. Check For Victory
If your opponent no longer has any tanks in play (they are all Destroyed), you win the game.
3. Repair Damage
Each tank may attempt to repair the Special Effect of one Critical card with the Repairable keyword. On a roll of 4, 5, or 6, discard the Critical card. When you repair a Critical card you only remove the card and its Special Effect, any Damage taken from that hit remains.
4. Reset the field
Remove all Speed tokens and shuffle discarded Critical cards back into the Critical deck, ready for the next turn.
Keyword Reference
Assault Gun
This tank gun can only shoot targets entirely in front of it. Line of Sight for this tank is measured from the point the gun barrel crosses the front of the hull.
Blitzkrieg (German)
This tank may make a single Move instead of making a Repair Damage roll in the Command Phase.
Coordinated Fire (Soviet)
If the target of this tank's shooting was shot at earlier in the Shooting Phase by another friendly tank that is within one Measuring Arrow of this one, this tank gains an additional Attack die.
Fast
This tank may make up to three Moves during the Movement Phase.
Gung Ho (American)
Treat this tank as making one less Move than shown on its Speed token when calculating its target's Defence dice.
Semi-Indirect Fire (British)
The player may choose to keep one of their die results and re-roll the rest when shooting while stationary with this tank.
Building Your Platoon
Your Platoon will consist of three different types of cards: Tank cards, Crew cards and Upgrade cards.
Point Limit
Before a game, players agree on a set point limit for their Platoons. Try playing your first few games at 50 points and build up to 100 points. Once you get the hang of things you can play bigger or smaller games.
Picking Your Country
Each player picks a Country and only uses tanks and upgrades available to the chosen Country. For example, Jack wants to create a German army. He fields two Panther tanks and a StuG assault gun. Jack can add the Ernst Barkmann Crew card to his army since it has the German symbol. On the other hand, Jack cannot add the 'Jailbird' Boggs Crew card because it has the US symbol.
Global Cards
Global cards (shown with a globe symbol) can be taken by an army from any country. These represent the more common types of Crew and Upgrades that every country had access to.
Tank Cards
Your Platoon may contain any mix of tanks as long as they are from the same Country. When playing a game these cards are kept face up so that all players can reference them.
Upgrade and Crew Cards
You can only take one of each Type of Upgrade or Crew card on a single tank. Each Crew and Upgrade card has a Type such as Commander or Ammo.
Upgrade and Crew cards start the game face down so your opponent does not know what upgrades your tank has, but they can see the point cost on the back of the cards. The first time you use a card you must flip the card face up for the rest of the game.
Crew Slots
The Crew Slots on Tank cards indicate how many Crew they can have, a tank with three crew slots can have a Commander, Gunner, and Loader, but would not be able to add a further Driver since it would already have three Crew members. Slip Crew cards underneath the Tank card, taking up one Crew Slot each.
Hero Crew Cards
Hero cards are marked with a medal. These represent real heroes that fought during the war. Players can only field one of each Hero Crew card in their army.
Missions
There are a number of ways to play TANKS beyond the basics. This section describes four different styles of game.
Panzer Ace
This is the basic game as described in the rules. You win by being the last player with operational tanks on the battlefield. If you run out of time (or play to a set time limit, say 30 minutes or an hour), the player that Destroyed the most points worth of tanks at that time wins the game. Include the points values of any Crew and Upgrade cards that Destroyed tanks started the game with.
King of the Hill
You win this mission either by destroying all of the enemy tanks, or by holding the centre of the battlefield against all comers.
Table Set Up
After placing the terrain, place an Objective token in the centre of the board.
Check for Victory
When checking for victory in the Command Phase, you gain one Victory Point if you have a tank within a Measuring Arrow of the centre of the Objective Token and your opponent does not. You cannot claim a Victory Point in the first turn.
When you score three Victory Points, you win the game.
If you run out of time, the player that has the most Victory Points at that time wins the game. In the case of a tie, the player that Destroyed the most wins.
Free-For-All
You win this mission by penetrating your opponent's lines to take your objective, or by just wiping them out.
Table Set Up
After placing the terrain, each player (starting with the Attacker) places an Objective token within a Measuring Arrow of the opponent's side of the board.
Check for Victory
When checking for victory in the Command Phase, you gain one Victory Point if you have a tank within a Measuring Arrow of the centre of the Objective Token that you placed and your opponent does not. You cannot claim a Victory Point in the first turn.
When you score at least two Victory Points and have more Victory Points than your opponent, you win the game.
If you run out of time, the player that has the most Victory Points at that time wins the game. In the case of a tie, the player that Destroyed the most wins.
No Retreat
The attacker wins this mission by defeating the defender on their home ground.
Table Set Up
After placing the terrain, the Attacker places two Objective tokens within a Measuring Arrow of the Defender's side of the board.
Check for Victory
When checking for victory in the Command Phase, the Attacker gains one Victory Point if they have a tank within a Measuring Arrow of the centre of an Objective Token and the Defender does not.
The game ends after eight turns. If the Attacker scores two Victory Points before this point, they win the game. Otherwise, the Defender wins the game.
Assembly
Plastic tank kits need some assembly before they hit the battlefield. The next few pages show you how to do this.
- Carefully remove parts from the frame using a pair of clippers or a hobby knife. Using a sharp blade is safer, because you will not need to apply as much force, so you are less likely to slip and cut yourself. Remember to always cut away from yourself.
- Trim off any remaining tags or lumps from the frame with a hobby knife or a file.
- Dry-fit parts to check how they fit together. Watch out for untrimmed feed tags that will stop the model fitting together properly.
- Once you are happy with the fit, apply plastic glue (polystyrene cement) to the pieces and hold them together until the bond is set.
If there is anything you are unsure of, you can find in-depth assembly guides for each model on the TANKS website (TANKS.GF9games.com).
The Sherman tank sprue has enough parts to assemble both the 75mm and 76mm turrets. With both options available you can swap them out between battles.
The rulebook illustrates step-by-step sprue diagrams for assembling the Sherman (76mm), Sherman (75mm), and Panther tanks.
The Panther tank sprue has additional parts that are used to make the Jagdpanther tank hunter. So don't be alarmed if there are some unused pieces left on your sprue.
Painting
Like the classic plastic Army Men of days gone by, the plastic models for TANKS are cast in appropriately coloured plastic, so you can start playing with them as soon as they are assembled.
But unlike those old Army Men, TANKS models are finely detailed miniature kits which look much better when painted. Painting wargaming models is a fun and rewarding hobby it its own right.
Like many other hobbies, painting miniatures can take years to master. But the basics are actually quite simple to pick up.
The painting process usually begins with an undercoat – a first layer of paint which sticks to the material of the model and provides a smooth, even surface for painting over.
Then each part of the model is painted in an appropriate colour, usually including highlighting and shading to enhance the detail and realism of the model.
Often water-slide decals are used to add army insignias and other markings.
The coloured plastic of TANKS models means you may choose to skip the undercoat step, and just paint the tracks, tools and machine-guns. It's up to you.
Colours Of War is a paint range which is perfect for TANKS models. It has all the historical colours you need, and includes coloured spray cans for undercoating, and a selection of special 'shade' washes to add realistic shading.
You can find more about painting in Colours Of War, a detailed and comprehensive book with practical information to help you paint your TANKS models.
Your First Game
For your first game using this starter set we suggest that you try playing the Barkmann's Corner scenario. After you have had a few games of this, move on to playing the missions on page 16 with your basic forces. Later, once you get the hang of the basics, try adding more tanks and playing larger 100 point games.
July 1944, Near the village of Le Lorey, in Normandy,
Barkmann wipes the back of his hand across his forehead before lowering his cap back on his sweat-soaked hair. He watches the company supply sergeant run back from the corner ahead, as a dust cloud creeps closer on the horizon.
"American tanks on the road at 500 metres," Hauptscharführer Heinze pants, looking up at Barkmann leaning from the command hatch of their Panther tank.
"Excellent," Barkmann replies. "We will attack." He switches his throat mike on. "Driver, forward, halt under the next large tree. That should stop the aircraft from finding us and give us an excellent place to ambush the column from."
The wait is not long, as Panther 424 idles in position, unnoticed by the slowly advancing Americans. Barkmann scans a road ahead, the thick Bocage creating a narrow lane. "Poggendorf, target Ami Panzer, 200 meters. Fire," he orders.
The heavy Panther rocks back with a roar as the 7.5cm round flies towards its target. A second later the lead M4 Sherman tank explodes in a dazzling display of sparks, even before the dust from the muzzle blast clears. Time stands still as the loader rams round after round in the smoking breech, each shot rocking their tank as enemy tank after tank explodes just to his front. Return shots bounce off the thick steel of the Panther, the American guns unable to score a kill. Carefully, Barkmann pulls back to the next tree, resuming the fight from there.
Hearing the scream of aircraft engines in a steep dive, Barkmann drops into the turret, just as the tank is lifted into the air by the blast of the first bomb. The Panther is sprayed with bomb fragments. Moans come from his headphones and daylight streams through a crack in the side of the tank.
"Heinz," Barkmann calls to his driver, his voice lost in the ringing of his ears, "Can we still move? Can you get us out of here?"
As the Panther tank's fire slackens, the American fire redoubles. A round clangs against the armour. Another smashes the track damaged by the bomb, forcing 424 to slew violently to the left. The tank lurches again, and then grinds back around the corner, grunts of pain accompanying every movement of the vehicle.
"Poggendorf, see what you can do for Heinz," Barkmann orders. "We must get back to the workshop so we can fight again tomorrow."
"Don't worry, Oscharf," Heinz breathes through gritted teeth, "I'm not leaving 424 for the Americans. We'll make it home." The Panther pulls out for home under the fading sun, leaving behind nine smouldering Sherman tanks on the field of battle: not a bad day's work!
Barkmann's Corner
This scenario refights Barkmann's famous battle, where he almost single-handedly stopped columns of American tanks with his Panther, then somehow nursed his stricken vehicle back to the workshop.
Barkmann's Orders
The Americans have broken through. You must delay them in order to give OB West, the German High Command, time to prepare a cohesive defensive position from which the Amis can be stopped.
American Orders
You must attack and destroy all resistance to clear the way for follow on forces. The time is now. Any delay will result in the German units being able to pull back and organise another defensive line.
Setting up the scenario
Set up the scenario so that your map matches the terrain setup in the scenario map. In this scenario the Americans are the attacker and Barkmann is the defender.
The battlefield has a cluster of Houses in the centre, with a Forest in the American Deployment corner and a second Forest near Barkmann's Deployment corner.
The German Player's Army
- Panther with the Ernst Barkmann Hero Crew card.
The American Player's Army
- Sherman (75mm)
- Sherman (75mm)
Deployment
The German player deploys within a Measuring Arrow of their corner then the American player deploys within a Measuring Arrow of their corner.
Remember to use your Measuring Arrow when setting up the terrain.
Ernst Barkmann received the Knight's Cross and a promotion to Oberscharführer (senior sergeant) for his actions near Saint Lô, France. It was here that the legend of Barkmann's Corner was born.
Quick Reference
Turn Sequence (pg4)
- Movement Phase - Players move their tanks, in Initiative order, starting with the lowest Initiative.
- Shooting Phase - Players shoot with their tanks, in Initiative order, starting with the highest Initiative.
- Command Phase - Players resolve a number of effects and prepare for the next turn.
Movement Phase (pg7)
- Start with the tank with the lowest Initiative and proceed up through the Initiative order to the tank with the highest Initiative.
- To move a tank, place the Measuring Stick touching the tank and facing in any direction. Then place the tank square against the stem of the Measuring Stick.
- Tanks can move up to two times each turn.
- Place a Speed token showing how many times your tank moved.
- If you decide not to move a tank it is Stationary. Do not place a Speed token for that tank.
Shooting Phase (pg9)
- Start with the tank with the highest Initiative and proceed down through the Initiative order to the tank with the lowest Initiative.
- Choose a target and determine Line of Sight.
- Create a pool of Attack dice, based on the Attack value of the shooting tank and any relevant crew or upgrade cards.
- Each result of 4 or 5 scores a Hit, and each 6 scores a Critical Hit.
- Stationary tanks may re-roll all their attack dice once.
- Create a pool of Defence dice, based on the Defence value of the target tank with an additional die for each of the following that apply:
- Each time the shooting tank moved this turn.
- Each time the defending tank moved this turn.
- Defending tank is in Cover.
- Reduce the pool of Defence dice once for each of the following that apply:
- The shooting tank is within one Measuring Stick of its target.
- Any part of the shooting tank's hull is behind the front of the target tank.
- A tank can never roll more than six Defence dice.
- Each result of 4 or 5 cancels a Hit or Critical Hit chosen by the shooting player, and each 6 cancels a Hit or a Critical Hit chosen by the target player.
- Each uncancelled Hit deals one point of damage.
- For each uncancelled Critical Hit draw a Critical card and apply all effects. This may include damage.
Command Phase (pg14)
- Mark tanks with no Damage left as Destroyed.
- Check for Victory. If all of your opponent's tanks are Destroyed, you have won.
- Each tank may attempt to repair the Special Effect of one Critical card with the Repairable keyword and succeeds by rolling a 4, 5, or 6.
- Remove all Speed tokens and shuffle discarded Critical cards back into the Critical deck.
Token Reference
- Speed Tokens — numbered tokens showing how many times a tank moved.
- Destroyed Token — marks a tank that has been destroyed.
- Objective Token — marks an objective used in certain missions.
- Measuring Stick — the Measuring Arrow, used for movement and range measurements throughout the game.