What a Tanker! - Girls und Panzer

Well, some folks were idly discussing Girls und Panzer ("Girls and Tanks", that Japanese anime franchise) and What a Tanker! I searched online for a good deal, and found a Girls und Panzer Panzer IVD, complete with its high school student crew.

It's basically a "super-deformed" 1/48 scale tank.






The hull and tracks are shorter and slightly wider than those of the New Millennium 1/48 scale Mk.IV's I have.




The tank commander from a 1/48 Bandai Mk. II does not look too out of place in the Girls und Panzer Mk. IVD's uP turret.






I sure we can cobble up some What a Tanker! modifications to simulate competition between girls' high schools practicing tank warfare as a sport. There's no need to use only the official Girls und Panzer models.

Targa Japan's 1/48 scale Maniac Collection Sdkfz 181 Panzer VI /Tiger I

I am always on the lookout for a good deal. I recently picked up online a Targa Japan Maniac Collection 1/48 scale Tiger I tank. It comes fully painted, and has multiple cross sections that allow you to look into the interior and crew of the tank. The model comes in 7 boxes, which combine together to give the complete model (and the boxes also look cool on the shelf).




On the back of each box is a breakdown of the boxes' contents.




It's an older "kit", dating from around 2006. Back in the day there were three variants offered for sale, in desert yellow, green and yellow camo, and (as mine) in panzer gray and light gray. The construction quality seems to be pretty good; it holds together quite well without the need for cement. Each box comes with a paper sheet on which there is printed copious amounts of information on the Tiger I tank, in Japanese, of course!






The detail is a little soft compared to modern kits and die-cast vehicles. Some of the mould seams and knock out marks weren't cleaned up before painting. It's designed to be disassembled and displayed, thus the gaping hole seams along the center-line of the tank and turret stowage box are obvious.







The ammunition seems to be accurately color coded according to German doctrine, with the yellow rounds = Sprenggranaten (High Explosive), and black rounds = Panzergranate 39 (Armor Piercing).













I picked it up for about the same price as an unbuilt Tamiya 1/48 Tiger I (Early Production) model kit (and the Tamiya model comes unassembled and unpainted, of course).

The Targa model was well worth the money I paid for it, despite not being a "serious" model kit.




It's perfectly fine for 28mm scale wargaming. Also, I will display it with the turret roof off when I demo "What a Tanker!" at conventions. Though the original tank is huge, there is just not a lot of room inside for the crew to do their jobs. It's a great illustration of why "What a Tanker!" emphasizes the friction of crewing a tank in combat.

What a Tanker! - Barbarossa

Recently I had folks over for another game of What a Tanker!

Barbarossa-era game, with 1941-era tanks. Same scenario: capture 5 objective markers on the ground for 1 VP each, and be within 6" of a fixed objective (the knocked out armoured car and command tank) at the end of the game for 2 VPs. The small markers would be dropped in place if the tank capturing them was destroyed.

Forces available for use included: T-34-76 (1941), KV-1A, BT-2, T-26 (1933), Panzer Mark IV D, StuG III C, and a couple of Panzer 38(t)'s.

Rolling for sides, Bill and Kevin were German, respectively fielding the 38(t) and the Mark IV. Frederick and I were Soviet, with the T-34 and the KV (I had been itching to play with this model, the oldest 1/48 model in my collection; ironically, I had never played with it until now).

Below, the Germans move to seize an objective. The block of buildings in the middle of the table ended up featuring prominently in everyone's tactics. I placed it so as to shield the two fixed objectives from each other, so no long range sniping by an objective holder.




The T-34 moved behind, then over the sandbag barricade.




Bill's Fast 38(t) whipped around the table, seizing two objectives.



My KV, being Slow, took awhile to get going.




Kevin's Mark IV moved in support of the 38(t).




My KV fired only one shot all game. It was a big one, knocking out the 38(t) with three hits scored and  all Bill's dice failing their Armour roll .






Bill's tank quickly re-spawned, and he soon re-captured his dropped objectives!




Meanwhile, the lumbering KV made its way down the board, grabbed one objective marker, then parked itself beside the German fixed objective.



Frederick's T-34 raced around the centre buildings, capturing two more markers.Both the 38(t) and the Mark IV chased it around the building complex, slamming shells into it but only forcing the T-34 to back up.






Bill moved to the Soviet fixed objective just as the game's time ran out. Final tally: Germans = 4 VPs, Soviets = 5 VPs!



As always, it was a fast, furious game, with a lot of canny maneuver by the lighter tanks. Next time we do early war, I want to run a Fast BT tank!

The boys have also expressed interest in doing some later war stuff. I have several Panthers, long barreled Mark IV's, a later StuG III, a Panzer II Luchs, some Marder III's, an SU-122, a T-34-76 (1942), and even a T-34-85 ready to take the field.

What a Tanker! at Game-iToba and with the Conscripts

Game-iToba 2019

Lately I have played a lot of What a Tanker! I love its simple rules, concentrating on the confusion of fighting a tank as 3, 4 or 5 crew get in each others' way. Also, there's the low bar to entry (one tank per player).

I ran three sessions of What a Tanker! at the Game-iToba game convention (in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) back on November 9th. I brought out 1941-era tanks. Simple scenario: capture objective markers n the ground for 1 VP, and be within 6" of a fixed objective (the knocked out armoured car and command tank) for 2 VPs. I was scheduled to run two 2-hour slots, but there was interest, and the table was free, so I ran an third impromptu game! Yet again, talked myself hoarse. People seemed to have a really fun time.


Game One: 
Russ and Don go head to head, pitting a StuG III against a T-34 (76)


Below, Russ' StuG III moves past a disable Pz. I command tank as Don's T-34 crashes through a fence to seize an objective.






General view of the table:





Russ moves forward his second StuG; I allowed re-spawning like in a video game.

Don, having seized two objectives, moved his (Fast) T-34 toward the German command tank objective. However, by this time he was reduced to only 1 Command Die! The game ended in an exciting  draw.




Game Two: 
Andy, Cole, and a couple of other kids slug it out.


Below, Cole moves his T-34.




Below, Andy's Pz.IV E seizes an objective marker.




The kids in the fray.





Cole rams Andy's tank, destroying it!





One of the other kids moved his T-26 (1933) past his friend's knocked out Pz. 38(t).




Game Three: Four more bystanders got introduced to the game.



Below, the T-34 rides again. In the background is a well modeled Frostgrave table; the GM ran her game a couple of times while I was there. 





The smoke of defeat.





World War I What a Tanker!

Last Thursday, just a few days after Remembrance Day here in Canada, the Conscripts played a WWI scenario loosely based upon the tank on tank action at Villers-Bretonneux in March 1918. Dallas hosted and I facilitated the game. The rules we used came from WillieB's gaming group on the WaT! forums: https://toofatlardies.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10318

The Mk IV’s just could not stand up to the A7V’s, with their thicker armour. My own Mk IV was reduced to one Command Die, LOL!


Below, the German players; their mission was to exit the opposite (short) table edge.




Club member Frederick painted up three of the 1/56 scale tanks just that week!




Another one of the new models.




Hugh’s A7V advanced to point blank range, just before passing Dallas’ damaged tank.




Me contemplating the futility of action with only two command dice. Little did I know.




Below, Bill’s captured Beutepanzer poured a ton of fire into my hapless Mk IV.




A7V’s can be seen exiting the table...




...as the Germans win the scenario!




For the future

I have been collecting die-cast or finished, built-up models. The beautifully painted StuG III seen above came from FloZ. The great KV-2s below came from modelers in, respectively, the US and  the UK.








Thanks to Conscripts Curt and Dallas, I have unbuilt model kits for another Bandai T-34 (1941) and a Tamiya SU-122, both in 1/48 scale. There are even variants online for Arab/Israeli War and Warhammer 40K! I look forward to playing and running more of this game.