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Kampfgruppe Uthak

Last week we challenged you to creating a cool list using the new Panzer III and Tiger cards we previewed. There were several interesting lists but we ended up choosing Uthak list with Wittman. 


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Kampfgruppe Uthak

British Grant Tank Expansion
British Grant Tank Expansion
 
Last week we challenged you to creating a cool list using the new Panzer III and Tiger cards we previewed. There were several interesting lists but we ended up choosing Uthak list with Wittman. The list used a mix of old and new cards and created a super Tiger I tank. The addition of Wittman adds a lot more kick to an already strong list. The list itself is small with only three tanks, but the way he plans on using the tanks means that he will be a force to be reckoned with. The Tiger is all about getting  to move last, so that it has perfect placement. When I first saw the loadouts on the Panzer IIIs I instantly saw what he was doing, and I like it.

Here is the list Uthak submitted, 

 
Kampfgruppe Uthak 
 
Tiger 1 (33) "The Brawler"
Michael Wittmann (11)
Bloodthirsty Gunner (3)
Racing Driver (2)
Kampfgruppe Lueder (2)
Tungsten Ammo (2)
Schuerzen (1)

Panzer III (Short) (11) "Command Vehicle"
Tiger Escort Tank (2)
Hans Georg Lueder (6)
Hasty Loader (2)
Radio Coordinator (3)

Panzer III (Short) (11) "The Shield"
Tiger Escort Tank (2)
Add-On Armor (5)
Defensive Driver (3)
Liquid Courage (1) 
      
 
Uthak plan is simple and elegant. He has two Panzer III (Short) tanks, one that he calls the Shield and one he calls the Command. The Shield’s job is to be the lead tank, and its built to take some heavy hits and keep on trekking. The Command Panzer III (Short) is built to give the Tiger high Initiative  in the shooting step. The Command tank can transfer its Initiative during the shooting step to the Tiger I tank, giving the Tiger I its Initiative of 9. The Tiger I tank is built for speed, with a total of Initiative 11 during the movement step there is little that will move after it leaving it to move to the best possible location each turn while using the Shield Panzer III (Short) for cover.

Uthak wants this list to get in close to utilize the Close Range and Side Amour rules to reduce the Tiger I target’s defence by 2. so that the Tiger I can do as much damage as possible. To this end Uthak also plans to forfit the Panzer III (Short) tanks own shooting to give the Tiger I a massive four re-rolls for its attack roll, and if that’s not enough Lueder will also be able to re-roll a fifth die.    

The list creates a super Tiger that has Initiative 11 during the movement step and Initiative 9 during the shooting step. It also has a massive attack value of 6 attack dice, or 7, attack dice at close range, add in up to five re-rolls and this Tank is going to be giving out massive amounts of damage each turn. The Tugsten ammo is just icing on an already massive cake, as it can give the Tiger even more attack dice. 
 
Thanks Uthak and everyone for submitting your lists! I would leave you this week with a new challenge, what would you run to defeat a super tank list like this one? 

Click here to join in the conversation and tell us what your counter list is…

 
      

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Kampfgruppe Lueder

Hans-Georg Lueder led an interesting German formation of tanks that consisted of a mix of Tiger and Panzer III tanks. We wanted to reflect this unlikely pairing in TANKS and have introduced loads of cool cards to let players create their own Kampfgruppe Lueder.
 
This week we take a closer look at Kampfgruppe Lueder, and how the new Panzer III and Tiger tanks work together.

 

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Kampfgruppe Lueder


 
Hans-Georg Lueder led an interesting German formation of tanks that consisted of a mix of Tiger and Panzer III tanks. We wanted to reflect this unlikely pairing in TANKS and have introduced loads of cool cards to let players create their own Kampfgruppe Lueder.
 
The Tanks

Let’s first look at the Tiger and Panzer III variants; there are two of each to choose from at the moment. Will you take the more veteran late war Tigers or will you use the more green Tigers from the desert? Do you want to invest points into Panzer III (long) tanks to reach that attack of 4 or do you want to save those points to add more upgrades? Even with only four tanks to choose from your Kampfgruppe Lueder can come in many forms. 
   
Burning Bright      Burning Bright
 
Hans-Georg Lueder

Now let’s look at the Hero Crew card for Hans-Georg Lueder himself. For six points he gives his tank +3 Initiative in the shooting step, but it is his other ability that really sets him apart. He can give out a single re-roll each turn to any Panzer III or Tiger tank in your force. This can be used for any roll involving one of those two types of tanks as long as it is that tank making the roll.  This ability makes Lueder very flexible. Need some repair work? Need to re-roll an attack die? Lueder can help. The challenge is in knowing when to best use his ability each turn.   
   
      
 
Kampfgruppe Lueder

The next card to look at when building this platoon is Kampfgruppe Lueder. This card can boost your Tiger tank initiative very easily. For example, bring one Tiger and 5 Panzer III tanks and you that Tiger will be starting the game with a base of Initiative 10 during the movement step.
   
      

Tiger Escort Tank

For your Panzer III tanks we have the Tiger Escort Tank card. This card is really interesting and it takes practice to effectively determine when it should be used. Being able to give up your shooting to make your Tiger hit even harder is great, and even better when two Panzer III tanks give up their shooting to help your Tiger re-roll four attack dice.
 
 
 
One of the cool new concepts that we are showcasing in these expansions is themed list building. As TANKS grows you can expect to see more cards that give interesting abilities to platoons that are built to a theme.  

This week we have a challenge! How would you build a 100 point Kampfgruppe Lueder platoon? We will showcase the most interesting lists with next week’s update. 

Click here to post your take on the Kampfgruppe Lueder list in the forum...


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German Desert Preview

This week we are showcasing some of the upcoming German Tanks. The Germans are getting five tanks; the Panzer IV (Long), Panzer IV (Short), Panzer III (Long), Panzer III (Short), and the Tiger.

 

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German Desert Preview

 
This week we are showcasing some of the upcoming German Tanks. The Germans are getting five tanks; the Panzer IV (Long), Panzer IV (Short), Panzer III (Long), Panzer III (Short), and the Tiger.  These tanks add a lot of new and interesting options.

 
Panzer IV Long and Short

With these new Desert releases come two new Panzer IV tanks. The long and short of it, forgive the pun, is that these tanks are earlier renditions of the Panzer IV tank that is already available.

As the desert war went on, increasing numbers of Panzer IV were armed with the long-barrelled 7.5cm KwK40, switching from an artillery support role to a heavy anti-tank support one. The Panzer IV (Long) is almost identical to the current tank but has less Damage Capacity making it cheaper.

The short-barrelled Panzer IV was designed as an artillery support tank to back up the lighter Panzer III. It's heavy 7.5cm gun made it particularly useful against anti-tank guns. With the Panzer IV (Short), we have the introduction of a new rule, Artillery. This rule allows tanks to shoot “over” other tanks, but it is also a keyword that will be linked to other cards. The Artillery Observer is one such card.  It lets a stationary tank draw its line of sight from another tank, hitting targets it normally couldn't see. Although the tank doing the spotting must give up its shooting to use this ability.       
   
British Grant Tank Expansion     British Grant Tank Expansion 
 
Panzer III (Long) and (Short)

These Panzer III tank models give the Germans some options for really cheap tanks. At 11 points you can get a really cheap tank in the Panzer III (Short). You can fit nine of these tanks into one list! For three more points you can up-gun to the Panzer III (Long) to gain +1 Attack on the tank, not bad at all. 

The Hero card in the Panzer III pack is the infamous Erwin Rommel. Coming in at 11 points Rommel gives his tank +3 Initiative, he also grants a once per turn re-roll of any one die rolled by anyone in the game.  Because Rommel is such an important character if he is lost you actually give a Victory point to your opponent, this only comes into play in missions that your opponent can score Victory Points, but still it is a consideration when sending such an important leader into the fray.  
   
British Grant Tank Expansion     British Grant Tank Expansion 
 
Tiger

The Tiger was an interesting tank to design, as there is little to no difference in stats between the two Tigers but there were some striking differences in the models themselves. Nevertheless, we decided we wanted a desert Tiger and so we continued researching looking for any differences. In the end we decided that since this Tiger represents the earliest version we will make, that we would be content to lower its Initiative and Damage Capacity by one each and bring its points down to 29. This reflects the tankers inexperience with the Tiger and that the design continued to evolve and improve into the later production model already represented in TANKS. It also gave us a new interesting option for players to field. 

One of the most obvious differences between the Tiger tank models (other than the Zimerit) are the massive Desert Filters on the back of the tank. We wanted to showcase these in an upgrade that protected the engine of the Tiger tank, which gave us a new engine upgrade card, as there are few of those in the game presently. 
   
British Grant Tank Expansion      

Make sure you check back next week as we look closer at the Panzer III and the Tiger and how you can create platoons using some of the new upgrades. 


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British Desert Preview

This week we are showcasing some of the upcoming British Tanks.  The British are getting three new tanks; the Grant, Crusader, and Honey.  These cheap tanks can really add the numbers to your British tank platoons. 

 

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British Desert Preview

 
This week we are showcasing some of the upcoming British Tanks.  The British are getting three new tanks; the Grant, Crusader, and Honey.  These cheap tanks can really add the numbers to your British tank platoons. 
 
Honey

Out of the three new tanks, the Honey has the lowest point cost. At twelve points each, you can fit eight of these light tanks into a 100-point list and still have four points left over for upgrades. This is swarm tactics taken to the extreme.
On top of being cheap, the Honey is Fast and has the Recon rule giving it’s low Defense of 0 a massive boost while on the move and in cover. The Honey’s low Defence and Damage capacity makes them easy to kill in the open, so holding objectives can become a real issue. To help with this we added a cool new upgrade, Smoke Dischargers. For the price of -3 Attack, Smoke Dischargers gives your tank cover anywhere. This may not seem big, but on a Honey that has moved three times and has Recon, discarding this card can give the Honey up to 5 Defence dice even in the open. The Honey will be available in stores June.
   
British Grant Tank Expansion 
 
Grant 

The Grant is a flexible tank and the ability to fire normally at 3 Attack or as an Assault Gun for 4 Attack makes it very versatile. At 14 points you could fit seven of these tanks into a 100-point list. To give the Grant a defensive boost we added the new SAS Guide Crewman to the expansion. The SAS Guide gives a Defence bonus while you are in cover. This bonus is huge for the British as they need to stay Stationary to utilize their Semi-Indirect rule, so to have the ability to sit still in a forest and still gain +2 to Defence is massive for any British tank. The Grant will be available in stores June.
   
British Grant Tank Expansion 
 
 


Crusader

The last tank we are showcasing today is the Crusader Tank. This Fast tank packs a 4 Attack punch for only 13 points per tank; this means you can fit seven of the fast tanks into one 100-point list.  Though these tanks are quick and hit hard they are a bit of a glass cannon and you want to be careful how you use them. Adding the Altruistic Commander to some of your tanks will help you spread your opponent’s damage around to minimize your losses. The Crusader will be available in stores July.
   
British Crusader II/III Tank Expansion 

At these low point costs, you can create some interesting swarm lists, or add a lot more tanks to your existing tank lists to shore up your tank count. It will be interesting to see how all the British players out there utilize these new tanks and upgrades in future lists. 

Next week we will be previewing some of the German Tanks and their upgrades.

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TANKS North Africa Gaming Mats

These new mats bring TANKS battles to the North Africa. The three mats can be used by themselves for a thematic game of TANKS in Africa or joined together to create a large playing space for massive battles.


Each high quality printed vinyl mat is  36" by 36" square, perfect for any TANKS battle.


Click here to find these mats in our store…

Click here for more Images of the mats…  


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The Bear Awakens

This week we are pleased to announce that we are releasing the Bear Awakens Organized Play Kits as a downloadable print and play PDF. As the Soviets  enter into our Organized Play Seasons we get to fight our way to Minsk. In this OPS download we added some cool terrain and all three of the Bear Awakens missions for players to download and play. 

 

Download your Copy here... 

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