Panzer Basic Game AP Direct Fire
One of the more exciting aspects of Panzer is its modular approach to game play. The game is divided into
Basic, Advanced and Optional rules sections. That way players not only learn the game in steps, but may keep it
simple or make it as complex as desired.
The Basic game covers just vehicles and includes their sighting, movement, and basic AP (Armor Piercing)
Combat in addition to the process of ordering vehicles. The Basic Game covers most of the elements of AP
Combat, including range and AP Modifiers.
What follows is an example of AP Direct Fire. Here we have a German PzKpfw IVE Tiger I tank firing at a
stationary Soviet T-34/85 M44 at a range of 6 hexes (600 meters). The Soviet tank is located in Woods terrain
(yes, there are woods in its hex). In the Basic Game all fire is considered level and only AP type ammunition is
used.
The vehicle data card to the left, one of 16
double-sided included in the basic release of
Panzer, includes all of the pertinent game data for
the German PzKpfw VIE Tiger I. The information
on the data card is organized in lines and groups.
A good portion of the data is not utilized in the
Basic Game so it’s very straightforward.
For the Basic Game, the first line of the top group
is the nationality, card number, vehicle name and
points. The second line on the card is the
movement line, which from the left includes the
movement rate and type (T=tracked) for cross
country movement followed by path and road
movement. The middle group contains all of the
offensive information for AP combat.
The Tiger I fires three types of ammunition; AP (armor piercing), HVAP (hyper-velocity armor piercing), and GP
(General Purpose – high explosives and machineguns), but for our purposes we are only concerned with the AP
ammunition.
Next to the type heading is a line that defines the range class of the gun; P (point blank), S (short), M (medium),
L (long), and E (extreme). For AP type ammunition the card shows a range (R) in hexes over penetration (P) at
that range.
In this example, the Tiger I tank is shooting at a
stationary target at short range. The AP HIT chart and
AP HIT MODIFIERS are shown here. Engaging a
T-34/85 M44 tank at short range (since the range of 6
is greater 4, but is less than or equal to 7) would
normally mean that a roll of 70 or less on d100 (two
d10s) is necessary to score a hit. But, this Soviet tank
has a single negative modifier – the target is located
in Wood terrain. That provides heavy cover shifting
the chance down 5 rows to -5/S or a 35% chance of a
hit.
This time, the Tiger I is on target with a roll of 27.
Since 27 is less than or equal to 35, the Soviet tank is
hit. In the Basic Game, there is no need to check the
target vehicle’s data card and step through the
Defensive Information – that processed is covered in the Advanced Game. The Basic Armor values, found in the
Notes Section of the data card, are 20/13 (Front/Rear) for the T-34/85 M44.
In the Basic Game, a vehicle has two defensive or armor aspects – Front and Rear. They basically cut the vehicle
in half as shown in the diagram below.
The Tiger I’s AP ammunition penetrates 24 worth of armor at short range. The hit strikes the Soviet tank’s Front
Aspect, which has an armor value of 20. The German shot penetrates. Had the Soviet tank’s armor value been
greater than the penetration value, the shot would have done no damage to the Soviet tank.
The Basic Game uses a straightforward damage scale; there’s no need to roll again to determine damage. If the
penetration value is greater than the target’s armor by 1 to 3, the target is damaged, by 4-9, it is knocked out,
and by 10 or more it is brewed up.
Since the penetration factor exceeds the armor factor by 4, the Soviet tank is knocked out and its counter is
replaced with KO (Knocked Out) Wreck counter.