Gather ‘round, tankers. It’s a horrible rainy day outside, and since we don’t want to spend the next month cleaning mud out of running gear and recovering bogged-down tanks, it’s time for a classroom session – don’t say we never do anything nice for you! Get inside and pay attention – it’s time to talk about cards, and the assets and events they represent on the Achtung Panzer! battlefield. There might not be as many explosions as there were last week, but today’s lesson is arguably even more important than gunnery, so make sure you take it all in. No talking at the back, Trooper Smith!
Now, as you all know, armoured warfare is a tricky business. That’s why we’ve boiled down some of the more complex elements to this handy series of cards – you can always refer to them when things are getting hairy, and they’ll let you know at a glance exactly what’s going on! These cards also ensure that no two games of Achtung Panzer! are the same – even if you’re playing on the same table, with the same tanks, the cards add an element of unpredictability that means you’ll never fight the same battle twice! There’s a few different kinds of cards that we’ll be covering today – let’s get them on the table and take a look!
First up we have your tanks’ datacards. You should be pretty familiar with these by now, but it’s always worth refreshing your memory when you get the chance. You’ll find all of your mount’s vital statistics here, as well as details on your crew, ammunition, gun status, and a whole host of other useful odds and sods. This is where you run your tank from, so get used to keeping one eye on it at all times! It’s also where a lot of your tokens will live – here’s a rundown of the kind of things you can expect to see. After last week’s gunnery demonstration, I’m sure a lot of these are starting to make a lot more sense! Note that we’ve used the Panther as an example here, and naturally there’ll be variations on the card for different tanks – but you’ll get that training when you get to your units!
Let’s get into the meat of today’s lecture – Asset and Event cards! These represent all those little (and not so little!) incidents and occurrences that add up of the course of a battle to produce the chaos and ‘fog of war’ that all this training is preparing you to deal with. As a general rule, Event cards cover those things that might happen on a battlefield that are beyond the control of the combatants, while Asset cards represent all the supporting elements of your forces out there on the battlefield with you – infantry, artillery, airpower, all that sort of thing. As we all know, the tanks are what really win the day, but it’s always polite to give the lesser arms a nod every so often! Now, you won’t know what Assets or Events your opponent might have up their sleeve, but crucially, they’ll be in the same boat as you! Cards alone won’t win you a game, but savvy use of them at the right moment can go a long way to helping, and if you ignore them completely you might find yourself in a world of hurt!
We’ll start with the Event cards. These are drawn for both players from a common deck, with each player receiving a number of cards based on the total number of tanks on the table – friend and foe! The more tanks, the more event cards – and the more mayhem! If you’ve got at least one Veteran or Ace commander in your platoon, you get an extra card as well, so it’s definitely worth identifying and protecting commanders with potential early on in a campaign! Some event cards impact the overall battlefield situation, while other specifically effect individual tanks or crewman, but you’ll see all of that information on the cards themselves – let’s have a look at ‘Hold Tight!’ as an example!
You can also see when you can use Hold Tight – some Event cards can be played at any time during a turn, provided they’re played before or after a tank has activated. Think of it like this: No playing whist in the Officer’s Mess during dinner, and no playing Event cards during an ongoing activation!
There’s one other kind of Event card that is absolutely crucial to your battle plans – Reinforcements – you’ll need these in your hand to activate your Asset cards (which we’ll discuss in just a moment). Think of ‘Reinforcements’ like that magical little note that says ‘excused physical training’ from the Medical officer, and you’ll have a good appreciation for just how important these cards can be! Without them, your precious supporting Assets can’t be deployed!
Let’s take a look at the Assets now – in many ways these are a measure of your favour with higher-ups, be that from schmoozing in the Mess or due to the importance of your mission, and how much support command is willing to commit to your operations. Before a mission begins, you can purchase Asset cards by spending Asset Stars – each card is worth a certain number of stars (indicated below the title of the card). Asset Stars are generated based on a D6 roll, with a modifier for the total number of tanks on the field – again, as with Event cards, the more tanks, the more cards! Once again, a Veteran or Ace commander comes in handy, as they let you roll 2D6 and pick the highest result!
Unlike Event cards, Assets aren’t drawn from a deck. Instead, once you’ve purchased your Assets, they sit to one side – until you draw the all-important Reinforcements card from the Event deck! Once you’ve got Reinforcements, you can use it to mobilise one of your Assets – at that point, that card is ‘live’ and can be deployed at any point in the game (unless stated otherwise on the card). Many of these cards can also be utilised as reactions to in-game occurrences, while others turn terrain features into potential deathtraps – or render them safe for your advance. It’s good to see the footsloggers earning their keep for a change!
That’s all for this week, tankers. The met boffins reckon we’ll have clear skies for the rest of the week, so you know what that means – back to the training area we go! We’ll be out in the fresh air, looking at the kind of missions you can expect to be deployed on when you get to the front! Expect a few days in the field, so make sure all your kit is squared away – dismissed!
Blood & Steel!
Command a platoon of armoured vehicles on the battlefields of World War II in Achtung Panzer!
The Blood & Steel starter set contains highly detailed plastic tanks for British and German forces, plastic ruined scenery and a host of event and asset cards add further atmosphere and jeopardy to your games. The rulebook explains how to recruit your crew, select your tanks, assault guns or armoured cars and introduces a campaign system that allows your crew to progress after each encounter and your tanks to be upgraded to be more effective in the next battle.
Missions are close-quarter engagements between opposing armoured vehicles on battlefields dominated by buildings, ruins, woods and other terrain – battles are close and deadly firefights!
The player who best exploits the strengths of their tanks and crews, who plans their movement carefully and uses the terrain to their advantage will prevail – will your tactical prowess and the fighting aptitude of your tank crews win the day?
Rules, Cards & Tokens Supply Drop
Already own a veritable horde of tanks? Jump straight into the action with the Achtung Panzer! supply drop. This awesome, great-value, Warlord Webstore-exclusive bundle nets you the rulebook, essential tokens, and every single tank Data, Ace, Ace Skill, Asset, and Event card produced for the game’s launch!
With this supply drop your late-war British, US, German and Soviet forces will have everything they need to do battle on the Achtung Panzer! tabletop!
