In the World of Tanks: Miniatures Game it is important to understand that every tank has a role, or type, and that this will have an impact on how the tank operates on the tabletop. Two tanks with the similar stats will play quite differently if one is a Light Tank and the other, a Self-propelled Gun.
In Part 1 of Understanding Tank Types, we looked at the 3 most common types; the Light, Medium and Heavy Tanks. This time, we will check out the Tank Destroyer and Self-propelled Gun, arguably two of the trickier types in the game.
Tank Destroyers, or TD’s, often sacrifice Mobility and/or Survivability in favour of overwhelming Firepower. That’s not to say they cannot be outgunned by their more traditional cousins, nor are they all ponderous behemoths that are easily outmanoeuvred…
The Tank Destroyer rule says: This Tank gains +1 Survivability while in Cover.
If a Tank Destroyer is designed to knock out other Tanks, it needs to stack the deck in its favour by ensuring it has the highest possible Initiative so that it can strike first and, if needed, move away from threats, hit hardest, and survive any return shots.
Initiative comes down to the Tank itself and any upgrades, and we will take another look at these in the future. A Tanks chance of hitting hard can be significantly improved by being Stationary (Stationary Tanks may re-roll any of their failed attack dice) and don’t give their targets any additional Defence dice since they themselves did not move.
The downside for not moving however is that the TD won’t gain any additional Defence dice for manoeuvring to avoid incoming enemy fire. There is where the TD rule comes into play by effectively increasing the Tanks cover bonus from +1 to +2 Defence. Assuming the enemy Tank has moved, this can give your TD a Defence pool of 4-5 dice which is respectable.
The M10 Wolverine could be seen as a typical TD, combining reasonable Firepower (which can be upgraded through the use of its 76mm AT Gun M1A2 module), with low Survivability, average Mobility and better than average Initiative. It can be used as a classic tank in a pinch, but will be more effective sniping from the back of the battlefield, perhaps a few crew, module and upgrade cards.
If the M10 Wolverine is the middle option, then the M18 Hellcat is a high-speed glass-cannon. It combines Mobility, Firepower and Initiative allowing it to get in to the perfect position – ideally Close Range, around the flank of a slow-moving enemy, and unless it is 100% of confident of scoring a knockout blow, in some form of cover to make use of the TD rule. With zero Survivability and four Hit Points, it will explode quickly if someone wants to remove it from the board so ending its move in cover is always a good idea.
At the other end of the extreme is the Jagdtiger. It has Hit Points, Firepower and Survivability. It is as fast as most other Tanks, but will almost always be moving before everyone else and shooting last. Sitting Stationary in Cover the Jagdtiger instantly maxes out its Defence dice pool and is ready to drop Critical after Critical on enemy Tanks.
Self-propelled Guns, or SPGs, are the artillery that support the Tanks, dropping shells on an unsuspecting enemy and creating confusion. They are soft and easily destroyed by enemy Tanks if left out in the open, so they should be hidden in the back line.
The Self-propelled Gun rule says: Other Tanks do not block this Tanks Line of Sight.
By itself this is a useful but not exactly ground-breaking rule as it means SPGs can attack Tanks that have been hidden either by the enemy positioning Tanks in the way, or by friendly Tanks that are trying to get the perfect firing angle.
When combined with the Requesting Fire radio module though, the power of this ability is multiplied as the SPG can now target any visible Tank on the battlefield. Enemies can no-longer lurk behind Blocking Terrain as they try to repair their damage or avoid enemy fire. Further increase the SPGs capabilities by adding a Burst HE Shell (or two) and suddenly a group of tanks moving up in a huddle are now just targets waiting to be disrupted. A Heavy or Light HEAT Shell would also be recommended, more on this next…
At this point it may seem like SPGs are the ultimate power on the battlefield, however they come with their own set of challenges. Their low Survivability, Hit Points and Initiative being the most obvious ones. The other one, that may not seem so obvious at first glance, is that they have the High Explosive rule. This rule means that you discard any Hits (as opposed to Critical Hits) before Assessing Damage – this means that a roll of five Hits is as useless as five Blanks… SPGs are looking for Critical Hits to cause fires, knock out tracks, kill crew, and generally cause mayhem so to have any effect on the enemy you need some Critical Hits on those dice.
There are ways to improve your SPGs chances – staying Stationary to re-roll Blanks, adding an Eagle Eye commander to modify a Hit to a Critical and a Deadeye gunner to improve the potential effectiveness of any Critical Hits are a good start.
The potential downsides of the High Explosive rule are why I like to keep a Heavy HEAT Shell or Light HEAT Shell handy for close encounters…
Looking at the M7 Priest we can see the average SPG (at least for now…) with good Firepower, average Mobility and nothing else to distinguish it, but used correctly it is an absolute force multiplier!
Summary
Light, Medium and Heavy Tanks all have their roles on the battlefield, and you can find out more about them here but Tank Destroyers and Self-propelled Guns are the extra spicy options that really help to change up the battlefield.
Tank Destroyers with their singular focus (it’s in the name!) are here to catch their enemies unaware and remove them from the game with one or two well placed shots.
Self-propelled Guns on the other hand can force an enemy to change their tactics just by being on the table. Hordes of Tanks need to watch out for shells that can reduce their Initiative and make them easy prey for slower enemies. Alternatively, they can roll out from cover and put a single big hit on an enemy that was expecting an easy kill.