In the heat of battle it is nice to have allies there to support you. Whether it is the tank destroyer sitting back and sniping, the heavy tank driving in to the middle of the maelstrom soaking up enemy fire, or the aggressive medium tanks pushing the flanks and inflicting damage.
In the World of Tanks: Miniatures Game you have that same control that you can exercise in the online experience. Rather than gathering your friends and comrades to build a platoon, here you can pick and choose exactly what you want, whilst your friends prepare to battle head-to-head, eye-to-eye with you on the tabletop!
Platoon Building 101
Platoons represent the force that you are bringing to the table and are built up using four different cards types; tank, crew, module and upgrade cards. You select the mix of cards you want and build a platoon up to a certain cost, it really is that simple.
Games are played with a prearranged cost. In the rulebook we suggest a total cost of up to 200. This generally lets you put three to five tanks on the table, with some extra cards equipped to the tanks to let you personalise them to match your playstyle.
To find out more about the types of cards you can equip to your tanks then check out my previous article here…
With the basics out of the way, now it is time to think about how you can build your platoon…
Pick Your Favourites vs Pick Your Play Style
Like most World of Tanks players, I have my favourite tanks. These are the ones that, despite everything else that is going on, I like to take to the battlefield and have some fun playing. Let’s call this path “Picking Your Favourites”.
Building a platoon featuring my favourite tanks is easy because I’m not necessarily thinking about every subtlety of the game, rather just literally thinking that I want to put certain tanks on the tabletop because I like them. Maybe it is their stats, their look, their nation, or how they perform in the online game, or maybe it is just tank destroyer Tuesday?
Cromwells and Friend
| Cromwell | 47 | Cromwell | 47 | SU-100 | 51 |
| Wayne Turvey (Gunner) | 11 | Smooth Ride (Driver) | 8 | Damir Nelrasov (Commander) | 9 |
| Smooth Ride (Driver) | 8 | Small Repair Kit (Consumable) | 1 | Camouflage Net (Equipment) | 6 |
| Small Repair Kit (Consumable) | 1 | Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 | Binocular Telescope (Equipment) | 4 |
| Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 | Improved Radio (Module) | 4 | ||
| Lend-Lease Oil (Consumable) | 1 | ||||
| TOTAL | 69 | 57 | 74 |
This list is built around two things that I really enjoy at the moment, speedy Cromwell tanks that can push across the table quickly and exert a lot of pressure on the enemy, either by hunting the tank destroyers, attacking the flanks, or just going for the objectives.
The Small Repair Kits are there to help keep the tanks moving, if they end up with engine damage or destroyed tracks thanks to a critical hit. Whilst it is only one use, I think that should be enough. The Light (APCR) Shell is there for the turn where they get up-close-and-personal with someone, and I really want the shot to count, whilst Smooth Ride lets them keep up the pressure during the movement phase without handing out too many defence dice. Wayne Turvey comes in the Cromwell expansion and seemed too good to miss out on thanks to his ability to strip away a targets cover bonus (great for hunting tank destroyers) and the chance to make critical hits really count.
The SU-100 is in the list because it is just straight up bad news for the other person and I really enjoy the U.S.S.R. tank destroyer line in the online game. Damir Nelrasov lets the SU-100 take a small pre-game move, hopefully putting his tank in cover. He also gives concealment, which stacks nicely with Camouflage Net and the SU-100 tank type ability (plus one defense dice while in cover) to give the tank a massive three extra defense dice, assuming the tank is stationary and in cover. Add in the initial cover bonus as well as the tank is maxed out with a total of six defense dice! Of course, if you catch it on the move or not in cover it might be in trouble, but that’s the tank destroyer life! The Binocular Telescope improves the tanks damage dealing ability, whilst the Improved Radio and Lend-Lease Oil give me options for boosting the SU-100’s initiative when necessary.
Of course if you are a little more competitive you might choose to pick a force that is based around a set of models that you think will perform well together and match your particular Play Style. Recently for me that often involves a certain level of brawling with a platoon of tanks getting in close and mixing it up with the enemy, ideally focussing the fire of two or three tanks on one target to try and quickly wear it down.
Tag-Team Brawlers
| PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H | 35 | PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H | 35 | PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H | 35 |
| Improved Engine (Module) | 2 | Improved Engine (Module) | 2 | Improved Engine (Module) | 2 |
| Improved Suspension (Module) | 2 | Improved Suspension (Module) | 2 | Improved Suspension (Module) | 2 |
| Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 | Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 | Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 |
| TOTAL | 40 | 40 | 40 | ||
| PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H | 35 | PzKpfw. IV Ausf. H | 35 | ||
| Improved Engine (Module) | 2 | Improved Engine (Module) | 2 | ||
| Improved Suspension (Module) | 2 | Improved Suspension (Module) | 2 | ||
| Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 | Light (APCR) Shell (Ammo) | 1 | ||
| TOTAL | 40 | 40 |
This list is simple and it does one thing; control the movement phase with five tanks all with an initiative of 7, letting them move after all but a few tanks so that they can get the optimal placement to concentrate their fire. The other benefit of all the tanks having the same initiative is that you can pick which one to move when it comes round to their turn in the sequence. If one tank is in the way then move it first, creating space for the others.
The inclusion of the Light (APCR) Shells was to give the tanks a little boost if they managed to get in to a perfect firing position – close range and in the flank of a stationary target being about as good as it gets. With five tanks that match each other there is the added benefit of not having a “must-kill” tank in my list that the enemy hunts first, likewise it doesn’t matter to me if one is knocked out because no one tank is central to my plan.
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There you have it, a couple of lists that I have enjoyed using and hopefully a little inspiration for you about how you might go about building your platoons in the World of Tanks: Miniatures Game. I am sure you will find other sources of inspiration than play style or whatever tank looks good on a given day, maybe you want a platoon of all tank destroyers, or all mobility 3, or maybe you are inspired by a historical battle or movie. With the World of Tanks: Miniatures Game you get to choose which tanks stand together in the gun-fight.
~Chris