Wargame SITREP 24-11 ~ 88 after 44 Part 1: Basic game of Panzer North Africa (James Day with Fernando Solas Ramos, GMT Games, 2022/3/4)

To me, Panzer North Africa by Jim Day from GMT Games has taken 44 years to arrive. That is because one of my favorite war games from my earliest days of wargaming was ‘88′: A Tactical game of Armored Combat on the North African front, 1940-1942 by Jim Day from Yaquinto Publishing in 1980. The arrival of Panzer North Africa allows me to not only further explore the latest entry in the GMT Games Panzer series but to also revisit ’88’ from long ago. What better place to start than the Basic Game of each.

Back to basics

Both Panzer North Africa and ’88’ use a remarkably similar arrangement of rules. I should not be surprised since Panzer North Africa traces its lineage back directly to ’88’. Both games divide their rule books up into three sections: Basic Game (called “The Armor Game Rules” in ’88’), Advanced Game, and Optional Rules.

’88’ has perhaps the better explanation of the differences between the Basic and Advanced Games and Optional Rules:

The Armor Game is concerned with the mechanics of the game, specifically for combats between armored fighting vehicles. The Advanced Game Rules introduce new topics that build on the concepts that have become familiar through play of the Armor Game. The Optional Rules introduce yet more topics, and add rules that provide additional realism and complexity. If players master each section of the rules before going into the next section, they will find that learning and understanding the rules will be much easier.

’88’, The Armor Game Rules, Introduction, 9

See – Order – Fight – Move

The Sequence of Play for the Basic Game in Panzer North Africa is broken down into six phases which generally maps to the Armor Game Rules of ’88’ but with several major differences in the game mechanisms behind the rules. Roughly speaking, game turns in both the Basic Game and Armor Game are divided into four broad phases: See, Order, Fight, and Move.

See

The first phase of a turn in both Panzer North Africa and ’88’ is sighting with rules found in Panzer North Africa 4.1 Basic Game Spotting Phase / ’88’ Armor Game Rules IV. The Sighting Phase. In ’88’ the rules are covered on one page whereas Panzer North Africa uses six pages. The bulk of those six pages in Panzer North Africa are devoted to color-illustrated examples of Line-of-Sight (4.1.4) and determining line-of-sight (4.1.4.2) especially for obstacles of different heights. The colorful and many-example rules in Panzer North Africa replace a simple look-up table in ’88’. While the rules of Panzer North Africa certainly leave less room for misinterpretation, they are somewhat more complex to learn than the simple look-up table approach of ’88’.

“Even though players can see the opposing vehicles on the mapboard, this does not necessarily mean that the vehicles can see each other in the context of the game”

Panzer North Africa, Basic & Advanced Rules, 9

Order

The next step in the Sequence of Play for both Panzer North Africa and ’88’ is the orders phase. While the Basic Game and Armor Game both have a similar phase, the actual rules are very different.

Rule 4.2 Basic Game Command Phase in Panzer North Africa lays out the rules for the use of Command counters. With the Command counters players can assign one of five commands to their vehicles: Fire, Move, Short Halt (Fire-Move or Move-Fire), Overwatch, and No Command. After secretly assigning Command counters, players then proceed to the Initiative Phase (see 4.3 Basic Game Initiative Phase) to determine who is the First or Second Player in the Sequence of Play for the Fire and Move phases to follow.

’88’ does not use Command counters but instead uses plotted orders as found in V. The Order Plot Phase. In the Armor Game Rules the possible orders are Fire (F), Opportunity Fire (N), Move (#), Turn Left/Right (L/R), Reverse (B), and Pivot in Place (V). Players dutifully use the Command Sheet to plot the orders for all of their vehicles in the scenario. There is no Initiative Phase in the Armor Game Rules of ’88’.

“All units are assumed to be carrying out similar orders simultaneously. The orders for each unit must be secretly plotted in its column of the Command Sheet before any orders are executed.”

’88’, Rule Book, 11

While I enjoy the Command counter system in Panzer North Africa, the plotted movement approach used in ’88’ never offended me. Maybe that is because the Yaquinto Panzer series were my first war games and I just didn’t know any better. Perhaps it is because my other big war game of those days was Star Fleet Battles (aka “Accountants in Space”) where units used a very detailed order plotting system that was then (slowly) executed movement point-by-movement point. Maybe too many wargamers have changed in the past 50 years. I sense that back in those times when there was no internet and sending a question and SASE to a publisher and waiting weeks for a reply forced wargamers to think through solutions. In today’s world of near instantaneous communications the default condition becomes to send a quick question and to (impatiently) await a designer’s or publisher’s response. That is, of course, if the players have even read the rules. Watching a video interpretation is not a substitute for reading but a supplemental method of learning. But I digress…

These days I understand that the simultaneously revealed order plots don’t work with initiative which removes a very interesting element of play. Given my choice between Command counters and plotting orders I would go with Command counters.

Fight

 In both Panzer North Africa and ’88’ the next game turn phase to follow is combat. As found in the previous game phases the rules used in this phase share a common foundation yet are different.

Part of the mystique surrounding the Panzer series of war games is the detailed combat model used. As the ad copy for ’88’ relates: “The game system, shared with our earlier popular Panzer game (which covers battles on the Eastern Front), easily incorporates myriad details such as armor thicknesses at various points, shots from various angles, heights, and altitudes, and the effects of terrain.”

’88’ steps of combat

Of the two rules sets the more complicated are those found in ’88’. The combat model used in ’88’ very much appears to have been adopted from miniatures wargaming rules. The rules in ’88’ use physical tools—a Range Scale and Target Angle Wheel—that are not found in Panzer North Africa. The rules for VI. The Direct Fire Phase - How to Fire AP Shells is a somewhat complex process:

• Determine Field of Fire; ensure legal Fire Orders.
• Use the Range Scale to measure range.
  • Cross-reference with Range in Hexes line of Gunnery Tables on the firing unit’s Data Card to get AP Factor and Penetration.
• Using the AP Hit Tables on the Game Card, cross-reference the AP Factor to get Base Modifier number.
  • Apply Movement Modifiers.
  • Apply Target Terrain Modifiers.
  • Apply Miscellaneous Modifiers (Target Size, etc.).
• Cross-grid the Modifier Number with AP Factor on the AP Hit Table to get the Hit Number.
• Roll d100 equal to or less than the Hit Number to hit.

If a hit is achieved the players then follow a hit determination procedure. This step is where the Panzer series is noted for its detail. Once the number of hits are found the hit location must be determined. Players must determine the shot elevation and shot angle (using the Target Angle Wheel aka “The Wheel of Death”) to determine which column of the Hit Determination Table on the back of the target’s Data Card is used. Again a d100 is rolled and the number compared to the table to determine where the target hit. That target hit location shows an armor value for the target. That number is compared to the Penetration value of the firing unit at that range to determine if the hit penetrates. In the Armor Game hits that don’t penetrate instead harmlessly “carom” off. If the hit penetrates, another roll is made on the Damage Caused table of the firing unit’s Data Card to determine the extent of the damage.

Note that the direct fire procedure in ’88’ requires three (3) physical actions (Determine Line of Sight, measure range with Range Scale, determine shot angle with Target Angle Wheel), the use of up to nine (9) table look-ups (Range to AP Factor on Gunnery Tables, AP Hit Table Base Modifier, AP Movement Modifiers, AP Target Terrain Modifiers, Miscellaneous Modifiers, AP Hit Table Adjusted Modifier, Hit Determination Table, Penetration from Gunnery Tables, Damage Caused Table), and up to 3 die rolls (To Hit, Hit Location, Damage Caused). All that activity takes time.

Panzer North Africa streamlining

The Direct Fire Step (see rule 4.4.1 Direct Fire Step) in Panzer North Africa follows the same broad rules outline as ’88’ but in a much more streamlined—even abbreviated—manner. “To fire at a target, it must be spotted, in range of the weapon firing, and fall within the firing vehicle’s Field-of-Fire” (4.4.3). The next steps are very procedural:

• Determine range by counting hexes.
• On the vehicle Data Card, cross-reference range in Offensive Information section to derive an AP Range Factor.
• Determine Net Modifier using AP Hit Modifiers table to determine an AP Hit Number on the AP Hit table.
• Roll d100; if roll is equal to or less than the AP Hit Number the shot hits.

As rule 4.4.3.2.5 Determining Armor Penetration states, “The Basic Game utilizes a very streamlined method of armor penetration.” The detailed ’88’-like hit location and armor penetration model is not part of the Basic Game in Panzer North Africa but appears later in the Advanced Game. Instead, the Basic Game compares the Penetration Factor of the firing vehicle’s weapon to the Armor note entry on the target vehicle’s Data Card. This Basic Game Armor Value is a simple Front/Rear factor that is compared to the Penetration Value; if the shot penetrates the Basic Game AP Damage and Effects (rule 4.4.3.2.6) is consulted:

• “If the Penetration Factor is equal to or greater than the Armor Factor by 1-3, the target suffers a Damage Hit.”
• “If greater by 4-9, it suffers a KO [Knock-Out].”
• “If greater by 10 or more, it suffers a BU [Brew Up].”

The Direct Fire Step in Panzer North Africa is extremely streamlined in comparison to ’88’. The Basic Game direct fire procedure requires one (1) physical step (counting range), six (6) table look-ups (AP Factor in Offensive Information, AP Hit Modifiers, AP Hit Table, AP Penetration Factor in Offensive Information, Armor Value, AP Damage and Effects) and a single (1) die roll.

While the Panzer North Africa direct fire combat procedure is certainly more streamlined, I find it intensely less-satisfying than the procedure found in the Armor Game of ’88’. For me, streamlining out the detailed hit location and penetration part of the combat model is like handing me the keys to a powerful sports car and telling me to strictly drive the speed limit on neighborhood streets. I understand that the Basic Game is in many ways a learning or teaching game and the designer made a decision to remove some complexity from the Basic Game for the sake of learning the fundamentals of the rules and game mechanisms. I get it—I just chafe at the delay. I bought Panzer North Africa exactly for that complexity and detail so bring it on!

“The Basic Game utilizes a very streamlined method of armor penetration. The armor information found in the Defensive Information section is only used in the Advanced Game (AG).”

4.4.3.2.5 Determining Armor Penetration

Move…with fire

Movement in Panzer North Africa is very simple. Units with Short Halt or Move orders move in Initiative order. When moving, units of the other player with Overwatch orders can shoot at targets of opportunity. The movement factor and mobility class of the vehicles in Panzer North Africa are found on the counter; though that information can also be found on the Vehicle Data Card there is not a requirement to reference it during movement as the counter has the information. It is necessary to keep the Terrain Effect table on Game Card B handy but, given the relatively sparse terrain found in the desert, the number of times the table will need to be referenced is likely to be much less than a game set on the Eastern or Western Front.

’88’, with its plotted movement system, is a much more rigid set of rules when it comes to movement. To plot movement requires referencing the Vehicle Card as well as the Vehicle Movement Costs table on the Command Sheet.

As rule VII. The Movement Execution and Opportunity Fire Phase details, “Although the movement is considered to be simultaneous, the players should move their units sequentially so that as one side moves, the other side can check for Opportunity Fire.” The plotted movement in ’88’ also demands rules for illegal plots due to damage, player stupidity, and unanticipated events that occur during the turn.

“B. EXACT MOVES: The units must be moved on the mapboard exactly as indicated by their plotted notations, unless the movements are not possible or illegal.”

’88’, VII. The Movement Execution and Opportunity Fire Phase, Rule Book, 15

Within the movement phase of the Basic Game of Panzer North Africa or the Armor Game of ’88’ it is interesting to see the differences in how both rule sets treat opportunity fire. In ’88’, opportunity fire is plotted as a hex and opportunity fire is only possible when any vehicle passes through the line of sight between the firing unit with the Opportunity Fire order and the designated hex. Panzer North Africa, on the other hand, uses a much more flexible system of Overwatch which is triggered by either movement or fire. A unit in Panzer North Africa with an Overwatch order can reveal that order and fire when another unit within line-of-sight fires or when a unit moves into (or is passing through) the line-of-sight of the Overwatch unit. Note that the unit fired upon may not have been sighted in the Spotting Phase earlier that turn. The Panzer North Africa rules for Overwatch do everything Opportunity Fire in ’88’ does and much more with little additional rules overhead.

Grown up Panzer

While ’88’ will always occupy a soft spot in my heart, Panzer North Africa is a worthy successor. The Basic Game of Panzer North Africa may not have the detailed combat model I expect demand but it is built upon a solid foundation of game mechanisms that make the Sight-Order-Fire-Move sequence of battle work in an enjoyable and fairly streamlined manner. It took 44 years, but my ’88’ v2 has finally arrived.

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Feature image courtesy RMN

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