Art of tactics playing fields. Overview of the Art of Tactic gaming system. Briefly how to play it

Greetings, dear readers. Today I will tell you about a new model from the Zvezda company, which appeared in stores only last Friday - the heavy Soviet tank IS-3.

The IS-3, together with the T-44, was the last Soviet tank produced in short supply and in wartime need. Both of the tanks I mentioned were being prepared to replace the best tank of the war, the T-34-85 and the heavy IS-2, respectively. Therefore, the tank turned out to be as simple and cheap as possible to manufacture, driving a car was also not something out of the ordinary, any draftee from the village, after a short course, could drive a car into battle. The appearance of the car fully reflects the era to which the car belonged. For those who don’t understand what I’m talking about, just compare the IS-3 and IS-7, the second was designed slowly, they didn’t skimp on it, the output turned out to be an elegant machine that amazes with its dimensions and shapes. IS-3 is deprived of all this peacetime gloss. Before us is a war worker, who, however, did not have time for the war. Some igrodely, who have a very bad history, shove this tank into a combat situation to storm Berlin, but we will leave these opuses on the conscience of the developers. I repeat, the IS-3 did not participate in the battles of the Second World War, like the T-44.
The IS-3 was born in 1944 as the Kirovets-1 project under the leadership of the legendary designer Joseph Kotin. The car gained weight, compared to its older brother, Isom No. 2, by only 3 tons, received the so-called. "pike nose" - the most inclined armor in the bow of the hull and an unusual for that period, a large round tower. The IS-3 cannon was inherited from the IS-2, D-25T with a caliber of 122 mm. and a barrel length of 48 calibers. A total of 1555 copies were produced.
The first public appearance of new tanks is considered to be the parade of winners in defeated Berlin. For the Western allies, the appearance of a new Soviet tank was like a bolt from the blue. In the West, for a long time, the IS-3 will become a symbol of the power and invincibility of the Soviet armored forces. So amazing was the new heavy tank.

IS-3 on parade in Berlin.


And at the parade in Moscow.


The IS-3 was exported to Egypt and the DPRK (M. Baryatinsky All tanks of the USSR. The most complete encyclopedia. Moscow. Yauza. Eksmo. 2013 p. 336). I did not find any information about Korean ISs, but the Egyptian ones were not at all lucky. They took part in the Arab-Israeli wars, where they either burned down or became trophies "for a quarter of our former people."

Israeli trophy. IS-3 in the museum in Latrun. In the background is a T-34-85, to the right of the IS-3 ISU-152(?), and in the back to the right is something unknown to me, with a Sherman base and a French AMX cannon.

The unenviable fate of the IS-3 in the fields of Sinai is associated primarily with the low qualifications and "ability" to fight our Arab partners. They would not have won that war, even if a portal had opened, from which 3-4 companies of T-90s would have been delivered to them.
Let's proceed directly to the review of the model.
The box is large, like most tanks of the late period, hence the price on the website of 280 rubles. We open the box. Inside we are waiting for a bag with two green sprues inside


and instructions.

Let's take a closer look at the sprues.
The first.




Second.




Both sprues are made of high quality traditional Zvezda green plastic. Plastic won't bend or break. Small parts are attached well and just do not come off during transportation.
Assembled model.









What can be said about the assembly? Let's start with the bad. Details 21 and 22 refused to hold without glue. Moreover, 21 got up, but fell out when trying to attach the "bath" to the "lid" of the case, and 22 simply refused to be fixed. Both had to be glued. In the last photos, a part representing a tank for a smoke screen has fallen off. I deliberately placed it incorrectly (on the left in the last photo) to show that these parts 7 and 8 hold up perfectly even when they stand up incorrectly. Fool-proofing would not hurt, as on previous models, where it simply cannot be assembled incorrectly.
Now the pros. The first plus is that this is a Soviet tank. The parade of German tanks frankly bothered not only me. And if it’s not too late, then next year, it wouldn’t be bad to replace the T-4 with something Soviet, say, a T-28 or KV-1 with screens on the turret (it’s easier and cheaper than making a cast turret), yes and BA-64 would not be bad either. The second advantage of the model is its assembly. In terms of assembly level, the IS-3 is comparable to a panther, but unlike the German menagerie, nothing had to be adjusted. The case gathered on a click and was not going to fall apart. The undercarriage is easily inserted and easily removed, which is a definite plus for those who will paint the model.
What can be said at the end? The model is excellent, the only drawback that hurts the eye is the lack of a machine gun on the turret, everything else is a complaint about the inscription "assembly without glue", which is not so important. The assembled model is comparable to a panther in terms of the number of small parts, but at the same time it is simpler and does not require manual fine-tuning of the entire structure after assembling the body. There simply cannot be cracks here, if you did everything right and removed the burrs with a knife before assembly.
Separately, I would like to talk about the card that came out on the day the model was released, which cannot but rejoice. The card came out... and here it is.

Honestly, I get the feeling that, starting with the Tiger, the cards began to be made at random. The characteristics of tanks of the late period simply kill tank combat in the game. Both tanks in a duel will be guaranteed to be destroyed by each other after counting hits. Five in close combat evokes a whole palette of feelings and emotions. At the same time, a tank with 122 mm. can't shoot at bunkers with a gun... In general, after the tournament in Moscow, we'll work on finalizing the tournament rules and correcting the excessively overestimated characteristics of tanks. The IS-3 will gain the ability to destroy bunkers, but will become a more armored version of the IS-2.
Thank you for your attention.

In the review above, there were previously lines that the minus of the model is the impossibility of turning the turret 360 degrees. Thanks to the search for Nikolai Zorin, I withdraw this claim.

Greetings dear friends. Today I have for you to review a whole prototype of a super-heavy tank with a proper name ... Mouse ... well, you understand ...
When the tarpaulin was ripped from the huge monster, a whisper flew through the test group. Even the most experienced and experienced were speechless when they saw the picture that opened up. The head of a special detachment of testers at a strictly classified training ground near Berlin thoughtfully looked at the 189-ton combat vehicle. An elderly tanker who began his combat career in the early thirties, he drove the first heavy tanks of the newly proclaimed Third Reich around the training ground with amazement and trepidation, watched with awe as the military thought of German tank geniuses matured and took on its features. "Troika", "Four", "Stugg-3", then at the beginning of 1940, they seemed to him the apogee of development. With undisguised laughter, he explained to his colleagues the features of the captured tanks of the Western Allies, which were brought in large numbers to a secret training ground. But the jokes ended when new Soviet tanks were brought on the platforms. Oh, how much effort was spent to revive them, and how disdain was replaced by bewilderment, and then admiration for Russian tank designers. Until recently, he and his colleagues wrote reports on the tests of new German tanks, which left a very controversial impression. But they hoped that the tanks would be brought to their minds, that the modernized Stuggs and Fours would arrive, but there was a prototype of a super-heavy tank at the training ground, when they saw it, the head of the test squad and the chief engineer of the training ground said in unison just one phrase: "Das ist polar fox!"

At the end of 1942, an Austrian artist ordered the development and launch of a breakthrough tank, with armor invulnerable to any enemy equipment... hurried to master the budget and start development. According to the adventure book of a German tank general, it was planned to create a 175 ton tank with 150 mm. cannon. I do not consider the memoirs to be a source from the word at all, but something tells me that Heinz is not lying here, if only because the Fuhrer had a great love for large and long guns.
On trials.

The queen gave birth on the night of either a son or a daughter.
A car without a gun entered the training ground. When the tower was built and delivered, it turned out that the tank had grown a little fatter, up to 188.9 tons, and instead of one gun, there were two of them, and more than one with a hint of the 150 mm desired by the dictator. In total, two cars were assembled, and the second, apparently, did not have a tower. Those. created two hulls and one turret, not 3 finished tanks and not 10 samples, but 2 hulls and 1 turret. Judging by the fact that the car did not go into battle, but was destroyed when the troops of the First Ukrainian Front, Marshal Ivan Konev, approached, it is likely that the chassis left much to be desired, and the car simply could not even be dragged to a stationary position. According to Konev's memoirs, our engineers quite by accident came across the wreckage of the "Mouse", and before this meeting, they did not know anything about the project. Whatever it was, but the tank did not go into battle, we got it as a trophy, and from the wreckage of one and a half copies, the sample that now stands in Kubinka was created.
This is how our troops found him. From the joy of the end of the fascist regime, the mouse's tower was torn off!

Wet dream of fascist elements and Germans. Both categories prefer this picture to pron and women.


Let's move on to the model.
The box is large, like most tanks of the late period of the War. The price is appropriate.
Inside we are waiting for a tradition that has already become - a bag with two sprues of light gray plastic that is pleasing to the eye.


And instructions.


Sprues.
№1.


№2.


Assembled model.







What can be said about the model? Assembles with a click without any problems. Slots are eliminated by the method of systematic fitting. The tower is large and rotates 360 degrees. There is no body kit at all, and where does it come from. This is probably the only representative of the armored fleet that I will not dismantle before painting, with the exception of removing the turret, of course. The only question that remains is the lack of a bottle of soft pink paint for applying historical camouflage to the car!
I didn't say anything about seams and flash because there aren't any, except for the seam on the tracks, but it's only visible from the front and back, and can be fixed quite easily.
The model impresses with its size and dimensions. It's really cool, much better than in a museum or in tank rides.
Thank you all for your attention.

Greetings dear friends.
Today in my hands was another novelty from the Zvezda company - the Jagdpanther.

Already the first battles in the Soviet Union showed the Germans that this war would not be a walk. Instead of a mass surrender and breaking rifles into tanks (a reference to the memoirs of the island prime minister), the encircled Soviet soldiers and commanders tried with all their might and means to escape from the boiler, stubbornly going east - to join their own. The gunners fought to the last shell, preferring to accept death under the tracks of fascist tanks to shameful captivity. The gun stopped its fire only after the shells ran out, or the calculation perished. But the most unpleasant surprise was in the face of new Soviet tanks: T-34 and KV. In the battle near Raseiniai, already on the second day of the war, the Germans experienced the blows of Soviet heavy tanks.
Despite the fact that the German arsenal had effective means of dealing with new Soviet tanks, a mobile tool was required with more armor compared to linear tanks and self-propelled guns and the beloved 88 mm of German soldiers. cannon. Artillery and tanks that were in service suffered catastrophic losses when meeting with the T-34 or KV-1 (I am silent about the KV-2 due to the fact that their combat path ended before it started - they were intended to break through the defense, and not for tank duels). Yes, sub-caliber shells stopped the attacks of Soviet tanks, but the losses were also serious. The German industry could not allow the rapid replenishment of combat units with armored vehicles, this clearly began to manifest itself by March 1942, when the tanks were withdrawn from reconnaissance battalions and special units, and the obsolete PZ-2 became command tanks. The concept of the new machine was as follows: to knock out enemy tanks and remain invulnerable to them due to the range of their fire, or phenomenal protection.
Jagdpanther in Kubinka.


The "panther" was chosen as the basis for the self-propelled guns, because this tank was intended to replace the T-4 and become the basis of the German tank forces. As soon as the "panthers" began to enter the troops en masse, work began on self-propelled guns. But if the Soviet designers in their developments of such machines brought to mind many units, then the German gloomy geniuses took the path of less resistance. Already near Kursk, the Panther showed its excellent running gear, when on the second day of the operation, almost 200 of these vehicles simply failed due to breakdowns. But the self-propelled guns received the running gear without changes, with all the diseases. One can understand the German designers - the front collapsed, and the Soviet troops rushed to the Dnieper, crushing in their path all the defensive lines that German propaganda so loudly shouted about. I even had to stop work on the "Panther 2", with which the "Jagdpanther" was supposed to be unified.
In February 1944, the car went into production. "Jagdpanther" received a powerful 88 mm. a 60-shot cannon and a low silhouette, this is compared to other German tanks ... The frontal armor plate had good tilt angles, which, coupled with its thickness, made this car a tough nut to crack, especially considering that the basis of the Allied armored forces at that moment were T-34 with 76 mm. cannon, or Shermans and Churchills. Compared to the tiger family and its older brother, the Jagdpanther turned out to be more maneuverable and more efficient. And this car would have been the best German tank destroyer, if it weren’t for the damned imperialists, who, with their flying fortresses, several times compared the factory that produces these vehicles with the ground. Childhood diseases inherited from the "panther" were never completely healed. The chassis was still breaking down, turning the work of mechanics into hell, thanks to the arrangement of the rollers. The transmission was still failing, forcing us to abandon a completely serviceable car on the road. A total of 392 such machines were produced.
An American has a damaged and abandoned "yagi".

The combat use of this machine is mainly on the Western Front, where these machines have achieved good results. They took part in the offensive operation in the Ardennes, and according to some reports, in the offensive near Lake Balaton in Hungary. An approximate result of participation in the operations I mentioned is visible in the photo above. The Wehrmacht in 1945 was far from the same, and experienced soldiers stood against it, having fought many thousands of kilometers. The Soviet guns of the T-34-85 tanks clicked German tanks without any problems, and the appearance of the IS-2 on the battlefield forced the German tankers to look for more reliable shelter. The main trump card of the American troops was their numerous and best in the world at that time, aviation. Where infantry with bazookas could not pass, hundreds of winged vehicles swept past, destroying everything that came to hand. We can safely say that our grandfathers simply did not notice the participation of these machines in the battle. Experts made certain conclusions, but ordinary soldiers did not appreciate this beast, just as they did not appreciate other examples of military equipment of Nazi Germany that were outstanding on paper and in the minds of shell-shocked Germans. For example: at this moment in the USSR, the development of a new heavy tank IS-6 is underway, work on it was curtailed only after our specialists got acquainted with the remains of the mouse tank. It became clear that the IS-6 was no longer up to date, other projects appeared instead.
Let's go directly to the model.
The box is big, like a tiger, panther or IS-2. Inside we are waiting for 2 sprues molded of high quality from gray plastic.
Once.

Two.


As well as double-sided instructions.




On the assembly of questions and complaints, the model does not cause. Everything is very high quality, without burr and sinking.





If you famously swing a knife, as I do, then the roof will look like in the photo above. These are not cracks - this is how I removed the burrs. There are no slots in the team cabin. She gathers with a bang, and then neatly adjusted, without the use of force. The gun is practically motionless, I tried to demonstrate the angle of deflection of the gun in the photo from the side. If the car will go to competitions not in foam rubber, then it is recommended to put the entire structure on glue before painting - it will be better preserved when carried. There are no complaints or enthusiasm - this is a high-quality model that will become a good addition to the collection, just confirmation of the high quality that Zvezda has long since achieved. The assembly itself does not cause problems at all - the most difficult thing is the removal of burrs. A simple, high-quality model without frills, but also without jambs. I recommend taking at least one such SPG in your collection.
Thank you for your attention.

Greetings dear friends. Today I will tell you about another miracle tank of Nazi Germany, a self-propelled gun with a proper name Jagtigr in a "hundredth" scale from the Zvezda company.

Jagtiger in Aberdeen. It is this machine that is depicted on the box with the set.


Since my "favorite" artist is not mentioned in the history of the creation of this monster, I will not be sarcastic enough. But the absence of a corporal in the story of the creation of the machine does not mean that, unlike the jet bomber, this sample of the German menagerie turned out to be successful. In total, according to various sources, 77-79 cars were produced. One battalion participated in the offensive on Lake Balaton, where the swan song of the elite of the German tank troops took place. As one veteran-participant of those battles who came to our school said (and the author is a 12-year-old schoolboy - everyone knows this!), "They wanted to punch us in the stomach in Hungary, it didn't work out." The rest of the vehicles were used purely on the Western Front, where their crews earned light frags by snapping Shermans, Stuarts and other models of Allied tanks. At the same time, neither ours nor the allies noticed such vehicles on the battlefield. There were too few of them, and they suffered from the same childhood diseases as their progenitor, the royal tiger. A fairly fat car ruined the already fragile undercarriage even more. The transmission failed. Most of the cars became trophies of the Allied armies, abandoned on the front roads due to breakdowns.
The only trump cards of the Yagtigr were the phenomenal frontal projection of the armor and 128mm. tool. But excellent performance characteristics on paper or in the game are not as excellent in real combat conditions, where it is not the driver-ace of the testing ground who sits behind the levers. Cars of mass went out of order or were abandoned by the crew due to breakdowns. There was a severe shortage of spare parts. The Third Reich was living out its last months, more and more vehicles came out of the assembly lines of tank factories, unsuitable for the war raging on the European continent. Armed with miracle weapons, the battalions went out of order already on the march. Instead of effectively patching holes, columns of such vehicles stretched on the march due to the poor quality of running data and became easy prey for the air forces of their opponents. By the beginning of 1945, the Tigers and Panthers had practically overcome their childhood illnesses, which hinted at the mass production of these particular machines, but the Germans again did what was not necessary. The experience of the Soviet Union in the production of low-performance T-60 and T-70, which became the country's salvation in the harsh years of retreats and blitzkriegs, was not taken seriously, therefore, the place of reliable T-4 or Stugg-3 on conveyors was occupied by royal tigers, jet bombers and others clearly unfinished machines. For those who strongly disagree with me, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the mouse tank project and evaluate the costs and effects of such a project. Did they build something similar in the USSR in 1941-1945? No. We went through this back in Finnish, where it became clear that the SMK and T-100, to put it mildly, are archaic. The last echo of the era of steel battleships was the SU-100Y (y), but it was built before the war, and Soviet designers did not turn to this topic again. Turn on already common sense and admit at least to yourself that the Wehrmacht with its miracle tanks was doomed.

Now let's move on to the model, there is something to tell and something to think about.
Box.

Instruction.


Sprues. There are two of them.



Before starting the assembly, I would like to pay attention to the following:
1. The course machine gun must be installed last, otherwise you can break it.
2. Mount the implement after assembling the body.
3. The "lags" on which the "bath" lid rests are best attached to the lid, and only then connect the "bath" and the lid.
4. The cutting base is quite fragile, carefully remove the burrs, you can easily cut off a piece of the part if you use a sharp knife.
5. Carefully remove burrs on the edges of parts that will be visible on the surface of the model, otherwise, the cracks will be even better than on the Su-100, I still got one such crack at the stern of the car. I'll sand it down a bit before painting.
Photo of the assembled model.




Photo with a slit in the stern.


For comparison: with his older brother.
The exhaust pipe died in battle, over time I will finish it.


Front view.


What can be said about the model? Compared to Tiger 2, it does not inspire. The assembly is not comparable to the Panther. But the model is worthwhile, and I do not regret the 280 rubles that I paid for it. The assembly is much more interesting and difficult than the rocket launcher. The gun is mounted on a "hinge" (if you can call it that), and perfectly changes the aiming angles, which I demonstrated in the photo above. When painting, the gun can be easily removed and painted separately. Before us is a clear crown of the production of models of this kind ("weaving" when assembling without glue): details and fastenings are well thought out, the model is really assembled on a click, nothing had to be cut (sometimes you have to finish the pins with a knife).
Thank you all for your attention.

Greetings, dear readers.
On January 8, it was very cold in Moscow, the frost literally penetrated to the bones, all exposed parts of the body began to burn from sub-zero temperatures in a matter of seconds. But everyone who signed up two months before the event came almost without delay. There were no wimps and girls among us, which is good news. All who promised, kept their word. Before the beginning of the story, I would like to convey a fiery greetings to the authorities of our beloved capital for excellent public transport, in which, in thirty degrees of frost, the temperature, judging by the running line, is minus two, the tram depot can organize heat, but there are no bus depots, but wi-fi is screwed on! Modernization on the face!
Just a few words should be said about the operation that we played on the table in Meridian. After the victorious offensive of the German and Italian troops under the leadership of General Rommel in 1941, the British units retreated almost to the Egyptian pyramids. Over the main artery of the British Empire, the Suez Canal, the threat of capture loomed. The only center of resistance in the Libyan desert was the fortress of Tobruk. She did not play any strategic role, however, she forced several German and Italian divisions to be drawn into her siege. Taking advantage of the stretch of communications and the weakening of the German strike force, the British regrouped troops, pulled up reserves, and on November 18, 1941, having complete superiority in the air and at sea, launched an unexpectedly strong counterattack. In a few days, they managed to crush the shock German units, throwing them back, and launch a victorious offensive to unblock the heroic garrison of Tobruk. The Germans and Italians fled, abandoning their vehicles and heavy weapons, and the British troops dispelled the myth that they were incapable of beating the Germans. The success was simply resounding.
The main tank of this offensive by the British army was the tank with the proper name "Crusader" (Crusader), which became not only one of the most massive tanks of the British army, but also one of the most unsuccessful tanks of this army. The tank was built on a suspension designed by Christie. It turns out that not only the aggressive Stalin built high-speed tanks. Lord Marlborough, too, comes out as an aggressor, in huge quantities he produced mainline tanks for blitzkriegs! (For the dull: a reference to one fugitive scout with his blitzkrieg tanks and flying jackals), but speed and maneuverability could not compensate weak armor, the Crusader shared a sad fate with its cousin, the BT tank.
A crusader with a crew on armor passes a burning German T-4.


We deploy troops.
British strike force against the Italian barrier. Due to the difficult terrain, the reconnaissance battalion on Dingo was immediately sent to the neighboring infantry division.


Outskirts of Tobruk.


General view of the besieged Tobruk.


General view of the British group.


Before starting to describe fighting, it is necessary to explain a little the basic provisions and rules of this game.
Suppressive fire was left only to infantry companies.
Ammunition was not taken into account.
It was possible to attach 2 artillery detachments to one truck or put 2 infantry detachments inside.
All anti-tank guns could fire canopy.
The indirect fire rule has been completely overhauled. Not dice were subtracted, but accuracy. Accuracy when firing with a canopy has always been considered a "one". This rule, it seems to us, is much closer to reality. At least this time, the fire of one or two howitzers did not stop the whole offensive. To stop such a mass of troops, 10-12 bases are needed, as happened in real combat conditions, when single howitzers could only cause some inconvenience to the advancing troops.
The "ambush" and "smokescreen" rules were not used. Also, the rule of shooting at a group of units was not used.
The desert limited movement to 1 hex.
The characteristics of the British tanks were changed: the Matilda received the "third" protection, and the Crusader the "second protection", but the "third speed". Matilda I had protection "two".
The guns did not take a turn to deploy/collapse. Trucks and guns could receive 2 different orders, i.e., the truck moved and towed the gun, and when it arrived at the place, the gun was unhooked on the same turn. The next move could be fired. The order to change the sector has been removed. The firing sector remained only with the units on the defensive.
British infantry was played by any British infantry bases except headquarters.
Any bases played for the Italians, except for the regular German infantry and headquarters.
Italian tanks were represented by "Pragues".
The New Zealand infantry was represented by original figures, and powerful British anti-tank guns - 76mm. regimental Soviet guns. Instead of one missing Bofors, they took a Soviet anti-aircraft gun.

First move.
German and Italian divisions ignore the order of the Austrian artist to continue the attack on the Suez Canal, and march on Tobruk in a deployed formation.


The British begin to move, but the desert does not allow to move quickly, and the roads are not able to pass such a number of troops through themselves. The Italian division did not falter under the blow of the British troops, but bravely and steadfastly held its positions.


Second move.
The offensive against Tobruk continues. The British armored forces, hiding behind their armor, are trying to attack the German forces on the march.

On the offensive front of Sir Auchinleck's troops, the methodical pushing forward of columns stuck in traffic jams continues, destroying the defense of the Italian division along the way.
The weak armor of the Crusaders immediately made itself felt - in the photo, 2 tanks had already suffered losses from Italian anti-tank guns.


Third move.
The German units came close to the walls of Torbuk.


With the fire of deployed guns, mortars and howitzers, the British troops ram the Italian defenses. Light tanks break into infantry positions and crush them with their tracks.


Fourth move.
On the streets of Tobruk, desperate battles began between British infantry and German tanks. The score is clearly not in favor of the islanders. The basis of the defense here is a battery of heavy anti-aircraft guns.


British troops finish off the defense of the Italian division. Desperate resistance was calculated to quickly support the panzer divisions, but the German commanders abandoned the allies and stormed Tobruk.


General view of the map after the fourth move. The advancing British units are marked with a piece of base in the lower right corner. Tobruk is still very far away. The Germans are already preparing to meet the advancing Tommy. An anti-tank area is being hastily prepared on the central skyscrapers.


Fifth move.
The situation in Tobruk becomes simply catastrophic. Only a miracle can save the fortress.


The British had finally dealt with the Italian barrier, and rushed along the deserted roads, raising clouds of dust and dry sand. The armored division struggles through the hills and dunes. The assault on fortified positions (according to the scenario, the Italians were in the trenches) costly for the 7th Panzer: one detachment of "crusaders" was lost and 2 infantry companies were seriously battered (in a few moves they will be merged into one).


General view at the end of the 5th turn.


Sixth move.
In Tobruk, the countdown of the last hours of the resistance of the fortress began. There were no guns left, the tanks burned down in furious attacks.




The British move in huge serpent columns clad in steel armor. There is nowhere to hurry, it is necessary to think over the actions so that the German anti-tank guns do not burn the light British tanks. The command introduces the New Zealanders into battle (green coasters that make up the second column).


General view at the end of the course.


Seventh move.
Part of the tanks of the German divisions, badly battered during the assault on Tobruk, are heading towards their anti-tank areas on the heights.
The British are advancing.


Eighth move.
Tobruk is still holding out! But the main parts of the German troops had already gone east.


The British are waiting for the concentration of their infantry. The last reserves appear on the battlefield - the Oasis group.

General view of the battlefield at the end of the eighth turn.


Ninth move.
Only one detachment of the British army remained in Tobruk.


The British are pulling up infantry to storm the heights, lining up with German howitzers. Only the advance detachment, consisting of Matilda of the 1st Army Tank Brigade and infantry of the 4th Indian Infantry Division, slowly stormed a small village occupied by a German sapper battalion.


Tenth move.
Tobruk is still alive! The last soldiers of the empire, bleeding, cut off from their troops and doomed to death, still hold the ruins of the once formidable forts. The Germans occupy the heights, but do not go forward, waiting for the attack of the British troops.


The British move in two columns in order to destroy the fortified areas in parts. Only light tanks ply along the road. The command has not yet fully decided where they will be used.

Eleventh move.
The heroic garrison of Tobruk fell in an unequal battle, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. Rommel can be congratulated on the rank of field marshal as early as November 1941. The Germans are building up strength, but they are not moving forward. The British bring up the infantry. In the conditions of dominance over the area of ​​command heights occupied by the Germans, any attack in the forehead is doomed to failure, and there is nowhere to maneuver.


Twelfth move.
Group "Oasis" on hot sands tries to bypass.


Thirteenth move.
In the center, one Matilda was destroyed by German howitzers. On the coastline, the British infantry, overcoming the annoying sands, was practically ready to attack the German defenses, standing mainly from tanks.


Fourteenth move.
Fighting broke out in the coastal sector, with howitzers from both sides delivering annihilating fire.


Fifteenth move.
The "Oasis" group is maneuvering through the desert, hoping to find a "window" and break through to the rear of the enemy.
In the center there is a concentration of a mass of troops (the desert does not allow you to move quickly).
On the shores of the Mediterranean, British troops rushed forward.


Sixteenth move.
In the coastal sector and in the center there is a positional meat grinder. Several detachments of British infantry were destroyed by annihilating fire. The British commanders are moving their guns closer to the front line.

Seventeenth move.
Bloody positional battles continue. The cannons of the tanks and infantry guns were heated by continuous fire.


Eighteenth move.
The British have brought all their artillery into battle and are methodically knocking out enemy tanks. From the 15th tank division of the Wehrmacht there were 2 armored personnel carriers and one armored vehicle. There are two tanks in the 21st division of the Wehrmacht, but one of them is T-4! The British also suffer losses, the 1st South African and 4th Indian Infantry Divisions are almost completely destroyed. The British still have a lot of tanks, but with each move they become less and less. In addition, such attacks and duels with German tanks are clearly not in favor of the islanders.


Nineteenth move.
The South Africans storm the skyscrapers with the support of all their artillery. Only Matild's platoon remained in the 1st Tank Brigade. The 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions were reduced to battalion level. The Italian infantry is in no hurry to help the bleeding tankmen of the German divisions. Luckily for them, the sand is holding back the advance of large masses of British troops. A regiment of New Zealanders was assigned to help the South Africans.


Group "Oasis" came under attack from enemy guns. The result is visible in the photo.


Twentieth move.
In the coastal sector, the Germans conduct private counterattacks with the forces of a motorcycle battalion. The British are clearing skyscrapers in the coastal sector - the first point of the offensive plan has been completed.


Twenty-first move.
Group "Oasis" supports the attack of the New Zealanders and Indians. The remnants of the 15th division rush to the aid of the Italian tankers.


In the coastal sector, the Germans are attacking more and more actively. Another regiment of New Zealanders was sent to help the remnants of the South Africans.

Twenty-second move.
There was practically nothing left of the beauty and pride of the 7th Panzer, the last battalion of the 1st brigade on Matilda goes on the attack. He is backed by Oasis.
On the coastal flank, the last battalion of the 21st Panzer tries to hold back the British advance with its attack.


Twenty-third move.
The second high-rise is cleared! On the coastal flank, the Germans throw their last reserve, an engineer company, into battle. At this moment, the commander of the central grouping of British troops was seriously wounded. His place was taken by the commander of the Oasis. He brought all the anti-tank guns into a compact group on one hex, which the German gunners took advantage of on the next turn.


Twenty-fourth move.
On the Mediterranean coast, there was nothing left of the defense of German troops at the forefront. New Zealanders occupy commanding heights.

In the central sector of the front, the British reached the second defensive line of the Germans.




German howitzers destroyed all the artillery of the British group of forces. Further continuation of the game would lead to a methodical gnaw through of the defense in the desert. Therefore, it was decided to stop the game, awarding the victory on points to the German side.
The conclusions from this game were the following:
1. The rules for artillery showed themselves well, in this game for the first time the artillery of infantry divisions was actively used.
2. Light tanks are not capable of breaking through the lines of defense and they must either be upgraded in terms of performance or not used at all. It's one thing to play 1v1 or a tournament, it's another thing to play for many hours, in which it's interesting to maneuver and fight. Having knocked out all the tanks, the opponents began to slowly move and shoot a little - this reduced the game to a boring turn-based rpg.
3. Non-historical actions of the German commanders, to put it mildly, thwarted the whole essence of the game, therefore, in the next similar game, the action of each division for the first 5-10 moves will be spelled out separately. And if, according to history, it was necessary to hold a broad front without the right to retreat, then so be it. The experience of "Iskra" and "Crusader" showed the perniciousness of the liberties of the deployment and actions of troops at their own discretion. Instead of a maneuver war with light tanks in the Libyan desert, we got a reconstruction of the events in Karelia in the winter of 1939-1940, without the condition that heavy artillery and new tank battalions approach the attacking side.
The author expresses his deep gratitude to all participants and spectators, as well as to the Meridian Central Cultural Institute for the provided premises.
Thank you for your attention.

Greetings, dear readers. Today I have a Sturmtigr from the Zvezda company for you.
In the tank museum in Kubinka.

By tradition, first, a historical background.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans faced defense lines that turned out to be stronger than the famous Maginot Line with its useless-expensive forts. To break through the defenses of the Soviet troops, the Germans always used artillery of various calibers, but over time it became clear that a large sledgehammer was needed that would not lag behind on the march. Therefore, work on new self-propelled guns did not stop. But unlike the Soviet Union, which brilliantly won the most terrible war in the history of mankind, the German gloomy geniuses decided to hit megalomania. The experience of using the SMK tank in Finland, as well as the T-35 in the terrible summer of 1941, did not satisfy them. After all, it was Soviet barbarians who sat in such machines, but the Aryans will do better and more! I already feel the approach of the first lump of dissatisfaction from the Germans playing computer games, but I again have to disappoint them - the stormtiger is another fruit of violent fantasy, under the influence of substances and overkill. According to the legend of the creation of this machine, 380mm. the ship (!) jet bomber (!), mounted on the chassis of a heavy tank, was approved by the Fuhrer himself on August 5, 1943. What those who did not dissuade the artist from such an undertaking were thinking, I do not know. On August 5, it was already clear that the plan to defeat the Soviet army near Kursk had finally failed, on that day our troops liberated the ancient Russian cities of Orel and Belgorod, in their honor, the first fireworks in the history of the Great Patriotic Fireworks thundered in the night sky of Moscow. The collapse of the eastern front was only a matter of time, any sane Wehrmacht general understood this. In the southern sector of the Soviet-German front, German troops retreated everywhere, tank reserves were used up, the Panther line was a frankly weak position in front of the victoriously advancing Soviet army. In this position, it would be best to produce battle-tested tanks and self-propelled guns, and not experiment with installing a ship-based bomb launcher on a tank chassis, but I’d better keep silent, otherwise the second brown lump from the Germans is already on the way.
In Munster.

During the tests, the Austrian artist liked the sample (this machine is in Kubinka near Moscow) so much that he ordered the production of these machines to begin immediately. Which cities they will storm and which lines of defense to break through, the Fuhrer did not specify. It was planned to release 10 of these monsters per month. But the serial production of cars began to be frankly sabotaged by the highest general cadres. You see, it seemed to them that the artist was mistaken, and this machine, to put it mildly, is not needed under the circumstances. Here I see a blunder of the SS and SD services, they missed separatism on the ground. It was necessary to shoot all the dissatisfied! How many lives of soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition could be saved by this right decision. Himmler would personally win sympathy from me if he could prove to his Fuhrer that such machines should be built a thousand pieces a month, spitting on ordinary tanks with a ridiculous 88 caliber, here 380 is wow! It's ours! It sucks here!
But back to 1943.
Compared to the serial tiger, the stormtiger came out a little heavier, only 10 tons. The tiger was already overweight, and the extra pounds hinted that in leggings with such a jo, i.e. the car will sit heavily on the ground. Therefore, an improved base was needed. At that moment, tigers of new series began to roll off the assembly line, with improved driving performance and a new engine. The generals refused to give these vehicles for conversion into self-propelled guns that were useless for any sane person. But under pressure from the artist, several echelons with tigers were sent to be converted into an assault version. The first batch of 12 vehicles was completed at the end of September 1944. A total of 18 cars were produced, including a test sample, which was greatly improved compared to the beginning of its existence and was in no way inferior to its brothers in misfortune.
American soldiers look with surprise at the dinosaur.

The first battle of the machine was accepted with a worthy opponent - they ironed the pro-English uprising in Warsaw. Already there it turned out that the accuracy of shooting leaves much to be desired, and the ship's shells did not explode, falling into the soft walls of houses and barricades hastily knocked together from gov ... improvised materials. The shells were intended for firing at solid bunkers and similar targets, which is why they did not explode. This ridiculous trifle was eliminated, but time, which is the most important resource in a war, was mediocrely spent. All machines of this type participated in the battles exclusively on the Western Front, where they did not play a special role, becoming only a spectacular trophy for the troops of the Western Allies. Sturmtiger simply went unnoticed - it was a waste of time and resources.
On the Internet, there are a lot of colorful stories about the performance characteristics of this instance of a German menagerie, where the authors in bright colors compare the abilities of a sluggish elephant in a china shop with massive allied anti-tank guns. Here, they say, if they met, then the chances of surviving the calculations would be extremely small. By 1944, German tanks were quite vulnerable to an ordinary infantry Vanya with a bottle of combustible mixture in his hands. No one would try to pierce such a monster in the forehead from an anti-tank gun - from the window of the house a hi weighing several bundles of anti-tank grenades would fly in, and from the window of the first floor of a destroyed store from a lethal distance, an anti-tank gun of the guards regiment would fire at the rear or side of the car. I will simply keep silent about the obligatory presence of "St. This reality contrasts strongly with the wet narrative of the Germans, who refuse to consider the underarmament of the Third Reich not in a vacuum or in a computer toy.
Let's move on to the model.
Box.


Inside we are waiting for 2 sprues made of high-quality gray plastic, carefully packed in a transparent bag.



I was especially pleased that the case is molded as a separate part - there will be fewer visible cracks.
Photo of the assembled car.












The barrel of the "gun" moves well.

Despite the fact that this sample of vehicles in the AoT line looks strange, to say the least, I liked the model itself.
The quality of castings, as always, is on top. No burr and no frills. The assembly is excellent, but unlike the panther, boring. There are few parts, and the assembly itself took me about 5 minutes. But I recommend this model to everyone in the collection. She's worth it, believe me.
The author is grateful to Zvezda for an excellent model.

Z.s. The catalog for 2017 is out and we all saw it. What can I say? Yes, I want the T-28, BA-64 and Su-76, and the aviation had to be diluted with models from the end of the war. But while in the "Star" they think differently. We have a chance to see the Su-76 in the future, I will not comment on this phrase, I just ask you to take my word for it. Everything else is a big question. The IS-3 will undoubtedly be an excellent model, of which I am going to take a few pieces for myself, the machine gun on the turret would not let us down. Mouse? So it was considered financially profitable. I hope that the IS-4 and the crown of heavy tank building, the IS-7, will follow the mouse, I would really like to put these machines on the shelf. In 35, both are, but not yet assembled. This is purely my opinion and a look at the further development of the branch in 100 scale.

Thank you for your attention.

Hi all! I apologize for the delay, but only today the photos needed for the review were received. Therefore, let's start!
November 5, 2016 turned out to be surprisingly cold and snowy. Wrapped in a hood, powerless against the violent wind in the face, I somehow got to the place. I really liked that in addition to me, there were 13 of us fearless, not afraid of the violence of nature. I will immediately answer the question - this time we have two new players - we are growing, so to speak.
The prize fund, as always, was kindly provided by the Zvezda company, for which we express our deep human thanks to her.



Continuing the good tradition, this time we also did not refuse the cup with medals. Moreover, they decided that in winter the cup should be darker "winter" tones, and in spring bright and colorful "summer".
The tables are set, in a few minutes the draw will begin, but for now, a photo of an empty hall.


We part.






Several photos of the painted armies brought by the participants.







Separately, we note the excellent conversion of the T-26 light tank. White on the body of the tank is an attempt to apply dirt. My opinion is that the dirt on the game minks is superfluous.


First moves.





Since there were 13 of us, 6 winners went to the next round, another player who did not participate in the first game went to the second round automatically (at the next tournament this player will be the winner of the winter tournament - note of the organizing committee), and one lucky added by points. Those. even the losing side fought to the last, trying with all their might to take the victory points. For example, let me tell you that the author of these lines went to the next round, scoring 100 victory points, and the player who went to the next round from among the losers scored 125 victory points, still losing his game. The intensity of the battles was strong, not a single battle ended before the end last move games.
A few more photos of the participants.






Watching the final.


A few photos with the equipment of the participants.







After the first tournament, there were questions about painting the army and the mandatory requirements on this topic. I will always be against this rule, because it will only lead to a lock-in of an already poor tournament system for players. It will be possible to talk about such things seriously after the tournaments begin to gather up to a hundred players in several cities at the same time (that is, without the option of touring the same people around the cities for the sake of extras). Now every player is valuable to us, and everyone does not have enough time, strength and desire to paint.
Scoring in the final match.


The winner of the tournament is Mikhail Vikentiev.

The rest of the photos did not come out, but I promise that this will be the last time - in the spring I will take on the important issue of photographs completely, as always.
Share a photo for memory.
The first place was taken by Mikhail Vikentiev.
Second place - Daniil Kapustin.
Third place - Vladislav Mironenkov.


The author and participants express their deep gratitude to OOO "Zvezda", TsKI "Meridian", and personally to Eduard Viktorovich Chukashev.

P.S. Come to us in "Meridian" for our events, spend time not at the monitor, but at the table.

Z.Y. In the near future I will try to make a review on Sturmtigra, where at the end I will report my opinion on the catalog for 2017. Enough to write to me therefore about the occasion in a personal - I'll tell you everything, but later.

Greetings, dear readers. Today I have for you a review of the "Royal Tiger" in a hundredth scale from the company "Zvezda". The model is very interesting and worthwhile, but first a little history. This time, I would like to ask the Germans to scroll through the review right away to the photo of the sprues, because the pain below the back can burn the seat of the chair, because. this review will describe the next heavy tank of the losing country, and not praise the German designers for the colossal characteristics of the tank, which, like the tank itself, remained formidable only on paper. The opinions of the losers who wrote memoirs in the style of "how Hitler prevented me from winning the Second World War" will also not be, because the screams of thousands of downed planes, hundreds of tanks destroyed in one battle and other fruits, of course, violent fantasy, I can’t stand it, and you seriously I do not recommend this case. To everyone else, I present an analysis of an outstanding, in fact, machine, which in 1944 Germany was no longer needed in fact. Only a miracle could save the thousand-year-old Third Reich, or a betrayal by the Western allies of the Soviet Union. So let's go.
Tiger in the museum in Kubinka, the trophy went to the Soviet army fully combat-ready with ammunition. Taken "prisoner" in the Staszow area in southern Poland.

There is a legend that Hitler set the task for his gunsmiths to create a new heavy tank equipped with a powerful 88 mm. gun Kw.K. 43 L / 71 with a length of 71 calibers, which showed excellent results in the fight against all types of tanks of the anti-Hitler coalition. Is it possible today to take this legend seriously, it’s hard to say, because after the war the sea came out different kind memoirs that unanimously told the unprepared reader about how the possessed Fuhrer prevented the authors of these very memoirs from winning the Second World War. However, the appearance of this tank is no accident. During the war, there is always an arms race, and the "King Tiger" is a clear confirmation of this. Knowing the industrial potential of their opponents, Hitler and his clique were well aware that the answer to the "Tigers" would be given in the near future, and the new tank would be delivered to the troops en masse, and not in small batches. The Germans were well aware that the developed Soviet school of tank building could prepare a project for such a machine for their allies at their request. Therefore, you should not assume that the "Royal Tiger" is a reserve for the future only on the eastern front, unlike Germany, in the United States, if necessary, they could very easily and quickly put both the T-34-85 and the IS-2 on the conveyor , and their improved versions.
As always, in Germany they approached such a project, to put it mildly, without taking into account the current situation at the front and in the rear. The experimental machine left the territory of the plant in October 1943, when the fascist armies had already retreated beyond the Dnieper, and a hail of bombs from American and British flying fortresses began to fall on Germany from the west. At such moments, it would be better to focus on the production of simple, cheap and reliable tanks, as they did in the USSR in the difficult years of 1941 and 1942. I already wrote in my review on that in the winter of 1942-43, Soviet designers abandoned the T-43, precisely because the introduction of a new machine would require extra costs and re-profiling of production. Taking the new machine into service, while having so far unsurpassed models of equipment in their troops, the German military, industrialists and the Fuhrer personally, began to put together the economic coffin of the Third Reich.
He, at the Cuban training ground, 1944.

The car came out formidable, I will say more, the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition could not surpass this tank in terms of performance characteristics. The rifled 88mm cannon knew no equal, punching through almost any target from impressive distances. I don’t want to comment on the next stream of nonsense from German memoirs on the topic of the destruction of heavy Soviet tanks from two kilometers by direct fire, this is just a wild fantasy of the “aces” promoted by fascist propaganda, 90% of whose victories existed only on paper in the Goebbels ministry and in their letters home. But the gun inspired respect. The second advantage of the tank was the phenomenal armor protection, coupled with sloping armor and high-strength German steel. But that's where the advantages of the tank ended. Complicated and expensive production, which included a huge amount of valuable additives and alloys, with which there were big problems in Germany, the need for skilled workers did their job. One tank was assembled on average 15 days, and in total, since December 1943, no more than 489 tanks were produced. If we were talking about 1941, even about the summer of 1942, then such a situation would have taken place, but in 1944 it was a drop in the ocean, and a capricious and clumsy drop. From Tiger #1, Tiger #2 inherited wide caterpillars, which had to be changed when loading and unloading onto railway platforms for transportation, the huge weight of the machine swept aside its use on the ground with wooden bridges and fords. The mobility of the vehicle from an operational point of view was hardly ahead of the infantry division, which was armed with horse carts. Do not forget about the situation on the fronts during the period mass use data machines at the front. And this is 1944, the Western allies landed in France, having thirty times superiority in the air over the Germans, the attacks of their aircraft did not just stop the columns of equipment, they literally erased them into powder, leaving only the burnt skeletons of tanks, armored vehicles and cars on the road. Lacking a large number of new modern tanks, the Allies actively used their aircraft to destroy the German menagerie, with which it did an excellent job.
On the Eastern Front, things were even sadder for the Germans. Firstly, Soviet aviation seized air supremacy, having learned to fight, forcing the vaunted aces of Goebbel's propaganda to go beyond the clouds more and more often, not accepting a battle with Stalin's falcons, numerically and qualitatively superior to them. Secondly, the Soviet infantry learned very well how to burn new German tanks, and the separate tank regiments and brigades that were attached to each army, and sometimes division, were an excellent help in this struggle. The third component of the success of the Soviet army was armored vehicles. There were many new models of tanks and self-propelled guns, but compared to the Germans, there were a lot. By the summer of 1944, the T-34-85, IS-2 and SU-152 were the backbone of troops in potentially tank-prone areas, whose shells easily pierced enemy tanks of all types. And here we come to the most important thing, the tank was terribly slow, and in 1944, on the Soviet-German front, the battles went out of the positional phase. Soviet tanks simply bypassed the pockets of resistance, leaving them to defeat the infantry. The new tank destroyer, superior to all world counterparts, capable of winning any one-on-one duel, turned out to be simply useless. There was no talk of any tank ambushes, there was no need to break through the Soviet defense either, the German tank battalions were engaged in patching holes and delivering counterattacks.
The allies rejoice in the replenishment of their tank forces with a modern tank.

The first mass use of the "Royal Tigers" came at the end of the summer of 1944 near the small town of Staszow in Poland. On August 12, 1944, a German tank battalion armed with the latest tanks stumbled upon fierce resistance from the Soviet troops. Lieutenant Alexander Petrovich Oskin in one battle on his T-34-85 burned three "Royal Tigers" at once. And the next day, August 13, Vasily Alexandrovich Udalov from an ambush on the IS-2 tank destroyed three "royal tanks" at once with fire and maneuver, two with direct fire, and one more - bypassing the enemy column, and meeting it in another place. For this fight, Vasily Udalov became a Hero of the Soviet Union. I didn’t just describe in detail the feat of Udalov, this is a good example for connoisseurs of performance characteristics and numbers who do not understand that in a war this is all just an addition to military operations, and nothing more. While the "Royal Tigers" were squirming in the forest clearing, while they were lining up in a column, a single Soviet heavy tank managed to take an advantageous position, moving around, disguise itself, and open fire from a lethal distance. And even if Mouse were in the place of the Royal Tigers, he would also be doomed. It's in one infamous game that projectiles ricochet or fail to pierce an enemy from 10 paces away, in real life, 122 mm. a shell from one of the best tank guns in the world, which was mounted on the IS-2, pierced any target, not to mention reinforced concrete. Pillboxes, for the destruction of which this gun was designed. The super gun and excellent armor couldn't compensate for the sluggishness of the new German tank. Both Oskin and Udalov beat the enemy from distances advantageous for themselves, not trying to engage in single combat with new German tanks on an equal surface, like a table. They took by skill, not by number.
I hope that my idea is clear, but for the dull I will explain. Instead of producing cheap and simple tanks, the Germans launched into the series, taking over the production line previously used for other vehicles, a tank that had no analogues. But the tank itself was not like the T-34 and KV-1 in 1941, when Soviet tankers often managed to break through enemy defenses using their conditionally invulnerable armor. Both the Soviet army and the armies of the Western allies already had an abundance of forces and means to fight the tank, which was assembled for 15 days and spent on it already scarce materials. For us, this was undoubtedly a royal gift, how many of our great-grandfathers would have died if the factories for the production of "Royal Tigers" had produced, say, T-4 or Stugg-3, it's scary to think, but the German designers went the other way, for which they thank you so much.
And now an overview of the model.
Box.

The box is large, like a Tiger or Panther, respectively, the price is also higher than that of a regular box.

There are two sprues, both of them are gray. The detailing of the model immediately catches the eye. All small details on the armor are perfectly spilled. There is no flash and sinks. I apologize for the photos.




And the finished model.








What can be said about the assembly? It's just... fantastic! The model is assembled on a click, practically does not require stripping on the parts, fits perfectly and is assembled without gaps. Usually, when assembling tanks of a similar lineup, you have to finish the model, slightly squeezing somewhere, disassembling and reassembling somewhere, removing pins somewhere, and putting it on glue. But not here. Really, on the first try, the whole village, as it should. The tower is assembled from 12 parts, while it rotates perfectly around its axis, and the gun moves up and down. The model is very pleasant to hold in hands, the tank looks very solid and proud. Next to him, all other models fade. Those who were not going to take, take at least for the sake of the collection. The model is really cool and worth it to put it on the shelf. This have not happened before.
Thank you for your attention, that's all for today, once again I apologize for the blurry photos of sprues.

Hello dear friends!

We have not talked about wargames for a very long time, which we will fix now. But! Today there will be no next chewing on the rules of Warhammer, there will be no advice “how to start playing Varmash” - nothing like that will happen. Let's talk about the wargame system, which is available to us thanks to the Zvezda company. Many might ask - what kind of wargames are they, how are they played? Well, with such and such a publisher, they are played, of course, with miniatures. We will try to answer other possible questions within the framework of this post or, if the need arises, in its continuations. The only thing that is not clear about these games is why so many people do not know anything about them? After all, sets with these wargames are very affordable - both geographically and financially. Again, let them be strictly historical, but several military eras are covered at once. Even with the battles of sailboats, they released a set - how many games do you see around you on this topic? However, this question, apparently, will have to be left open. In the meantime, we will begin to tell you about this gaming system in detail! On the this moment in this system, if we don’t confuse anything, 8 starter kits were released: 3 about the Great Patriotic War -, 1 dedicated to the tank war of those years, -, 1 about the Second World War - “Blitzkrieg 1940” (Great Britain against Germany, its truth in Russia hard to get), 1 about internecine wars in medieval Japan - , 1 about naval battles between sailboats - , and 1 alternatively historical, dedicated to the hypothetical confrontation between the USSR and the USA in the period around the 1980s. Let's use the set as an example.

Let's start with the most basic characteristics of the game so that you can easily and quickly imagine the nature of the entire system. The game takes place on a field divided into hexes. We know that many people have an obscure prejudice towards them, but here's why - they haven't found out yet (in the days of Panzer General, hexes didn't bother anyone). Each hex has its own number. If you want, say, to move your unit into a hex, you "give an order" containing the number of that hex. Players give orders to their armies at the same time, and the armies also act simultaneously - that is, there is no such thing inherent in many systems as waiting for the enemy to make a move. And, by the way, about the players - here, subject to the constant participation in the battle of no more than two armies, there can be more than two players. In this case, the squads are divided between the players, who eventually play, as it were, for two teams - this is also not possible in every wargame. The characteristics of the various units are indicated on the cards, one unit is one card. Detachments mean any troops - not only infantry formations, but also tanks, aircraft, guns. In other words, no armibooks or anything like that. You will only need the rules of the game for the sake of the rules of the game itself. alnoe - please, on the card.

By the way, about the squads. One of the most important, in our opinion, advantages of the Art of Tactic system is the huge number of possible units for your armies. Firstly, the starter kits include a very decent number of different units, but even more is provided to you when you decide to expand your army. It is also worth noting here that Zvezda began producing these wargames in the same period in which its production facilities were updated, which results in a very decent quality of castings. Given the use of glueless assembly, the guns made in 1/72 scale look just fine. Tanks and planes made using the same technology in 1/100 and 1/144 scales, respectively, look somewhat rustic, but by no means primitive - they will look good on the field if they are carefully painted. To make it easier to imagine the quality of the casting, let's tell you that on a tank the size of a match, assembled from 1.5 parts without glue, for example, a entrenching tool is cast, and it is quite embossed, and not “for the sake of beauty” planned on plastic. Additions to all games of this system are distributed in the form of blisters containing either one piece of equipment, or one squad of infantrymen, or a weapon with a crew, plus a card with the characteristics of the squad. And the second half of the value of all these additions - due to the fact that Zvezda is a domestic manufacturer and, moreover, caring - these additions, along with starter kits, can often be found in the most distant cities of our country. At the same time, the average price of an additional set usually fluctuates around 200 rubles. Well, you get the idea.

The battles themselves are played out according to scenarios - there are 6 of them in the starting set. More can be found on the website of this game system, as well as invent them yourself or use the especially successful developments of other players, kindly provided by them on the Internet.

And, finally, for now, let's try to give you an idea of ​​the scale of these games on the example of a description of the configuration of one starter kit:

- 54 infantry figures
— 5 vehicle models
- 1 aircraft model
- 4 artillery models
– Set of engineering structures
- 6 double-sided playing fields
- 30 double-sided terrain elements
- 6 elements of heights
- 29 game cards
- Rules of the game
- Scenario booklet
- 2 Reminders
- 2 markers
— Set of decals

The scales are not gigantic, of course, but you can’t call them small either, especially for a starter kit. Perhaps that's where we'll stop for now. Surely this information will be quite enough to imagine these wargames in general terms, visually. In the following articles, we will take a closer look at the characteristics of units and game mechanics, which will allow us to get a complete picture of the Art of Tactic system. In the meantime, we say goodbye to you and hope that we have awakened at least a little interest among those players who, for still unclear reasons, have not heard about these wonderful sets. All the best and good luck!

It's been four years now. During this time, it was actively developing - five full-fledged starter kits, two add-ons, one stripped-down "starter" and more than a hundred units were released. The variety was seasoned with three editions of the rules, several dozen scenarios and a couple of official tournaments. But still, the system did not succeed in becoming a “Russian Flames of War” or a “Russian Memoir”. From promising and encouraging at the beginning, it has turned into a rather interesting, but musty nook of our favorite hobby. This nook consists either of those who are just getting into miniature wargames, or those who don't want to get sucked into foreign systems due to cost or ignorance. Such a specific closed contingent of players, although quite numerous, primarily due to the availability of Zvezda products. The most interesting thing is different: very few of this contingent play the rules of the "Star" "clean spill", the majority modify them for themselves, these "modifications" include many components - from refusing to play cards to digging into the "stuffing" itself.

Therefore, here I would like to consider what this system represents at the moment, well, and try to understand the question of why it “didn’t go” on a wide desktop or wargaming front. After all, if at the very beginning of development, until 2012, reviews and reports were published quite regularly and on different sites, then in the last two years there has been almost silence. Neither about new sets, nor about new editions, and in principle no information about the system is heard.

But it all started quite cheerfully ...

Despite the fact that many readers have an idea about the system, it will not be superfluous to go through its most basic points, maybe someone forgot, maybe someone was not at all interested. To start Art of Tactic- this is a wargame (we won’t argue here, is it really a wargame or a clumsy attempt to imitate it) with miniatures that is currently represented by three periods - World War II, modernity and medieval Japan, a fourth period is also planned - Napoleonic. The mechanics are based on cards, felt-tip pens and dozens of dice rolls. The action takes place as follows - at the beginning of each turn on the card of the unit, the order for this move is marked with a felt-tip pen, after the orders are given, the cards are opened, and their execution follows in the order agreed by the rules.

The question is reasonable - what are all these records for? They serve to implement the very simultaneity of moves, which is the main "chip" of the entire system. Despite a clear agreement on the order in which orders are executed, within one order everything happens at the same time, that is, units simultaneously shoot at each other, move at the same time, and dig trenches at the same time. True, the slogan “you do not wait for the enemy” is not entirely fair, you still have to wait until the enemy writes all the orders on the cards for this move. So, having removed a lot of small downtimes, we came to one big one, but if both opponents great experience games and they know how to quickly think about their actions it can be avoided.

Now let's go directly to the topic - what is the system at the moment. Recently to the public court along with a box of " Battle for Moscow"The third edition of the rules was presented, which took a big and confident step forward. First of all, it is worth noting the style and language of presentation. After the first edition, there were so many questions left that it was simply impossible to play without support on the forum. In addition, the rules themselves were almost unreadable, because in them the nuances began from the very first page, ignoring any introductions and covers. Now it has become more or less possible to read the rules and roughly understand what they are about. in question. The number of illustrations has also increased, there are not as many of them as we would like, but the most difficult questions of them can be answered quite clearly. Not only did the material itself take a step forward, but the design was marked by a significant improvement. The rule book has become easier to navigate, and the structure with the issuance of the orders themselves has become sharper and clearer. Now each order is highlighted in a frame, which contains all the necessary information on it, from the symbol to the notes.

When you compare this rather voluminous 44-page Talmud with the first edition of 16 pages, to which they even forgot to attach the cover, you understand that Zvezda is nevertheless beginning to correct itself and solve at least the most obvious errors. After all, it was impossible to play according to the first edition, there are so many “holes” and blunders in it that each move only consisted in discovering new moments that were not spelled out in the rules. According to the third edition, it is still difficult, but you can play.

With all the obvious or imaginary problems of the first edition, Zvezda did not bother to place on the site official FAQ. That is why inquisitive and trying to play like a star players climbed onto the forum with tons of pages of text, shoveling and sorting through which the player somehow had to find the answer to his question. At the same time, if at the beginning of the launch of the system, representatives of Zvezda answered them quite regularly, now the forum has been empty without them for about six months. But the questions were repetitive and standard, and the FAQ was the easiest way to remove all contradictions, but something that was incomprehensible interfered.

However, it was not possible to completely avoid blunders in the new edition: many problems and simple typos remained. For example, the disappearance of medium tanks from the description of the properties of the summer area, which was simply taken and copied from the previous game, where, in principle, these tanks do not exist. Also, some rules were simply "forgotten", for example, the rules of flamethrower tanks.

But the main problem is not these minor flaws and typos, yet they are easily fixable. The main problem has been, and remains the rules of aviation. The fact is that they were simply taken and copied from the second edition, without even reworking the style of presentation. One feels a grandiose failure in the middle of the book, when at first there were adequate and understandable explanations, and then a uniform horror and nightmare begins without dividing lines, which pass through a couple of pages, and normal and understandable rules begin again. It feels like the rule book in the middle forgets its language and starts to utter unrelated gibberish, but then the hops pass, and the intelligible presentation begins again.

Of course, attempts are already underway to bring the rules of aviation into a divine form. Tom will serve the next addition called "Airfields", which, most likely, will introduce new rules for aviation, as well as rules for aviation technicians and the airfields themselves. Another question - is it all necessary?

After all, it is precisely from this that the first trouble of the system comes - an attempt to embrace everything. "Zvezda" is primarily a company for the production of prefabricated models, board games and wargames for it is only a small offshoot from the main activity. And the release of models for the system is determined not only by the need for gaming, but also by an attempt to turn the produced products to another market - to the market of prefabricated models. That is why the game contains not only tanks, infantry, and artillery that are quite understandable and justified for the game, but also scouts, sappers, doctors, and the same aircraft. The appearance of each such unit is not only new features, but also an extension of already quite complex rules. Moreover, given the current scale of hostilities, the usefulness of both intelligence and medical personnel raises questions. But even specifically for the scouts, they introduced a special phase in each turn. Snipers are also going to be attached to this in the near future.

Rarely used sappers and flamethrower tanks only complicate the rules with a bunch of additions and exceptions, but I think enough has been said about aviation - it’s just unplayable at the moment, when in most cases everyone dies from the battle of two pairs of fighters, then reality doesn’t even look here. Out of all this, brick-and-mortar rules are added up.

After all, the solution to these problems is quite simple: where is the best way to throw away all these useless scouts, snipers, trains, boats - the main task of which is not to be game units, but to expand the lineup with rare exhibits. Then you can focus directly on what the game is about - the battles of World War II on a battalion scale. In this case, the game would not only be much simpler, easier and more attractive, but would also better correlate with historical realities.

Zvezda has found a good outlet for itself - few modeling companies will produce a separate large set of German reconnaissance aircraft, for example, and aviation equipment in the 72nd scale is now a great rarity. And so we have a product that is quite rare for the market and plus secured demand - the players will definitely buy it. As a result, we get a risk-free investment in a product with limited demand.

Of course, excessive diversity is far from the only problem, but only the most obvious and understandable. Another problem is that the system has not yet decided what it wants to be like. Art of Tactic- what is this? A boxed board game where the base has everything for a full-fledged and varied game, or the base serves only as a “ticket” for further development systems? Indeed, at the moment it does not meet either the first or the second criterion.

The first starter "" often and justifiably cursed due to the fact that the units of the base box were not enough even to play all the scenarios from this box, they only got enough for the first scenarios. I had to buy a few more additions to the base box, just to be able to fully play it. Now this problem has been solved by units from the latest starters " Battle for Moscow" and Hot War Enough to win back all the scenarios from there. But the question remains - where next?

After all, if we have a board game in front of us, then we need additions with new units, maps and scenarios. There were already two of them, one of which was not published in Russia. And for a full game in " Battle for the Danube»One base and add-on is not enough, you should buy a few dozen more units. So, by all principles, we have before us a situation where the base is only a window to a huge and diverse world, only the front door to a further journey through Art of Tactic, but now this “world outside the door” must be recognized as musty and stuffy.

Until recently, even individual scripts were released once a month, sometimes even less often. And for a full-fledged world, some scenarios are not enough, you need books of armies, campaigns, operations. That is, you planned to win back the border battle in the zone of the Western Front according to the system Art of Tactic and you do not need to scour the Internet in search of receipts, appearance, composition of parts. Here's a big book "Border Battle 1941" for you, where you will find everything - from historical background and information on technology, to game receipts and a pack of scenarios. Gold! In this case, the game would immediately rise to a higher level.

But, unfortunately, the dream of such books will most likely remain in the realm of good wishes and fantasies. But how nice it would be to get one where characteristics are clearly defined, coloring, where there are obvious and unambiguous states of several levels, where there is a bunch of historical scenarios of different scales, all this is flavored historical background and beautifully painted miniatures. By the way, a really interesting point, there are practically no official beautiful colors of their own miniatures of the "Stars". And on the back of the boxes and on the cards they are presented in their original one-color form. Is it really so difficult to hire a good artist who will paint all the new items? And whose colors can then be depicted both on boxes and on cards? After all, before when large sets were produced in 72nd scale, there were good colors on the back of the boxes, what prevents you from doing the same now?

Army books would solve another problem of the system - discrepancies in the cards. Now in the course of cards with a new design, which, admittedly, has changed for the better. It has become much more convenient and informative. It makes it very easy to find the right order by standardizing their location on the back. Previously, orders were located in their individual, unpredictable place, and therefore it was very difficult to find the right one in a dozen identical “windows”. And some orders were simply inaccessible to units, but this could only be discovered after a thorough search. Now it's easier - all orders are numbered and arranged in order of their execution on the field.

But after all the perturbations, I have accumulated so many different cards with different characteristics and prices, and most of them are in the old design, what to understand where the true and most latest version very difficult. On the official forum, amateurs even made a special sheet with prices, but such things should not be done by amateurs, but by the company itself. The official website should have a special section with constantly updated prices and characteristics of units. And if someone's accuracy has changed or new properties have appeared, everything should be entered there. This section removes the lion's share of questions on units. A well-thought-out book of campaigns or armies or operations, call it what you will, also serves this purpose. It should contain all the information so that it would not be necessary to clarify “which of the Pz.38 cards is correct” to climb the forums and scour unofficial sources.

But of course such work is quite costly in terms of time and resources. After all, it is necessary to come up with not a couple of scenarios, but a whole campaign with balanced, but historically correct characteristics of the troops, with thoughtful receipts and beautiful illustrations with colored units. Now Zvezda is not even close to being able to do this.

And the last, but very actual problem of the system is the question - how to hold tournaments on it? After all, what is needed for the tournament is, first of all, clear rules for recruiting armies and balanced scenarios with an “open” recruitment of troops. So far we have neither the first nor the second. Of course, the first one is a little easier - in 2011 there was the first and so far the last attempt to make game states, but they were clumsy, unhistorical, and even more so in two years with the release of new units, they simply became outdated. After, despite many promises, we did not see any new states. Official tournament scenarios are not yet available as a class.

Solving the problem of tournaments would immediately put the system on a new level. Firstly, there would be states where you can collect more or less historical receipts, and not play on the principle of "my two guns and an airplane against your tank and doctors." Secondly, it would create the basis for a tournament in any city, and it is tournaments that strongly promote such systems. However, "things are still there."

At the end and in a separate paragraph, it is worth mentioning the biggest trouble of the system - felt-tip pens. I don't know why, but, despite all the dissatisfaction and claims of the players, the system has not yet been freed from scribbling. Although, it seemed easier to make several tokens with orders and arrange them “face down” during the ordering phase, then “reveal” them at the same time. This would get rid of the felt-tip pens and greatly speed up the game - scatter ten tokens faster than write ten numbers. And even some amateurs have already made something similar. But the Star stranglehold has been holding on to its felt-tip pens for 15 years, since the first edition " Ages of battles”, where there was also writing on the cards. Maybe they were bribed by the manufacturers of felt-tip pens?

As a result, we have that everything related to the support of their products in the company does not find a response at all. Without good support, we enter the field that we have now - with only a few official starters and a bunch of enthusiasts making scripts, holding tournaments, which are less and less every year. But even a hundred enthusiasts cannot do all of the above qualitatively, for this there must be a completely different level of connections between them. And Zvezda either feels sorry for the money, or hopes for "and so they will buy it." Therefore, the development of the system is not going at all, not only in terms of the number of units and starters, that is, in breadth, but also in depth - creating receipts, campaigns, separate books of armies, rules for tournaments.

To everyone who, in spite of everything, is still interested in the system, I can recommend to start with “ Battle for Moscow" or Hot War. At the moment, this is really the most adequate entrance ticket, but you should not expect much from them. The game, of course, is strongly "for an amateur": for an amateur to write on cards, for an amateur to come up with scenarios himself, for an amateur to invent homerules. Therefore, while we have what we have - a reserve for the future. But it has been there since 2010 and, unfortunately, it has not moved much forward. Alas.

09.05.2016 , In 


May 9th has already arrived. Today the whole country will come out to celebrate Victory Day. Who goes to city concerts, who walks in the parks, many will go to parades. Auto-moto-bike runs along city roads with flags and general rejoicing. Then half of the people travel to their dachas and to nature. The other half will remain walking along the evening streets and squares. Everyone will definitely see the fireworks. Repeatedly drink for the Old Men - Winners. Soviet military films on TV - "Only old men go to battle", "Ata baty soldiers went", etc., will remind you of the great victory and how it was.

Our portal Crazy Cube, steal the attention of lovers board games. We also have something to tell about this wonderful holiday. We continue the theme of board games about the Great Patriotic War, review, immediately a series of desktops of the Russian Wargame.

Art Of Tactic - what is it? Wargame - what is it?

I knowingly began the review with this question. For many gamers, especially beginners, an explanation is required. Let's start with the last one.

Wargame, in our case Board Wargame- this is strategy game, as close as possible to reality in its mechanics. It plays up historical conflicts or invented scenarios. Usually with thumbnails.

Art Of Tactic is a whole system of military-strategy games, the direction of which is the Second World War. They play up various historical events from the 41-45s. As units, prefabricated miniatures are presented, which are constantly updated with new additions. All the rules of the classic Wargame are fulfilled.

In the Art Of Tactic system, there are also games about battles on ships - The Ships Historic Wargames and samurai battles - Samurai Battles, but today we will not touch on them. The conversation will only be about a series of games - The Great Patriotic War.

Great Patriotic - A series of games

Company Star, She's the one who makes board games. Art Of Tactics, for 6 years released 6 full-fledged sets on the Second World War. 4 of them can be bought - Summer 1941, Battle of Stalingrad 1942-1943, Battle for Moscow, Tank battle. The other two have been taken off the market. Battle of the Danube, Blitzkrieg.

What is the starter kit:

If you decide to get into the Russian board wargame, then you will definitely need the basic version of the game. It will have everything you need for a full game. In the box you will find everything you need to get up to speed and go through several standard scenarios. And only then can you expand, complicate and make more interesting game with the help of additional units that can be purchased individually.

The basic kit includes:

  • Several Soviet units
  • Several German units
  • smoke chips
  • fire chips
  • playing fields (different and double-sided)
  • Set of engineering structures
  • 10 dice
  • Rules of the game
  • Scenario Book
  • 2 felt-tip pens (Oops, why is this?)

Briefly, how to play it.

Only two players play. One for the Nazis and the second for the Red Army. We choose a scenario. Better to start with the first one. You have a playing field. It usually develops as written in the script. Hexes with settlements, terrain elements, engineering structures. Special plastic landscape reliefs are also placed on the floor in special places. Each deploys his troops as indicated in the script book. And the action begins.

The battles go like this. Each participant distributes instructions to his troops. For this, cards of the Team and ..., Attention !!! Markers. One very important point. The actions of the fighters are performed at the same time. That's all the salt game mechanics Art Of Tactic systems. The player must not only calculate his moves, but also anticipate the moves of the opponent, because after the distribution of orders by both sides, they cannot be changed and they are simultaneously executed. That is, what is done is done, there is no going back. Think carefully about your orders. Try to anticipate your opponent's moves.

There are many things in the game that affect the strategy of the players and the tactics of combat. What makes the game different and interesting every time. For example, varieties of landscape of different levels affect visibility and patency, moreover, each type of troops has its own specific terrain properties. minefields and engineering structures, as well as cities and towns. Everything must be taken into account when calculating your own strategy. To do this, special cards of troops will help. They indicate the special abilities, pros and cons of this unit, being in a certain area. Also there you can find information such as the size of the detachment, firing range and ammunition.

When attacking, dice are used. Throwing them, the player checks how well and accurately his fighters shoot. This introduces some element of luck, which is also present in real battles. And so that luck is not chaotic, but has its limits. There are some rules under which each army rolls a certain number of dice, and if there are losses in the unit, then there will also be fewer dice rolled. So if you have a weak combat unit entered the battle, do not rely too much on success. Luck favors the prepared.

Get ready for the fact that your troops will constantly run out of ammunition. To replenish them, you need to visit the warehouse or send a truck to deliver the cartridge. But keep in mind that the enemy is not asleep and it is likely that he will want to break up the transport and cut off the supplies.

There is a certain order of combat:

1. Defense orders are carried out.

2. After that comes the suppression fire.

3. Regular gunfights.

4. Then aviation enters.

5. Troops hide in an ambush.

6. Special orders are being followed.

7. Movement of units.

In order not to forget everything, you need to mark it on special cards with a special marker.

Let's summarize

Everything described above is just general concepts and rules of the game in Wargame systems Art Of Tactics. In fact, there are a lot of nuances and little things. So much so that even in the set of rules that lies in the boxes with the game, not everything is consecrated. Almost every move (especially the first time), you will re-read the worn book and not finding the answer, you will climb into the Internet to look for it on the forums. This cannot be avoided because similar games very unpredictable, thanks to their freedom of action. Moreover, after you start expanding the boundaries of your battles with new additional miniatures and also come up with your own scenarios, then God himself ordered to get confused in the rules.

Board games series The Great Patriotic War - it is a whole culture with its fans and collectors. Tournaments are held on them, they gather their clubs in which you can find an equal opponent or exchange miniatures. If you are a beginner or just want to get acquainted with the game, then consider one fact. It will be difficult for you to figure it all out and find like-minded people. This is a kind of underground in the world of board games. But if you figure it out and plunge into all this with your head, then you won’t be able to tear yourself off and live with these.

Happy holiday everyone! Try to fight only in board games.

Thanks to the VKontakte group dedicated to Art Of Tactic games for the photos -


3) Review of K. Krivenko's "Art of Tactic" system - you are currently reading this review

In a previous article, we got acquainted with Richard Borg's "Commands & Colors" game system, which allows you to control troops on the battlefield using a deck of cards and fight with colored-faced dice. In this final review, I will talk about the "Art of Tactic" system, developed by Konstantin Krivenko and intended for more realistic warfare.

A necessary digression: the rules of "Art of Tactic" are divided into basic, advanced, advanced and expert. In the review, I will briefly talk about the main concepts from the basic ones and mention a few interesting points from the rest of the rule options. Read the rest in the 20-page booklet that you will find in the box with the game.

To play the "Art of Tactic" system, you will need two markers, two cotton pads, six 20-sided dice and a round counter. Special double-sided squad cards allow players to manage units, in which players make the necessary notes. If you are using advanced rules, then place black and red rings nearby, the purpose of which I will talk about later.

Each type of detachment has its own unit card, in the upper left corner of which the type of weaponry (red circle) is indicated, coinciding with the icon on the plastic flag. The cards are coated with a special layer of gloss that allows you to make notes with a marker and then remove them with cotton pads.

The front side of the card (on the left) contains the characteristics and properties of the units - the cards are placed with this side up until the "issuing orders" phase begins. The unit's main stats are listed at the top and highlighted in red: Attack Values, Defense Points, Toughness Score, and Range for units with ranged weapons.

About 12 basic modifiers will affect the morale of the squad during maneuvers: the presence of a commander, type of terrain, fatigue, inspiration, shame, honor, and so on. Many of these parameters will only be useful to the commander when playing with advanced game rules.

The reverse side (on the right) is intended for issuing orders to the unit: defense, retreat with shooting, rest, shooting, attack, run, collect, ambush, and so on. For example, a foot unit can be given one of 12 orders, each of which can be affected by up to three modifiers (attack, defense, stamina).

At the bottom there is a place for indicating the hex numbers of the location of the unit in ambush and the areas of the terrain controlled by it, as well as the areas of the field through which the detachment will move. All notes are made with a marker secretly from the enemy in the far right column, then the card is placed with the side with orders down until the moment "orders are given".

I note that players give all orders to their units at the same time, and then they begin to fulfill them in accordance with the order: defense, shooting, movement, special orders, close combat and withdrawal from combat.

Each unit is placed on an individual stand, the size of which matches the boundaries of the hex. There are two types of units: foot (right) and mounted (left). The place for the unit commander is allocated separately, the figure stand also differs from the rest by the location of the "key". In the photo, the left coasters are for commanders, and the right coasters are for ordinary soldiers.

Units are indivisible, and warriors from one base cannot move to another, even if the type of weapons in both units is the same. If the unit suffers losses, the commander is removed from the base last. The exception is the attack of the ninja - the commander becomes their first target.

Each unit has its own large flag, on which the number of the unit for issuing orders is indicated by a marker. To make it easier for the players to distinguish "us" from "them", the figures carry either a red or yellow marker flag on their backs.

The foot unit consists of five ordinary soldiers and one commander. The flag is installed in the center of the stand and with its help it is convenient to move the squad around the field, and the flagpole serves to place special markers on it.

Mounted units consist of two regular horsemen and one commander. AT basic set"Shogun. Samurai Battles" features only riders armed with spears. However, there are references in the rules to horse archers and ninjas, which, apparently, will be in subsequent sets.

A commander figure that is part of a mounted or foot unit allows the unit to receive all the orders listed on the unit card. Otherwise, only 4 basic actions are available to the player. However, units located in close proximity to the unit, which includes the commander, have no restrictions.

In total, the box contains:
8 units of ashigaru with spears (6401)
4 squads of samurai with naginato (6403)
4 units of ashigaru with bows (6414)
2 units of ashigaru with arquebuses (6402)
4 units of mounted samurai with yari (6407)
4 sets of samurai commanders (6411)
2 samurai headquarters

The terrain affects the combat performance of units by imposing limits on Ambush orders and the unit's movement speed. Water in the game is not an insurmountable barrier, and it can be forced by passing a loss test: a die is rolled for each warrior, and if the value is within "10", the warrior moves to the other side. All other values ​​lead to the death of the figurine.

Using plastic supports, you can create three types of realistic slopes: gentle (1 level), steep (2 levels) and steep (3 levels) (levels in this case are considered relative to the neighboring hex). For example: the cavalry stands on a plain, and the village for it is on a gentle slope. The red archers are located relative to the cavalry on a steep slope, and the yellow enemies from the naginata are on a steep slope. Cavalry cannot climb a steep slope, and foot units (except ninja) cannot move along a steep one.

This method allows you to create realistic landscapes, which the unit can only overcome on a certain road.

The terrain also introduces the concept of "line of sight restrictions". Units armed with ranged weapons can only attack the enemy if they are in line of sight. For example: a unit of yellow archers can only attack a unit of spearmen, since samurai with naginata are inaccessible to them due to the rock separating the units.

The game is played according to scenarios (7 in total), which are given in a separate book. Each unit has its own cost, indicated in the table - players can create their own scenarios by introducing restrictions on the number of points available for hiring units.

Standard campaigns involve a fixed placement of units on the battlefield. Pay attention to the icons - round ones indicate that the unit does not have a commander, and square ones indicate its presence. Also in each scenario are the victory conditions.

Additional Information.
There are not enough units in the basic set for two scenarios:
Scenario #1. It is necessary to buy in addition: 2 squads with spears (6401) + 1 squad with arquebuses (6402).
Scenario #6. You need to buy: 2 squads with naginata (6403).

For beginners, at the beginning of the booklet there is a training company, which describes in detail, with examples, the Art of Tactic command system. A very wise decision on the part of the developers, which can be taken into account in the game.

As you can see, there are not many units, and it will be quite easy to understand the intricacies of the "Art of Tactic" commands, especially by studying the tips in the booklet. Remember the square and round badges of units, indicating the presence of a commander in the squad (I have not yet put the commanders in their places in the photo).

Please note that one unit is in ambush (one of the special properties) and has not yet been placed on the field. The card shows only its location and the number of the hex towards which the lurking archers are looking. When an enemy crosses a hex controlled by hidden archers, the opponent must interrupt movement and his unit will be attacked with a "+3" attack modifier. In this case, the attacked unit cannot engage in a return battle. After the attack, the detachment is set out from the ambush on the field and then obeys general rules games.

Any unit can move three different ways: In case of marching movement, foot units move one hex and mounted units move two hexes. If a detachment runs or rushes to attack, then it can pass on foot two, and on horseback - up to four sections of the terrain. When moving, it is necessary to take into account the type of terrain: the priority is the restrictions of the landscape on movement.

Orders are given by markers in the corresponding column of the card, and at the bottom are the numbers of hexes through which the unit will pass while moving across the field. If the opponents' paths intersect, then each player moves the squad "step by step" until the units meet. In this case, there is a fight.

Before starting hostilities, you need to check the modifier table. For example: a spear unit was marching, so no modifiers are applied to it. The naginata unit completed the "attack" order, so it has a "+2" modifier to its attack value. This means that the unit's base score of "8" is increased by two points to become "10".

Both units carry out attacks, and only then count the losses.

Foot units roll one die for each figure in the unit, cavalry attacks with the number of dice indicated on the unit card (3 for each cavalry). At the top of the card are the indicators that count as a hit: in the case of a spear unit, the attack will succeed if the die rolls 1-4.

In our example: two successful hits (numbers "2" and "4") damage the enemy. Next, we look at the enemy's defense indicator - it is equal to "2". This means that the unit does not lose figures at the moment, since the defense has absorbed the effective rolls. Do not forget to take into account modifiers that can affect both the level of attack and the degree of defense!

The Naginata unit made an attack - it does not have one warrior, but the commander counts as a regular figure, so the unit rolls five dice and the attack will succeed if the numbers 1-10 fall on the edge (remember that the unit has an attack modifier) . In our example: two successful throws ("7" and "2") hit the target. One of them absorbs the protection of the spearmen, and the second instructs the enemy to remove one figure from the stand.

Always make notes on your cards when you decrease a unit's defense level: the modified defense is retained until the start of the next turn, which increases the chances of victory for other units attacking the same enemy at the same time. When attacking in the rear or flank, the unit receives bonuses, so try not to hit the pincers.

Units armed with ranged weapons can attack from a distance. To do this, the number of the attacked unit is indicated, and one unit of ammunition is consumed for a shot (arrows installed in a stand). Ammunition can be replenished only in the convoy, which will appear in additions to the game.

Firepower indicators vary depending on the firing range. For example, archers cannot shoot at an adjacent hex, attack at a distance of two hexes with five dice, and at a distance of 5 hexes with only two. Numbers 1-2 are considered effective against infantry and only "one" when attacking cavalry. Once again, I remind you that both when attacking and when defending, it is necessary to take into account modifiers that depend on the order given to the unit, the level of resistance and other parameters.

Mounted units are a very formidable weapon, as even without a leader they can attack a foot unit with six dice, hitting the enemy on a roll of 1-8 and having a basic defense of 3. In our example, the cavalry rolls three effective hits, which deprive the archer unit of two figures.

The headquarters in the "Art of Tactic" system is no longer part of the terrain and can attack as a foot unit, which includes a commander. Moreover, the proximity of command inspires warriors in battle and gives them "+2" to attack, "+1" to defense and "+10" to stamina!

When playing according to the extended rules, special rings are used - markers that are placed on flagpoles and affect attack indicators. If an enemy unit is destroyed, the attacking unit is marked with a black disk, which gives it a "+1" modifier to attack.

Units that suffer losses (as well as in some other cases) pass a mandatory test for endurance: it is necessary to take into account all modifiers that affect this indicator (presence of a commander, proximity of headquarters, losses incurred, and so on), and then roll a die. If the value is less than or equal to the current value, the test is passed. Otherwise, the unit loses one black marker (if any) or earns one red marker.

The number of markers affects the morale and combat performance of the squad. For example: a hesitant (one marker) has an attack limit of "-2" units, a runner (two markers) - "-3", and a panicker is generally unable to attack on his own, having a base indicator of "0". In addition to attack, markers also affect other unit stats.

In addition to the orders listed in the review, there is also the possibility of defense, all-round defense, collection, replenishment of ammunition, firing on the move, withdrawal from battle, and so on. The player is provided with almost unlimited possibilities for managing his units, allowing him to create a realistic battle model on the game table.

"Art of Tactic" or "Commands&Colors".

To conclude the review, I would like to briefly summarize two game systems that allow players to control their units on the battlefield.

The "Commands&Colors" system is definitely easier to learn and more "friendly" to novice players. A player with any level of initial training can master the wisdom of managing troops with the help of cards and carrying out attacks that come down to ordinary dice rolls. This is a great way to play with your child war game, which, nevertheless, will require the work of gray cells and will allow you to get a lot of pleasure from the gameplay.

But everything has its drawbacks - the realism of the battle according to the "Commands & Colors" system is under a huge question, the players depend on the cards that came into their hand, and unsuccessful dice rolls can nullify all your tactical decisions on the battlefield. Therefore, connoisseurs of realistic battles should pay attention to the "Art of Tactic" system.

"Art of Tactic" will require players to study the rules in depth, you will have to keep in mind a lot of variables, modifiers and have the rules at hand. But for this you will get realistic combat, real strategy and tactics during combat operations, you can significantly influence the results of dice rolls and minimize the random factor.

Summing up, we can say that both systems have their own advantages and are worthy of attention. The most important thing is that both of them are presented in the game, and it is up to you whether you take markers in your hands and rely only on your level of training, or entrust your fate to luck and colored cubes. In any case - you will enjoy this wonderful game.