Sunday, July 7, 2013

First Play of Advanced Tobruk System Tank Guide

This was a basic intro game.  Just 4 pages of rules.  The local wargame meetup group suggested I give this system a try.  They like it better than ASL. So, why not.  I bought this for Geekway and just got around to playing it.  I didn't take any pics of the games.  I played twice solo, the second time using some of the charts and the advanced rulebook to see how some of the terrain is covered.

The starter map and winning US chits


Both games were Allied blow outs.  Only one US tanks was lost in both games. It was very fast, and the armor rules were much simpler than ASLSK that I've experienced. Much simpler.
From Boardgamegeek - details, oh my!
Tons of charts though.  But I'm not adversed to this.  The regular game has tons of rules, something like 40+ pages.  But in a tactical game I don't seem to care.  In Normandy '44 I was all in a wad over having to refer to 24 pages of rules the whole time.  But here I didn't seem to mind.

Charts, tables and more tables - Love it!

The one struggle I have, Critical Hit.  It's a one man and woman shop and it seems erratic. But I could be completely wrong.  The output seems weird, like I'm not sure what goes with what, what the latest version of people play with, etc.  And not all the games come with all that you need.  I suppose ASL is this way, but it seems a little more clear that you pretty much need the rulebook and Beyond Valor to play the rest of the modules. Mainly for the Germans and game markers.  CH stuff, I'm not clear what's in print, what comes with everything you need, etc.

And I considered getting the next intro set, but  the postage was going to be a large percentage of the cost and again, I wasn't sure came with it.  This sampler kit i bought came with a couple different game markers, but not enough variety of the others you would need, yet it came with a bunch of extra AFV, gun, plane and other units.  That you can't use because you don't have the stats.  Why not get rid of some of the AFVs and throw in all the game markers?

Anyway, I should probably just stick with ASLSK or Band of Heroes.  But as I'm typing this, I would like to jump in and try another game of  ATS.

And that's always a good sign.

4 comments:

  1. So this is late to your post, but I'm having the same issue. I bought the Stalingrad Basic Game 2 kit and it is missing the game booklet with charts. So I have everything to play, but no charts. So, I'm really feeling like I may just go to ASL. I like the ATS counters and impulse gameplay, but man, I don't like having to contact them just to get the basics to play the game.

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  2. Well, looks like I'll get get ASL SK#1 and compare that. From all the video reviews and things I read is that everything comes very well packaged. It's like, ATS is the game I like, but poor quality control. ASL has better support and actual quality control, but I don't like the game as much. With how expensive everything can be for both games, I think I'll the ASL route.

    Also, my wife has been working on a little house for you in 15mm I think. It has a little water wheel thing, so I hope you have some water terrain.

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  3. A house? No way. That's very nice of her.

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