PanzerBlitz Situation 1

[@usmcfutball]

If you're up for tweaking the rules I highly recommend allowing any non dispersed defender the ability to a) interrupt the attacker's movement with b) the capability to fire upon units that can "be seen" at ANY point during their transit. Taking into account range limitations, of course. This eliminates the move-and-duck unreality of quick moving units finding refuge in EVERY wooded area or town along their Movement To Contact. So, as long as you have an unobstructed Line Of Sight (and that alone deserves an entire video in and of itself), let those 88s open up on T34s as they emerge from the trees but before they reach the complete safety of the hidden slope. Like in real life. Cheers! And "thank you" for bringing attention to an old Avalon Hill classic!

[@alanshackelford6450]

Great idea! Opportunity fire and spotting are challenging processes to model for ranged fire in tactical wargaming. Players often resent efforts at it b/c there is a lot of luck and happenstance introduced, thus taking control out of a gamer's hands and introducing a potential degree of imbalance. Granted! But combat is typically "unbalanced." And it's not only imbalanced in terms of forces. It's unbalanced in terms of knowledge of the battlefield and the opponent and often in terms of communications and control. Ask those Russian tankers in Ukraine about spotting, opp fire, and "fairness."

[@majorintel9623]

The opportunity fire rules of Panzer Leader require the moving unit to use 1/4 its movement factor before defensive opportunity fire can be directed at the moving unit.

[@Stiglr]

I like the tinny, overdriven quality of the audio. It sounds like a 60s-70s era "Red Scare" kind of telecast!!! :D

[@jackg9581]

Thanks for posting this! Brings back great memories of my buddy and me on any given rainy Saturday afternoon in the 70s.

[@1MahaDas]

This is an old game! We played "Panzer Blitz" in 1972 to 1976. This kept us to three in the morning!

[@DowJonesDave]

Can't fire at ground level targets from a hilltop over more than one orange hexside. The hilltops are considered flat. So unless you're right on the edge of a hilltop you can't fire at lower elevation targets. So you're 88 in the second stack you highlighted and the 20mm in that stack can't fire at anything but other hilltop hexes.

[@SaxonChronicles]

thanks for doing this video. I thought this was from the 70's at start due to the sound and that the video appears to be dark and low res at first glace. Even the timbre of the voice sounds from a different era. I just played this scenario solitaire also and was happy to see someone had documented this so I could compare my work. I bought this game early in middle school as my older friends had panzer leader. I was in awe of it, but probably never played it. Probably traded it. In college I bought it again. Tried hard to like it but gave up. Sold it and 15 other wargames for $5 each after graduation. bought it again on ebay this decade out of nostalgia for my collection, and now again am trying hard to like it but with much reduced expectations. Always thought it was the best looking wargame ever made, Always love the old AH games that had simple, glossy counters/maps in pastel earth tones.

[@pocketstring3634]

Love the 70’s vintage quality of the the video to fit the vintage game.

[@mountdewww]

I enjoyed the panzerblitz situation 1 very much i look forward to seeing more

[@fastfreddy3103]

By sheer coincidence I have this scenario set up right now on my table. Haven't played this in years but I have a shelf full of AH games. The rains have arrived and time to revisit some of my games. Enjoy reading the comments and getting a "second opinion". Found some additional scenarios recently for 1942 from "The General" magazine. Six that I have not played so that is why I am replaying this to review the rules before tackling the new ones. This game is, of course, a little dated. No opportunity fire, etc..but has a lot of nostalgia value for me.

[@robertcleary702]

I was able to buy a nice copy of PB on eBay some years ago (my lost original was purchased in 72). Thanks for narrating this solo dive into S1.

[@2000spqr]

Fred... you did just fine and ty for the vid. It is good that we bust out some vids on how to play a game so others can spot out the errors.. it help all in the long run. I noticed a few negative comments that read with a hint of arrogance...is it not interesting that those who post non helpful comments have no videos of their own published on how to play a game? LOL- go figure.....

[@captainnolan5062]

Tank (pun intended) you for doing the video. No need to apologize. How about doing some more?

[@PreyingMantisRanch]

Thanks for posting this! While I second some of the comments about errors (including your own about mistakes made!), however I am glad they were not edited out. Some I noticed while watching others came to my attention thru the comments, all were quite instructive. One can often learn more from observing errors than from rule perfect game play. I haven't played this since my teens or early twenties (some thirty years ago...) and I am fairly sure we were doing it wrong. Pulled it of the shelf recently to try to learn it correctly... knew utube wouldn't let me down on finding some pointers. Thanks again and Slainte!

[@2000spqr]

Making a video for this game re: play is tough. I made 35 vids on how to play PB and as time goes by I see mistake after error etc etc.. as the camera rolls and your calculating, talking, thinking, moving.. well.. it can be a mess lol.

[@jobu88]

An important game in the development of tactical-operational level games in the 1970s, but a game virtually crippled by its lack of an opportunity fire rule. Enemy units could conduct movement that would be suicidal in the later Panzer Leader game, because the defender couldn't fire during the opponent's move.

[@davidcaro79]

Thanks, good video, my personal suggest: Germans: 1. Surround the closest CPs with blocks and mines, also stack 3 units around that CPs, that close posibilities to CAT 2. Use flak 88 mm under the forts. 3. Use the Town to incrase DF. ___ - - RUSSIANS: 1. Use all your forces to attack the weak POINT of Germans, they dont have movement 2. Increase CAT and Overrun attack 3. Use stack limit to Increase AF

[@Anaris10]

A friend and I had multiple boards and counter sets. We did DIVISIONAL scale battles using the charts in the rulebook. The Geomorphic boards for PanzerLeader and Arab-Israeli Wars all matched up as well. So we'd have huge maps.

[@TheTheshadow32]

Great video. It was very exciting to watch.

[@neilmanhard1341]

Turn 4 Russian Attack Phase: a couple of errors 1) the T-34 attacking the 50mm ATG should've been 2-1 plus one (for the woods) vice 4-1, tanks are halved when attacking an non-armored target. The T-34 attacking the German Eng should've been 1-2 (12 halved 6 to 10) plus one. Still an excellent re-play video.

[@ghq113]

Yes, it was good to see a video, and so he had errors, it’s still good to learn 😊

[@danproctor7678]

Fantastic! I appreciate the step by step

[@blue5528]

Thanks very much for making this video. It's very helpful for learning the game!

[@2000spqr]

The key flavor of PanzerBlitz is the LOS. One must master the terrain affects regarding LOS. I have found it very frustrating wanting to fire at a target but cant because of LOS. I love that PB covers LOS in simple easy to understand detail.

[@oscarsusan7117]

After years of playing this against my brother I found it tended to be move from "tree to trees".electronic version of these games eliminated all this all for the better, but it was a great game all around .loved the box cover.

[@michellejean11]

Enjoyable blitz down the past!

[@div7434]

The german set up does not comply with the restrictions in the situation card. The fortifications must be on the hill numbers and the third fort must not be within three hexes of any other fort. Big difference in set up.

[@johnbrown7858]

Great tutorial. Thank you for posting.

[@fcolli8889]

A few of my mistakes have been pointed out to me on BoardGameGeek. More than once the Russian tanks fired at full strength against the infantry, including the decisive attack on turn 10. The result on turn 10 should have been only a DD. The SMG companies needed to CAT attack the engineers once more, needing a 1-3 die roll to eliminate them. So I'll never know who should have won after all. On turn 8, the engineers did a CAT attack against a Russian tank company. I mistakenly gave them the CRT shift, but they need to combine with another infantry platoon to receive that benefit. The LOS between V5 and U4 should be blocked by the town. The German attack on the Russian 45mm shouldn't have happened. My setup was proper according to the Situation Cards I have, but I understand they have been revised.

[@crystalthompson3682]

Have you ever played variant rules? We did the PanzerNacht rules once and only russian player was happy (BEG). Moderater job was fun but hard.

[@sauljaffe4268]

Did they mention that the set-up is all wrong? Hard to watch past the first 30 seconds. Forts must be on numbered hexes 129&132, and the third must be at least 3 hexes away from the nearest fort. Your forts are all in the wrong places...

[@briceyokem9236]

@@sauljaffe4268 Actually the one fort next to the block is in the right place - IF the other fort on the plateau is placed properly

[@PreyingMantisRanch]

@@briceyokem9236 I agree with you and Saul. I am just setting this up for the first time in years and that's where I put the third fort. used the blocks on the roads to the plateau. I use blocks on the roads and mines adjacent. Why? well my troops use the roads too! And mines know no friends....

[@majorintel9623]

Regarding that 88mm and all the clear terrain to the east, the 88mm has no line of sight since it is not on the edge of the hill, it is too far back.

[@ghq113]

I have question about CAT attack on t-34’s on the road with 50mm Engineers and infantry CAT attack is moved up to next level, and the t-34’s are half attack, “ A” type attacks “ I” Attack is haves ! So his attacks are all messed up

[@DowJonesDave]

1/2 attack factor AP vs Inf

[@sarafinan9152]

Never heard of this game. Would love to play, great cognitive involvement

[@josephvalvano829]

Sara Finan this is an old, old, game. I purchased Panzer Blitz in 1972, it has two sister games utilizing the same basic rules with some minor refinements and terrain modifications. The other games are Panzer Leader, which covers armored warfare on the Western front, and Bar-Lev which simulates the Arab-Israeli Wars 1967 & 1973. These games are gems but simplistic compared to more modern simulations. Watching this scenario as a retired Army Officer there is much I could point out, starting with the placement of the majority of the static defenses on the opposite side of the opposing forces axis of advance. Also, the overrun attacks in this game are a very effective tactic which I didn’t see utilized, as well as the Soviet artillery.

[@owenbrandon5924]

Well done

[@douggabbard942]

Those tweezers seem pretty useful. What kind are they?

[@tadounia01]

I dont know if anyone will see this or not, but I've been trying to get into this game and I've been having troubles with rounding off the ratios. How do rounding off ratios work in this boardgame?

[@neilmanhard1341]

Benefits go to the defense. Example 42 against 22 is 2-1; 9 against 10, 1 to 2; 17 against 9, 1 -1.

[@gordonclay3591]

You rolled a LOT of NRs in this game. Also, doesn’t anti-armor roll unmodified dice when shooting at “soft” targets at half range (or less). Not sure if you really did this though.

[@2000spqr]

Fred... "Why is it when the Russians attack a German Delay Position, they always "Run out of time"... lol the Russian's always have to throw themselves suicidal in fashion and let the Germans blast holes in em... I found out that this was almost always the case in the Eastern Theatre. Thankyou for this Vid!

[@brianwalter7694]

The Russian infantry has I firepower. The infantry could have fired along with the armor to make the fire a 4-1 instead of a 3-1 for armor and a 1-1 CAT. The 4-1 attack would be more successful.

[@ken0272]

Dispersed? or Disrupted...

[@chrisperrien7055]

Squad Leader was a great improvement, upon Panzer Leader/Panzer Blitz rules. Nice try though, though I am far removed from PanzerBlitz rules now to comment if you did anything wrong. We stopped playing both games once Squad Leader came out.

[@ricktimmons458]

back when these games came out several of us would roll for command and you might be surprised that d-day attacks were a failure on three or more beaches. British never got Caen. those big guns in the woods were used to clobber Omaha and st lo was recaptured by zz troops with intense measures. the resistance did dock the german reserves from trains and little effect on germans by allied bombers. the entire german leadership was killed or out of pocket by third move fire phase. the game pieces did not include german OKH or sub command pieces. scattered para drops were ineffective never getting the bridges. see the radios had differing crystals. The german unit radios were augmented from OKH control to front commanders as often happened on russian front and desert attacks. the itailians under german command were better in the game than in real life because Mucelini hatted dead bodies. in a major modification Patton was killed in v2 attack in england. buzz bombs used in russian attacks in 1944 allowed the germans to sue for terms. Sicily was a loss as the Hermann Goering division successfully counter attacked Monty at the landing and Patton had been relieved after the first guy got slapped. role the dice can be a bitch.