PANZERGRANATE

WW2 Simulation Rules by Andrew Mark Reid

Panzergranate Rules.

Fully Playable Training Version

The Hit Location table used in conjunction with Panzergranate wargaming rules.

Andy Reid developed Panzergranate in the course of his extensive research on shell types and armour penetration capabilities. The rule mechanisms are designed for fast play, wargamers will find them easy to learn and remember. The sophistication lies in the historically accurate anti-tank gun fire and armour penetration tables. Players familiar with WW2 wargaming will notice the many nuances hidden in the vehicle tables. Every tank is a unique piece of equipment with strengths and weaknesses which will be played out in the course of a game.

Panzergranate is a fully interactive game in that it encourages players to upgrade their vehicles in historically accurate fashion, and study the tactical impact of certain improvements. Known weak spots are not glossed over or factored out, they will be painfully apparent unless the vehicle commander decides to have spare track sections or additional armour plates bolted on.

Study and Play

Panzergranate is more than a game, it’s an in-depth study of armoured vehicle design. Military modellers interested in vehicle design variants, and ad hoc up-armour conversions will be able to use Panzergranate vehicle tables to support their studies. Why were spare track sections bolted to the turret front of German Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausführung G deployed on the Eastern Front? Where was the soft spot of the Pz.Kpfw. III Ausführung N, and how did the crews correct the problem? Does the Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. N outperform StuG III Ausf. G in the infantry support role? What is the significance of exactly 14 mm of armour plating typically found on light armoured vehicles? These, and many other questions are answered by virtual range tests conducted with Panzergranate rules.

Virtual Range Test

The millitary have known for a long time that there is no automatic penetration of armour just because a particular gun’s performance exceeds a certain armour thickness at a given range. There is a test target on display at Bovington tank museum which shows six 17 Pdr. hits against a plate positioned at a 45 degree angle. One A.P. shell is still stuck in the plate, only its tip made it through. Two shots bounced off, one shot cracked the other side of the plate, and one actually punched through.

This test was taken at a range of 500 yards, and it proves that there is a noticeable variation of performance with each shot fired. All the shells were identical, the test inscription states that capped rounds (A.P.C.B.C.) were used. The theory of the soft cap, allowing the shot to get a grip of the armour, seems to hold true, because some of the shots have gouged the armour before going into it. If this range test were simulated with Panzergranate, we would see very similar results.

Scales

  • 1 Model equals 1 Soldier, 1 Gun or 1 Vehicle
  • 50 Inches equals 100 Yards or Meters
  • 1 Turn equals 5-10 Seconds

Equipment

  • Military miniatures representing infantry, cavalry, and artillery
  • Scale models of soft vehicles, armoured transport, and tanks
  • Sculpted terrain simulating the battlefield
  • Tape measures or yardsticks
  • D12 twelve-sided dice
  • D10 ten-sided dice
  • D6 six-sided dice

Introductory Rule Sections

  1. Basic Training: Stalking the Tiger
  2. AFV Manœuvre Speeds & Crew Levels: Sherman, Firefly, and Tiger 1
  3. AFV Turret Traverse
  4. AFV & Gun Crew Tasks
  5. Troop Movement
  6. Anti-Tank Gun Fire Table
  7. Description of Shell Types
  8. Hit Location Table
  9. Armour Thickness & Inclination: Sherman, Firefly, and Tiger 1
  10. Loss of Velocity
  11. Penetration Table: Sherman, Firefly, and Tiger 1
  12. Internal Damage Table
  13. AFV Crew Morale Test

Infantry Combat

  1. Small Arms Fire
  2. Infantry Anti-Tank Fire
  3. Grenade Impact Table
  4. Flamethrowers
  5. Melee Combat
  6. Infantry Morale Test

Armoured Vehicle Charts

  1. AFV Manœuvre Speeds & Crew Levels (included in Panzergranate Service Manual)
  2. Anti-Tank Gun Fire Tables (included in Panzergranate Service Manual)
  3. Armour Thickness & Inclination Tables (included in Panzergranate Service Manual)
  4. Penetration Tables (included in Panzergranate Service Manual)

Artillery Combat

  1. HE Fire Table
  2. HE Structural Damage
  3. Structure Defense Points
  4. Smoke
  5. Gun Crew Morale Test

Aircraft & Air Defense

  1. Tactical Bombing
  2. Strategic Bombing
  3. Bomb Structural Damage
  4. Air Defense

Special Rules

  1. Engineering & Repair Work
  2. Molotov Cocktails, Booby Traps & Homemade Devices
  3. Mines
  4. Bridge Building & Laying
  5. Boats, part 1
  6. Boats, part 2
  7. Boat Crew Morale Test
  8. Prisoners & Interrogation
  9. Weather & Movement Effects
  10. Wind Direction & Speed

Distribution

Panzergranate is a copyrighted product. Andrew Mark Reid has released a fully playable training scenario of Panzergranate as a special offer for readers of Military Miniatures Magazine. The trainer includes all rule sections of the full product, and the vehicle charts used in the basic training scenario: Stalking the Tiger. Vehicle charts of 120 other vehicles involved in World War Two, and many modern conflicts, are available inside the Panzergranate Dienstanweisung (Service Manual).

Panzergranate(TM) is a trademarked name of the simulation developed by Andrew Mark Reid.

Miniature Wargames