In this post I cover the basic gear needed to play Armour Battles. You’ll need an opponent and some model vehicles. For the first battle you also need nine US tanks and seven German tanks. This increases to 12 US vehicles and 11 German vehicles for the second battle. For the third battle 15 US vehicles and 13 German vehicles.
Although model vehicles are always best, you can try out the game with home made cardboard counters. Grab a few pictures from the Internet and mount them on thin card roughly 40mm wide and 60mm long (or as needed).
Essentials
Tape Measures: A tape measure for each player marked in inches to measure movement and weapon ranges.
Model Terrain: You need a few hills, woods and hedges to play Armour Battles. These can be model terrain or be cut from coloured card or paper.
Standard Dice: Six-sided dice numbered from 1–6 are used for firing, checking reactions to fire, and rallying. Eight to ten dice per player should cover most situations, but it never hurts to have more.
Dice are referred to as D. When the rules state that you need to roll a single dice or multiple dice it is shown in this format: xD. One dice is shown as 1D, two dice as 2D, three dice as 3D, four dice as 4D, and so on.
Command Dice: Command Dice are standard six-sided dice used to determine how many orders a player can issue in a Command Turn. You don’t need any special dice, but bigger dice, or dice of a different colour, or preferably both, will help avoid any confusion in the heat of battle.
D3: You need to roll a D3 each time a unit is Dispersed. You can buy special dice numbered 1, 2, 3. Or you can use a six-sided dice and half the result (rounding up): with a roll of 1–2 = 1, a roll of 3–4 = 2, and a roll of 5–6 = 3.
Deviation Dice: A special six-sided dice marked with “Hit” and directional arrows is used to check the accuracy of off-table artillery. Its use is not essential; the artillery section provides an alternative method for checking artillery accuracy.
Markers
Various markers help keep track of information during the game.
Disruption Markers: Disruption Markers show the effects of combat on a unit. You can use micro dice, coins, coloured counters or glass beads to show a unit’s current number of Disruption Points. Alternatively, Disruption Points can be tracked with pen and paper.
Suppression Markers: A Suppression Marker is placed next to a unit following an adverse Reaction result. A Suppression Marker can be as simple as a coloured counter or glass bead (red is good), or can be a specially created marker modelled to look like an explosion. Alternatively, a prone or dead figure works well.
Fire Markers: A Fire Marker shows that a unit has fired this turn. Cotton balls work very well, as do coloured beads or counters.
Staff Order Markers: You can use counters or dice to keep track of Staff Orders. Alternatively, you can use Staff Figures and/or vehicles that are removed when orders are issued.
Artillery Impact Markers: Artillery Impact Markers show where your Staff Officers have targeted artillery missions. Use counters or other markers modelled to represent shell craters or explosions.
Smoke Markers: Similar to an Impact Marker, a Smoke Marker is used to show where a smoke mission has been plotted. White cotton wool glued to a washer or coin works well.
Next Post
In the next post I take a quick look at measuring and using the dice.
