Armored Apocalypse. The premiere Tank War Tournament in Michigan, and dare I say, possibly the world? With 14 players signed up for the tournament, both Andrew (Lead TO) and myself were blown away with such a excellent showing for our humble event. We had players from across the state, Ohio, even as far as Chicago! We were both thrilled to see people traveling so far to come to our first ever Armored Apocalypse. We had seven beautiful tables of 100% player-supplied terrain, this was going to be a great day.

Quick event breakdown:

• Three games
• 1,500 points
• 1 Tank Platoon, Theater Selectors highly encouraged
• 12 Order Dice max
• Infantry units highly frowned upon

This is what stood out to players and made Armored Apoc. a unique event; the Theater Selector special rules were allowed and infantry units could not capture Objectives.

The Army

This was going to either be a good list or a garbage list. Although I had used it against Andrew during test games, I had no idea what to expect for the army lists that people could bring. So I went with Heavy Armor and Super-heavy AT Guns. I would lack large board presence, but I could delete units at will…or so I thought.

IV SS Panzer Korps Armored Platoon
Command Vehicle
Panther Ausf. A, G – Reg – 355 Armor 9 (10 in the Front) Turret Super-Heavy AT Gun w/ coax MMG Hull mounted MMG Command Vehicle – 25 Radio Network – 5 Tiger Fear	385pts
Vehicles
Panther Ausf. A, G – Reg – 355 Armor 9 (10 in the Front) Turret Super-Heavy AT Gun w/ coax MMG Hull mounted MMG Tiger Fear	355pts
Panther Ausf. A, G – Reg – 355 Armor 9 (10 in the Front) Turret Super-Heavy AT Gun w/ coax MMG Hull mounted MMG Tiger Fear	355pts
Panther Ausf. A, G – Reg – 355 Armor 9 (10 in the Front) Turret Super-Heavy AT Gun w/ coax MMG Hull mounted MMG Tiger Fear	355pts
Kubelwagen – Reg Pintle MMG	36pts
Total – 5 Order Dice	1,486pts

Game One – Recon in Force vs. Ernie (US Late War Mechanized Tank Destroyer Platoon)

Terrain was supplied by Ben and John of our very own Chicago Dice, making the five-hour drive to not only play but bring tables as well! It was a French countryside with large fields of grass, a few clumps of trees. Scattered fences, hay bails, hedges and low stone walls. I won the table side and we started deployment. I was at a large Dice disadvantage, with Ernie having 11 to my 5. I had met Ernie at AdeptiCon earlier this year at the Bolt Action Doubles Tournament. He was a worthy opponent then and I expected another determined fight. It was good to see him and catch up during the rounds.

Highlights from the game:

– Turn 1: With Ernie’s five Hellcats deployed in Ambush, I had to cautiously bring my Big Cats onto the table. There were shots exchanged and Pins taken by both sides but no kills or damage rolls.
– Turn 2: Panther hits Hellcat, gets Massive Damage and rolls a 1 and 2 on the Damage Table…oof. An M18 returns fire and kills my Command Panther hiding behind a stone wall! In an act of revenge, my last activation of the turn kills his Command M18.
– Turn 3: Ernie’s squad of Riflemen kills my Kubel at long range.
– Turn 4: Panther and two Hellcats exchange shots at Point Blank on my right flank and everyone misses, not even a single Pin! M18 fails order check and goes Down. Can’t reverse as it’s Immobilized. For the second time my Panther rolls Massive Damage on a Hellcat and again rolls a 1 and 2!
– Turn 5: The Riflemen that killed the Kubelwagen assault my left flank Panther (they have ATGs). Reactionary fire kills five, the unit takes three Pins and fails their Moral Check.
– Turn 6: The Panther and two M18s are still locked in a close-range battle in the corner (all parties still missing at Point Blank). Second squad of US Riflemen with ATGs charges and kills the Panther defending the corner. A one-man Bazooka Team kills a Panther heading for the middle objective. An Immobilized M18 kills the Panther on my far left flank.

Both Ernie and I agreed, this was a wild game. From Turn 1 till the end of Turn 5 we both were missing shots left and right. It was comical. Needed shots as low as a 2+ To Hit and we would both be rolling 1s. The saving grace was that we both rolled poorly, making it an even game. His dice got hot on Turn 6, going something along the lines of 3 for 4 on his first four pulls and getting kills with all of them. But that is how the cruel dice gods work sometimes. Overall it was a great match and I had a ton of fun with Ernie.

Result – Loss
3 Dice to 5, 1 Objective to 3

Game Two – King of the Hill vs. Drew (US 2nd Armored)

The table was a lone crossroads with a scattering of trees and a few buildings. Three sections of barbed wire crisscrossed the battlefield and a single Objective in the middle. This would be my first time meeting/playing against Drew. We both looked forward to having a fun and competitive game. Again I was outnumbered 11-5 for Order Dice.

Highlights from the game:

– Turn 1: Panther Immobilizes M3 Halftrack and sets it on fire. It fails the Moral Check and the gun crew for the 57mm AT being towed bails out. My roll for damage against the crew killed all of them. Suddenly after the first Order Die of the Game I find myself up 2-0. Drews’ Stewart extracts some revenge and kills my Kubelwagen, 2-1 after only three Order Dice. This was going to be a bloody game. Panther kills his Command Sherman that was trying to hide in the woods, and then kills a Bazooka Team with the hull MMG, 4-1. Avenging the Kubelwagen, my Command Panther kills the M3 Stewart, 5-1. Finally, with nothing else in line of sight, my final Panther kills the Jeep that brought the Bazooka Team on the board, 6-1 after one Turn!
-Turn 2: My Panther kills the second Jeep, and the Bazooka Team inside survives with two Pins. His remaining Tanks/SPGs move up into the woods, trying to gain flanking shots on my sides.
-Turn 3: Command Panther kills his M7 Priest and puts Pins on his M3 White Scout Car.
-Turn 4: Panther kills his remaining M4 and a second Panther kills his Bazooka Team at Point Blank range. 
– Turn 5: Panther kills the White Scout Car, and with that the last of Drews units.

Wow. My dice were cold Game One and red hot in Game Two. I don’t think I’ve ever had dice be that hot in any game. Drew was a good sport about it all. Sometimes hot dice just happen. This was my first time tabling someone in Bolt Action, and it felt like a hollow victory. Winning is definitely fun, but to absolutely crush someone, to me, isn’t fun. I would much rather have a nail biter close game than a blowout. 

Result – Win
11 Dice to 1, Objective controlled

Game Three – Wrecking Crew vs. Mike (British 7th Armoured)

The beautiful table we played on for Game Three was supplied by our fantastic, gracious Chicago Dice founder, Andrew. A small, quiet European town with some abandoned German equipment dotting the landscape, along with anti-tank traps, knocked out vehicles and ruined buildings. Mike made the trip all the way from Ohio! Again, it’s great to see people make the hike to this humble little tournament. His 9 Order Dice still outnumbered my 5, and his two Super-heavy AT guns scared me.

Highlights from the game:

– Turn 1: Mike’s Firefly trots onto the board and snipes a Panther. Not a good way to start the game…
– Turn 2: Panther misses the Firefly and the second Panther kills two crew on the 17-pounder.
– Turn 3: Fifth main-gun shot with a Panther misses, silly German gunners. Finally a Panther shoots and kills the Cromwell Command Tank.
– Turn 4: Left flank Panther shoots and kills the Firefly. The Kubelwagen flies in from Reserve kills an additional two 17-pounder crewmen, the Super-heavy gun then fails its Moral Check and flees the battle. The Panther in the middle is up to 8 Pins! One more and it would have been knocked out! It stayed Down and removed d3 Pins, which luckily was 3 Pins!
– Turn 5: In a rare turn, the Kubelwagen jumps the gun tractor and kills it! Then the Command Panther kills the Daimler Armored Car. Middle Panther is back up 7 Pins. Uh-oh! It wisely stays Down and removes a further 2 Pins on its d3 roll.
– Turn 6: Command Panther shoots and gets Massive Damage on the flanking Cromwell – rolled a 2 and 3, and the Cromwell failed its Moral Check and bailed out. Then with its MMG kills the PIAT Team sitting right in front of the pinned Panther.

Killing seven units was unexpected, especially how poor my shooting was for Turns 1 and 2. But getting six kills in four turns made up for it. Mike was a pleasure to play against. We were joking and laughing all game and annoying the TO with dumb questions and hypothetical scenarios. I hope to meet/play with him again as it was a great time.

Result – Win
8 VPs to 1

Final Thoughts

Ending 2-1, fourth overall and winning Best Axis was a total shock! I was not expecting to do this well heading into the tournament. Thanks to Bastion Gaming Center for hosting and offering up prize support, along with Warlord Games and to the Chicago Dice crew (Andrew and Ben) for donating some kits. With the large prize support given, everyone who played walked out of the event with a tank kit. Big shoutout to the incredible TO Andrew for running a great tournament. We will definitely look forward to next year.