Tanks...oh yeah baby

[KeeperOfPeace]

Hey guys,
I got this idea a couple of months ago. Why do we not have tanks yet? I realize they would run on gas and they don't have much of that, but wouldn't it be great if they did?

I know they would be big, but my imagination just can't help but wonder. They would only need a certain size base.

Well anyway, I am thinking about buying a tank from Warhammer 40K and see if it fits the bill.

So what do you guys think?

[Sydcomebak]

Hey guys,
I got this idea a couple of months ago. Why do we not have tanks yet? I realize they would run on gas and they don't have much of that, but wouldn't it be great if they did?

I know they would be big, but my imagination just can't help but wonder. They would only need a certain size base.

Well anyway, I am thinking about buying a tank from Warhammer 40K and see if it fits the bill.

So what do you guys think?

I think it would be really funny as hell to take out your tank with Deadeye Dan. =D

Seriously? I think movement rules would be difficult and it would be WAAAAAY too expensive.

I thought about a trebuchet crew custom a while back. I couldn't get the movement where I wanted it though.

[KeeperOfPeace]

Well of course it would need tweeking. Maybe even a different type of card. And yes it would be expensive, but I love to dwell in massive games. Sadly, my imagination is larger than the 2 MS I have access to.

[Sydcomebak]

Sadly, my imagination is larger than the 2 MS I have access to.

Treat your creativity to a couple more MS. I just built an 8MS 2VW 4RttFF map and I couldn't be happier!

[KeeperOfPeace]

Yeah I should. If they weren't so darn expensive over here I would own a couple more.

[Sydcomebak]

Yeah I should. If they weren't so darn expensive over here I would own a couple more.

"Over here" means nothing. My next thought was to look at your "location" which you seemed to deem a spot for a secondary signature.

[KeeperOfPeace]

Oh sorry about that. I live in Largo, Florida. I would think we would get more stuff since there is a ton of people around here. But if the pieces aren't selling, they won't get new stock. I know the one Target around here hasn't had any small expansions in months!

[RobWeaver]

I've loved tanks since I was 11 years old. I was a tank platoon leader in the US Army. I still say "Fire in the hole" when I start the car and my kids know what the expression "don't get wrapped around the axle" means. That having been said. tanks in HS have some big problems to overcome. First is the size. Unless you want to recreate something like the WWI FT-17 with a 2 man crew, a tank is going to cover a minimum of 12 hexes. Then there's movement. How does it cove uneven ground? Yeah, I know; a tank makes a light duty road wherever it goes. But how much of a difference between one side of the vehicle and the other will you allow? What about speed? I very rarely moved at the speed of a walking man, or a flying kyrie, so a tank could probably cross the board in a turn or two. Then you've got different weapon systems. The main gun would be able to fire from one army's starting point clear across to the other on all but the biggest of maps. An M1 series vehicle can fire accurately for 4,000 meters. Then there's the crew: are they somehow related to life points? At a certain point can you move but not fire, etc? There are numerous accounts of a single crewman manning the gun by himself, and at least one that I know of where the driver drove the vehicle into position, crawled back into the turret (M48A3) loaded, sighted and fired the gun by himself. On the whole, I think that unless you want to do something like early 20thcentury vehicles, FT-17, PZ I and II, US M3 Stuart, the system might support it. For big firpower, I'd suggest sticking to mechs. Movement and elevation in the game will support their creation a lot better.

[Ghostdogg]

Tanks rock! I was in the infantry and I loved hiding behind them! hehe
But I would have to agree that mechs are kewler! :)

[atmospro]

Tanks don't work in HS.
We have tried several different versions. The main problem is scale and movement on the hexes in compliance with the current rules.
But here's a vehicle that does work for those of you that just half to have a vehicle.
Custom stat's and card coming soon. this still in the testing stage.
http://upload4.postimage.org/243444/img3f2a17500c36d.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/243444/photo_hosting.html)

[Ghostdogg]

The testing stage!

I like that stage, I usually have to 'test' atleast 7 beers before I concure that the whole case is ok. :)

[ForeverMan724]

hey keeperofpeace,

i to would like to see tanks on my Heroscape battle field. it would be Freakn Awesome! just think of StarCraft n how the Terran's face off against the Zerg n the Zerg against the Protoss or the Protoss verses the Terrans ^_^ Dude! that would be so awesome in Heroscape!

Imagin a Tank facing off against a Dragon! what a staring contest that would be lol Sweat!

i know that a tank would take up at least four spaces and wouldnt be able to move every where on the field... but what a Blast! it would have, Dude :shock: for all you StarCraft players out there, you know you want a Tank... YahBaby! Yah

i am so workn on that idea... as soon as i get all my other stuff done (sigh)

heres a last thought on the idea...

Army Tank
Life: 6
Move: 4
Range: 10
Attack: 6
Defence: 8
Points: 350

Special Training: The More Soldier Based characters used on your team those characters card value points can be used to subtract this cards Point Value.

Long Range: once per turn. range +10

Explosive Round: once per turn. attack +4. all Adjacent characters to target are effected by the attack. Defenders each roll one dice(shields) for a chance to avoid the attack. if the one dice roll fails for the target he/she die's. if the one dice roll fails for all adjacent to target they recieve one wound.

next will work on Space ship Tanks, like in starcraft :wink:

[RobWeaver]

I think the point value for your tank is right on. Since modern tanks don't carry HE (High Explosive) anymore, why not give it Rapid Fire (that special the DW8000 has where you keep shooting if you inflict a wound)? Give it a range of 7-8 for the special and call it "Coaxial Machinegun." I'd ditch the "Long Range" as unbalancing; I'd use it in the first turn to reach the opponent in his starting area and the fairness of the game is shot. Why not drop the defense value down a couple dice, and make the main gun, front of the turret and the front slope non-targetable areas? That's a tank's strongest armor, and infantry in real warfare tries to get around the flanks to score an engine or mobility kill. (Oh - how about when down to 1 life, the tank can no longer move?) Except for the inevitable size and movement prblem, this is almost playable.

[ultradoug]

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f348/coolmondoug/Picture159.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f348/coolmondoug/Picture158.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f348/coolmondoug/Picture157.jpg

Tank takes up:
4 spaces <----> ^ 3 Spaces ^
5 spaces <-----> | 3 Spaces |
4 spaces <----> V 3 Spaces V

[endpawn]

Why is everyone so worried about accurately portraying size. Its a game not real life. Just throw in some mechwarrior tanks. Call them autopiloted if it really bothers you that much that you cant play with them. Anyways if you want a sweet big tank the imperials from 40k specialize in human vehicles.

[Agent Minivann]

(as a Starcraft player) Actually ForeverMan724 I'd rather have a few squads of Zerglings in a HS game. They'd be cheaper and you'd get a ton of them. That and the ones that survive the tank blasts will go through the tank in no time.

I like tanks a lot (I actually do like the idea of Starcraft seige tanks using some schmo unit to get LOS with the target) but I don't think they would work well in the HS mechanics. I think it really boils down to: it would be fun, but it would be difficult to make it work well.

A question on ForeverMan724's tank unit, does the tank have more than one regular attack? The mention of once per turn it can do such and such make it sound like it gets more than one shot per turn. Or is it a +10 range OR +4 attack? As for a tank vs a dragon, I'm putting my money on the dragon, mobility plus breathweapon.

[KeeperOfPeace]

Why is everyone so worried about accurately portraying size. Its a game not real life. Just throw in some mechwarrior tanks. Call them autopiloted if it really bothers you that much that you cant play with them. Anyways if you want a sweet big tank the imperials from 40k specialize in human vehicles.

As I am sure others here will agree, when you see a piece that is supposed to be taller than your infantry, yet is only waist high, the game just doesn't feel right.

And I was thinking about the W40K tanks. They are probably the right size.

[aardvark22]

Well if tanks don't work in Heroscape they definitely work in GodzillaScape!

I've been working on this project for a while now mostly in fits and starts when I have the time. I originally just wanted to do a custom thing using Heroscape terrain and 2-4 inch Godzilla figs I had. Then I saw these great 1:155 scale tanks at my local Wal-Mart and decided to run with it. Still in the early playtesting stages but basically its the JSDF (Japanese Special Defense Force) attempting to prevent a giant monster attack. I built a large long & narrow map with a beach at one end (from which the monster emerges) and a base at the other which represents the outskirts of a city. Object of the player controlling the JSDF is to prevent the monster from reaching the city.Object of player controlling monster is to crush the army & reach the city. The monsters are 6-8 inch Bandai figures that are in very good scale with the army stuff I found.
I hope to post some pics and stats to get some feedback on point values & what not from the group here.Are there any Godzilla fans in the house?
Aardvark

[ForeverMan724]

I think the point value for your tank is right on. Since modern tanks don't carry HE (High Explosive) anymore, why not give it Rapid Fire (that special the DW8000 has where you keep shooting if you inflict a wound)? Give it a range of 7-8 for the special and call it "Coaxial Machinegun." I'd ditch the "Long Range" as unbalancing; I'd use it in the first turn to reach the opponent in his starting area and the fairness of the game is shot. Why not drop the defense value down a couple dice, and make the main gun, front of the turret and the front slope non-targetable areas? That's a tank's strongest armor, and infantry in real warfare tries to get around the flanks to score an engine or mobility kill. (Oh - how about when down to 1 life, the tank can no longer move?) Except for the inevitable size and movement prblem, this is almost playable.

thanx RobWeaver, i think your right. my idea does need some tweekn. though, i ran this idea by a freind and he loves the idea of a Tank! ^_^ so we are working on it!

ill let you all know of our progress as we hash-out the details.

A question on ForeverMan724's tank unit, does the tank have more than one regular attack? The mention of once per turn it can do such and such make it sound like it gets more than one shot per turn. Or is it a +10 range OR +4 attack? As for a tank vs a dragon, I'm putting my money on the dragon, mobility plus breathweapon.

wow dude, thats a good Q? your right! i dont know either lol i guess ill have to work on that. i was thinking that you would choose one or the other. as it is writen now, you could do both attacks in one turn!

actually that would be pretty sweat ^_^ do you think if i brought down the attack some that we could keep it that way... Lolololol*cough* (my ebil luagh)

battleon Dudes!

[RobWeaver]

Resurrecting an ancient thread. Yesterday I playtested a couple tanks in a wwii scenario. I used the stats in this tread, modified by my suggestions near the end of the thread. Gameplay as far as combat was surprisingly satisfying and reproduced the feel of armored combat. Ranges are too short, but I think increasing them would take tanks out of balance. The biggest problem was movement. I measured movement off the left front fender hex, and allowed the vehicle to end a turn on up to 3 hexes difference in height. (Any more han that and the cant unit in the vehicle won't compensate.) Has anybody else done anymore toying with tanks?

[Uchiha Blood]

After reading this thread, its gotten me thinking about the huge Mechs from MW that were named after Greek deities. They had pilots that were individual figures too. I haven't played MW but I know sorta how it works. I was thinking maybe a spot for a figure to sit on top of the tank with ladder rungs (for figures to sit on the side and get a lift) and when that figure was killed the tank was open to anyone. That way, you wouldn't need points, it would be already on the battlefield for anyone to use.

[evil beagle 111]

as has been stated before, 40k tanks are around the right size. space marine predators and rhinos fit nicely on a hive sized base, but land raiders are WAY too big for hs. not sure about the imperial guard tanks, I don't own any. my rules for tanks give them trample stomp, which represents them running stuff over, an attack bonus if they do not move this turn, and rapid fire or explosion special attacks, for various support weapons or alternate ammo.

[RobWeaver]

Carry and trample are both specials that hadn't appeared yet when this thread appeared. They're both useful special for tanks. I have those 1:144 tanks, too and use them for Mem 44. To each his own - I wouldn't use them with the 1/48th scale HS figs as they're just too small. That's a lot coming from me because I will freely mix 1/72 scale figures as proxies where necessary. 1/72 scale tanks fit 2 hexes - I should try those!