Game Night Light 15

I had a solitaire game night on Monday. Which I expect after monthly game night excesses.

I hauled out an old game called MBT. The drink is something to use up my dry vermouth which is equal part gin and vermouth with a bit of lemon juice and raspberry syrup. It is perfectly adequate.

Sorry. I don't know how to rotate the image in Blogger. A quick search indicates it isn't really possible without added photo-editing additions. And that information was old. I could do it in photo editor separately but it isn't worth it to me. [Doh! I remembered I rotate it in my camera before sending it for blogging.]

I picked the basic scenario of 3 Abrams versus 4 T-72s. I ground through several turns until it was clear that the Soviets were doomed.

I sent 3 Soviet tanks to the south to try to bull through a smaller number of Americans while a single tank kept a single American tank busy.

 

The game is basically a miniatures game with tremendous detail possible. Check for spotting. Issue orders. Fire and move. Check hit number and roll for shot. Check penetration versus armor protection and roll for damage. Lots of charts must be consulted for all these things.

My Soviet move led to the stationary American tanks on the hill shots at two of the Soviet tanks. Hit chances were 60% or more and both shots hit.

One target blew up.

The problem is that the scenario doesn't have an objective other than learning the game. So I parked my American tanks into positions and waited. And as the Soviet player I simply accepted the attacker role despite parity. 

Without hidden movement, you know where the enemy is. This is pre-drone era, remember (well,technically there were some, and Israel pioneered combat usage before this game era). I could have maneuvered around with the God-like view but pretended the Soviets had to move fast.

Also, I discovered two apparent typos in the few rules I used. Gaming experience let me see the obvious errors.

The basic rules aren't that bad despite the multiple steps. You'd get used to them with practice. But I have miniatures. And I want easier and more playable rules for those. In younger days I would have loved this game. Pity I didn't play it when I was younger.

Now? When I finally reach the point of selling my games before I have to leave them to my children who will sell them for pennies on the dollar at an estate sale, this will be an early sale.

Unless I strip the game for its vehicle cards and use them with simplified rules for my modern miniatures. Hmm. That has some potential.

Stay of future game disposal is on hold.

Anyway, it was fun to play. But I truncated game night before 8:00 and called it a night. Monthly game night tires me out, too!