TANKS By Galeforce 9

A closer look at the new starterbox for Galeforce 9's  game "TANKS The World War II Tank Skirmish Game". It is a spinoff frome Battlefront miniatures "Flames Of War" tabletop game, but TANKS uses simple rules for tankbattles in 15mm/1:100 scale. This game is easy to learn and takes not much time to play.

In a future posts I will go in detail with the rules, this post is only about the content of the starterbox.

The introduction on the back of the box says:

Through the pouring rain, you can just make out the smoke billowing from your platoon commander's tank. You are next in command. As if on cue, the radion buzzes. Corporal Stevens, always the cautious one, wants to retreat and regroup. But you know this is your time to strike. The enemy thinks they've got you on the run, got you cornered. It's time to show them what happens when you poke at the hornet's nest.

It's time to lead your men to victory!

The content of the box. All gamematerials are included, only some glue is needed to build the tanks and start a first game of TANKS.

Let us take a look at the plastic first:

Three tank model kits are included, two Sherman tanks and one Panther/Jagdpanther, all three in 15mm scale. All parts are nicely sculpted and casted with no sinkholes or flash, after construction no ejector markings will be seen.

The pictures obove show the Sherman sprue which is included twice while the pictures below show the multiple sprues of the Panther/Jagdpanther kit.

The assembly instructions are simplified, to build other versions than the tanks from this box you have to look online for building instructions, which can be found at the "Flames Of War" website.

I built the Panther, the 75mm Sherman and the uparmoured 76mm Sherman from this kit. All three kits were built without any issues, all parts fitted well. In future posts you will see them painted.

Next to the tank kits are the booklet with the rules and the rest of the needed materials. The stuff that is included looks fine, some terrain pieces and the needed game counters and markers. Both made from durable cardboard. I would use the terrain if I would not prefer "real" terrain.

Also 12 12mm D6, 6 for each player, are included.

Since every tank uses a stats card, let us look at them in the next section of my closer look at the starterbox for Galeforce 9's "TANKS" game.

You get 4 German tank cars and 3 hero cards from this expansion. Compared to the Soviets, the selection is small, but it is a good start anyway. There are more tanks available for each nation, but you have to buy these expansions seperately.

The next nation are the Americans. They get cards for both possible Sherman variants from this box and two more tanks. 4 hero units are included and this is, as for the Germans too, a small but solid start.

The Britons also get 4 tank unit cards from this box but no hero cards. While they get 4 tanks as the Germans, this absence of hero cards limits their playability from this box.

For the Soviets are 8 tanks available. This is a big selection and I think I will get some Plastic Soldier Company or Zvezda tanks to use with these cards. No hero cards are included, but the Soviets get the most units in this box.

Also, each nation gets its special ammunition card.

Beside the ammunition cards you get a lot of global crew and upgrade cards usable for each nations tanks. No doctrines are included in the "TANKS" starterbox.

The final thing from the box are the damage cards. The offer some lucky hits and a lot af critical hits, each with its different effect on your tanks. There are some pretty mean damage effects you can draw.

This box is a solid starter. I have read the rules and they seem easy to understand, but if you want to check them out, you can download the rules from the official "TANKS" website. My mate Olli and I like it and we will play more tank battles in the future. And maybe we will find more players for this.

What I do not like on this box is the fact, that there are no hero cards for the Soviets and the British tanks. One or two of them would have been a nice addition.

Finally I have to say that this game is a good addition for my collection. You will read more about this game in the future, just as I am going to write more about its follow-up "TANKS The Modern Age".