Gazelle Helicopter Expansion For TANKS The Modern Age

A closer look at the Gazelle helicopter expansion for "TANKS The Modern Age" by Galeforce 9. It is a remake of TANKS with an advanced ruleset and additional air units, and a spinoff of Team Yankee (based on this book). I did not read it, but I have this one in my library and the scenario seems equal to me.

As all other "TANKS The Modern Age" expansions, this pack contains an 1:100 model kit, taken from the "Team Yankee" range, the matching unit card(s), additional equipment/crew/doctrines cards, and a flyerbase for the model.

First let us take a look at the kit from this expansion:

The kit comes in one green sprue which contains all parts to build the Gazelle. The casting quality is good, there is minimal flash to remove, but there are annoying ejectormarks on the bottom of the rotorblades and the HOT launchers.

But except for that, the kit comes in the usual good quality as the other 1:100 kits for the game. I think, that building this kit would go fast and without any issues.

The flightbase is casted in good quality, gives you two height options and offers the choice for magnetization, but it works fine in my Cobra/Hind helis without magnets. This are not the actual parts included in the box, they are identical to them.

After a look at the included modelkit, now let us take a look at the cards which are included in this expansion. First there are the cards for the unit itself:

The French Gazelle 20mm has a initiative of 10 what makes it the last to move but first to fire what is a clear advantage. Beside that it shares its Armour of 0 and only 3 Hitpoins with all other helis except for the Hind. Its "Rapid Fire" ability offers 5 dice against unarmoured vehicles and helicopters, but that is needed with an base Attack of only 2. For 21 points you would get a basic helicopter hunter for the French.

The Gazelle HOT version shares its Initiative of 7 and its Armour of 3 with all other helicopters from the game, except for its 20mm version. With 3 hitpoints it is pretty weak and except for its 5 dice missile attack it is unarmed. This restricts its attack abilities because of the special rules for missiles but for 23 points this is a strong unit for every French platoon.

After a look at the unit cards, now let us take a look at the equipment/crew/doctrines cards which are included in the Gazelle expansion.

7 crewcards are included in this expansion. As in the other helicopter expansions there are 2 heroic crewmembers for this specific nation and some crewcards usable for all nations.

The French pilot "Baptiste Deschamp" offers for the cost of 6 points not only 2 additional initiative points, also you may change the elevation of the chopper at the end of the movement phase without to add a speed token. This sounds very useful.

"Clement Martin", the French (helicopter only) gunner changes every attack into a Sideshot what is a high advantage, reducing the opponents defence dice by 1. With 8 points this card is pretty expensive, I will see how useful it is.

Then there are the cards which can be used by all nations.

First there is the "Defensive Pilot" which lets you reroll one defense dice for the cost of 4 points,  the "Risky Pilot" gives you a bonus if you attack at close range for the cost of 3 points. Both are good alternatives if you play more than 1 Gazelle helicopter in a game.

The remaining 3 crewmembers are not limited to helicopters. The "Inspired Commander" offers 2 additional initiative points for the cost of 4 points, but I would prefer "Baptiste Deschamp", who offers for 2 additional points and a very good advantage.

Two gunners are included,  the "Bloodthirsty Gunner" adds 1 attack dice at close range. For 3 points this may be useful for a tanks, but in comparison to the fragility of helicopters the only helicopter which may have use for this card is the Soviet Hind.

The "Sharpshooter Gunner" could be a pretty powerful addition, its cost of 5 gives you the advantage that your enemy has to draw 2 cards at the first critical hit and you have to decide which card counts and which would be discarded.

Last, there are 3 equipment/doctrines cards included.

"Extra Ammunition" lets you reroll your attack dice when discarded, for 2 points this card is useful for every unit in the game.

As also included in the HIND, the PAH, and the Cobra expansions, "Countermeasures" and "Defense Maneuvres" cards are included in this box, both are very useful for defending attacks, worth 2 and 3 points this equipment may save your helicopter in critical situations.

This expansion is a nice addition for each French platoon. The kit is almost without any faults, and the cards included offers some nice options to customize your Gazelle.

The only negative point on this and all other TANKS games expansions is that there are no decals included in this box and this sucks. I am still looking for a cheap kit to loot for some French decals.

But except for that an additional air unit is always welcome. Based on experiences from earlier games, helicopters are strong units and the Gazelle is no exception.

I will build the Gazelle equipped with HOT launchers, since the French main battletank has the "Rapid Fire" ability, what you may see in one of the nexts posts when I will take a closer look at the next French unit for "TANKS The Modern Age".

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Beside that, I continued some work on new custom stuff for "TANKS The Modern Age". As I mentioned in earlier posts, I would like to try to write a plane expansion for the game.

Originally this was planned for the ww2 version of TANKS but there is no reason why the planned rules would not fit in a ww2 setting with the matching models and cards.

Just for fun as the other custom units which were made before, but containing not only attack planes, but also new units and some additional equipment like new air-to-air missiles for helicopters and matching new rules for all of the new stuff.

But that means that I would have to think about new game mechanics, for helicopters, you may choose not move, but a plane has always to move, and I think it would have to move in the attack phase too. As also in the command phase.

And it should have only maximal 45 degree turning abilities, since it is a plane and not an UFO. I do not want to make it too complicated because this is just a fun project. Maybe it turns out stupid or it may be a big fun. When it is finished, you will find it in this blog.

The other thing I would have to find a solution for are the pointcosts for the unit itself and all its armament, pilots and equipment. As I wrote in the SU-25 post, a potential game unit, the point costs for this stuff have to be well balanced.

This would be powerful units, that is why I decided so set the costs for ground attack fighter higher then the costs for a well equipped Hind, in other words, would you rather take 2 M1A1 or would you take an A-10.