AAR: Iron Cross: British Tank Attack!

        It was another early morning day of violence between my friend, Danny and myself, since it a good scheduled time to play various games against each other. To my surprise, he wanted to try out the new Iron Cross rules based off some posts I had made about the game. To keep things simple, I had the same set up for armies much like the last game of Iron Cross my wife played against Bill. The only difference was that I removed all of the Panzer IV's on my side as the Germans. I did this, because I do feel that it seems a little lop sided for forces. German tanks and armor seem to have the upper hand on paper. However, this gave Danny a tip to his favor. If I only knew that he would role so well, I would have had the Panzer IV's after all.
     Danny ran the British with six Cromwells, three Sherman Fireflies, and two M-10 tank destroyers. I had three Stug III G's and five Panther tanks. If this were a Flames of War game, this could be considered quite even, I think. The difference is that if you have switched from Flames of War to Iron Cross, the whole concept of a Cromwell tank being able to kill a Panther in the front armor seems strange. I think there are many games that beef up tanks too much when it comes to the games we play. I am not saying that it is a bad thing. However, for this game system, everything can be killed in the front. The armor values are still pretty decent. The Panther is rated 17/13 for armor based against a D-10 plus gun penetration. The Panther's frontal armor is a 17 and the rest is a 13. The armor facing is based on 45 degrees to determine whether it is front, side, or rear. And the Panther's gun has a penetration value of 10. So it is still pretty bad ass compared to a British Cromwell. The Cromwell has a 14/11 armor and a gun that is valued at an 8. So, to do anything to a Panther in the front the player has to roll a  9 or a 10  to kill or give another pin on top of the first pin for hits. Now, it looks right on paper. A tried and true luck shot can change the game! Besides, Cromwells, the Firefly has the same gun as the Panther with the value of 10 for penetration, as well as, the M-10's. If those guns, don't work, out pin the morale for the tank to be abandoned.
     But Danny did not need to worry about such things. It has become apparent to the both of us that Danny's rolls have been quiet stellar to say the least. We played about four rounds before I lost everyone. What was more amazing was that he only lost three tanks. My command Panther drove up out of no where to destroy two Cromwells in a row. That seemed to be the only true luck I had during the game. I took out a Firefly only after it shot at me three times with a Panther. The rest of my shots seemed to add pins. Danny's seem to only damage! This game was quick and violent, but that is what is fun about it. Now, we need to see how infantry works with this game!

Stug III's moving into position.

The British attack is on!

Brief fire and reaction fire end with a Stug III and a Panther tank burning. The Panther was killed by a Firefly.

Two Panthers are challenging a distant Firefly on the road. 

This poor Panther tried to shoot at a M-10, but the M-10 was really aware!

The Command Panther destroys two the British Cromwells in a row.

The Firefly duel continues. Another destroyed Panther!

The rest of the German tanks died. I did not bother marking the Stug III destruction from an M-10.