Panzerfausts/ATRDs

[L.T. Russell]

I had occasion to play K47 again yesterday and I was reminded how stupid the rules are concerning Panzerfausts and ATRDs.  I double-checked with the more knowledgeable players concerning errata I might’ve missed, since I’m kinda IT challenged.  No corrections yet.  I had a five-thing squad of Nachtalben.  I chose to arm them with Panzerfausts, so according to the rules I had to arm the entire squad, so 25 points.  Which makes no sense and isn’t in line with how they’re used in Bolt Action.  What if I’d chosen to add an extra five things?  Then I’da had to buy 10 Panzerfausts.  Why?  On to the next stupid point.  When it came time to use the Panzerfausts, I chose to volley-fire them.  According to the rules, I rolled a D6 and of course got a 1.  Which means only one Panzerfaust fired and the others are lost, so 20 points out the window for nothing.  Why?  I don’t recall ever reading about Panzerfausts, especially late war ones, being particularly unreliable.  The only other option in the rules is to fire them singly.  Why?  In real life, in the USMC and ARNG, we were taught to volley-fire LAWS rockets, to ensure a kill.  Back to the possible 10-man squad.  If volley-fired, the BEST result is 6 fire and 4 are automatically lost.  What sense does that make?  If fired singly, at least 3 are wasted in a game the goes an extra turn, 4 are wasted in the standard 6 turn game.  Why?  Does this make any sense to anyone?

Why do shaped-charge weapons lose half penetration against mechs?  Mechs are already ridiculously over-powered against infantry as it is.  Why take away the only equalizer they’re allowed?  All I can figure is it’s important to sell lotsa the new mech models and new Rift units and that’s way more important than being able to use regular Bolt Action infantry.  What the heck, they’re only supposed to be the building blocks of this platoon-level game….

My last question; where did all the rest of the world get these “ATRDs” from?  What nation had anything besides “Sticky” bombs, Molotov Cocktails, or pole mines by the end of WWII?  IIRC, most western armies didn’t start issuing LAWS rockets unit the 1960s.  Something like TWO DECADES after the end of WWII.  I always figure it’s just another one of the MANY ways a British company cheats for the Brit player and screws the German player.

OK, I’m done with my rant.  Thanks for your time and consideration.  I’ll be interested to see y’alls comments….

 

[Author]

Posts