This article continues gluing chrome onto the 1981 Metagaming game Stalin's Tanks. In this part, I will present a simple point cost formula and some extra data for the units in the game, for use in Design-Your-Own (DYO) scenarios, and two systems for incorporating morale and command control into the game.

29.0 Unit Point Costs

After a few tries, I derived a point cost formula that did not turn up too many anomalies. See the table for point values for all units supplied with the game and the extra units described in last month's issue.

29.1 Infantry and guns

Point Cost = AT Factor + AP Factor + (2 x Defense Factor) + Special Factor

Special Factors: Weapon Accuracy = +10 points Cavalry = + 6 points

29.2 Armored Fighting Vehicles

Point Cost = AT Factor + AP Factor + Armor Factor + (4 x Movement Factor) + Special Factors

The Armor Factor is calculated as follows: Armor Class J = 10 points, adding 5 points per class to a maximum of 55 for Armor Class A.

Special Factors: Well-sloped armor (circled Armor Class) +10 points Open-topped AFV (SU-76, Marder III, Nashorn, halftracks) = -5 points Weapon Accuracy (circled AT factor) = +10 points Turreted AFV = +5 points

I would have liked to have included something like a Rarity Factor to account for the fact that very few of some tanks were produced (and therefore should be more 'expensive'). For example, only 85 PzJg VI "Jagdtigers" were ever built, but they seem to show up in almost every East Front tactical armor game. Meanwhile, over 2,800 Marder III tank destroyers were built by the Germans and most of them served on the Eastern Front, but this vehicle was left out ot'the original design. You should use your own best judgment and knowledge here.

30.0 Morale

Battles are rarely if ever fought to the last man and gun.

30.1 Troop Quality

In this variant, morale derives from troop quality, which comes in three flavors:

Elite = top-quality SS or Wehrmacht troops Soviet Guards units with significant combat experience. Morale Number (MN) = 10, Hesitation Point (HP) = 50%.
Standard = troops normally found in engagements on either side in the middle to late war period. MN = 9, HP = 40%.
Poor = many 1941-42 Soviet troops. Axis Allies except Finland; militia or conscript troops like Volkssturm. MN = 8, HP = 30%

Normally all troops on one side will have the same troop quality, but you may want to vary this. For example, in the Close to the End scenario (25.5) the group of German at-start forces could be Poor quality, while the reinforcements could be Elite. In other situations you could raise or lower the MN or HP numbers to reflect that one side is in a desperate situation (e.g., fighting to break out of an encirclement).

30.2 Hesitation Point and Checking Morale

Next, you need to derive each side's Hesitation Point (HP) in terms of units lost. Round all fractions up, so for example a 16-unit force of Standard quality troops will reach its HP of 40% (and have to start checking morale) after losing its seventh unit. In situations where one side or the other is reinforced, figure the HP for the total number of units that wi I I enter the game. A player must check his morale at the beginning of each of his Player Turns after he has reached his HP. He rolls two dice and adds the following modifiers:

+1 for each unit after the first that was destroyed during the preceding enemy Player Turn (so if three friendly units were destroyed, he would add +2 to his roll remember that this is not cumulative from turn to turn)

-2 if enemy's morale is Shaken

30.3 Shaken Morale.

If he rolls more than his MN, then his morale is Shaken. It is possible for both sides to be Shaken at the same time. The following effects apply to all his units for the rest of the game: a) In the Defensive Fire Phase of each turn, he must roll on the Discombobulation Table (see below) to allow a unit to Fire or conduct a close assault. Units test individually. b) All attacks against his units on the Anti-Personnel Table or Hit Effects Table are shifted one column to the right (So a 2-1 attack becomes a 3-1, for example). This doesn't mean that enemy fire magically becomes more destructive or accurate, just that your troops are now more likely to run away or abandon slightly damaged vehicles, when they might have continued fighting under more confident circumstances.

31.0 Command Control

It is generally agreed by historians of the period that the great German victories in the early period orthe Great Patriotic War were due to the fact that they were less confused and more "operationally agile" than the Soviet troops at this time, and not to any inherent advantage in armor or firepower. This aspect is something that did not come out well in Stalin's Tanks, which does a better job of comparing the technical aspects of the different vehicles.

1.1 Soviet Command Restrictions:

Movement. Divide Soviet units into two classes: vehicle (i.e. anything with an engine) and non-vehicle. A Soviet unit must have a LOS to at least one other unit ofthe same class to be able to move automatically in either Movement Phase. If it does not, it must roll on the Discombobulation Table to see if it can move.

31.2 Soviet Command Restrictions:

Fire. Most Soviet artillcry barrages were poorly aimed, preplotted area bombardment missions, and "on-call" missions were not always possible. This can be simulated in the game by requiring the Soviet player to roll on the Discombobulation Table in the Mobile Fire Phase to see whether his promised barrage arrives, and increasing the odds of scatter to a 1-3 on one die. In compensation, though, the Soviet player should aiso have a 1-3 chances of a light barrage unexpectedly turning up into a heavy barrage to reflect the greater weight of artillery they used when it was available..

Discombobulation Table

Die roll to succeed (Troop Ouality)
1 -2 ( Poor)
1-3 (Standard)
1 -4 (Elite)

(first published in Vindicator magazine)

Soviets

Type # pt. Cost Yr Intro/Approx. Prod'n.
Inf 8 18
Cavalry 6 20
HMG Sect 2 22
AA 37mm 1 24
ATG 45mm 2 34
ATG 76 2 52
ATG 57 2 42
AC BA-32 2 70
T-34A 2 105 late 41, 3,000+made
T-34B 4 109 mid 42~ 12,000+ made
T-34C 6 114 late 42; 10,000+ made
T-34/85 5 120 early 44~ 19,000 made
BT-7 4 85 37-41~ 7,000+ made
KV-IA 4 115 KV-IA and C. about 5,000 built 40-43
KV-IC 4 120
KV-85 4 121 late 43~ <200 made
JS-2 2 134 mid 44; 3,500 made
SU-76 2 80 mid 42~ 3,000 made
SU-85 2 116 mid 44~ 7,000+ made
SU-100 1 148 late 44~ 1,200 made
SU-122 2 139 early 43
JSU-122 2 140 late 44~ 1,500 made
SU-152 2 141 SU and JSU models. 2,500+ made fin mid-43
ISU-152 2 142

GERMANS

Type # pt. Cost Yr Intro/Approx. Prod'n.
INF 9 22
HMG Sect 2 22
AA 20mm 1 22
AA 20(4)mm 1 42
ATG50mm 1 36
ATG 75 2 54
88 FLAK 2 62
88PAK 2 78
1/2 TRK 8 29
1/2 TRK -MG 8 31
AC 234/1 1 61 early 44, 2,000 made
AC 234/2 1 72 mid 44, 200 made
PZ IIA 4 62 37-43~ 8,500+ made, many conversions
PZ IIIG 4 74 40-early 42~ 3,000 made
PZ IIIJ 4 79 early 42~ 2,500~ made
PZ IVD 2 80 37-early 42, 900+ made
PZIVF2 I go 42-43, 1,000+ made
PZ IVH 6 102 43-44~ 5,000+ made
PANTHER 4 139 mid-43, 6,000 made
TIGER I 1 121 mid 42 - 44. 1,3 50 made
TIGER II 1 147 end 44~ 475made
Marder III 1 89 late 42~ 2,800 made
HETZER 1 112 early 44: 2,600 made
NASHORN I III early 43, 500 made
ELEFANT 1 134 mid-43. 1100made
STUG-B 2 75 40-41,350made
STUG-G 2 97 mid-43; 7,500~ made
PZJG V 1 145 mid-44; 400 made
PZJG VI 1 144 late44~ <100made

GENERIC