This article is mainly about recovery and repair of tanks. Although practically every kind of vehicle/truck could also be recovered and reused, tanks stand a good chance to fight another day. There are a number of reasons why a tank would be unable to function as a fighting unit. The ultimate reason would be its total destruction: A "brew up", total disintegration due to a direct hit in the munitions storage or the fuel-tanks. (The M4 was infamous; it was called "the Ronson" by its opponents.)

But, not every hit was critical to the tank and its crew. Although out of action for a certain time, it could be recovered, repaired and if necessary, given a new crew. Every Regiment/Brigade had a specialized unit for just this job. They were company-sized, with workshop facilities and heavy equipment for recovery. Not much glory and medals there, long working hours etc., but they kept the tanks rolling!

German Structure

All WWII contestants had such units, but because my knowledge of the German structure is the best, I will use them as an example. Every tank regiment in a Panzer division had a work shop company attached and within it the heavy recovery-platoon. Their clients were the tanks of the first battalion (76 PzKw V Panthers) and the second battalion (96 PzKw IV). These are figures of a full strength Panzerregiment, ararity-even in SS-regiments.

This fully motorized company had all the tools, mechanics and supplies to recover and repair most of the breakdowns that happened a few miles behind the front or, in advances, way to the rear; in that case, on the spot, emergency repairs were undertaken. Otherwise, the tanks waited until the workshop could catch up with them.

The recovery platoon had a number of interesting pieces of equipment and vehicles for towing away lame ducks. For example, the SdKfz 9 18 ton "heavy half-track" could tow a kind of flatbed wheeled rig. Two SdKfz 9s were required to move a Panther and three for a Tiger!

The BergepanzerIII was amodified turretless Mk III tank. No longer state of the art as a fighting vehicle, it was a clever way to recycle obsolete tanks. The Bergepanther was a 35 ton turretless version of the Mk V Panther. This recovery vehicle could cope with most of the heavy-duty stuff. 'Buddy-buddy' (towing one tank with another) was practised a lot, although strictly forbidden among the Tiger I and Tiger II tanks. Those engines were already underpowered, let alone for two! Nevertheless, in the heat of battle it was done.

Principles of Recovery

The principle of recovery is simple: salvage as many tanks as possible and find out how many combat-ready tanks you can make out of them. Cannibalizing was common practice. How many tanks were actually recovered and put back into action is not known. I imagine it was more than we think. Imagine a dead tank with an intact carburetor and another one with a broken one. Without any form of recovery, you have two tanks out of action. Put them together and you get at least one.

Workshops were open for business 24 hours with known examples of "bring in your broken tank this afternoon, pick it up tomorrow moming, good as new". Field-Marshall Rommel was very keen on recovery; he had to be. Most of his Afrika Korps replacements had a fair chance of ending up on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Tanks were found in the desert with several deadly AT holes, but they had been abandoned because of lack of fuel. These tanks must have been patched up several times without bothering to repair the "peepholes".

TCS System

And now to the TCS system.

We have at our disposal a number of tanks in the three beautifully designed games but a hit is a dead tank whichever way you look at it, or is it? A careless German player (and a clever America one!) can end the offensive power of the 2nd Panzer division before it reaches Clervaux! Possible? Well, a number of "kills" must be repairable in my mind. I suggest a system in which not all hit tanks are automatically "scrappers". After scoring a hit on the point table: roll two dice-2-8, the tank "brews up" & 9-12, the tank can be recovered.

Add, if you want, a -1 Die modifier for the "Ronson" effect of the M4.

In case of survival the tank is taken off the map board of a period of 6 hours and brought back into play from any City/town village, 20 to 30 hexes behind the front or from the edge of the map board.

(Any suggestions for Omaha, anybody?)

I did not include the close combat AT roll because involves infantry which love to ensure the disabling of a tank with hand grenades, gasoline, etc..

Close to recovery rules is the event of "Throw track Bogged down" m slow go terrain. Tanks are lost on a die roll of 5-/ Suggestion: Tracked vehicles-Die roll 5: bogged down, 9 turns to "unbog" and Die roll 6: throws track, 6 turns to repair. Wheeled vehicles bogged down on die roll of 5-6, 6 turns to recover. Then try again. In the case of another die roll of 5-6, the vehicle is given up the recovery crew! (Historically, such a situation occurred on the Kall Trail.)

Keep a record of repair time on a piece of paper.

With these alternative possibilities, not all is lost. I hate to lose important fighting units and have no way to do at least something.

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