Golden Journal No. 63: War Machines

This game is not yet available, but will be out soon. Please allow an extra six weeks for delivery.

For a brief moment in the closing years of World War II and the immediate aftermath, the super-heavy tank ruled the thoughts of military planners and tank designers. Anti-tank guns had grown steadily larger, to deal with the ever-thicker armor, to the point that the massive German 128mm PAK 44 weighed in at over 10 tons and, in its towed version, could barely be moved. The American 120mm super-heavy anti-aircraft gun massed nearly 15 tons, though it was never modified in an anti-tank mounting. Only a tank could carry a weapon heavy enough to defeat another heavy tank. 

The super-heavy tanks would never actually fight each other, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t make a wargame about it. War Machines adds the German super-heavy tanks, like the Maus and Tiger III, the Panther II medium tank, and some other special weapons (including anti-tank missiles, and helicopters!), to Ardennes 1944 and Fire & Sword. And you get to use the American super-heavy tanks, and some other special weapons (fully-tracked APC’s, actually useful light tanks), in the Ardennes. And on the puszta, you can fight with Soviet JS3 and JS4 heavy tanks, plus the T44 medium tank, and AK-armed infantry. The guys with assault rifles are pretty tough in Assault Combat. 

None of those battles took place; almost all of the weapons actually existed, at least in prototype form. Some existed in large-scale production (the M26 Pershing, or T44 medium tank), but not quite in time for widespread use in World War II. 

War Machines includes a whopping 385 pieces (from the old Secret Weapons and Iron Curtain books) and 20 new scenarios so you can play with them. Games are supposed to be fun. Have fun with your super-gigantic über-tanks. You’ll need Ardennes 1944 and Fire & Sword to play all of the scenarios.