Avalon Hill's Tobruk

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This is the start of playing enough new games to get my games played average down to 6 (from 7). Tobruk is also a game I first purchased as a young teenager, but never played.

Germans move first.

CW fires first.

Weapons:

  • Grant:
    • 75mm M2
    • 37mm M6
  • Pz-IIIh:
    • 50mm Short
  • Pz-IIIj:
    • 50mm Long
  • Pz-IVe:
    • 75mm Short

Here's the setup and the German entry hexes:

Tobruk gam1 setup

Turn 1

Let's all rush at each other:

After first turn movement

For combat:

  1. Grant 2 fires at Pz-IIIh 13, hit Lower Hull, scores a K-kill. Score: CW 2, Axis 0.

  2. Pz-IVe 1 fires at Grant 12, miss.

  3. Grant 3 fires on Pz-IIIh 10, hit, LH, K-kill. Score: CW 4, Axis 0.

  4. Pz-IIIh 9 fires on Grant 10, LH for K-kill. Score: CW 4, Axis 3.

  5. Grant 1 fires on Pz-IIIh 16 at range 8, roll 4 is a miss. 37mm fires, roll 3 for a miss, roll 7 for a hit, LH which is a K-kill. Dang. Score: CW 6, Axis 3.

  6. Pz-3IIIh 11 fires on Grant 1 at range 8, roll 6 need 7 this is a miss. Score: CW 6, Axis 3.

  7. Grant 12 fires on Pz-IIIh 4 at range 8, roll 6 for a miss. Try the 37mm, roll 10 for a hit, roll 5 on flank for KH K-kill. Score: CW 8, Axis 3.

  8. Pz-IIIh 12 fires on Grant 16 at range 8, roll 9 - 1 for 8 which is a hit, roll 12 for Flank is an R which is a K/C2 K-kill. Thinning the herd on both sides. Score: CW 8, Axis 6.

  9. Grant 13 to Pz-IIIh 3, range 8, roll 7 - 1 miss for the 75mm, roll 5 - 1 for the 37mm first fire which is a miss, roll 2d fire on 37mm 8 -1 which is a hit, roll 4 on Flank for no effect. Score: CW 8, Axis 6.

  10. Pz-IIIh 3 right back at Grant 13, range 8 roll 9 = 1 for a hit, roll 9 for Flank LH which is a K-kill at the this range. Score: CW 8, Axis 9.

    I think I have been playing this wrong with respect to facing, which is determined by counting hexes rather than hex center to hex center. That might render many of the above as "not kills," but I'm ok playing this through as is. Basically, a flank is along the row of hexes between 2 and 4 oclock or 8 and 10 oclock on the target with respect to the attacker. Above, I was using the hexsides along the 11 to 1 lines. This puts flank shots at much longer ranges, and will surely slow down the game! Which is fine.

  11. Grant 9 to Pz-IIIh 5 at range 6, roll 2 for 75mm, roll 9 for 73mm first shot, roll 4 for UH which is no effect, roll 9 - 1 for second 37mm which is a hit, roll 6 for no effect. Score: CW 8, Axis 9.

  12. Pz-IIIh 5 fires back at Grant 9, roll 7 for a hit, roll 3 for TUR and that's no effect, because the 50mm Short does not do damage. Interesting. From here out, the PZ-IIIh need to take longer range flanking shots. Score: CW 8, Axis 9.

    This is cool, I'm seeing some interesting potential here.

  13. Grant 9 fires at Pz-IIIh 5 range 6, roll 3 for miss, now the 37mm roll 9 for a frontal hit, roll 6 no effect, roll again with 9 for a hit, roll 7 for TR (tracks) which is an M-kill for 1 point. Score: CW 9, Axis 9.

  14. Pz-IVe 3 fires on Grant 14 range 7, roll 7 for a miss! This gun is the 75mm short, which also means "short range." Score: CW 9, Axis 9.

  15. Grant 5 fires at Pz-IIIj 7 range 6, 75mm roll 10/7 for TR which is an M-kill (1 pt). This leaves the 37mm to take a couple of shots, which will be at Pz-IIIh 11 range 6, roll 7/4 for UH which is no effect, 2d shot from 37mm roll 11/3 for TUR which is K-kill for 2 points. Score: CW 12, Axis 9.

  16. Pz-IIIj 7 fires back at Grant 5 range 6, roll 7/3 for TUR which is no effect on the Grant. Score: CW 12, Axis 9.

  17. Grant 14 fires 75mm on Pz-IIIh 15 range 6, roll 7/9 for a hit with no effect, fires 37mm roll 6/6 for no effect, roll 4/9 for no effect. Score: CW 12, Axis 9.

  18. Pz-IIIh 15 fires 50mm Short at Grant 14 range 6, roll 5/8 for a hit on TR which is an M-kill for 2 points. Score: CW 12, Axis 11.

    The Grants have all fired. Now just the Pzs can fire, and they only get one shot each, so the remainder of the turn should go pretty quickly.

  19. Pz-IIIh 14 to Grant 9 at range 8, roll 10/12 for R which results in K/(C2)=<17. Score: CW 12, Axis 14.

  20. Pz-IIIh 17 fires at Grant 5 range 8, roll 7/7 for hit with -.

  21. Pz-IIIh on Grant 5 at range 8, roll 8/10 for -.

  22. Pz-IIIj on Grant 5 range 6, roll 5/3 for TUR and -.

  23. Pz-IIIh 1 on Grant 2 range 6, roll 6/7 for hit with -.

  24. Pz-IIIh 19 on Grant 2 range 6, roll 6/9 for hit with -.

  25. Pz-IIIh 9 on Grant 12 range 6, roll 4/9 for a miss.

  26. Pz-IIIh 18 on Grant 1, range 7, roll 3/5 for a miss.

And that is it for Turn 1.

Score: CW 12, Axis 14.

Here's the damage:

End of turn 1

That's 5 k-kills and 2 M-kills for the CW; 4 K-kills and 1 M-kill for the Germans. The units perched on dimes are M-kills.

Turn 2

Wow! I really messed up! An AFV cannot move and shoot in the same turn! That changes a lot of things about the game, and it make me want to play it again, correctly.

Germans move first. Brits are going to stay put, which means they'll be easier to hit, but they do need to fire.

Since the Germans moved first, the Brits get to fire first.

  1. Grant 1 fires on Pz-IVe 3 at range 6, roll 8/6 for TR which has an M-kill result. Grant 1 fires 37mm on Pz-IIIh 15 at range 7, roll 5/10 for first shot which is a hit with effect -; roll 6/10 for same result.

  2. Pz-IVe 3 fires on Grant 1 range 6, roll 8/10 which is hit with -.

  3. Grant 14 fires on Pz-IIIh 3 at range 7, roll 8/5 which is a hit on LH for no effect -. The 37mm fire on Pz-IVe 1 at range 7, first roll is 8/8 for a hit with no effect -. Second roll 5/8 for a hit with effect -.

  4. Pz-IIIh 3 fires at Grant 1 range 6, roll 8/9 for no effect -.

  5. Grant 5 on Pz-IIIj 8 at range 6, roll 8/9 for -. Fire 37mm at same target first roll 10/8 for -, second roll 10/5 for -. No scoring so far.

  6. Pz-IIIj 7 fires on Grant 5 at range 6, roll 4/5 which is a hit with no effect -.

  7. Grant 12 on Pz-IIIh 1 range 6 roll 9/7 for TR* which is an M-kill for 1 point. 37mm fires on Pz-IIIh 19 roll 9/5 which is LH and -, second roll 3/8 which is a miss. Score: CW 13, Axis 14.

  8. Pz-IIIh 1 on Grant 12 range 6, roll 4/3 which is a hit, which is TUR for -.

  9. Grant 2 on Pz-IIIh 12 range 6 roll 4/5 miss. 37mm fires at same target first roll 5/9 for -, second roll 7/7 which is going to be a TR hit for an M-kill. That's it for the Brits. Score: CW 14, Axis 14.

  10. Pz-IIIh 19 fires at Grant 12 range 6 roll 7/8 which is TR for an M-kill. Score: CW 14, Axis 15.

  11. Pz-IIIh on Grant 5 range 7, roll 5/10 for 5/10 for -.

  12. Pz-IIIh 12 on Grant 2 range 6 roll 11/6 for -.

  13. Pz-IIIh 8 on Grant 1 range 7 roll 9/9 for -.

And that's the end of Turn 2.

Score: CW 14, Axis 15.

Here's the situation:

Turn 2 end

Turn 3

Didn't get K-kills on Turn2. Turn 1 kills are a result of me not understanding how flanking works, hence I used the flanking results inappropriately.

Unless the Brits get some really lucky rolls, it looks like the Germans are going to get some righteous flanking next turn.

Germans move to flank from the end of the line of tanks, Brits are going to hold fast for now, there is no good move which doesn't expose a flank to some fire.

  1. Grant 14 fires on Pz-IIIh 15 range 4 roll 9/3 for TUR which is K-kill, score 2 points! And take out a flanker! 37mm first on Pz-IVe 1 roll 12/5 for TR which is an M-Kill (1 point), roll again let's see what happens, 6/9 for -. Score: CW 17, Axis 15.

  2. Pz-IIIh 9 on Grant 12 range 6, roll 7/7 for Flank shot which is LH for K-kill and 3 points. Score: CW 17, Axis 18. This is a mistake, Pz-IIIh 9 moved this turn, rendering it's K-kill a game play error.

  3. Grant 5 on Pz-IIIh 8 range 6 acquired so 3 rolls with the 75mm: first roll 6/4 which is an UH on the Front which is C2(P3)=<17, roll 3 for K-kill and 2 points. Now to hose down Pz-IIIh 17 range 6, roll 2/6 which is a miss, roll 4/11 which is also a miss. Bummer, that thing is going flank about right now. Except it can't, it moved! Score: CW 19, Axis 18.

  4. Pz-IIIj 7 on Grant 5 range 6 for 4 shots, roll 8/5 for -, roll 11/11 for C2(P4)=<2 roll 4 for -, roll 6/10 for -. Bummer.

  5. Grant 2 on Pz-IIIh 12 range 6 acquired. 75mm roll (1) 7/7 for TR which is already done, roll (2) 4/4 miss, 5/6 miss. 37mm roll (1) 10/7 for TR, roll (2) 7/9 for -, roll (3) 6/5 for LH which is -, roll (4) 2/7 miss, roll (5) 6/7 -, roll (6) 6/6 which is -. Bupkis.

  6. Pz-IIIh 12 on Grant 2 range 6 acquired, roll (1) 7/6 which is -, roll (2) 4/8 which is TR for 1 point, roll (3) 7/7 for -, roll (4) 11/3 for TUR which is - on the front.

  7. Grant 1 on Pz-IVe 3 range 6 acquired, 75mmM2 roll (1) 6/7 for a hit on - which is an M-kill, roll (2) 4/3 a miss, roll (3) 8/8 for -. 37mmM6 fires on Pz-IIIh 3 range 6, roll (1) 9/5 for LH which is -, roll (2) is 5/3 which is a miss.

  8. Pz-IVe 3 on Grant 1 acquired at range 6, 75mm short roll (1) 2/8 which is a miss, roll (2) 5/7 miss, 6/7 miss.

    All panzer from here on out.

  9. Pz-IIIh 5 to Grant 5 range 7 roll (1) 5/8 for TR hit which is an M-kill for 1 point. Roll (2) 7/4 which is LH for -. Score: CW 19, Axis 19.

  10. Pz-IIIh 1 on Grant 1 range 6 initial roll (1) 8/6 which is -, roll (2) 11/7 for -.

  11. Pz-IIIh 19 on Grant 1 range 7 initial roll (1) 10/6 for -, roll (2) 4/8 which is a miss.

  12. Pz-IIIh 8 on Grant 1 range 7 initial, roll (1) 11/6 for -, roll (2) for -.

And that's the end of Turn 3, here's the situation:

End of turn 3

Score: CW 19, Axis 19.

Turn 4

This game is almost over, may call it after this turn, hard to say. Left flank panzers continued to close, right flank panzers holding fast to fire, sent some panzers up the middle.

  1. Grant 5 on Pz-IIIh 17 range 6 initial 75mmM2, roll (1) 6/10 for -, roll (2) 9/3 for UH resulting in C2(P3)=<7 roll 4 which has no further effect. Fire 37mmM6 on Pz-IIIh 14 range 5, roll (1) 6/8 which is -, roll (2) 6/7 for TR which is an M-kill for 1 point. Roll (3) 11/5 for LH which is -. Score: CW 20, Axis 19.

  2. Pz-IIIh 17 on Grant 5 range 6 initial, roll (1) 8/2 for TUR since it's a flank shot, which is - bummer, roll (2) 10/7 for LH is K-kill at this range. Score: CW 20, Axis 22.

  3. Grant 14 to Pz-IIIh 3 range 4 initial, roll (1) 5/12 for R which is K-kill for two points. 37mmM6 on Pz-IIIh 19 range 5 roll (1) 2/5 which misses, roll (2) 3/10 for another miss, roll (3) 11/4 which is flank -, bummer. Score: CW 22, Axis 22.

  4. Pz-IIIh 9 to Grant 2 range 7 initial, roll (1) 11/11 for G which is a F75 Fill, which is 1 point. Roll (2) 8/7 which is LH and a K-kill at this range, 3 more points. Score: CW 22, Axis 26.

I'm wrapping it up here, because I don't see any way the Brits are going to pull this one out of the hat. They have no shots left this turn, whereas the Germans have 14 shots.

Here's what the end of the game looked like:

Called it in turn 4

AAR

This is a cool game. I like and I think my usual opponent will like it as well. I'm definitely playing at least the next scenario sooner than later. It's all infantry.

  • I did not keep track of acquired targets very well. I meant to, and I attempted a few, but I managed to lose acquisition on Pz-IIIh 15 which ended up flanking Grant 14 on Turn 2. I did better in following turns.

  • I did not fire the Pz-IIIh initial twice. This is totally a mistake.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.