Vehicle or Mechanical Breakdown
Vehicle or Mechanical Breakdown was a definate source of losses to armored units on both sides, and this feature has been added to the Panzer Campaigns Series in Tobruk. This is now a basic rule in that it happens now automatically. The breakdown rate is controlled by a percentage in the game PDT table and like other PDT Values, if you don't like ours, you can modify it.
The rules will also be part of the next release of the Panzer Campaigns and will be implemented automatically in all scenarios.
The rules only effects vehicle units and has been tied to movement (i.e. it will not effect units that sit still). There is no game dialog that informs you when strength has been lost due to breakdown and this is considered a feature because
- it is not something you can prevent and
- there is no point in causing a dialog to appeared, be read and then closed.
Depending on the value of the Vehicle Breakdown Parameter Data, it is possible that a unit consisting of vehicles will lose strength as it moves. The probability of this happening depends not only on the parameter data value, but also the quality of the unit and the movement cost associated with the move. However, a unit with a single vehicle is never eliminated by this process.
Given a movement cost of C for a given unit with V vehicles, a parameter data Breakdown value of B, and a quality modifier of Q, the probability that the movement will result in a strength loss of 1 vehicle is given by:
Probability = V * C * B / (40000 * Q)
Note that this probability is scaled so that when B = 1, then a 100 vehicle unit of C Quality will on average suffer a 1 vehicle loss when moving 100 hexes via primary road. The Quality Modifier is given by:
- · A Quality => Modifier = 1.2
- · B Quality => Modifier = 1.1
- · C Quality => Modifier = 1
- · D Quality => Modifier = 0.8
- · E Quality => Modifier = 0.6
And I guess a final note - if you don't like the way this rule works, or disagree with the breakdown frequency you are seeing, well, .... like many things in the Panzer Campaign Series, you can always change the Parameter that controls this feature/
And remember - only units that are measured in Vehicles (not Guns or Men) are affected by this rule. And as Supply Units - Explicit Supply Trucks - are vehicles, and so as they move, they too will breakdown too from time to time.
Anti-Tank Ditches
Early in the development of Tobruk '41, we saw the need to depict Anti-tank in numerous scenarios where these structures were limiting in where tanks could attack. We also thought that players needed the ability to breach these obstacles. This feature has been added to the Panzer Campaign Engine for Tobruk '41 and will be part of the pre-existing games as a feature available in the editor. Please note - no scenarios from the previous games have been retrofitted, but players can add their own using the editor after the next Update scheduled for the summer 2001.
Therefore, in some scenarios, there may be Anti-Tank Ditches deployed on the map. These have the same affect on movement as Canals do and are thus impassible to any unit that cannot cross a Canal. However, Anti-Tank Ditches may be bridged and destroyed by Engineer units.
Any Engineer unit adjacent to an Anti-Tank Ditch may attempt to destroy it. The process and rules for this are the same as for Bridge Damage. The defense value of an Anti-Tank Ditch used in this process is one. If an Anti-Tank Ditch is destroyed, then it no longer has any effect on movement.
An Engineer unit capable of building bridges may build a bridge over an Anti-Tank Ditch. Again, the rules and procedure for this are the same as constructing a bridge over a river.
In the Image above, you can see the Anti-Tank Trench to the left of the Italian (Greenish units). Also note the damaged AT Trench along the main road.
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