Eastern Front Tankleader Scenarios

EASTERN FRONT TANK LEADER SCENARIOS

I bought Eastern Front Tankleader in 1989 for the bargain price of a tenner in the Birmingham branch of Virgin. I was intrigued by the formation-card activation system but quickly grew frustrated with the fiddle-arse mechanics for spotting, shooting and morale checks with their endless die rolls and modifiers. In the game's favour some of the scenarios are interesting and they feature a wider variety of situations and units than you get in Panzerblitz which pays scant attention to the early part of the Russian campaign. I thought they'd be worth converting to Steel Panthers despite the disparity in scales. Reducing battalion size and larger battles seems endemic even in official SP scenarios so I don't have any qualms about it.

These scenarios replace slots SCEN043 to SCEN058 in the Steel Panthers SCEN directory. To download just double-click on the title.

Title	Description	Notes
Prokhorovka 7^th July 1943	Germany v USSR: German Assault	This was originally an introductory scenario and thus doesn't as many units as you might expect given its subject matter. It's most challenging to play as the Soviets because their 76mm tank guns find it difficult to penetrate the frontal armour of the German Tigers and Panthers.
Steppe Patrol v1 Summer 1943	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	Another introductory scenario hence the small number of units. The original scenario gives the Germans victory points for performing off map recons which is difficult to simulate using the SP system. Having some victory hexes at the edge of the board seems a reasonable compromise.
Steppe Patrol v2 Summer 1943	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	As v1 above but Soviets equipped with T34s and SU76s
Steppe Patrol v3 Summer 1943	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	As v1 above but Soviets equipped with KV1s and SU76s
The Elbe River Blues Spring 1945	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	This is a tank battle pure and simple. The Soviets have the advantage of overwhelming numbers but the German King Tigers can erase that advantage if they’re not dealt with quickly.
Battle for the Berlin Seelow Highway Spring 1945	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	Similar to The Elbe River Blues above. This time though the Soviets have IS-IIs which can make mincemeat out of most German tanks, as long as they don't run out of ammo. The Germans have less tanks than before so this is a tougher scenario for them.
The Belikowo Pocket Spring 1941	Germany v USSR: USSR Advance	The Soviets should win this scenario if they keep their forces together and rely on their slow moving KV1 tanks to demolish any German opposition. According to the SP encyclopedia it's too early for the Soviets to be equipped with T70s. I'd suggest substituting T26s or T40s
On the Road to Moscow Autumn 1941	Germany v USSR: German Advance	If played against the Soviet AI it’s relatively easy scenario for the Germans to outflank the forward Soviet positions and then press on to the victory objectives. They need to watch out for KVs though. Again, it might be too early for T70s and these could be replaced by an appropriate earlier model.
The Border Spring 1941	Germany v USSR: German Advance	Not dissimilar to On the Road to Moscow above, only with slightly different forces on both sides. The German mortars seem to be of only marginal value given that the majority of the Soviet force consists of tanks
Liberating Rostov v1 Winter 1943	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	Best played against a human opponent or Soviet AI due to the AI's tendency to "stick" at watercourses, even when there's a perfectly serviecable bridge nearby. It's not much of challenge being the Soviets if you just cruise onto the victory hexes and then sit there serenely watching your opponent's vehicles mill about on the other side of the river. The German mortars should really have their own truck transport so that they can start with the rest of the German force.
Liberating Rostov v2 Winter 1943	Germany v USSR: Meeting Engagement	As v1 above but Soviets have improved model KV1 tanks.
Ambush Winter 1945	Germany v USSR: Soviet Assault	Both sides can take heavy losses in this scenario. There's not much room to maneuever and most combat takes place at close range with the attendant increase in casualties.
Bridgehead on the Astrika v1 Summer 1943	Germany v USSR: Soviet Assault	Best played against human opponent or German AI due to problems with watercourses discussed in the Rostov scenario above. The Germans are well dug in and have Tiger tank reinforcements so aren't a pushover by any means. The original scenario had AT and Artillery guns integrated with infantry formation. This creates problems with separation in SP, especially for the Soviets, so I've grouped both side’s ordnance into dedicated platoons.
Bridgehead on the Astrika v2 Summer 1943	Germany v USSR: Soviet Assault	As v1 above except that the victory objectives are relocated to the central part of the map.
Bridgehead on the Astrika v3 Summer 1943	Germany v USSR: Soviet Assault	As v1 above except that victory objectives are located in north east part of the map.
Tolochino: The T34 Summer 1941	Germany v USSR: German Advance	A tough one for the Germans as their tanks don't have much chance of knocking out the Soviet KVs or T34s. The best option seems to be to try and panic the crews with multiple small calibre hits and then bring up the heavy AT guns to strike Soviet tanks in the rear as they flee. Best played against human opponent.
A Midsummer’s Day Dream July 1943	Germany v USSR: German Assault	Another Kursk scenario. German armour attempts to batter its way through the Soviet lines. Best played against human opponent or Soviet AI.

Afterword: These Tank Leader conversions were my first attempts at SP scenario building. They have the advantage that they all take place on more or less the same map, with only minor terrain variations. I generally couldn't be bothered to mess around flattening out the hills or making the necessary alterations to buildings when scenario conditions said a different terrain type to the default was present. That said, if I had to do the map again I'd make the urban area in the middle less "citified" and place the buildings so that they followed the line of the roads. Some of the features from the original game are impossible to reproduce in Steel Panthers such as the card activation system and off board reinforcements. Weather effects are also difficult to model unless you want to go to the trouble of creating a new map, this time in winter colours.

Although doing these scenarios was a good learning experience for me I think that they'd be better suited to adaptation using SP3 or Eastern Front II.

Return to Front Page

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws