TLW -WESTERN FRONT TANK LEADER

1. TITLE: Western Front Tank Leader
2. PUBLISHER: West End Games (WEG); effectively closed down operations 2009.
3. SCOPE: World War II Armored Tactics Western Front (1st sequel to Western Front Tank Leader)
4. WEST END GAMES VERBAGE:
5. GAME BOX VERBAGE: You command an American battalion task force, ordered to take Biouville. Inside, battered remnants of a German volksgrenadier battalion have fought your infantry to a standstill. Time is short. Your men can;t take much more. Do you wait for air support or commit your last tank company to the assault? German reinforcements are on the way. You must act!
6. YEAR PUBLISHED (EDITIONS): 1987
7. CREDITS
   • Design& Development: Leonard C. Quam
   • Original System Design: John Hill with Guy Hail
   • Development: Guy Hail and
   • Art Direction: Kevin Wilkins
   • Graphics: Diane Malz
   • Rules: Jeffery Briggs
   • Design/Development Assistance: Jeffery Briggs and Tom Hastings
   • Research Assistance: Dick Rustin
   • Testing and Comments: Jim Burnett, Guy Costikyan, Don Evans, Steve Feuche, Carl Gruber, Tom Vickery, and Ron Whaley
   • Cover Illustration: David Henderson
8. NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2
9. WGA COMPLEXITY SCALE (1-10): 4
10. TYPICAL PLAYING TIME (HOURS): Standard scenarios (5) 1-2 hours; Advanced game scenarios (10) 2- 3 hours.
11. MAP SCALE: 150 meters per hex
12. UNIT SCALE: Platoons and companies
13. TIME SCALE PER TURN: 5 minutes
14. NUMBER OF GAME TURNS: 10; varies per scenario.
15. PARTIAL ARTICLE LISTING: Click here
16. GAME INVENTORY: 320 5/8" die cut playing pieces, 72 German, British, and American formation and strike cards, two player aid cardstock sheets, two 22 x17" unmounted maps; one track sheet, three six sided dice; one counter tray with lock-on lid; 32 page rulebook.
17. WBC & AVALONCON HISTORY: No known history as an Avaloncon/WBC event.
18. PBEM TOOLS:
• A VASSAL module was found in the listing [Eastern Front Tank Leader]; but none specific to the sequels [Western Front and Desert Steel].
19. PBEM OPPORTUNITES: Contact Wargame Academy if interested.
20. WARGAME ACADEMY COMMENTS: (I have not played this, limited exposure to Eastern Front Tank Leader). John Hill's philosophy exhibited in Squad Leader is also on display in this series. Command, control, and communications (C3) is the pivotal factor in the design. Similar in scale to Panzerblitz, command card are utilized to determine tactical initiative- who moves first and how quickly a formation responds to changing situations. Similar to Squad leader, factors such as unit rating, morale, sighing/hits are factors in combat. Other elements are utilized such as command range, vehicle radios and other factors have impact on play. The total system successfully simulates how the Germans, often with inferior numbers and quality, were able to consistently challenge the Americans & British in battle after battle disputed numerical disadvantages. The maps are modified by scenario by visibility, season, contour, dominant terrain, and urbanization. However this is hard for the human to visualize. Mapboard customization capability in the Squad Leader vassal module, should prove beneficial, in addition to the ability to add additional mapboards. Likely the biggest change is the impact of artillery and air support available to the Allied player.
21. WARGAME ACADEMY GAME TOOLS: Plan is to improve the existing vassal modules using capabilities similar to the Squad Leader modules.