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RE: Simple Panzer Grenadier system (variant)
Next to explain some of the AT system changes, much less extensive than those to the infantry system.
The original AT system was good, especially the core mechanic of 2d6 plus AT rating minus armor vs the 10 and 13 hit numbers for step loss or total unit elimination. I like it, I keep it. But with a few tweaks.
The first concerns very high net armor modifiers. The issue is that a Panther platoon fires at some trucks or halftracks over a kilometer away, moving. Because its shells would readily go through if they hit, it gets +7 or +8, with the -2 for range and target movement, net +5 or +6 and nearly can't miss. Instead I "cap" the net armor modifier at +4, reflecting the fact that some of the fire determination roll isn't about penetrating the target but hitting it in the first place, which isn't really any easier with a bigger cannon than a smaller one. (Range from muzzle velocity still allowed, to be sure).
The second concerns downgrading the effects of cover on armored fights. Being in a town doesn't make a StuG harder for a T-34 to penetrate, and I didn't like the way in the original tanks suddenly became significantly "heavier" models just because of the terrain they were in. My solution is to limit the cover effect in AT fire to just -1 max, for anything that would let the target be "hull down", basically. Similarly, I limit the flanking modifier to just +1. The net armor modifier is capped, therefore, but it also matters more for whether the target can be damaged than in the original.
Last, I use a +1 to the red die but max 6 mechanic, which I admit is fiddly until you are used to it, to raise the average lethality of AT shots somewhat compared to the original game. I don't shift the table, and don't make higher numbers available than the original, so the same guns can hurt the same targets. But the chance of getting a result if the gun and armor rating match is higher, more like 1/4 than 1/6. This is deliberate and meant to speed the resolution of AT fire duels, and to keep the pace of armor fighting decisiveness in line with the increased lethality of the infantry combat system, more extensively overhauled as described 2 posts above.
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