Hellcat Tankers: A Solitaire Wargame 2025

Hellcat Tankers requires you to manage the Crew of a single World War II M18 Hellcat Tank in and around the Battle of Arracourt in France, 1944. The Battle lasted for 12 days from 18 September to 29 September. Each day your Crew and their Tank may or may not find themselves engaged in combat with the enemy, but you will certainly see plenty of action over the course of the full battle. Whilst this game is not a ‘narrative driven’ game as such, it has elements of those games, and with a little imagination it will provide memorable stories. There may be lucky escapes, notable bravery and manoeuvres to be proud of. There may also be times when your Crew simply needs to Bail out and survive to face another day. Some events are randomly generated to help add to the story, but you will usually have at least some degree of control over the level of risk to take and how vulnerable you leave your Tank to these events.

The Hellcat was a quick and relatively powerful tank destroyer. However, its armour left quite a lot to be desired. With this in mind, tactics often required crews to spot the enemy first, and use speed to surprise them and escape before any return fire came their way.

The game involves: Armour ratings, firepower ratings, Tigers, Panthers, Panzer IVs, Pumas, infantry, movement, firing, MGs, ambushing, defensive manoeuvres, spotting, loading, repairs, fires, damage, snipers, mines, mechanical problems, artillery, Stukas, StuG IIIs, civilians, reinforcements, bailing out, buildings, trees, roads, hedgerows, water and so on.

How the game works This is a solitaire hex and counter type wargame. You play the game, and the enemy is controlled by the game. You will need at least 6, but preferably a dozen or so, standard six-sided dice. 12 full colour Battle maps and suggested counters are provided (to be stuck to thin card and cut out).

The game has very good replayability due to the random nature of enemy appearance and actions, as well as end of turn events.

—description from the designer