, ee rine CY Oa en ae1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Description 2.0 GAME EQUIPMENT 2.1 Game Board 2.2 Chans and Tables 2'3 Die Cut Countersheet 2'4 After Action Report 2'5 Dice 3.0. THE GAME TABLES IN PLAY 3.1 Locating the Tables 3.2 Dice and the Tables 4.0 SEQUENCE OF PLAY 4.1 Combat Calendar Chock 4.2 Morning Briefing 43 Time Check 4 Prepare for Batlle 45 Movement Sequence 4.6 Batle 4.7 Bate Round Sequence 4.8 When Your Tank Is « Target 4.9 Evening Debriefing 5.0 USING THE BATTLE BOARD 5.1 Descriptions and Definitions 5.2 The Tank Card 6.0 HOW TO WIN 6.1 Vietory Points 6.2 Viewory 6.3 Campaign Game Vietory 7.0. CREW RATINGS ‘7.1 Ratings for New Men 7.2 Rating Improvement 8.0 CREW ACTIONS 8.1 Commander 8.2 Gunner 8.3 Loader 84 Driver 8.5 Assistant Driver 9.0 SHERMAN MAIN GUN FIRE 9.1 Selecting a Target 9.2 Direct Fire or Area Fire 9.3 Hiting the Target 9.4 Rate of Fire 955 Killing the Target 9.6 Ammo Loads and Reloads 10.0 SHERMAN MACHINE GUNS 10.1 Description 10.2 Firing Machine Guns 11.0 SHERMAN MOVEMENT 11.1 Bifect on Your Tank 11.2 Breet on Enemy Units 11.3 Leaving the Batle Board 12.0 ENEMY UNITS 12.1 Description 122 Activation 1233 Placement ATTON’S BEST RULES OUTLINE 13.0 ENEMY ACTION 13.1 Movement 1322 Fire Versus Infantry 13.3 Fite Versus Any Tank 13.4 Fire Versus Your Tank 14.0 FRIENDLY ACTION 15.0 RANDOM EVENTS 15.1 Time Passes 15.2 Friendly Arillery 15.3 Enemy Arillery 15.4 Mines 15.5 Panzerfaust Anack 15.6 Harassing Fire 15.7 Friendly Advance 15.8 Enemy Reinforcement 15.9 Enemy Advance 15.10 Flanking Fie 16.0 AMMUNITION 16.1 Ammo Types 16.2 Loading Ammo 16.3 MG Ammo (Optional) 17.0 SPOTTING 17.1 Spotting Procedure 17.2 Spotting Restrictions 17.3 Hidden Units 17.4 Unidentified Units 18.0 SMOKE 18.1 Placing Smoke 18.2 Depleting Smoke 18.3 Smoke Effects 19.0 CREW CASUALTIES 19.1 Inside the Tank 19°2 With Open Hatches 19:3 Relacing Crew Casualties 20.0 THE CAMPAIGN GAME 20.1 Combat Calendar 20:2 Advance Scenario 20.3 Battle Scenario 20.4 Counteratack Scenario 21.0 TIME 22.0 ADVANCING FIRE 22.1 Entering a New Arca 22.2 During Batle Rounds 23.0 ARTILLERY SUPPORT AND AIR STRIKES 23.1 Anillery Support 23.2 Air Strikes, 24.0 TANK REPLACEMENT. 25.0 PROMOTIONS. 26.0 DECORATIONS 126.1 Procedure 26.2 Additional Awards 27.0 REFITTING 27.1 Crow Ratings 27-2 Gyrostabilizer 28.0 HINTS ON PLAY 29.0 FUEL (OPTIONAL) FIREFLY VARIANT INTRODUCTORY ENGAGEMENTS The Avalon Hill Game Company Baltimore, Maryland ©1987 The Avalon Hill Game Company * Printed in USA * All Rights Reserved ‘The Avalon Hill Game Company isa Division of Monarch Avalon, Inc. 2PATTON'S BEST 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 DESCRIPTION PATTON'S BEST recreates the World War II campaign in northern Europe through the eyes ofa tank commander in George Patton's ‘most famous unit, the 4th Armored Division. PATTON'S BEST is designed asa solitaire game, with you acting asthe commander ‘of a Sherman tank. As the commander you control the actions of {your erew, and through them, fight and maneuver your tank. The Actions of the enemy tanks and troops, as well as friendly forces ‘on your side, are randomly generated by various game aids and tables. Each “game” consists ofa single engagement or a day of movement and batle, However, the game realizes its fll imerest when played as a campaign which allows you to take part in every historical bale ofthe 4th Armored Division. You and your crew ‘can witness and pat the great drives across Europe, the battles forthe Siegfried Line, the relief of Bastogne, and the cross- ing of the Rhine PATTON'S BEST gives you the opportunity to command 17 different variations of the US M4 medium tank, labeled the "Sherman" by the British. You will start out in a basic M4 and ‘with enough luck and skill will finish the war in‘ reliable “Easy 8" or heavily armored “Jumbo.” Each crewman i rated for relative ‘kil at his job. Most will probably start out witha below average ‘ating, but ratings may improve after each day of combat, For the really lucky and skilful tank commander there isthe prospect of promotion and decorations for valor. PATTON'S BEST recreates the limited perspective ofthe batleield that a tank commander would have had. You do not have perfect knowledge of the enemy and will have to make decisions such as whether to fre or move, or whether to hide behind smoke, based fon the limited information you have. For example, the presence of an enemy Light Weapons unit (LW) does not necessarily represent ‘squad of German infantry. It indicates only that the commander ‘notices enemy small arms fire coming from a certain location, What is rally there a tank commander would not know. Enemy tanks all appear to be extremely dangerous PZ VI Tigers when first activated, What i actually preseat may aot be nearly as dangerous, but you won't know until your erew has spotied and positively ‘dentified the tank. Your tink will fight through the actions you ‘order your crew to perform. You decise whether the driver takes the tank forward, backward, or sits stil. You decide whether the ‘main gun i loaded with high explosive, armor piercing, or smoke ‘anumuition. The success of your tank will depend on both the skill of your crew and your selection of tactics. Because of the nature of the solitaire play system, PATTON'S BEST makes extensive use of game aids and tables as a substitute for alive opponent. Before attempting to play, examine all of the game's components. New players should read the rues through Section 6.0, How to Win, Experienced game players should find that this is enough information to get started, and can refer to specific rules sections for special cases. Players unfamiliar with how World ‘War Il tanks operated may also want o read rule setion 28.0, Hints on Play, for hints on some decisions you willbe asked to make “Most ofthe rules past section 20.0 deal with the Campaign Game. Optional rules include 16.2. MG Ammo, 29.0 Fuel, and 30.0 British Firefly Variant. PATTON’S BEST can be played on three levels: engagements, Scenarios, and the Campaign Game. The Campaign Game begins July 27, 1944 and continues through the end of the war. On any ‘ay thatthe 4th Armored Division saw combat, there is a chance {your tank will se action. Ifyou trigger a day of combat, the entire ay is a scenario, Scenarios are of thee types: Advance, Battle, and Counteratack, During a one day scenario actual combat may break out any numberof ines. This combat is called an engage- ‘ment. Engagements continue until onesie or the other is eliminated or leaves the batlefield, or until your tank is knocked out. New players should firs try a few introductory engagements as described in rules section 31.0. Individual engagements and scenarios offer the opportunity to see how different Sherman models performed, and to test theories on the best tactics [Begin by following the Sequence of Play, section 4.0, step by step. ‘Where step is described in greater detail inthe rules, the rules section number is shown in parentheses. 2.0 GAME EQUIPMENT 2.1 GAME BOARD PATTON'S BEST is played on a 22"X24" mounted game board which is divided ino three parts: the Movement Board (upper left cornet), the Battle Board and Tank Card (upper right corner, and a section of tables including an abbreviated Sequence of Play (the lower half) 2.11 The Movement Board is a depiction of typical European countryside and is used inthe Campaign Game to show the "big picture" and help generate the batle action of an engagement. The Movement Board is divided by white lines into areas of the following types: ‘A-=farm buildings and fields; B=fields; C=villages; D=woods Numbers shown around the edge of this board distinguish those areas that may be star and exit area for campaign seenarios. Roads ‘shown ate of two types: improved highways (gray black) and dirt country roads (brown). 2.12 The upper right hand comer of the game board is the Batle Board, an abstract display used to resolve engagements with enemy forces. Your tank is placed in the center ofthis display and the action of an engagement will revolve around it through the use of pieces representing enemy units and other information markers. A