Historical background
It sounds like the far fetched plot of a war film, but in fact, this remarkable incident occurred at the Battle of Passchendaele. The Fray Bentos tank’s officer, Captain Donald Richardson, had been a wholesale grocer in Nottingham before the war and held the agency for Fray Bentos canned meat, and had flippantly named his first tank command, Fray Bentos. Early in the battle, the tank was hit by machine gun fire, which struck the driver, causing the tank to surge into a crater, where it became stuck. A number of attempts were made by the crew to free the tank, but all failed. Instead of ditching the tank, Richardson and crew remained in No-Man’s-Land in order to cause the enemy problems.
Repeated attacks by the Germans against the tank were driven off and after almost three days, the remaining members of the crew escaped back to the British lines, under cover of darkness.
The stage is set, the battle lines are drawn, and you are in command. The rest is history.
Victory Medals: 5
- 1 Medal for each soldier unit eliminated..
- 1 Medal for each British male Mark IV (Fray Bentos) Tank Silhouette token eliminated.
- 2 Medals for British Fray Bentos tank eliminated.
- Both the German and British forces gain 1 Temporary Victory Medal at the start of their turn, when one or more units occupy any trench hex in the opposition’s front line.
- The German forces are racing against time. The British player may take a Victory Medal, instead of taking two command cards, when playing a “Recon” command card.
Special Rules
- British player does the No-Man’s-Land shelling roll.
- Place 3 Tank Silhouette tokens on the British Mark IV (Fray Bentos) tank. Each confirmed hit on the tank will remove one Tank Silhouette token and the German player will gain 1 Medal.
- The Fray Bentos tank is bogged down. Place a bogged down marker on the tank. The tank may not move and the British player may not attempt to free the tank.
- In addition to the command card played by the British player, the Fray Bentos tank is also ordered each turn.
