
- BGG rank
- BGG #226
- BGG rating
- 7.5
Memoir '44
- 2–4 players
- 30–45 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2004

Rules assistance for ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods is an expansion for Advanced Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa 1940-43 released in 2011 for 2 players and 180 minutes per game. It was designed by Ray Tapio and its main mechanics are Hexagon Grid.
This is an Advanced Tobruk System expansion game that allows players to recreate squad-level action from World War II. This expansion game, like all complete games and expansion games in the Advanced Tobruk System, uses the same ruleset from the system rulebook. Gameplay is the same for all games and expansions. It also comes with a Battlefield Walkaround booklet that points out landscape and terrain features specific to the game’s maps, and a few game-specific rules to reflect the unique circumstances the title portrays. Rules additions and changes are kept to a minimum allowing players to get started right away! In ATS, players alternate using impulses to move and fire infantry squads, armored vehicles and Heavy Weapons, to fulfill or deny completion of a scenario’s Victory Conditions. Each scenario sets the victory conditions that one side must complete to be victorious, and the opposing player must prevent. Draws are sometimes possible. The counters have the overhead view of AFVs and vehicles debuted in wargaming with Avalon Hill’s TOBRUK. Vehicles and guns come on 3/4" counters, infantry on a 5/8" counters, and status markers remain on 1/2" counters. Each new game or expansion in ATS drops you into a historical theater, and a specific locale within to give you an up close, and sometimes eyeball to eyeball perspective, with scenarios based or inspired by historical actions, all at 50 yards per hex. This Expansion comes with 2 large historical linking maps covering the firefights near Ponyri Station, during the Battle of Kursk, 1943. Includes 18 scenarios on the 18th Panzer Division's assault against Soviet fortified positions. Most scenarios play on one map. One "monster" scenario uses both maps. ATS Ponyri component list: 2 linking mapsheets 18 scenarios on 11 cards 1 Battlefield Walkaround booklet 2 small countersheets (5 rows with zb obr 39 25|A H|AA in upper left corner) 1 countersheet German Personnel 1 countersheet EF1 1 countersheet ATS New Russian Personnel 1 NOT A COMPLETE GAME. Ownership of any Eastern Front ATS complete game is required to play this expansion.
ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods is 180 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods has a complexity rating of 4.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a heavy game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods belongs to these categories: Wargame, World War II, and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Hexagon Grid. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods are: Ray Tapio. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists ATS: Ponyri – Metalgods as an expansion for Advanced Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa 1940-43. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Advanced Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa 1940-43 to use it. Check that your edition of Advanced Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa 1940-43 is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.