What does a tank graveyard mean to you in your game?

[Shades of Eternity]

The reason for the word combination is not unlike Gary Gygax's "The Disappearing Dwarf," which could refer to a missing dwarven noble, a missing dwarf star, or a sneaky carnie in a spy game. part of the fun is seeing what genre you decide to use it in.

How do you use this idea, and how do you use it with plucky adventurers?

 

[aco175]

Initially a tank graveyard means the desert where we laid waste to the Iraqi's feeble defense back in Gulf 1.

I guess in my games, it means a challenge or NPC that deals with fighters in a bad way.

 

[Umbran]

Initially a tank graveyard means the desert where we laid waste to the Iraqi's feeble defense back in Gulf 1.

No, the phrase is much older than the Gulf War. Initially it is a place where you'd park old and severely damaged tanks, like a junkyard for normal cars, where they'd often be used as a source for spare parts over time.

 

[Tonguez]

I participated in a oneshot 'rail wars' game where I was inspired by the song Sixteen Tons to create "Old Mama Line" -an old rusted train golem, an original track layer who lies hidden half forgotten in the canebreak of the scrapeyards. Noone goes there, she's tough, dangerous and full of ancient wisdom. One fist of iron and the other of steel...

Anyway that got me looking at train golems and eventually coming across "the Scrapyards of Sodor", and the faceless Scrap Trains - the dark shadows of world of Thomas the Tank Engine. Beware the undead Shed and the Mad Controller, who takes away your pain but keeps the engines running ...

 

[Zardnaar]

No, the phrase is much older than the Gulf War. Initially it is a place where you'd park old and severely damaged tanks, like a junkyard for normal cars, where they'd often be used as a source for spare parts over time.

That's my take.

Kinda like Siberia for Russia. Airplane one as well for USA.

You can bury a tank in mud for 80 years and restore it. Either enough time and money.

Hell they drove a WW2 one after a clean and sparkplug change.

 

[humble minion]

I read this thread title and assumed it was an Iron DM ingredient.

Anyway that got me looking at train golems and eventually coming across "the Scrapyards of Sodor", and the faceless Scrap Trains - the dark shadows of world of Thomas the Tank Engine. Beware the undead Shed and the Mad Controller, who takes away your pain but keeps the engines running ...

And then I misread 'Sodor' as 'Sobibor' here, and went to a pretty dark place...

 

[aco175]

That's my take.

Kinda like Siberia for Russia. Airplane one as well for USA.

You can bury a tank in mud for 80 years and restore it. Either enough time and money.

Hell they drove a WW2 one after a clean and sparkplug change.

There is a military museum near me that took one out of a old river 20 years ago. I forgot if it is a German tank in Russia or more likely a Russian one in a Germain river. The coolest part of the museum is they have one of Hitler's (7) Mercedes-Benz 770 super size luxury cars.

 

[Zardnaar]

There is a military museum near me that took one out of a old river 20 years ago. I forgot if it is a German tank in Russia or more likely a Russian one in a Germain river. The coolest part of the museum is they have one of Hitler's (7) Mercedes-Benz 770 super size luxury cars.

Yeah prices have reached a point where its worth looking for some stuff.

As late as the 1990 an old T-34 was something like $20k and in the 1980s ISU-152 were used in Chernobyl cleanup. Theres a radioactive one there still.

They found sone old WW2 stuff in Iraq 2003 as well.

They're looking for individual King Tigers as well since theyre so rare. Might be one in a German lake.

 

[A_Carrington]

The reason for the word combination is not unlike Gary Gygax's "The Disappearing Dwarf," which could refer to a missing dwarven noble, a missing dwarf star, or a sneaky carnie in a spy game. part of the fun is seeing what genre you decide to use it in.

How do you use this idea, and how do you use it with plucky adventurers?

Isn't that a Blaylock novel? Where did Gygax use it?

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Isn't that a Blaylock novel? Where did Gygax use it?

I think it was either what is dungeons and dragons or role playing mastery.

As for the phrase.
I could also see a wierd wars where you come across a battle where there are littered ruined tanks and the crews of the dead animate when pesky adventurers get too close.

Alternatively, what if it is a warhammer 40k pleasure world done like world of tanks?