Bolt Action- Germans vs British

Place- somewhere in Western Europe, autumn 1944.
The vanguard of two opposing forces move into an abandoned French village-
Chris popped in one evening asking me to walk him thru the Bolt Action rules- he had a tidy little force of 4 infantry squads with medic and HQ, three half tracks ( including a Stummel), a sniper team, two MMGs, a mortar, a Sturmgeschutz and a bloody great Tiger tank.
The good guys had two Fireflies, a half track, a Humber armoured car, a truck, two MMGs, two mortars and 4 rifle squads plus HQ.

The dreaded Tiger movers up- first turn!!

Pacific Island Assault- Bolt Action

The table was ready, the troops were prepared and it was 'go!' The objective was simple, the combined Australian/US Marine force was to take the two islands. The Japanese just had to survive.
The allies decided to assault only Red Beach ( Red 1, 2 and 3) rather than hit the main island from both sides. This had its pros and cons as it meant that the Japanese who had Green beach covered- several machine guns, mortars and rifle squads- were now facing empty beaches and had to be redeployed. For the allies, they spread themselves across the three beaches, with no critical concentration of force so they found that they did need more troops by mid-game.

Marines come ashore on Red 1

D-Day Bolt Action

Spyros has one of the best terrain boards for D-Day. Built by Joe, its an amazing piece of wargames terrain and I've been hanging to give it a go!
Phil and I went to Spyros' for a game...and I forgot my camera...damn!!
So apologies to Spyros, I pinched some the pictures from his blog. Go to No Duff Gamer Blog for a full write up and lots more pics!
It was the first wave of Omaha with the German defenders giving the Americans a hard time. Full write up on Spyros' blog!

Bolt Action - Modern Action in Afghanistan

Spyros has built up a nice force of modern Diggers (Australian soldiers!) with Bush Masters and LAVs for our country's recent combat in Afghanistan. He originally touted the idea of using them for Force on Force......but as he had well over 60 figures it may not have been feasible....well not for my feeble mind! I would lose track of all the actions and reactions! So he suggested Bolt Action. Initially I was sceptical..but he found some amendments on the net (check some of the links on his blog - No Duff gamer). So we set about organising 'equal' forces ( a far cry from Force on Force !!). The Diggers were all classed as regular and we made majority of the Taliban forces as 'inexperienced' but the heavy weapons, commanders and technicals were all regular.  We tried not to fiddle too much with the rules, and although the game worked well and we had a great time, the casualty rate amongst the Spyros' forces would have been considered a major political disaster.
Aside from that, the lens of my camera had fingerprints on it....so the pictures didn't come out too clearly! No more eating greasy chips and taking photos!!

¡No pasarán! More Spanish Civil War.

The Spanish Civil War is a popular gaming period for the Brothers as it enables us to give vent to our wide range of political views. I hold the correct ones...the others are just fascist bastards. 

Anyway there is a huge variety of units, colourful characters and some fascinating history. Paul has always had a keen interest as he is a bit of an Anarchist himself, but it's Phil's outstanding collection (with a small addition of some of my crap) that brings this period to life. For Phil, no unit is complete without a proper flag! So he arrived with box after box of lovely painted figures..and mine were duly relegated to the cupboard as his are much nicer!!

Situation Report:
A town in southern Spain is being held by the Nationalist forces. It is being besieged by a substantial Republican force who have been notified that a relieving force from the Army of Africa is on its way to lift the siege.

The Table: In the foreground the citadel of the besieged town with the outer buildings etc just beyond the walls. The rear of the photo is the Republican position and some trenches facing the town.

Royal Marine Commandos hit the Beaches- Bolt Action.

Spyros has a solid force of Royal Marines for his Bolt Action games and he decided to test their mettle against some solid German defenders ( George and I).

Situation report:
Six Sections of Royal Marines  - 45 Commando-  with armour support ( A Churchill and a Centaur) and supporting weapons were to establish themselves on a hostile coast.
The German defenders were well entrenched and supplied with two Pak 40s, three MMGs.
For more pics check out Spyros' blog: http://noduffgamer.blogspot.com.au/

The German Position

Double Bolt Action Game

 

The boys came over for the end of the month game in March- and i had nearly a full house; Phil, Roger, Ralph, Richard, Spyros, Paul, Nick, Ross and Chris were all gathered in my new gaming room (read garage). So I put on two Bolt Action games. The first a 1941 Crete scenario with German Fallschirmjager attempting to secure an airstrip, and the second a Pacific war confrontation with the Japanese and Australians squaring off. 

The Crete scenario. The airfield in the middle with obstacled scattered across it t stop the Luftwaffe from landing.

The Pacific table....loads of long grass, schrubs, hill and a small village.

Spanish Civil War- Bolt Action

Having played a couple of games of Bolt Action with the boys, Phil liked these rules so much he suggested we use them for a  Spanish Civil War shoot out.  I thought why not? Figures were laid out, terrain was placed, forces allocated and with a cry of  "No Pasaran!" it was on.

Roger played the Nationalists (AKA Fascist Bastards) and I played the Republicans (AKA Good Guys, Communist Bastards, Anarchists etc etc)- you get the idea.

A simple scenario, with Phil umpiring, saw the Republicans (communists/anarchists/regular army and international brigades) holding a village in late 1936 with a  combined force of armed thugs..er sorry Spanish Foreign Legion and Morrocan Harkas (regiments) attacking them to take the fortified village.

The three Moroccan Units- all classed as veterans and fanatics...scary guys with long knives and no sense of mercy.

Bolt Action- At Tarakan with the 2/23rd Battalion against the Japanese.

A nice little historically based scenario for the Bolt Action rules was the opportunity for me to pit my Japanese against Spyros' Aussies- check his blog - No Duff Gamer (link is on the right column of posts) .  His men represented the 2/23rd Battalion that fought near Tarakan in May 1945 as they met stiff resistance from the Japanese 455th Independent Infantry Battalion.

We like the Bolt Action Rules and this gave us another chance to use them!

This was an encounter battle with forces of equal strength.....but very different compositions. Besides two MMG and some light mortars I had two type 97 Te-ke tankettes which proved to be a bit of a nuisance to the Aussie infantry- until they got thumped by Spyros' Mathilda and PIAT team. Spyros also took that most effective of weapons against the fanatical Japanese; flame throwers. He also had MMGs, a heavy mortar and a sniper team.

The village center- a good old 'Banzai' charge....but the Aussies were waiting with MGs and bayonets ready.

Bolt Action (Triple)

A touch of megalomania led me to think that I could run three...yes three....Bolt Action games simultaneously. Some of the boys came over and had seen the game played but never actually had a go. So I set up three tables- the first was with a small village with forest around it- the objective  for the approaching British and German forces was to capture the village. Both sides had 3 squads, one mortar, one MG and a tank.
The second was a sprawling French town with a small river and at one end with the approaches to the bridges being protected by British paras- the SS had to retake the bridges.(shades of Arnhem). Three para squads, a 6pdr two MGs and two PIATs took on double their number and four armoured vehicles.
The final table had an entrenched Japanese position being stormed by US Marines- similar to a previous game. Three Japanese squads with an MG's were against 5 Marines squads, two MGs, a flamethrower and a mortar.

Game Two- Paul and Chris advance their SS into the town.

Bolt Action: US Marines vs The Imperial Japanese Army

Another day, another Bolt Action game! My son Nick, myself and John sat down for a short sharp action that saw a group of US Marines attempt to clear a village and some nearby entrenchments of some determined  Japanese defenders. John and I were the Marines and Nick was the Imperial Japanese Army troops.

Nick focused most of his troops on his right behind the entrenchments- so John and I headed for the other  side of the table - our objective!

This was going to be a tough task for the marines but some initial deployment mistakes by the Japanese made it a little easier. Nick had deployed his heavy machine guns and two light tanks in and around the entrenchments but the long grass, hill and trees cut line of sight to the village and so most of the Marines' advance was unimpeded.

The Terrain- the village in the distance...the Japanese entrenchment in the foreground. The Marines entered from the right.

Bolt Action. Red Berets vs the SS

Spyros and I fought our boys, Evan and Nick, one afternoon during the school holidays. It was a simple scenario. Some Diehard SS were defending two bridges and some British Airborne, less their parachutes and on foot were given armoured support. They had 6 turns to capture two bridges. Spyros and I were the Paras, the boys were the SS.

 

 

SS Squad in a ruined house with a Sturmgeschutz in support to the right

Bolt Action- vehicle purchase

I've already got loads of World War II stuff but I bought these on ebay at a very reasonable price! A couple of Marders for my Germans. I like the idea of having stuff other than the usual loads of Panthers and Tigers every one seems to have! At 1/48th scale they make a nice addition to all my other vehicles and figures! It's one of my favorite gripes that I can buy loads of diecast 1/32nd scale armoured vehicles.....but the ready made 1/48th or 1/56th diecast is hard to find!
 (You can tell that gaming is a bit thin on the ground ..I'm resorting to blogging my purchases!)- Hopefully they will be on the table for a game soon!

Bolt Action- Canadians vs German Fallshirmjager

 Spyros, our boys: Evan, Nick, Michael and I got together one afternoon to try out the new World War II rules 'Bolt Action' from Warlord Games. These are a great set of rules; very easy to play, quick to learn and for first time gamer Michael he was able to get his head around them by the third turn. A nice simple scenario based on the fighting in June/July 1944, the Canadians were given the task of storming a village held by German Paratroopers supported by some fanatic SS units. 

 

 

the German paras move behind a ruined house