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Bolt Action desert warfare
Henerius:
I started recently with playing Bolt Action. It is a fairly simple game for platoon/section sized battle set in WWII.
I started with two boxes of Perry 8th Army plastics because you can get the most troops out of one box. While building a couple of army lists I moved on buying Germans as well and after that went for some scenery.
The Germans are all still in basecoat, the scenery and my 8th Army platoon show alot more progress.
Enjoy.
Unpainted first troops
painted
Based and coated
Additions to the forces
The second battle with my forces. Rens played Afrika Korps and I played 8h Army.
The opposing forces:
Overview of the battlefield
German forces struggling to hold their positions
The first game I stormed in with my units and realized that bayonet charges in these days were terribly old fashioned. (And off course: veteran troops hit a lot harder than regular troops) The pictured here second game bogged down really early into a long range gun fight. No problem since both battles were for learning purposes and just good fun off course.
At the club in Nijmegen we don’t have that many desert terrain, the images of the above table show almost all we have, so I decided to make a desert table myself. Bought prefab plastic moulded terrain from Amera Plastics in the UK and further the pictures tell the story quite well.
And the table is set for the upcoming game next friday. My fairly unpainted Germans against Guy and mine painted/semi painted Britons.
Desert cloth is added to my wishing list.
Rowsdower:
The Lee/Grant and Stuart are very underrated tanks.
I thought about getting some bolt action sets the other day in the hobby shop I visited but I had to save the money for other things.
Henerius:
They are actually not underrated.
M4 medium tank - Shermans - were called "tommykocher" (Englishman-Cooker) by Germans because they caught fire very easily.
M3 medium tank -Lee/Grant - had the exact same problem, catching fire very easily.
M3 medium tank had the cannon (75mm like the M4) in the hull. So going hull down with a M3 was impossible if you wanted to fire the main gun, so where the M4 was called "Tommykocher" the M3 was simply called "fine/great target" because the 88mm FLAK38 AA/AT guns had no trouble picking them of on the horizon.
M4 had a crew of 5, the M3 had a crew of 7... the Russians called the M3 "a grave for 7 comrades".
The M3 was the best the Western Allies had at the time and a 75mm gun is a great asset, because no German tank could match that gun at the moment the M3 arrived on the battlefield, but with the arrival of M4's the M3's were slowly fased out on the european theatre and rightfully so.
Having said that.. the M3 is by far the most crazy/pretty/amazing looking tank in my opinion. Which is the only reason to really buy a model, you like it, you paint it, you play it. In this account I agree with you the M3 Lee/Grant is underrated. :mrgreen:
Artobans Ghost:
bolt action always had my attention but I started with a flames of war starter and never got further do to other bigger investments but it still looks great. I have a big collection stilll (I think) of the airfix 1/32 scale soldiers and wondered if they could be adapted.
The North African campaign was always my favourite and at one time I think I new every allied/axis unit from 1940-1942 largely from the spi game CNA which had 4 maps, 200 pages of rules and 2000 counters. The unit breakdown on every division/regiment that even landed there plus the TOE for them all. Incredible game. Had it for 39 years and finally sold it last year for 3x what I had bought it for.
Always had a soft spot for the Italians and their uphill battle with equipment and morale.
Would love to see more on this game and your battle reports
Henerius:
--- Quote from: Artobans Ghost on January 03, 2019, 02:35:41 PM ---Would love to see more on this game and your battle reports
--- End quote ---
I will try my best.
Battle report operation “Sonnenblume”
I do have a painted British Army,but for the start of the desert campaign (operation Sonneblume a.k.a. Rommel Arrives in Afrika) I have a british opponent. So here is my beginning, unpainted German Army.
Scenario is sectors, both platoons have to destroy each other and gain as much ground as possible.
British Infantry Brigade platoon (Guy)
1st Lieutenant
1(free) artillery observer
3 Sections, LMG en AT grenades.
1 MMG
1 Med Mortar team
1 AT Rifle Team
1 Lt AT Gun
1 25 pdr Lt Howitzer
1 Matilda II Infantry tank
1 Marmon Herrington armoured car
DAK Panzer Division Platoon (Henny)
1PZII F Command tank
2 PZIIIE Lt tanks
1 StugIII self propelled Light Howitzer
1 Hauptman (captain)
2 Sections with LMG, SMG
2 Trucks
1 MMG
The scenario means that you set up on the opposite quarter sections of the battlefield. We both placed the tanks/armoured cars in reserve. Letting the infantry and (self propelled)artillery fence the first few turns for them selfes.
Initial bombardments before the battle meant that Guy’s free artillery observer (who had no assistant a.k.a. extra wound) died before he could cause any mayhem on my (german) side of the field.
First turn gave me the opportunity to wipe a section of Guy and Guy took the chance to wipe my MMG.
Second turn my reserves were not flanking and there for could drive onto the field, if I made my order tests, which I gloriously failed on all three tanks. My infantry troops went hiding and Guy waited for his reinforcements as well.
Turn three, my panzers arrive and they start supporting the Stug who is bravely trying to batter Guy’s forces on it’s own, Guy manages to get his Matilda on the field, but the Armoured Car is letting him down and stays in reserve. We play with the desert climate conditions and the arrival of the vehicles means that dust clouds (counts as smoke screen) are starting to form when cars drive over the field.
Turn four, both panzer III´s are advancing to take on the matilda who is returning fire, but all miss terribly. The british armoured car keeps up the good work and fails his order check again. With the arrival of all my armour, the Stug and PZII advance as well shooting on the move.
Turn five, First battle for all panzers III´s, they are nervous and miss just like the Matilda is missing as well. The panzerII and the Stug manage to do some damage on an infantry squad on the british right flank and on a MMG on the same flank. Eureka… Guy´s Armoured Car finally showed up and promptly started speeding across the field.
Turn six, the Matilda gets immobilised, my panzers, again, stay without a scratch on them, one of my trucks is shot to pieces by infantry. All troops available move into sectors that will give victory points to the player. In short a kill is a VP, unit in a neutral sector is a VP and a unit in the opponents sector is 3 VP.
End of turn, dice roll of a 3 (1, 2 ,3 end of game, 4, 5, 6 extra turn)
Guy 8 victory point and Henny 9 victory points.
conclusion 1, desert with to much terrain does not feel as desert.
conclusion 2, 3 bags of cottonwool makes you laugh silly, but when bag number two is almost empty at turn 5 it actually seems like the right amount for a dusty desert game.
conclusion 3, objectives are giving a complete different feeling of the game instead of just bashing the opponent you have to make a cunning plan.
Henerius out.
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