Bolt Action Fun

On the 4th, as mentioned in the previous post, I had a Bolt Action game with Adam.

I had played first addition a long time ago, but only 7-8 games. Surprisingly I remembered the rules pretty well, and having read the second edition rulebook quite extensively recently, we decided on a nice 750 points straight forward battle to ease into the rules.

I took Brits, with no real theme just yet. Once I've got the paint needed for my units which I shall be ordering in the next few days, I'll be creating an army themed on Operation Market Garden, with "A Bridge Too Far" being my favourite film, and a Brother's In Arms game I used to play a lot also being set in that operation.

A Bridge Too Far

fantastic film!

For this small game I opted for:
First Lt with pistol
2 riflemen

Free forward artillery observer

Regular rifle squad of 10 men with Bren gun and Thompson for NCO
Veteran Commando's squad with 2 Thompson, Bren gun and 7 rifles

Regular medium mortar team with spotter

Regular Cromwell.
Nothing too crazy, but the force allows me to try out vehicles (with one of my favourite tanks of WW2!) veteran infantry and regular, and how various artillery works via mortar and artillery observer.

Not too familiar with German units, but roughly Adam took
Regular 2nd Lt with 2 men, all with assault rifles

Regular medium mortar team with spotter

Medium mmg team

Regular Puma
Regular half track of some kind with auto cannons

2 x regular infantry squads with all sorts of nasty weapons

I'm pretty sure that's it.

We set up the game with a multitude of terrain with no real theme, to allow me to learn just how useful the differing cover, and the hindering of certain terrains slot into the game. We had fields, plantations, orchards, ruins, hills, craters and even a marsh!

Below are a few photos of the game, but again as it was a demo I didn't take enough to qualify for a full battle report. This is something I intend to do with games when I have a fully painted and based force for it (or at least as much as possible) and a handle on the rules, so that I do not slow down the game even further.

The Brits, opposing the Jerry!

(We couldn't find a green mat, and since time was pressing on

we opted to use the black gaming mat. It turned up just as we were 

putting the scenery away!)

Having taken a few losses, the British show

the Nazi's what for, and take out 4 in a single

barrage of rifle fire!

The Puma, keeping the flank of the

Nazi Mmg team secure, until...

The Cromwell puts it out of action!

Around half way into the game, the Puma having been taken out by the Cromwell, we were informed that Barry's birthday cake had been cut. It couldn't have been better timing, and with cake and tea on my side as any good British commander should have, I pressed on and managed to all but eliminate the half track and an infantry squad. My infantry squad in the orchard (see picture 2) was reduced to 3 men.

And at that we called it. Excellent I thought, I'd managed to somehow win my first game! It was hard fought, and without an objective a lot of the game was spent sniping from behind heavy cover. This did make for a drawn out game but it was fun and didn't feel like it had overstayed it's welcome.
I picked up many tips and tricks along the way and after the performance of the Cromwell, which managed to pin an infantry squad repeatedly throughout the game, and destroy the Puma, I definitely want to add another for higher points games.

Off to research Operation Marker Garden now then, to ensure I theme my force around it accurately(ish)!

In my next post I'll be going over the Dredd game I had with Adam and David, which was very enjoyable and a blast from the past.

Until next time!