BA v3: Germans v. Soviets

 Chris' Soviets v. Jim's Germans.
1250 points, Key Positions scenario.

Pic from German side.
The objectives are: the 2 houses, the 2 road junctions & thecentral ends of the ridges on the table centreline. 
The Germans advanced quickly to sieze both the ridge objectives & the RH road junction as well as the house on their side.  They also set up a network of MMGs covering the centre to deter the Soviets from advancing into the open ground in the centre. 
When the Soviets counterattacked on the German right the Germans reinforced the flank from the centre & destroyed the attack.was destroyed.
On the other flank the German squad on the objective was destroyed by Soviet fire, but they held out long enough for 2 MMGs to be moved up to hold the objective at the end. 

In the centre the Germans took both road juctions after their MMGs cleared out the enemy MMGs defending the ground.  The Tank Hunters both sides had stayed out of sight of each other & mostly out fo the action so acheived nothing.

A decisive German victory holding 5 of 6 objectives & destroying 6 units for 1. 

English Civil War

Parliament: Jim & Mike
Royalists: Mark, Chris & SteveJ 
M2M house rules

Parliament are on the near side, Mike on the left, Jim on the right.
The Royalists are: Left flank: Mark. Centre: Chris.  Right flank: Steve. 

Both sides advanced though Parliament held back their cavalry on each flank.

On the near flank the Parliament cavalry was outnumbered, but they used the terrain & infantry support to repell the Royalist attack. 
In the centre the infantry are poing at it at close quarters.
On the far flank the cavalry is still pussy footing around.

Right of centre, the Parliament got the dice to turn a small tactical advantage to a big breakthrough.
Left of centre the foot are still slugging it out.

Right of cantre the Parliament's foot are expanding the hole in the royalist line.
In the centre, the Royalist are gaining the upper hand.
The cavalry on the far flanl are still dithering.

On the near flank the Parliament's cavalry have attacked & finished off the Royalist horse.
Right of centre the Kng's innfatry has been destroyed.
Left of centre, Parliament's foot have been beaten.
On the far flank, the Royalist horse have got the better of the long delayed fight.

Both sides have won on their right flank, but the Parliament's win is more decisive so they can claim victory.

 

BA v3cc:

 Jim's Germans, Chris' Soviets
1250 pts, Key Positions.
BA v3 with Camp Cromwell House Rules

Pic from behind Soviet lines.
There are 7 objectives: the 3 bridges, the 2 house by the road, & the centre ends of the two ridgeseither side of the long centreline.

Both sides advanced on the ridge objectives at each flank.  In both cases the Soviets got the jump on the Germans & took the objective. 

On the right, the Marder I engaged the T34 from cover in the woods.  The Marder first immobilised the T34, then destroyed it.  

With the T34 engaged by the Marder & the Soviet MG's suppressed then killed by German mortar & MG fire, German infantry secured the three bridge objectives.

The Germas won with 4 objective to 3.  They also had a lot less casualties.

More BA v3

Mark's Geremans (actuallyy Jim's list) v. Jim & Chris's Brits
Mike's US v. SteveJ's Germans
1250 pts, V3 with a few h0use rules
2 separate games with the raod marking a no-cross zone.
Both battles Seek & Destroy with fog of war deployment. 

SteveJ v. Mike, Germans on far side.  
They fought each other to a draw with low casulties (1 tank each).

Mark v. Jim & Chris, Germans on far side.
We also fought each each other to a draw.  The Germans lost more casualties, but the Brits couldn't finsih off enough damaged veteran units.  

Bolt Action v3

Chris' Soviets v. Jim's Germans
1250 pts, Key Positions scenario.
The Germans had the same army a slast week.  The Soviets force was modied to provide more infnatry with more firepower..

Pic from the Soviet side of the table.
The objectives are the two houses, the two bridges & the centre ends of the ridges on the centreline.
The Germans moved fast to sieze the ridge on the far flank. 
Niether side did much inthe centre apart from lonfg range shooting.
The main action was on the enar flank. Both sides advanced two infantry squads, the Soviets supported by an MMG & the Germanx by their MkIV.
The MkIV closed with Soviet infantry & was imobilised by a capture panzerfaust, but it's mg support helped the German infantry to assult & clear the wood on teh hill to sieze that objective.
The Germans had 4 of 6 objectives in hand & the Soviet's had lost too many men to counterattack.

We used v3 with a few house rules to fix the few issues things we don't like.  Our main change is that we don't use saving throws, but go with -1 to hit for cover, down & pinned & -1 to kill for hard cover.  It's so much quicker & easier & makes little diffference to the odds. 

American Civil War

ACW with our M2M House Rules & 28mm figs.
Both sides have 4 infantry brigades of 4 regs, a cavalry brigade of 4 regs & 4 batteries.
Union: Jim & Chris.  Confeds: Mike, SteveJ & Mark.

The Union are on the left.
The CSA are advancing on the whole front, wider than the Union line.

The Union have sent half their cavalry reserve to each flank to extend their line to match the CSA.

On the near flank the Union have repleled the CSA attack & have followed up their retreat.
In the centre, hot shoting by artillery & musket is driving the Union back.
On the far flank the Union is holding the line against the CSA attack. 

On the near flank the Union counterattack failed miserably due to poor shooting & the flank has collapsed
In the centre the Unionhave been pushed further back.
The Union left has held on, but isn't fit to mount a counterattack.
The Union concede the battle & order a retreat.

Bolr Action v.3 with some house rules

In many ways v3 is an improvement on v2, but in my opinion it has a few anoying flaws.  So we are trying out a few hoiuse rules to make v3 evewn better.

1. No saving throws for cover:  Instead: -1 to hit for cover & for down, & -1 to kill for hard cover.  The saving throw slows the game down with an extra step & the need for both players to make a test.  It is also frustrating to throw good dice & see your kills evaporate with the enemy's saves.  The difference in the odds is negligible in nearly all situations.

2. No need for more than 1 command team.  The proliferation of command teams slows the game for no gain in realism.

3. No Snap To rule.  It's Mickey Mouse with no basis in reality.

4. Stick wiythe v2 AFV damage table for minor damage.  The extra complication in the v3 table wastes time while adding nothing to the game.

5. Making 7 to hit 6 then 4+ & only 8+ to hit being 6 then 6.

Chris' Soviets v. Jim's Germans
1250 pts. Key positions scenario on big table with Fog of War deployment.

The Germans are on the near side.
The objectives are the bridge, the 2 houses & three ridge tops (2 at the far end & 1 on the right).

The Germans rushed forward in the centre & on the right to sieze 4 objectives.  The T34 took out teh MK IV but that was the Soviet's only siccess as the German veterans mowed down all attempts at counterattack.

The Soviets conceded after turn 5 with half their force destroyed & no way of getting the enemy off any of the 4 objectives they held.

The house rules worked well.  The game was so much easier & faster to play than with the straight v3 we tried last tuesday.

Bolt Action v.3

 After Chris returned froma trip to Canberra where he played a bit of BA v.3 we gave it another go.
2 games, both Envelopment scenarios.

SteveJ's Germans attacking Chris' Soviets:

Steve's Neblewerfers decimated the Soviets for a decisive win.

Mark's Germans v. Mike's US:

. They foiught each other to a draw with onlt 1 unit lost on both sides.

I had a full time job looking up the v3 rule book to resolve questions.  The consenus was that while there were some welcome chnages, there are also some serious flaws, including:
- The introduction of saving throws seriously slows down the game & is anoying (you throw good dice then get them negated).
- The new lists requiring more command teams does nothing to improve the game & encourages the use of the cheesy Snap To rule.
- The complication of the superficial damage rule is an unnessary complication.

 

Normandy 1944: Mech War

Brits: Chris
Germans: Mark
15mm figs. House Mech War rules.

Germans on the right.  We used the BA token draw to deploy platoon by platoon & that favoured the Germans who concentrated their armour witht he last deployments.

The Germans lined their armour up on the reverse slope of a ridge getting every tank into action whule the Brits were still concentrating their tanks.   A lucky first round of shooting put the Germans in a winning position & the Brits just couldn't pull it back.
There was also an infantry fight in the central wood that the Germans also got the better of.

The Germans pressed their advantage  advanice beyond the ridge to mop up.
A German victory.

American War of Independance

We thought it would be nice to have battle where terrain mattered for a change, so we decided to attack America. 
Colonials & French: Chris & Mark
Brits: Jim & Mike 

Pics from the Brit's side.
The Brits have Indians on their left, cavlry on their right, regular infantry in the centre.
The Colonial infantry are on the Allie's right (left of pic), the French innfatry & cavalry on their left.

On thenear flank, the Indians have advanced into the woods to skirmish with the Colonial infantry.
The centre is a no mans land doninated by artillery.
Both sides advance infnatry into the wood right od centre,
Both sides advance their cavalry on the far flank.

On the near flank the Indians have given ground & suffered losses, but have alsom inflicted significant casualties on the Colonials. 
In the centre long range fire has been indecisive.
In  the big wood the French British infatry are hotly engaged.
The French are getting the upper hand in the cavalry fight.

On the near flank the Indians have been pulled back & the British infnatry have moved in for the kill against the weakened colonials.
On the far flank, the Brits are getting the best of the infnatry fight, the French are winning the cavalry fight.

On the near flank the Colonial infantry is defeated & is in retreat.
On the far flank, the French cavalry has saved their foot from destruction making that flank a draw.

The Brits have more units left fit to fight & claim a narrow victory.
The decisive move by the Brits was maximising the value of their Indians by getting them to fight in the right terrain for them. 


 

30 Years War: Empire v. Swedes

Swedes: Mike, Chris & SteveJ
Empire: JIm & Mark

The Empire is on the near side. They have rsted their right on a wood, concerated their cavalry on their left & kept a central reserve of Landschneks.
The Swedes have cavalry on bioth flanks of their pike & shot plus musketeers on their extreme left flank.

Both sides are advancing their left flanks.

On the near flank the Empire have charged home.  The Swedes have sent soem cavalry accross the front of their pike blocks to assist theri right flank.

Intense hand to hand fighting on the left, exchanges of fire on the right.

The dice gods have not favoured the Empire & theri left is crumbling. 

Casualties are mounting all along the line, but the Swedes are now gaining the upper hand. In the next turn the Empire fail their army morale test.

Medieval 28mm

York: Jim & Mike
Lancaster: Chris & SteveJ 

York on this side of table, Jim on left, Mike on right.
Lancaster on far side, SteveJ v. Jim & Chris v. Mike.

On the far flank, Mike has attacked Chris left flank.
On this flank, the ingfnatyr are exchanging bow fire, except for one charge by York men at arms on the left end of the line.  

On the near flank the Lanc's bow fire has been far better than York'sY& the infnatry charge also failed.
Left of centre the Lanc's cavalry has advanced. 
Right of centre there is gap in the York line but the Lancs have not advanced into it.
On the far flank the Lanc's line has been hit in front by foot & horse while more foot wrap around their flank.

On the far flank the Lanc's infantry is being rolled up  by the flank attack
On the enar flank, York has had their archers almost all destroyed & have fallen back onto the ridge.

On the far flank both sides are regrouping after the success of the York's attack.
On the near flank the lancs ahve followed up Yorks' retreat, but he Yorks have countercharged.

On the far flank York has renewed their attack & the Lanc' left has broken.
On the near flank, the the combat was desperate & close, but it was York that broke first. 

So both sides have had one of their 2 battles broken.  York has more units left fit to fight than the Lancs, but the superiority was small enough for the Lancs to claim a draw.

English Civil War: English v. Scots

Scots:  Jim & Renfrey
English: Mike & SteveJ

English on the near side.

The Scots had put all their cavalry on their right flank & immediately attacked as the English had only half their cavary & some detached musketeers on that flank.  The English advanced their left a little to gain a ridge to defend while the other half of their cavalry moved from central reserve to support their left.
The English infnatry generally held back hoping their cavalry would win & support them before the Scots infantry could beat them.

On the far flank the Scots are wraping around the English flank.
On the near flank the English musketeers have been ridden down, but their cavalry is getting the upper hand.

On the near flank the Scotts cavalry is being mopped up.
In the centre a shaken Scottish pike & shot block is hanging on keeping the English cavalry at bay.
On the far flank the Enh]glish foot is being beaten.

The English have won the cavalry fight on their left flank, the Scots have won the infantry fight on their left flank.  Niether side would be able to attack the other as the Scots have enough pikes left to stop the remaining English cavalry.   The Scots will claim victory as they lost fewer units than the English.

Medieval Battle

Each of the four players had a battle of 8 infnatry & 3 cavalry units with starting points on the table diced for.

Lancastrians: Mike near RHS allied with Steve fat end.
Yorkists:  Jim near LHS allied with Renfrey mid LHS.

Renfrey formed a defensive line facing SteveJ's rapid advance.
On the near flank both sides tried to advance, but poor command dice by Jim meant that Mike did most of teh advancing.
Both battle lines formed into an L with the cavalry in the centre.

The forces are engaged all along the front.

   

On the far flank SteveJ's foot is gaining the upper hand, on the near flank, Jim's infantry is winning.  Te cavalry fight in the centre is still indecisive.

Both side's left flanks have collapsed.  The cavalry melees ares till in the balance.

Renfrey's battle has broken.  Mike's battle has broken.  But the Lancs have gained the upper hand in the cavalry fight in the centre so the Yorkists concede defeat.