Bolt Action: Bridgehead Scenario from Ostfront

Jim's Germans v. Chris' Soviets 1000 pts

The Soviets start with half their army deployed within 12" of the bridge - Dug In not hidden (Dug In = - extra 1 to hit).  The other half come on in delayed reserve from turn 3. The Germans come on from the left, half in 1st wave on turn 1, half in reserve from turn 2.

The Germans set up fire support with an LMG squad on their right, MMG & A/car on their left, HT's in the centre  and charged the bridge with the rest of the infantry.

The German panzergrenadiers with assault rifles took the bridge, but the Soviet reserves are gettign sorted for a counterattack

The Soviets lost heavily, but the Germans had lost heavily in the original attack and there were just too many Soviets to resist.  They retook the bridge on turn 8.  This scenario goes for 10+ turns which seems a bit out of whack with the norm.  An extra turn or 2 to allow for delayed reserves is more logical.

Modder Fokkers

Mike Shevak was down from Coff's Harbour & as an old veteran of WWI air wargames at Mt Stuart in the 70's he was keen so see how the rules had evolved.

Game 1: Mike x2 with 2x Albatrii v. Jim's Tripe, Chris' Neiuport & Mark's Pup.
It was 2 v. 3, but the Abatrii had twin MG's & tougher bodies.

The inexperienced Germans made a mistake in splitting apart.  The Allies got in between them and ganged up on MikeN after MikeS dived through the pack..

MikeN's Albatross ducked & weaved with a trio of Allies on his rear end as MikeS made a token gesture  of turning back towards the fight.

Oakie peeled off to chase MikeS who was now just trying to escape.  Jim & Chris shared the kill of his comrade while MikeS ran out of height & couldn't escape Oakie's Pup.

Game 2: Chris & Mark had 2 Fokker DVII's v. Jim's SE5, MikeN's Camel & MikeS' Spad.
Afgain 2 v 3, but the Fokker DVII was the best plane going.

Things went pear shaped for the Germans in the first pass when Chris was wounded. 

The Allies immediately  went for the weakened prey

Now it was Chris's turn to be hounded by a flock of enemies while his comrade found a safe spot behind the action.  Mark now found himself on the wrong side of the table with 3 undamaged enemy plane between him and his home side of the table.  He did a pretty good job of slipping through the pack & making his escape.

Barrie's Sunday School: Bolt Action & Saga

With 8 punters turning up Barrie's Sunday school split into 2 groups, 4 playing Saga & 4 playing Bolt Action.

Saga x2

Jake fought Nick & Barrie while Barrie fought JohnM.

Bolt Action
Darren was introduced to Bolt Action teaming up with Jim using Jim's Germans.
JohnM & Chris used a Soviet army provided by JohnM.
Scenario: Hold Until Relieved Germans defending, 1,000 pts.
Rules: The book with WWPD Season 3 changes & our house rule on Bombardment Miscalculation.

The scenario has a single objective near the middle of the table - in this case the road T-junction. The Germans deployed 2 units first  - 2 infantry in the house next to the objective.  The Soviets then deployed all their force no closer than 18" to Germans on the table, or the objective.  The rest of the Germans came on from the RH side half in the first wave on turn 1, the rest as Reserves.
The Germans brought on infantry & MMG on their left to distract the Soviet right while their main force came on their right to directly support the defence of the objective.
The German left was a side show, but a significant part of the Soviet force was diverted away from the objective to destroy it & the MMG got in some useful fire support against the Soviets attacking the village before they died.
The Soviet artillery miscalculated but we used the Camp Cromwell randomised plot rather than RAW Friendly Fire.  This resulted in the German armoured car getting pinned down until turn 5.  If we'd used the RAW the Germans could have placed the barrage on the main Soviet attack and very likely won the battle with one stroke of luck in turn 2 - and thus ruined what was to be a very good game.
The Soviet attack was lead by Pioneers who cleared out both houses with their flamethrower beofre German firepower finally blew them away.
Two more Soviet infantry squads armed with SMGs moved up to contest the village, but 2 squads of veteran panzergrenadiers supported by their half tracks took them on.

At the end of turn 6 the objective was still contested with 1 Soviet squad pinned down on the road between the houses & the German HQ which moved up on the far side of the house.  The dice decreed a turn 7 in which the Germans shot up then finished off the surviving Soviets in the village by assault.

Friday afternoon Bolt Action

With only Chris & Jim available this afternoon we moved the venue from Good Games to Camp Cromwell.  

Bridgehead Scenario from the Ostfront book:
This scenario has a mechanised German force attacking a bridge over an un-fordable river.  The Soviets start with half on and the rest in delayed reserves (coming on turn 3).  The Germans have half in 1st wave and half in normal reserve.  Game length is 10+ turns.  The winner is the side holding the bridge at the end (troops within 6" & no enemy within 6").  The Soviets on the table at the start are Dug In (an extra -1 to hit until they move).

 The Germans are coming from the right.

The Germans are pushing infantry forward under a barrage of covering fire.  One of the Soviet forward units has already been blown away.

The Germans have taken the objective & destroyed almost all the Soviet infantry, but the Soviet armour could still save the day as the German's have nothing more powerful than light a/tank.

The Soviet light tank was pinned to death by the 38t, A/car & ATR.  The T34 tried to move up to dispute the bridge, but was forced to withdraw, then immobilised by some hot shooting by the 38t.  The only other Soviet unit alive is a MMG team in the house who had no hope of reaching the bridge.  The Soviets conceded in turn 9.

English Civil War to christen the revamped games room

The re-carpeting of the apartment at Camp Cromwell has lead to the games room being completely reorganised and tidied up.  We christened the new look room with the English Civil War using our Hail Cromwell variant of Hail Caesar.

Mike's Royalists v. Jim & Mark's Parliamentarians
The Royalists started deployed in a village with a division of 6 shot & 2 pike.  They have a cavalry division of 4 cavalry & 2 dragons and an infantry division of 4 shot & 2 pike coming as reinforcements on 2 of the 3 roads to their rear & flanks.  Mike drew chits so he knew which div was coming on which road without the enemy knowing.  He threw 1 dice on turn 1, 2 on turn 2, etc getting a reserve if a 5 was thrown.
Parliament started with 2 infantry divisions of 4 shot & 2 pike & 2 cavalry divisions of 4 cavalry deployed up to 18" onto the table but not closer than 18" to enemy.  Mark took 2 divs on the left, Jim took 2 on the right.
Parliament win if they break the big div in the village or both reinforcements.  The Royals win if they break 2 Parliamentary divisions including 1 inf.

This pic is taken behind the Royalists right with all ready to start.

This pic is taken from behind the Royalist left where their cavalry has come on turn 2.  Jim's horse has galloped forward to meet them with the up-hill advantage.  The Parl'y foot is advancing slowly with the shot in front.  Mark's cavalry has crossed the creek to a position where he hopes to bottle up the enemy infantry reinforcements.

Jim's cavalry quickly broke half of Mike's horse & has rallied back, but 1 Royal horse retired off the table & the dragoons survived in the house and wood so the division was not broken.   The Parl'y shot is firing away at the village as the pikes manoeuvre to the rear.  The Royal inf reinforcements have come on the far end & are facing off with Mark's horse.

Mike's dragoons got some good command, remounted and galloped across to reinforce the village while Jim's horse decided they needed a rest.  Mike launched a counterattack with a lone pike unit on his left.  He broke one Parlimentary pike block and made the other fall back.  Mark's attempts to attack the foot on the far flank got nowhere.  The Royals either got into hedgehog or stopped them with shot.

On this flank Jim's horse has finally got moving again. His musketeers have charged the field after shaking the enemy with their fire and taken the hedgerow.  Mark's foot is still trying to weaken the enemy on his side of the village enough to assault them.  His horse is giving ground to the pike & shot.

Jim's infantry have broken 2 shot units, but have run out of steam with all units shaken. Mark's pikes have finally charged the other side of the village but are meeting fierce resistance.  Most of Jim's horse has got over to help Mark on the far flank.

A view from behind Parliament's left.    Mark's foot has cleared the field on his side, but were shaken in the process & unable to follow on.  Mike has 4 of the original 8 defenders of the village still fighting (reinforced by the dragoons).   He only has to lose 1 more for the div to break & with it the army, but Parliament are running out of units fit to fight.

Parliament had one chance left to win the battle - they could attack the shaken pike unit on the crossroads with the tail end Charley of Jim's cavalry division & Jim's last pike block, both rallied back from shaken & one casualty off being shaken again.  The cavalry got good command and charged the pikes in flank.  The pikes managed to turn & face, the dragoons in the house missed with opportunity fire & the charge went home.  The casualties were tied, but both were then shaken & had to test & the cavalry broke.  The Parliament's pikes failed to charge home in concert with the cavalry & next turn when they did charge were broken by the opportunity fire of dragoons.  Jim's infantry div then broke with half units broken & the rest shaken. 

Parliament played on for another turn in the hope of a miracle, but Mark's horse was broken by musket fire & it was all over.  It was an exciting & very enjoyable battle of fluctuating fortunes that easily could have gone either way.

Nicopolis Bugle #1 (from 1977)

From the Camp Cromwell Archive 7th Sept 1977:

The reason there was no wargame report last week was that Camp Cromwell in under renovation.  The flat is being re-carpeted, wargames room included.  I have taken the opportunity to reorganise the room, changing the layout and sorting out the stuff that has been lurking under the table since we moved here 3.5 years ago.

Among the stuff uncovered were copies of the Nicopolis Bugle - the newpaper produced during our ancient wargames campaign in 1977.  Here is a copy of issue #1.

Barrie's Sunday School

With a good turnout there were 2 games of Saga & 1 of Bolt Action.

Saga 1:
Jim's Welsh were quickly beaten by Darren's Vikings on an open battlefield that gave the Welsh little opportunity to use their advantages.

Saga 2:
In complete contrast the fight for 2 bridges between JohnW & Jake went on for hours.

Bolt Action:
JohnM's Soviets (on the left) defeated  Rusty's Germans in a Maximum Attrition Scenario.

Bolt Action Doubles at Good Games

Germans: SteveJ & JohnM (both vets)
Allies: Jim (British regs) & Jake (US vets)
Each side had two 1,000 pts coys in a Doubles Frontal Assault scenario on a 8'x6' table, Germans attacking.

The Germans are attacking from the far side of the table.  The Allies are on the near side, Jim on the left v. Steve, & Jake on the right v. John. There are 4 objectives in the Allies half of the table.  The Allies deploy half their units in their half of the table, remainder in reserve.  The Germans deploy all of theirs up to 18" from the centreline.  The attackers win if they take 2+ objectives, the defenders win if they hold all of them.

John's attack with motor cycles and half track mounted troops supported by a his StuH, a bombardment & Steve's Puma soon over-ran the RH objective in the wood.   The Brits on the left held off their opponents and were able to send some support for Jake as his reserves came on.  John couldn't take the second objective needed for victory before time ran out.  So the battle was an honourable draw.  We find that this mission (one of our own design) is balanced enough, but hard to win for either side.