Sunday, September 21, 2014

Bolt action- Finn's first game

This afternoon Finn asked if he could finally have his first game of Bolt Action. Sure. So I grabbed 2 600pt forces from the other week's game at the club. Finn has helped paint the Soviets (they are the army he wanted) so he took them.

Soviets (Finn)
Senior Lt + NCO (Regs)
1x 8 man reg Tank rider squad (SMGs, Reg)
1x 8 man  Siberian Squad (Reg)
1x 12 man green squad (inexp)
1x 81mm mortar (Reg)
1x T34/76 (Reg)

Germans (Craig):
 Lt & NCO (Vets)
2x 8man rifle squads (LMGs, Vets)
1x 81mm mortar (Reg)
1x Stuh  (Reg)

We played maximum attrition as I just wanted to show him the basics and keep things as simple as possible.

Turn 1, the Germans advance towards an important crossing. The Stuh hit the T34 in the distance but did not appreciable damage to it.
 A few from the Soviets positions on turn 1. SMG squad to left, irregular following the T34 and the Siberians on the right.
 Turn 2, The irregulars swarm past the T34 but are hit by the Stuh and pinned. The T34 fails to pass its order and goes down.
 The tank riders advance to a stone wall- hard cover is handy.
 The Stuh is ranged in by the mortar, you can see the two German squads advancing, one in the front yard of the house, the other through the fields.
 Turn 3, the Tank Rider squad is down to a commander- who passed his morale test, the German officers are trying deperately to destroy the Tank riders. The other squad has advanced to the stone wall.
 The Soviet commanders advance to see what the fuss is all about.
 A view from the German front lines.
 The Soviet officers advance to parley- actually they are assaulting and wipe out the impetuous German.
 The German suad in the front yards then assualts and kills the Soviet commanders. 1-1.
 The Soivet mortar has ranged in on the Stuh and each turn adds more pins, grrrrr,
 Its now up to 6!
 The T34 advances through the German squad, killing or capturing the survivors, and aims at the Stuh.
 The top of turn 6, the T34 fires and the Stuh catches fire. With 8 pins only double 1s can save the Stuh. Alas, it fails and the crew abandoned it.
 Bottom of the last turn, the Siberians advance on the surviving German infantry. Had there been another turn the Germans were in trouble.
Result? 
A closely fought 3-3 draw, Finn grasped the basics easily enough and made some sound tactical decisions. The only change I'll make for next time is the drop the Germans back to regular morale rating which will make it easier for the Soviets to kill them- this will allow the squads to be slightly bigger and also for a MMG to be included.

It gave Finn a good feel for the game and how different weapons/units operate together. The game was over within an hour and that is ideal for introductory games.

Craig

2 comments:

  1. Great stuff Craig, always nice to see young players getting started. Would be good to have a live-in opponent too!

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  2. I don't want to push him too much but hope he gives it another go. I'm keen to get him to try Dux Bellorum some point soon too.

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