Bolt Action Battle Report – 500 points – Brits vs Germans

On Monday night, I got in a small game of Bolt Action with my friend Dave. The table was set before we got to the store, but we added some sandbags from my collection for extra cover. For mission, we chose Maximum Attrition.

The Table set for battle.

For Forces, I played the British and Dave the Germans.

The British platoon was made of 6 units. All of them were veterans except the Otter in the back and the Forward Observer. Those two units were regulars. For weapons, the biggest unit was a 10 man unit with one smg and one lmg. The second unit was a 5 man squad with 3 smgs and 2 rifles. Both squads were equipped with Antitank grenades. For support, there was a light mortar team and and a First Lieutenant and his aid (both equipped with SMGs).

The German platoon contained 5 units. All of the units were regulars. The force included three 8-man squads (each with one LMG and an SMG). The tank is a Panzer equipped with a light howitzer and there is a Lieutenant in the mix.

It is interesting that both sides chose to bring a vehicle to a 500 point game. The Otter posses a good threat to infantry with a turreted lmg and minimal threat to the tank with a hull mounted +2 Anti-tank rifle. The Panzer posed just a little bit more of a threat to the Otter with heavier armour but still just a +2 bonus to penetration with its main gun. The British did not realize at the time, but this panzer would pose a serious threat to his infantry as its HE round roll a d6 with +2 penetration. The effectiveness of the light howitzer was learned during the game when it opened fire on some British infantry.

The Germans Deployed on the far side of the table. All three starting units (two infantry squads and a commander) deployed on the right hand side of the church as far up the line as possible. The British deployed a spotter in the peak of the house by the Bolt Action book, an infantry squad behind a forest and a light mortar team near them.

Some great painted German figures.

A 10 man British unit deployed near the right side of the table.

Even the light mortar team is ready for assault. Bayonets fixed!

Right off the top of the game (after the Germans moved all their figures), the British Observer called in an artillery barrage.

The coin represents where the barrage was called for. Not too far to the left is an entire unit of infantry hiding against the fence and to the right is another unit making a move for the cover provided by the sandbags. The barrage would be delayed this round.

The Germans bring on their reinforcements. A Panzer and another unit of 8 men. The unit behind the fence on the left killed the British Mortar team for the first victory point. The artillery strike is delayed yet another turn.

In response, the Otter comes to the field and starts firing at the infantry behind the fence. That Otter is the 3D printed model that I wrote about in a previous article.

This is where the British learned that a direct fire light howitzer round into a house brings a world of pain onto the occupants. Doesn’t that tank look great!? Dave painted that tank very well.

No Casualties from the howitzer round, but the squad did take two pins. This unit was down one man from an earlier round of small arms fire. Seeing how much potential damage could be done by a howitzer round they knew that they either had to move or find a distraction. Someone got on the radio and asked the Otter to move up to help draw the fire away from the house.

It may look like the house is destroyed, but it is not. The top was removed to allow access to the interior. Behind the house, a British commander was brought in to reinforce the unit’s moral checks.

This German unit has suffered 3 casualties from the British unit in the house. Note that the Barrage marker has followed this group,

The British bring on their final unit of infantry and hide them behind the woods to move them up under cover.

Finally the British Barrage comes. 10″ was rolled and the artillery adds pins to 4 out of 5 enemy units (the German commander was hiding far enough away that he came out unharmed). No British units were harmed in this barrage. To capitalize on the bombardment, the Otter was brought up to engage the Panzer and the infantry squads focus fired on the German squad by the sandbags to eliminate them. The Panzer fires back at the otter and adds a Pin Marker to the armoured car.

The Otter, realizing that it was a decoy for the Panzer, Fubars its orders check and panics. It quickly drives as far away from the enemy as it can. For those interested, those sandbags are the ones that I reviewed in an earlier Blog entry.

The British move up their infantry. All five of the figures closest to the camera have SMGs.

Mean while, the British unit that was in the house ran across the street to take the place of the dead Germans.

The Germans have two infantry units left, a commander and a tank.

While the Brits have a similar number of squads left in this picture. Not shown here, is that the Brits still have the observer in a house taking pot shots at the German troops. This is where the game ended.