Normandie!

William had asked for a D-Day game and had helped me set up the terrain for this week's game here in GHQ. Come Tuesday and he's a no show, whisked away to some Egyptian light show in Birmingham with his family! So Phil and I were left to play out the game using Bolt Action. As an interesting aside, Phil has version 3 while I prefer version 2, largely because of the stupid pricing at Warlord Games. Anyway, the table at the onset of hostilities with Phil commanding the Allies and yours truly the Germans ~

The view from 'Beyaux', the third objective, towards the beach head. The first being the sea wall and hamlet of 'Vers Sous Mer' and the second either of the two farms on the flanks. In 6 Turns, plus a possible 7th, a difficult ask for the Allies!

The Beach head viewed from a passing aircraft! The Allies may opt for a naval bombardment of one target in Turn 1 using up one Command dice. In Turn 4 they get a possible Bomber attack, again using up a Command dice.

The sea wall protecting 'Vers Sous Mer' is heavily defended, but these men are Inexperienced! How will they react under intense fire is a German concern!

The Algerian front line troops who will take the brunt of the Allies firepower are supported by squads in each of the ruined farms and in 'Vers Sous Mer' itself. They cannot activate until the Allied troops exit the beach.

Anti-tank guns are placed to create a killing zone of cross fire, if any Allied tanks make it off the beach that is!

The Germans' forward Command Post is protected from air attack by the rooftop anti-aircraft gun. This may drive off any Allied bombers later in the game of course!

The Allies storm ashore in Turn 1! The naval bombardment hits the troops defending the sea wall hard. No casualties luckily but Pins mount up.

The 'Flying Dustbin' fired from the Churchill makes short work of the Pak40's bunker!

In similar fashion the Sherman DD surges through the breaking surf and destroys the other Bunker in Turn 2!

The Sherman DD on the opposite flank comes under fire from the central bunker on the sea wall. The shot is close...but no cigar!

The Allies consolidate their landing and strengthen the beach head in Turns 2 and 3. The 'Stomach Battalion' squads on the sea wall are putting up stiff resistance despite intense incoming fire!

The Allies are off the beach and advancing on the second line of defense. Again more Inexperienced troops awaiting their fate with trepidation?

Despite some losses and Pins, the Churchill leads more Allied infantry off the Beach to enfilade the defenders on the sea wall!

As the Allies exit the beach the Sherman DDs come under fire. The tank in the centre is knocked out but the others survive and press forward.

The defenders of the sea wall are finally overwhelmed! The next to fall must be 'Vers Sous Mer' itself! The second wave of Infantry will form up to assault the village ruins!

More Allied infantry pour ashore. The Churchill leads the survivors of the assault wave towards the next objective, the ruined farm. If they succeed they will earn a second Victory point.

On the opposite flank the Assault wave are Pinned down under machine gun fire. The second wave surge past them and make short work of the position on the edge of the woods.

At the end of Turn 3 the Allies have achieved 2 Victory points and Germans have lost 4 Command dice to the Allies' 1.

The Allies opt for a bombing run, targeting the ruined farm on their right flank.  The German anti-aircraft crew prepare for their moment in the spotlight as the bomber roars inlans!

They're on target! The bomber suffers 2 Hits! It takes 3 though to drive it off, so the bombing run continues!

Bombs are raining down on the shocked troops occupying the farm. Losses are severe and Pins mount up alarmingly!

By the conclusion of Turn 5 its clear the Allies will succeed in reaching 'Beyaux'. The German losses are so severe they are down to 1 Command dice while the Allies have lost only 4!

A gripping game on reflection. At the conclusion of Turn 2 the German position looked promising with the Allies struggling to exit the beach. The destruction of the anti-tank bunkers greatly aided the Allies from Turn 3, as did indifferent German defensive fire. The bomber certainly helped turn the tide too! All in all though we agreed a challenging and engrossing game for both of us!

Enjoying "The Favour of the 'Dice Gods'!"

Well, as you've no doubt already guessed, certainly that's unlikely to be yours truly! If you persevere and read on you'll see how and why...

As you might recall William was poorly and missed the planned Burma '43 Bolt Action game here in GHQ. As he's now as fit as a fiddle I arranged for a different game just between the two of us. William laid out the terrain from the stock in GHQ and provided all the vehicles and figures from his growing collection. Like many beginners I suspect his forces are over endowed with armour for now, but with careful encouragement that can be put right. For now its just important to enjoy what he likes and learn for himself. Anyway, the expected annotated photomontage carrying you down into the action ~

William's British at the conclusion of Turn 1. His Shermans advance, supported by his infantry squads. At this point I thought he might not have enough infantry as the terrain he chose lacked cover apart from the small woods. Silly me...

The German position at the end of Turn 1. Two Panzer IV's supported by infantry squads and the HQ advance rapidly on the bridge, while the sole Tiger with para support heads for the hill dominating the bridge. The Tiger has a chance to break down at the end of each Turn on a 1 on a Dx6. It survived Turn 1.

In Turn 2 the leading Panzer IV starts across the bridge. It comes under fire from the 6lb anti-tankgun, which in turn is under fire itself. In the distance British infantry debus from their lorry, leaving one private to man the bren gun! Oh dear, very Bolt Action that William!

Of course William gets the required die scores to hit and then penetrate the Panzer IV's armour. The result is the tank's destruction, blocking the bridge in the process too! In the foreground a Sherman and two squads make fir the dominant hill.

British infantry and a supporting Sherman take up position behind a light wood on the left flank, hoping to ambush the advancing Tiger and paras.

The leading para squad makes it onto the crest of the dominant hill, hoping to deny it to the British below. A second squad skirts the hill hoping to catch the British in the flank. The HMG team bring up the rear.

The Pak 40 team are working overtime trying to reduce the odds by knocking out the 6lb anti-tank gun and the Shermans, though with no luck to date. Both guns are the new plastic ones from Warlord Games and I was most impressed by them.

The surviving Panzer IV and its supporting infantry advance more cautiously on their left flank keeping in the cover provided by a hill and avoiding enemy fire. Loss of a second Panzer so soon would make it difficult. Once again the Tiger avoids breakdown as Turn 2 ends.

In Turn 3 the HMG team deploys alongside the Pak40 as the remaining Panzer IV, supported by two squadz advances on the British infantry.

The fighting to hold the crest of the dominant hill is unfolding in Turn 3. The Germans look to have the upper hand, although their lead squad suffers losses and a pin, as does one British squad.

The ambush is sprung on the leading para squad. Four men are lost and a pin acquired!

In Turn 4 the German paras are barely holding on to the crest of the dominant hill as two Shermans press home the British attack. The Tiger has no option but to join the struggle but in the process exposes its flank to the other Sherman!

On the other flank the British infantry squad is forced back by losses it can ill afford. But the German HMG team takes a loss and a pin, as does the Pak40.

In Turn 5 the Tiger is knocked out! Once again William the Dice Demon makes all the necessary throws in quick succession! The paras who have survived the assault have no recourse but to fall back.

It's clearly all up now for the Germans who have lost 7 of their 12 elements to the British 3 from 11! William's dice luck and winning streak against Grandad goes on!

It was fun for both of us of course, but the main thing is that William enjoys himself, but learns from the experience for his next game. Together with Phil the three of us will be gaming in GHQ next week(DV) for a 20mm D Day extravaganza!

Danish 12lbers

While I sorted out the missing/incorrect figures with Carol and Sam at Wargames Foundry I pressed on with painting two 12lb guns and crew figures for my small Danish contingent. To say that the colour combinations of the pieces and the gunners uniforms are garish is perhaps being mild, rather they evoke fairground rides in my mind. See what you think either way ~

One point of irritation with the packaging of the artillery crew figures might be of interest to readers. This venerable figure range predates the blistering of figures and clearly displays the weakness of the 'lump them in' approach, in that the eight figures' poses make it difficult to utilise all of them in two crews of four figures. I settled for one gun crew suggesting firing and the other suggesting repositioning after recoil from firing. The two figures left over I have combined with a spare sergeant figure for a third crew. I was going to order another 12lber from Foundry but I see Warfare Miniatures do a lovely period mortar, so I may order one of those, we shall have to wait and see where the muse leads me... 

In the meantime I've completed painting the figures for the first base of my third Danish infantry regiment. More on those will be shared with readers in due time of course. Meanwhile we are accommodating William and Emma for a couple of days so painting will slow to a snail's pace I expect... Not that I'm complaining I have to say!

"It Ain't Half Hot Phil!"

Despite the thermometer heading for the mid 30's here in GHQ Phil and I decided gamely to go ahead with this week's planned gaming session. Unfortunately William was poorly and couldn't join us but we decided to persevere with the Bolt Action Burma '43 game I had planned. The tabletop battlefield laid out thus in GHQ  ~

The objective for both sides is to seize and hold the bridge by the end of Turn 6. To spice up the unfolding action the entry point of each unit is diced for as its dice is drawn, 1 - 5 from left side to right, with a 6 being a no show. The whim of the 'dice gods' provided a challenging initial deployment for both sides in coordinating their struggle to achieve the objective. As you'd expect now, an anotated photomontage follows carrying you down into the unfolding drama of the action ~

The Vth Army Force sees its HQ, 3" Mortar and Gurkha PIAT enter the table on its far left and immediately advance towards the summit of the hills overlooking the bridge objective. 

The two sections of Gurkha infantry arrive on the far left and run along the road towards the bridge objective. 

In the centre their tank arrives along with three squads of British infantry. They make a Run move towards the ruined temple complex which overlooks the approach to the bridge objective. 

On their far right another squad and their HMG arrives and also make a Run move towards the other face of the temple ruin.

The Japanese on the other hand have the bulk of their force arrive towards the centre, handily placed to rush the bridge objective - if the 'dice gods' smile on them that is...

Rather less usefully their tankettes and light tank, accompanied by their anti-tank gun, arrive on their far right and advance mostly along the bank of the River.

In the set up I included a red dice which on being drawn conferred an optional double move on the unit whose dice proceeded it. The Vth Army's tank was the first beneficiary in Turn 2 using the bonus to reach the bend in the road to the front of the temple ruins.

The Japanese tankettes' advance is halted by a hit from the light howitzer hauled up onto the hill overlooking the approach to the bridge objective. This signalled the beginning of an artillery dual which lasted right through the game!

Meanwhile the first squads of Gurkhas has reached the approaches of the bridge objective. More Vth Army squads move along the river bank and along the road, someway behind the tank!

The Japanese leading squad reaches a wooded area beyond the temple ruin and takes up an Ambush position in Turn 3 to block the enemy movement around their flank. Other squads advance on the temple ruins in force. If they can beat the Vth Army to occupy the ruins that approach to the bridge objective will prove very costly.

The Japanese deploy their infantry gun and move their HQ into position to direct the attack. Two more squads are sent rushing forward to support the attack on the temple ruins.

The Japanese medium tank advances on the flank of that attack to engage the howitzer in support of its fellows on the opposite river bank.

On the Vth Army's left the support HMG and 3" mortar deploy to cover the Gurkha assault on the bridge while the PIAT moves into range to deter the Japanese armour's advance on the bridge objective. [Don't look for the PIAT, a MMG is playing the part!]

The Gurkha squad advancing on the bridge objective comes under fire from the Japanese infantry gun, loosing 2 men and picking up a Pin marker.

In the centre the Vth Army's squad is the lucky recipient of the Red Dice and its double move almost, but tellingly not quite, reaches the temple ruins. The tank is well placed to offer support.

In Turn 4 the Vth Army's HMG moves into position to cover an approach on the enemy's right while thec3" mortar puts down fire on the stalled tankettes.

One squad of Gurkhas take up position on the far side of the road while the second squad moves onto the bridge objective,  taking casualties and Pins in the process.

Japanese infantry emerge suddenly from the jungle and fire on the surprised Vth Army's leading squad! More casualties result, together with a Pin.

Despite the set back in the developing firefight around the temple ruins things look very promising for the Vth Army's cause as the tank crests the hill line overlooking the river and the bridge objective. It fires on the Unsuspecting Japanese medium tank, causing an adverse reaction. The tanknis immobilised! One threat to the Gurkha squads is effectively eliminated!

More Japanese infantry squads close on the enemy around the temple ruins. Banzai! The fighting in this area is intense but favours the bolder Japanese assault.

More Japanese infantry work their way around the Vth Army's flank. If they are successful they will sweep up on the unsuspecting centre and might yet win the game.

Despite the medium tank's demise Japanese infantry make a determined approach towards the bridge objective. The Gurkhas holding the far end of the bridge objective will be hard pressed to hold on.

The mixed body of Japanese armour on their left, along with the anti-tank gun are making slow headway on the Gurkhas defending their hold on the bridge objective and are coming under fire from front and flank. Their lack of infantry support is a further handicap. 

The PIAT opens fire on the lead tank in Turn 5. Boom!!! The tank is destroyed! It will be up to the tankettes now to sweep the Gurkhas away and support their infantry's attempt on the other side of the bridge objective. 

Banzai! The Japanese charge recklessly forward determined to halt the Vth Army's squads trying to occupy the temple ruins. The outcome is in their favour as the lead squad is wiped out!

More Japanes join the fighting around the temple ruins. Heavy firing continues from both sides around the bridge objective. The Gurkha squad on the bridge is driven back in Turn 5!

Turn 6 sees more intense combat around the temple ruins and an ultimately unsuccessful Japanese attack on the bridge objective. The tankettes are driven off and the Gurkha squad manages to get back onto the bridge. The result is a bloody win for the Vth Army.