I had an FTX weekend recently, and got in a pick up game of Bolt Action with my buddy Andy. We wanted to play with the big toys, so we each ran one armored and one infantry platoon, in a modified version of the second mission Jud had for tank battles at Cold Wars. It used three objectives, strung out down the diagonal center line. At Cold Wars, forces came on within 12" of opposing table corners, but we adjusted this to 24". It worked really well, and we will get the mission up soon so everyone can enjoy it.
German Army
Armored Platoon (Regulars)
1 x Command Panzer III J
2 x Panzer III J
1 x 88
1 x Prime Mover
Infantry Platoon (Regulars)
1 x HQ 1st Lieutenant (3 men)
1 x FOA
2 x 10 man Heer squad (1 x LMG, 1 x SMG)
1 x 9 SS (5x Assault Rifles) (Vets)
Medium Mortar + spotter
MMG
Truck
Russian Army
Armored Platoon
1 x Command T-34/76
1 x T-34/76
1 x KV-1
1 x SU-85
Infantry Platoon
HQ Senior Lieutenant (2 men)
1 x FOA
3 x 11 man rifle squad (1 x SMG, 1 x LMG)
1 x 12 man Free Squad
1 x MMG w/ gun shield
1 xATR
1 x Heavy Mortar
Truck
Sumer 1943
Soviet and German armor meet near a small hamlet
The Soviet armor flag for infantry support
Tank engage at closer range, shots bouncing off of armor
More Soviet infantry arrive to support the attack
As mortar shells fall all around the 88 gets some shot in
The Russian armor takes cover inside the buildings
The KV-1 is destroyed by the 88, but the SU-85 shows up to save the day
The Red Horde moves down the road
German tank fire immobilize a T-34
Russian troops exchange fire with Germans
Russian ATR takes pot shots at a Panzer III
The German juggernaut rolls forward
The fire from the burning KV-1 illuminates the battlefield
The Panzer IIIs position themselves to cover the advancing German infantry
German heavy mortar hits the 88, but only kills three crewmen
Fight continues on the German right flank
The SU-85 continues to engage the Panzers
Soviet infantry make a move for the center objective
A second mortar round silences the dreaded 88
German armor move up with German infantry mounted in trucks in the rear. Taking advantage of a sweet opportunity the Russians call in an artillery strike on the armor and trucks.
However... the Russian artillery misses and lands on top of their advancing troops. This takes out a tank and pins the rest of the troops into submission.
Finally the SU-85 takes out a Panzer III
German mortar fire splats the Soviet infantry
Seizing the moment German infantry dismount and advance into the village
These German Panzers take one of the objectives
Soviet infantry move up and take cover behind the wreck of the KV-1
They then launch an assault against Germans in the hut. Both sides are killed to the man.
The command T-34 moves on the Germans
The Soviet senior lieutenant sprays the Germans with SMG fire
The Germans have a solid hold on the center objective
A last minute shot from the SU-85 immobilized another Panzer III.
We had a great time playing this game. I really liked playing with a tank and an infantry platoon side by side. We had a reasonable number of activation dice, and there was no delay in game play. We did mess up on a few things. For instance, for some reason at the beginning of the game we both were moving our tanks 12" instead of 9". This allowed them to close range rather quickly. However, we both did it so, oh well.
The mission was a lot of fun. I really like playing diagonally. It gave the tanks more range to engage the enemy. The deployment adjustment to 24" from the table corner from 12" was also nice. Troops were not as bunched up at the beginning of the game and there was still plenty of fighting over the objectives.
