First Game of Bolt Action

Last Wednesday night I was lucky enough to have Man Cave Paul and Ian from War and Peace Games come over to the Duchy for a game of Bolt Action. Paul and I had never played before, so Ian was kind enough to talk us through a demo game using my Brits and his Germans on Ian's lovely terrain.

Before getting started we had a great dinner of roast beast, courtesy of the Duchess, along with a great bottle of French white wine Paul brought along. This was a bottle with a history, being sent over to his ship (HMAS Newcastle) by the captain of FS Somme, a French tanker, during a Replenishment at Sea off Somalia.

'Arrr. If only it be rum.'


Paul wrote up an AAR of our game, in which he was kind enough not to gloat at the drubbing he inflicted on my Brits. Take it away Paul:

Late War Brits attacked a small German held village, somewhere in Western Europe...

Alan's Brits had:

Entering from the left:
1st LT
2 10 man Inf Squads with Bren Gun
1 FO
1 6pdr AT gun
1 light mortar




Entering from the right:
1 vet para Squad with Bren
1 vet PIAT
1 medic
1 Centaur (proxied by my Churchill


Paul's Germans had
2LT
3 x 5 man squads, each with MG42, MP40, AR and 2 Riflemen
1 x 3 man tripod mounted MG42 team

1 sniper team
Pz III
2 special figs the Brits wanted - 1 to kill, 1 to capture

I was in a line deployment, starting hidden
Left - MMG team and 1 squad in buildings

Centre - 1 squad and 1 special fig, sniper in church tower (compulsory spot!)
Right - 1 Squad in Building
Pz III in light woods next to building

Alan's pre game bombardment was effective so I started with a bunch of pins on squads. On the right the Brit Paras got bogged down across the road from the building the Jerries occupied and they got hosed by that squad and the PZIII's MGs turn after turn until there was only 3 men left with 6 pins on them. In return the Centaur blasted the building and killed the squad, which was then heroically defended solely by the German Officer - give that man an Iron Cross!

On the Left the German MMG team was suffering from the pins and the British inf sections moved up nicely using cover. As soon as they broke cover to rush the building the Germans on that flank passed all their tests and in a withering crossfire whittled the lead section down to 3 men in a single turn. The second Brit supporting section then wiped out the German MMG team before they could relocate. The German squad then focused on the Brit 6pdr, which was taking ineffective long range shots over the whole length of the table at the Pz IIIs flank, and wiped it out.

The German sniper in the church tower didn't get any spectacular successes, but removed a few figs and added a lot of pins. This rattled the Brits so their FO brought down a barrage onto the building. Lots of pins, no KIA.

As we ran out of time, the Centaur tried to rush forward but was caught by the Pz III which took an effective flanking shot, set the British tank on fire and its crew bailed out. The British infantry on the left were poised to try and rush the Church with their last Squad (minus 2 figs, incl the Bren), while the Germans still had 2 full 5 man teams, the sniper and a Pz III. Brits conceded at that point.



Brits Lost- Piat, Mortar, 6 pdr, Centaur (and lots of Inf but no full squads). Germans Lost- MMG team and 1 Infantry Squad.

A fun game indeed. Alan and I both found the Bolt Action system easy to pick up, and quick to play. A few abstractions were curious but reult in fast play and I loved the alternate activation system which has both players involved in the games the whole time.

Thanks Paul, I'll take it from here. Like Paul said, we had a great time. Bolt Action seems like a fun game to play with mates. I think I'm likely to engage more with Chain of Command (which I can't wait to play), but the great thing is that painting up a little force allows you to play both!

Typically, my Brits were hammered as it was their first outing, and I felt particularly bad about the lovely squad of Paras Tamsin painted for me, who charged into position behind a hedge and spent the rest of the game getting systematically shot up by every German in sight. Sorry Tamsin!





Thanks heaps to Paul for a great game, and particularly to Ian for being such a good teacher. Buy stuff from him - he 's an excellent bloke.

Dux actual out.

Mission Accomplished!

I set myself the task of clearing my painting tray before Christmas, and 'tis done.

First up, I've had these markers sitting around half finished for over a year - they are for use in Basic Impetus (to show the current VBU of a unit) and for showing Fatigue in SAGA.

I've also had a few figures waiting to complete my British Bolt Action force. Firstly, a 6pdr from Warlord Games...

...and a Sergeant, Lieutenant and stretcher bearer. The Officer came with a peaked cap, but in the interests of not giving every Jerry sniper in Normandy an inviting target I replaced it with a helmeted head from the Warlord set of plastic Tommies. I had run out of decals for the shoulder insignia of all these figures, so the divisional patch for the Tyne and Tees is painted on.

Look at this! Empty, virginal... just waiting for more figures to be assembled and undercoated. And I have two projects in particular in mind. One is Project Kursk, and the other something new...

Note the bloke on the left in awe at the empty tray.

Merry Christmas to you all. It has been a great hobby year, made even greater by all your feedback and encouragement, and by seeing all the inspiring games and models being played and made around the globe. This is my 201st post, which seems a fitting milestone of sorts. Hooray for the hobby, stay safe and enjoy the week coming up with those you love.

British Heavy Metal

It has been a grim week in the Duchy. Not only was I attacked by zombies earlier in the week, but nearly the whole family has had a vile gastro virus thingy. The only person immune has been the boy twin (Assault) who has spent the last couple of days jumping on and trying to rumble a group of largely comatose suffering lumps. Thank god for TV. I even watched Mary Poppins for the first time and quite enjoyed it. Who knew that chimney sweeps had such a great time of it? And what the hell accent was Dick van Dyke attempting?

In moments of lucidity I have been able to chip away at a few painting projects, and managed to finish my Bolt Action Churchill. I quite like it, but then I love Churchill tanks. It is supposed to be a tank from C Squadron of the Coldstream Guards, all of which were named after famous ships in the Royal Navy.

As I said in an earlier post, I like the model, but was a bit annoyed to find the towing cable on the left side partly miscast, and the towing hook at the front missing.

Here it is with some support from the Durham Light Infantry...

And with some of Tamsin's Finest.

British Radio Operator for Bolt Action

The good people at War and Peace Games are having a painting competition on their Facebook page at the moment for either a single Space Marine (whatever they are) or single Bolt Action mini. Here's my effort - a Tommy carrying a No. 38 radio.

This is the first figure I've painted in about 15 years where I've focused on a single figure rather than painting a batch for wargaming. The close up reveals a few dodgy bits, but I'm generally reasonably happy with my attempt to add several layers of highlights, rather than just the one I usually use for my 'wargames standard.' I was also pretty happy with how the face and eyes turned out, although you can't see them due to the shadowing of the helmet. Doh!

Right, back to the Romano-British...

Fifty Shades of Brown: WWII Brits for Bolt Action

I've been inspired by the new Bolt Action rules from Warlord Games and Osprey to paint up the first WWII figures I've done in years, and my first 28mm WWII ever.

I basically went for a very simple approach with these chaps, using minimal highlighting and not even bothering painting their eyes (!!). What you are looking at is a complete box of Warlord Bolt Action WWII Tommies, and I must say I was incredibly impressed with the figures. One box gives enough figures for two 10 man sections (including a Bren gunner and a corporal with a Sten), a two man PIAT team, a two man 2 inch mortar team and a 2nd Lieutenant. The figures fit together beautifully and were a pleasure to paint.

One choice I did have to make painting them was how to paint their webbing. The temptation is to go with sand or canvas coloured webbing, for example as Warlord have done with the painted figures on their website. This looks great, achieving a nice contrast with the khaki uniforms. Unfortunately this is inaccurate for NW Europe in 1944-5, as webbing was always coated with blanco in one of several shades of green or greeny-grey. I've gone for what I hope is a more realistic approach, somewhat at the expense of aesthetics.

As for the Bolt Action rules, I have had a good read through and I think they will probably be huge. The rulebook is beautifully presented and well laid out, clearly explaining the game step by step. Indeed, it may be the clearest set of rules I've ever read. My interest in the game is to find something that will work for the school club, giving a good game in an hour and a half or so and serving to introduce some aspects of the historical period. I think Bolt Action might fit the bill.

Next up: Romano-Brits for Dux Britanniarum!