Bolt Action was the flavour of choice this week.
Von Dallas and I would command zee Germans, whilst Big Lee and Paulski would command a mixed force of Americans and Russians. 500pts each.
German forces...
Me -
2nd Lt + friend
2x 8 Man Squads with smg & lmg (Regular)
Wirbelwind :-)
Von Dallas -
2nd Lt + friend
2 Volksgrenadier squads
Marder (Irregular)
Kubelwagen
Mortar (Irregular)
The Allies had loads of stuff and plenty of free stuff. Too much to list out here ;-)
Lists were checked and corrected after discovery of some addition errors (dodgy American calculators). Russians played for time with list building on arrival (late arrival I might add....).
But then it was time to Rock and Roll!
Table set-up... absolutely impressive!
For some reason... I chose Double Envelopment as the mission, i.e. most VP's available for getting units off your opponents table edge. Possibly not the best choice....
Anyway. Forces deployed and the advance began.
Shots are fired. The Marder gets pinned by a Halftrack. Allies hide in their deployment zone. The Germans do what Germans do best - advance aggressively.
So much so that the Russians advance, prevaricate and then decide to hide.....
But the poor Kubelwagen bites the dust first.
Germans and Americans play peek-a-boo....
The Americans shoot. The Germans assault.... with a predictable result.
American reprisals are brutal.....
At least the Wirbelwind gets to say hello...
And the M8 Greyhound finally stirs the Russians in action by leading the advance..... only to block the gate...
Meanwhile.... the USAF carries out a quick recon flight (original target had been destroyed so air strike is lost) and the Marder takes a shot at the American Commander.
Only to be blown up by bits of fluff... whoops, sorry, I mean panzerfausts.
German forces control the right flank. The only thing holding up the Russian onslaught on the left is a mortar, 1 pinned squad in ambush and my Commander. Things are not looking good...
The USAF returns to make an actual strafing run this time, but seems the smoke obscured something...
The P-47 never stood a chance at such close range.
By now though, it's pretty much turn 6 and German forces on the right have decimated most Allied units that are visible. Only thing left to do is depart to secure victory points.
A few units still stand in the way of the Russians...
But they don't last long.
All that needs to happen now is to ensure the end of the battle by rolling 4+....
Von Dallas steps up.
Von Dallas needs to be shot.
There will be one more turn.
Which turns a draw into a victory for the Allies as Russian forces can move into or off our deployment zone without impede.
Overall a close game, but being outnumbered always meant the Germans would be on the back foot for most of the game. Ok.... so we did take a few vehicles in 500pt lists, but they look cool :-)
The Wirbelwind was a mixed bag and a big points sink for this size game. Still it fun to finally field it. Especially when it brutally destroyed one unit in a building (broken much!?). Although, I had just retribution when firing it next turn....eight 1's or 2's... :-(
Dallas' little experiment of Irregular was interesting. The Volksgrenadiers proved quite effective and would be interesting to see them in a larger game mixed with more Regular or Veteran troops. The Irregular Marder... well not such a good idea.
Still, all good fun. Great company, but went well past my bedtime! Am looking forward to the re-match already.
