651 - Bolt Action - Heer Vs RM Commando, 1000pts

Evening, All,

Well, rather pleasingly, the other day I got to visit my old pal Mattenbury at his swanky new crib for a game of Bolt Action - and it was a really fun game!

View from my edge

I'll keep this short, as the photos didn't come out brilliantly: 1000pts - 'Meeting Engagement' - six turns - Mattenbury's gorgeous Commandos (who beat me soundly the last time we met) and my Heer, but with no Panzer for a change! Oh, and a complete German victory!

Mattenbury's Commandos

The end of turn 1: "Advance!"

Things started well enough for the Brits, but they were more cautious than I anticipated, and in the time it took them to edge round the scenery, I was able to drag my Mausers and MG42s into position and meet the brave Toms with a hail of lead.

Beside the blue order die, you might
just be able to discern the shadowy
shape of the ambushing team with
their Panzerschreck - the trap is sprung!

The aftermath of the artillery strike

In the end, for no losses (although two of my units had taken a good battering!) Mattenbury's Commandos were left with this:

• Captain and Comd Section: whittled-down by fire then died assaulting my inexperienced Luftwaffe Field Division;
• 1 Section: flamed and whittled-down to last three men, surrounded by Germans;
• 2 Section: alive, but reduced, and facing the centre of the German line; 
• 3 Section: blown apart entirely by Nebelwerfer;
• Crusader AA: blown apart entirely by the same Nebelwerfing;
• AEC Mk.III: blown apart by a flanking Panzerschreck;
• Sniper: alive and useless (AKA, 'sniper');
• 2" Mortar: alive and very annoying;
• Medic: alive and useless (AKA, 'medic');
• Artillery observer: alive and redundant (AKA, 'post-fire mission FOO');
• 25pdr: blown apart by my medium mortar.

  

  On my left, these buggers get closer...

  

  ...so these guys fire...

...Ka-BOOM!

The empty left flank shortly thereafter.

At this point, almost all the action shifted to the space in front of the building on my right, where the Commando attack was finally arriving: to support the besieged Heer occupants, my flamethrower and Luftwaffe Field Division squad jumped aboard the Hanomag (not a swift sequence in Bolt Action) and sped over, arriving just in time to make just enough of a difference!

The final scene on the right.

Where I suffered most was from the free FOO's artillery strike (which 'missed', but didn't scatter very far), from the blasted AA Crusader, and from MY OWN UNIT which, whilst bravely holding the right flank from within the building, rolled a "FUBAR" and let rip a hail of bullets into the LW Field Division troops! Rats!

This was a really very fun game indeed, an Mattenbury very much remains one of my favourite opponents. Hooray!

- Drax

650 - Konflikt '47!

Hullo, All.

I finally got to give Warlord Games' Konflikt '47 a go last week, with Guy, and it was good fun!

For those of you less au fait with K47, it's essentially a 'weird war' version of the Bolt Action game, set in an alternative 1947 wherein each of the major belligerents has been developing new powers...either through technology, genetic adaptation or through the very very dark end of 'science'.

We played 1000pts just to give us a taste, and inevitably blundered through a few of the rules as we went - it's pretty much a halfway house between the two editions of Bolt Action with a few extra rules (and new toys!) so we had to be careful of 2nd edition habits and assumptions!

I shan't go through lists or missions or anything (because I lack the details) but here's the gist...

My fun toys included a Tesla Cromwell, a HUGE walker with a medium AT gun, an Automated Bren Carrier, and a small unit of war dogs. The Germans had some zombies, some TERRIFYING werewolves, a flamey-spider-walky-thingy and some armoured infantry, and we were playing 'capture the flag'.

We fought to a draw - with both sides defending well but getting slaughtered in attack - and it was a really fun game: quite eye-opening!

Pics and comments follow:

The Brits. The Tesla Cromwell is here
played by... a normal Cromwell.

"Brains!"

My walker. Bulky fella, but unlucky.
He got one good-idh hit on the StuG
before getting pinned, immobilised,
and fausted.

Flamey-spider-walky-thingy flamed my Cromwell,
which survived, and AS A REACTION shot back and
destroyed it. Yay!

I hadn't quite fully realised that the Hanomag speeding toward me
was full of these blasted werewolves - there were five of them to
start with, but luckily some withering musketry whittled them down
to just one... 

...who was still susceptible to the cold steel!

And the last of the zombies falls at my home objective

The line is held - just.

It was a good fun game - I particularly enjoyed all the different 'reactions' units can take when FIRED on and the fact that the new units and weapons aren't particularly overpowered... I look forward to playing it again!

- Drax

649 - 3,7 cm PaK 36 auf Selbstfahrlafette Bren(e)

Wotcha.

I finally finished this beauty last night: very happy with it, too!

It's a 3,7 cm PaK 36 auf Selbstfahrlafette Bren(e) - a German conversion of a captured Bren Carrier, and - rather pleasingly - it's made from (further converted from!) a complete conversion kit that Warlord Games actually sells!

Yay! More Brens!

- Drax.