My first game of Bolt Action this week was against Steve. It was the next scenario in the Western Desert Book, Gabr Saleh. In this the British were at a disadvantage at the start as they were firing in the direction of the setting sun so all shots were at long range. At the beginning of the game the Germans certainly were hitting the British. Unfortunately, the tanks proved invincible. They took pins but all passed their order checks. The only success the Germans had was to destroy a truck.
Towards the end of the game the Germans were down to just one tank. They were outnumbered. Despite pins on the 88mm and down to just half the crew the 88 caused the only tank kill. In the end with night falling it ended as a draw with both sides withdrawing. As ever, it was a very enjoyable evening and it is always fun to play Steve.
Lieutenant Rodchenko was feeling confident that he would finally intercept the Hungarian forces that had so far evaded his troops. His confidence was not misplaced a contingent of scouts had observed the enemy advancing on the hamlet of Kvrosky. Time was of the essence and he despatched both a rifle and NKVD squad to advance upon the nearest buildings while the medium mortar deployed in the rear. Unfortunately the Hungarians quickly reacted sending forward their own Troops and a Mortar.
It was the rifle squad that first felt the pain of the fascists artillery quickly decimating their ranks. On the left flank the stubborn NKVD troops occupied the building laying down some effective fire which halted the Magyar advance. Rodchenko knee that despite this success there were problems on the right flank and he was forced to call in his SMG squad to push back the advancing infantry. Before long the sustained advance combined with effective gunfire delivered success eliminating the advancing Hungarian squad. This was however at the cost of both the NKVD and Rifle squads and despite despatching another enemy squad to the afterlife the Soviet hero’s couldn’t breakthrough. There was but one further piece of drama to unfold as the Sonderkraftfahrzeug Half-track which had despatched the NKVD troops was apprehended by Rochenko’s SU152. Finally victory appeared to be within his grasp yet unbelievably the assault guns first shot failed to have any effect. The lumbering vehicle was now in the sights of the threatening flamethrower. The seconds ticked away as Roschenko felt the tide begin to turn. Yet miraculously the over confident Hungarians missed their target allowing the Assault gun to respond achieving a glancing shot. The Engagement had been drawn to a standstill and as darkness descended both sides began to withdraw ready to fight another day.
I have to thank Mick for this battle report.
SPQR is a new game published by Warlord Games. It is aimed at Warband level skirmishes in the Ancient world. Having read the rules it reminds me quite a bit of Warhammer Ancients, a system I played for many years. You build warbands alongside a leader.
The warband is made up of minions and heroes. One of the nice things about the rules is that it allows your heroes to progress. For the last year I have had some Celts languishing on the shelf for want of some paint.
The rules were a spur to get me going. So far I have painted up 20 warrior and 12 tribal levies with slings. I have Druid already painted, so I just need one more hero and I will have a start to take on some Romans.
Tall Tales from the Tabletop 