Bolt Action Firefight Game 1

All,

I can't even remember the last time I was able to say this, but... dice have been rolled, and a winner has been declared!  I set up the table Friday night; a 28mm table, for the first time ever and, quite frankly, I was a bit daunted.  Everything is pretty damned big.  I found myself thinking about unit density and frontages and how the heck do you do this without looking like a parade ground, and just kept adding more and more terrain to it, then thinking I want to add more but I need to buy/make more but maybe it's too much...  Lots of fretting how to go about doing this.  Rather than looking through rules and getting everything ready, I found myself sitting on the internet, looking at other people's Bolt Action tables, trying to make out if I was doing this right.  Not sure what all my trepidation was about, can't really explain it, just had a horrible feeling that everything was not right.  Even had a moment of panic, thinking "I'll just sell all this crap off, go back to 10mm" (which I'm still not convinced isn't the best idea, but anyways).

Saturday some unforeseen stuff popped up with the kids, so not really much time to ponder and fix the issue, or even to get ready for Sunday afternoon, which was the planned D-Day for finally getting a game in.  Sunday afternoon rolled around and I still hadn't gotten anything ready, was still sitting on the internet looking at Bolt Action, Battlegroup, and Chain of Command tables and scenarios, trying to figure out how to do this.  My intent was to umpire a game between my two sons (ages 15 and 10) using Bolt Action, at either platoon-reinforced level (as per usual with Bolt Action) or at company level (slightly modified).  I just wasn't feeling it, until I came across a skirmish version, called "Bolt Action Firefight!", which apparently started as a fan-driven thing but has now been embraced by Warlord Games, where they host the rules and various supplements on their website.

It was perfect; quick and easy, breezy, no headaches, no more overthinking, just throw a couple of squads on the table and let the boys go at it.  And it worked, a tremendous amount of fun was had by all, they quickly got the hang of it (well, not quickly, but they are knuckleheads, like their father), with an excess of trash talking.  We shall definitely do it again, but don't worry, it's not the destination, just a step on the path of getting up to platoon- or company level.

So, in honor of the 81st anniversary of D-Day, 6 June 1944, we played out a game set in Normandy, seeing my older boy running a squad of British Airborne troops running into a squad of German Landser run by my younger son.

I had set up the full 6' x 4' table on Friday but now, just running a squad vs squad action, I cut it down to a little corner of the table; too small, as it turned out.  What you're looking at is about 3' x 3', but in the event, the left-hand side of little swamp/pond at right top turned out to be the right boundary, so the actual fighting space was only about 32" x 22".  

The opposing forces, Germans at top and British on the bottom, with some casualty figures laid out on the right.  The squads are laid out to be about as even as they possibly could.  

The Germans have a squad leader with MP-40, an MG-42, two men with Stg-44s, one man with a G43, and five men with Mausers.  I gave the bolt action rifles one firing dice each, the G43 two, the Stg-44 and MP-40 three, and the MG-42 five.

Bolt Action Firefight is set up as a man-to man skirmish game, where each man (as opposed to each squad/weapon crew) has an orders dice in the bag, which you draw out and activate a man from the side represented by the pulled dice.  It's also got a cool mechanic for automatic weapons that allows you to use full firing dice on your first target, then shift to additional targets and keep rolling, losing a firing dice for each additional target.

First look at my German casualty figures.

The British have a section leader with Sten Gun, a trooper with Bren Gun, three more troopers with Sten Guns, and five troopers with Lee-Enfields.  I gave the bolt action rifles 1 firing dice each, the Sten Guns three dice, and the Bren gun four.

First look at my British Airborne casualty figures, so you finally get to see what my Red Devils would have looked like if I painted them with Contrast paints.  I think they look pretty cool.

Initial set up, with Brits at bottom right and Germans at top center/left.

Opposite view, Germans at bottom center/right, Brits at top left.

Too small a table, with too much open ground (between the buildings, no covered route to get at the enemy) to facilitate any real maneuver by the boys.  My fault...

And please forgive me, this isn't a real battle report; this was a learning game to get the boys into it and start figuring things out, so I didn't take hardly any photos, and there's not really a narrative.

At the end of the first turn, you can see each side has a man down, the Germans have a few pin markers (left center).  And you can see how this is shaping up, both sides scrambling to the wall and shooting it out.  The older boy, running the British, tried to maneuver a team of three guys (far right, in one of the fields) but, as you'll see, it didn't really amount to much.

Turn 2 saw the Germans unleash a helluva fusillade on the Brits, dropping the Bren gunner and his assistant, but a rifleman dashed forward, scooped up the gun, and returned fire...

Returning the favor on the German MG-42 team!

The end of Turn 2; bodies are stacking up at the wall.  The younger boy, running the Germans, makes no attempt at maneuver, it's just get to the wall pour fire into the enemy.  The older boy, running the Brits, is trying; he's got a submachine gunner up to the upper building and his Section Leader into a building (right center), and his three-man team is still pushing to the left flank (just off camera to far right).

I've done a good job; both boys are laser focused on keeping their machine gun in action.  I joked that they're not familiar with the tenets of Maneuver Warfare: we don't reinforce failure ;)

The Germans have the British main position in a crossfire and are just mowing the Red Devils down, but the Brits just keeping passing their Morale Tests.

As a matter of fact, only one Morale or Orders Test was failed the whole game.

When one of the British submachine gunners (bottom center, with Section Leader in building, above him) hopped the wall and opened fire on the German MG position...

The ensuing casualties forced the Germans to take a Morale Test, which they promptly failed!

I must admit, the youngster was feeling a bit hard done by after knocking so many Brits out of the fight and still losing the game 'on a technicality,' as he keeps putting it, and it's not helped by the older boy continuing to talk trash to him, but ultimately they both had a great time and want to do it again.

Some thoughts:

-Need a little bit bigger table with more cover to facilitate more maneuver

-I figured out that I screwed up the Orders Tests and Morale Tests, making them too easy to pass, so I'll fix that.

-I was thinking that the game was pretty bloody, that it was probably too easy to take out guys in hard cover, but now I'm not so sure.  We're talking about twenty guys blazing away at each other with modern, high-velocity weapons at point-blank range.  People are going to go down.

-The game took almost two hours!  I had planned on playing a series of three fights, but we only played one because (I moped around until late, not getting things ready, and) it took so long.  Some of it was due to it being our first game, where even I didn't fully understand the rules, and some of it was the boys overthinking things, measuring things five different ways, etc...  I love the fact they were examining things in depth, so I don't want to push them too much, but I was pushing the idea that this is a fast-paced firefight, so we've got to keep things moving.  I'm honestly wondering if I need a punch-clock, and if you don't get your move in on time you forfeit that activation.  It could be fun ;)

Lots of fun, and we can't wait to get back to it.  Now that baseball season is over, we might even get in a weeknight game.

V/R,
Jack

Battle of the Bulge Campaign, Fight #2

All,

0600-1400 local time
16 December 1944
Hosingen, Belgium
US 110th Regiment, 28th Infantry Division vs 77th Regiment, 26th Volksgrenadier Division

Here we are for the second fight of our 'Battle of the Bulge" campaign.  The first fight saw German paratroopers move up and toss the US Cavalrymen out of Losheim, and now we've got a pack of Volksgrenadiers looking to do the same to a bunch of Pennsylvanians in Hosingen!  In an attempt to speed the game up a bit I have changed the force structure: instead of each stand/vehicle being a game 'element,' now each group of stands (representing a platoon) is an element.  For example, the US has seven platoons comprised of 21 stands; instead of 21 game elements we have only seven, which I'm hoping will substantially shorten the game time.  Additionally, instead of using Bolt Action's 'dice draw' method for activation we are using 5Core's activation rolls (with normal, scurries, and firefights).  EDIT: It didn't help...

The campaign map, with the explosion at right bottom showing where this fight is occurring.

Overview, north is up.  Another flat map, with a river running roughly east/west, paralleled by roads in the north and south, until they run into Hosingen itself.  Lots of thick woods to the east, with a couple buildings in the southeast (bottom right), and some stone walls in the fields at center and bottom left.  Hosingen is a substantial village, severely bombed out (maybe not in real life, but all the buildings in my campaign are bombed out).

Looking south to north at Hosingen, with its bridge.

The northern sector of Hosingen.

The southern sector of Hosingen.

The German baseline.

Looking west down the road into Hosingen.

The opposing forces, with Americans on the left and Germans on the right.

The US force consists of three rifle platoons, a machine gun platoon, a mortar platoon, an anti-tank gun (ATG) platoon, and a platoon of M4 Shermans, along with their commander, Lt Col Scranton.

The German force consists of four rifle platoons, a machine gun platoon, a mortar platoon, two assault gun platoons (Stug IIIs with long 75mm guns), and their commander, Major Schnitzel.

The American deployment.  A little off, to me, but I let the boy roll with what he wanted to do, albeit with some "are you sure that's what you want to do?"  He is definitely my progeny, gotta learn everything the hard way.  It's okay; part of why I agreed to let him be the Americans was the knowledge that the Americans are supposed to lose the first few rounds of games, and then get stronger and begi, winning, so he's got sort of a built-in grace period.

Anyway, his 1st Platoon is on the far left (top left), with the ATG Platoon to their right and the Tank Platoon on the road backing them up, while his MG Platoon occupies the 2-story building at far left.  South of the river, the US 2nd Platoon is just kinda hanging out on the road at center bottom, while 3rd Platoon has occupied positions behind a stone wall at right top and the Mortar Platoon has set up in some walled fields at bottom right.

I'm not happy with him putting his 1st and 2nd Platoons out in the open (and told him so), and I wish I'd have shrunk the Tank Platoon's footprint a bit by using only three Shermans vice four.

The German deployment, which is pretty much just a jail break to get across the open ground and into the town as quickly as humanly possible.  No finesse here, just hey-diddle-diddle, straight up the middle.  The German MG Platoon is ensconced in the trees/buildings ont he far left (bottom right), with the Mortar Platoon set up in a clearing across the river (top right).  The infantry platoons are in skirmish line (1st, 2nd, and 3rd from bottom to top), with 4th Platoon in behind them (right).  1st Stug Platoon is on the road (bottom right) and 2nd Stug Platoon is in the fields further north, backing up the right-hand German infantry.

I thought about allowing the Germans to have a flank deployment in the north, where the road comes in from off map, but it felt like cheating, so I just stuck to a 'normal' deployment.

And with that, the Germans begin pushing forward on a broad front.

On the US side, Col Scranton pushes the Tank Platoon left.  Major Schnitzel quietly wonders if the Americans are going to push for the far end of the table, going after the German mortars.

As the US Mortar Platoon (bottom left) goes to work, targeting the left end of the German line (top right).

The German 4th Platoon (far right) is shattered, and 1st Platoon is suppressed by the deadly mortar barrage!!!

The German mortars (far right) respond...

Falling short of the US ATG Platoon...

The 1st Stug Platoon (bottom center) engages the US ATG Platoon (off camera to top left), suppressing them, as Major Schnitzel moves over to rally 1st Platoon (center bottom).

The German 2nd and 3rd Platoons advance in the north (top center), attracting the attention of the US 3rd Platoon (bottom left).

Col Scranton rushes forward to rally the ATG Platoon.

Which promptly opens fire (bottom left) on the German 1st Stug Platoon (top right).

While the US mortars (bottom left) keep working...

Though this time their rounds fall long.

And then the US machine guns (bottom let) get in on the action, firing on the German right (top center).

To which the German MG Platoon (bottom right) responds (the US MG Plt is in the 2-story building at top left).

The German mortars continue firing on the US ATG Platoon, but they're still short!

But the German 1st Stug Platoon (bottom center right) has a good look at them (top left)...

And the US Anti-Tank Platoon is knocked out, while Colonel Scranton (bottom center) and the Tank Platoon are suppressed!

Major Schnitzel moves right and rallies 2nd Platoon.

And then they, accompanied by 3rd Platoon and 2nd Stug Platoon, push west.

The US 2nd Platoon, still chilling in the street (bottom center), opens fire on the advancing Germans (top center).

And the US mortars (bottom left, with 2nd Platoon above them) continue firing on the Germans in the north (top center right).

But they just can't seem to connect!  The rounds splash down in the same spot as their previous sheaf; looks like someone forget to adjust ;)

*Just kidding, of course, just horrible die rolls for shooting.

The US MG Platoon (bottom left) continues firing on the advancing German infantry (top right)...

And the German MG Platoon (bottom right) continues laying into them (top center).

As Colonel Scranton and the Tank Platoon rally.

But the Germans (bottom center)have spotted the US 2nd Platoon (top center) in the street and open fire, suppressing them.

And while the German 1st Platoon moves up (bottom center) and fires on the US 3rd Platoon (behind wall at top left)...

The real damage is done by the German Mortar Platoon (bottom right), targeting the US defenders (top left)...

Knocking out the US 3rd Platoon!

The German 1st Stug Platoon is pinned, but manages to spot the US MG Platoon (2nd story at top center left) and fires, suppressing them.

But Colonel Scranton is Johnny on the spot (far left), and he immediately rallies the US MG Platoon.

And they (bottom left) quickly put their guns back to work on the German infantry (top right).

As do the US mortars (bottom left)...

And the combined MG and mortar fire finally yields results, knocking out the German 2nd Platoon, suppressing the 3rd, and pinning the 2nd Stug Platoon!

The German MG Platoon (bottom right) continues working on the US MG Platoon (top left), but it's just so hard getting anything accomplished against the Yankees in the thick stone building.

*A point I was sure to make to my son, who left two platoons in the open...

2nd Stug Platoon (bottom right)< though pinned, kept firing into the town...

As Major Schnitzel gets to work, moving to rally his men under heavy fire.

The German 3rd Platoon rallies and gets moving forward, crossing the stone wall and reaching the edge of the wood, where it meets the river.

The US MG Platoon is pinned (bottom left), meaning they can shoot but not move, which is not a big deal, so Colonel Scranton leaves them and moves south (he's on the right end of the bridge, at center), trying to reach the beleaguered 2nd Platoon (far right), suppressed in the street.

*This would prove to be unfortunate for the boy; having the river splitting his defense in two was bad enough, but I'd warned him about maintaining his focus.  His MG Platoon, his Tank Platoon, and an as-yet unengaged rifle platoon is all on his left, where the commander just left, and, understandably, his focus of effort is o his left, but he just moved his commander across the river, where he won't be able to support that effort.

The US mortars (bottom left) now shifts fire to engage the southern German pincer (top right)...

But the rounds are short (left, blending in with the trees).

As the US Tank Platoon dashes left and pulls up, engaging the German 3rd Platoon (in trees at far right).

They (top center left) are suppressed, but Major Schnitzel (bottom right) immediately rallies the 2nd Stug Platoon and sends them forward (far left), where they get 3rd Platoon back in the fight.

The Stugs can't see past the treeline to engage the US tanks (off camera to far right), so they lay into the US 2nd Platoon, still foundering in the street (top center left).

And forcing them to fall back (bottom left, from explosion at far right), as Colonel Scranton (top right) looks on.

In the south, the German 1st Stug Platoon gets back on the road and pushes west.

And the German Mortar Platoon (bottom right) fires on the US Tank Platoon (top left), hoping to suppress them...

But the 80mm HE rounds are a bit off target and only manage to pin the American tanks.

The US tanks don't have a clear shot at the Stugs but fire anyway, hoping to suppress them.

As the US Mortar Platoon (bottom left) also engages the German northern pincer, which has almost reached the town.

And the fire is effective, suppressing the German infantry.

As Colonel Scranton moves up and rallies 2nd latoon.

*But will it matter?  The point of decision appears to be north of the river.

As his counterpart, Major Schnitzel, moves up to rally his troops on the northern pincer.

The German 3rd Platoon immediately moves north, up to the riverbank...

Where they engage the US Tank Platoon with Panzerfausts and their Panzerschreck, to no effect.

Th German southern pincer gets on the road and pushes west at all speed.

The US mortars (bottom left) continue engaging the German northern pincer (top right), as Colonel Scranton (far left, with 2nd Platoon), looks on helplessly...

But the mortar rounds are off target and have no effect!

Colonel Scranton, realizing his tanks (top right) and MG Platoon (far left) are engaged north of the river, and his 1st Platoon is sitting idle (top center) north of the river, fires up the jeep and begins moving that way (on bridge at center, from bottom left).

*Will he make it in time to influence the fight?  I can almost guarantee you the 2nd Platoon (bottom left) will have little to no impact on the overall fight...

The German armor pushes forward, entering Hosingen, without their infantry, which could be a big mistake! 

Colonel Scranton is back on the north side of the river, and he stops by to rally his MG Platoon.

As the US 2nd Platoon moves up, into defensive positions on the southern side of the river (bottom right), licking their chops at the idea of getting at the German armor (top right) in the cramped streets of Hosingen.

The Germans are undaunted, however, and push even deeper into Hosingen (top left) as they bring their infantry up as quickly as possible.

The 2nd Stug Platoon manages to spot the US infantry of the 2nd Platoon in the buildings and opens fire with their 75mm guns at point-blank range...

Blasting the poor doughboys out of their recently-assumed positions.

*I had really struggled over whether to even give the Stugs a kill dice, or only shock dice, but I gave them one, figuring it was reasonable since they were at point-blank range.  Of course they roll a kill on their one kill dice...

Having blasted the GIs south of the bridge (the US Mortar Platoon is still down there, off camera to bottom center, but no more maneuver elements), the 2nd Stug Platoon hangs a right and begins crossing the river.

But, as 2nd Stug Platoon crosses the bridge (far left), it is 1st Stug Platoon (bottom left) that will administer the coup de grace.  The German assault guns sight in and fire on the US Tank Platoon (top right)...

Target eliminated.

Colonel Scranton (right) looks on as the remnants of his shattered battalion fall back, ending the game.

So, the GIs of the 110th were forced to fall back, leaving Hosingen to the Landser of the 77th Regiment.  We are sticking with the 28th Infantry Division for the next fight, which is between that division's 112th Regiment, facing off against Kampfgruppe Cochenhausen, 2nd Panzer Division.

A fun game, but more mistakes from the young man, mostly having to do with deployment.  He correctly realized the direct-fire threat posed by the German Stugs and MG Platoon, finally telling me it was the reason he  placed his 1st and 2nd Rifle Platoons back (though he left the 3rd Platoon up in the line), and I had a long talk about placing outposts to serve as spotters for indirect fire (his mortar platoon, in this case), but then using the rest of his force in a 'reverse slope' defense concept, leaving the outer layer of buildings undefended and allowing the Germans to penetrate the city before engaging at point-blank range, where his infantry would stand a chance against the German armor.  I didn't have a good answer for how to make best use of the attached tank platoon; there just really wasn't a good spot for them to be able to use long range fire and their mobility to affect the fight in the town.  Perhaps the best use of the US Tank Platoon was to dig them into hull down positions and turn them into 75mm pillboxes, but that just runs so counter to everything I believe about tactics, and you see how long the US ATG Platoon lasted...

And the rules didn't really work any faster, still about 2 1/2 hours, which is really challenging my little monkeys' endurance.  I'm not sure how to make these fights go faster, and even if I can, how long does a game need to last to justify setting up a 6' x 4' table  That's another part of the equation that's been eating at me.  It's one thing to set up a 2' x 2' or 3' x 3' table and play an hour long game, a 6' x 4' table seems to... demand a bit more of a commitment ;)  Which is also making this giant campaign that much more daunting...

Anyway, fight number three coming soon.

V/R,
Jack