Mega Bolt Action Game: German Preparations

By Leutnant James:
The German defenders were still reeling from the bombardments of Operation Goodwood and the shock of being invaded when we began to formulate our battle plan for the defence of Sannerville. Our intrepid leader Hauptman Litchfield set out his broad intent several days prior to the day of battle, involving decisive assaults by his flame thrower equipped Fallschirmjaeger, and combining the might of our Tiger tank and Panzer IV-H on the right flank. We were sure the British would bring lots of artillery, and so made sure we deployed with a minimum amount so that the worse would be over prior to our reserves arriving.

My list consisted of 4 squads of infantry (2 Regs, 2 Vets), sniper, light mortar, an off table artillery FO, a Pz IV-H tank and a medic with two assistants (toting assault rifles..totally historical)

I deployed 1 squad of regs, the medic, sniper, light mortar and the FOO on the table at the start, with the FOO taking up residency in the top of the ruined cathedral bell tower. My plan was to bring in arty as soon as I could to disrupt the initial allied thrust, hopefully causing them to bottleneck right from the start and waste precious time re-organising. Meanwhile my veterans and the Panzer would sweep in from the right flank to disrupt their assault on the cathedral and maybe get a flank shot in on any tanks. Given that Paul was more than likely going to bring his newly painted Churchill, a flank shot was my best chance....

Meanwhile the Fallschirmjaeger would deploy to the left flank, with Hauptman Litchfield's lads securing the Manor, and Leutnant Sunley holding the centre , his Tiger assigned to dominating the road into town.
To the rousing tunes of 'Panzerlied' (courtesy of my iPad), the German defenders raced to their defensive positions, the distant rumble of British tanks providing the impetus.....and then the whistle of British shells began.....

Mega Bolt Action Game: British Preparations

As the 3 v 3 mega game (see here and here) has just kicked off, I can now revel the cunning Allied plan in detail.   In our operational planning phase before the game, our Commander sent out the following message:

Tally HO CHAPS! Tipplewink here. I have attached to this carry pigeon our battle plans for our next big push. Please note that this is top secret and the information contained within is not to be shared. I hate to have a repeat of our last battle Captain Dickie.

The plan is 3 fold.

1: we secure the house with minimum support. A small holding group will be detached to maintain control over the building.

2. our main armour thrust will move in and take the chapel. Expect high casualties in this engagement. I hear rumours of a Churchill been loaned to the attack so we will use that as our main thrust. I will follow up in the Bren carriers whilst our support lays down smoke to cover our advance. Any other amour that manages to make its way to our attack will also be used in the main thrust. Chessack will have his armour car and will scout out the enemy and keep them pinned down.

3. This is the sticky wicket chaps. We do not and I repeat do not move onto the manor house. Mother's Uncle owns this land and I will not be responsible for causing any damage or grieve to Great Uncle Frank. By faking a thrust here the Jerry will be fooled into thinking we are moving towards the manor house with our main force. All of our artillery support will be directed here to convince Jerry we are moving under covering fire towards the Manor House. Captain Baldrick from the artillery support has given his personal assurance that the bombardment will be accurate and deadly whilst leaving any structures undamaged.

It is imperative that Jerry takes the bait to help minimise damage on our main thrust. I will be leading from the front unless my damn toe plays up again.  I regret that the old football injury has been making a nuisance of its self lately.

Best of Luck chaps. We shall be sipping drinks before you know it.

The battleground - cunningly adapted from a Flames of War scenario by Comrade James

The Brit force would comprise 2 players with Paras (including me) and a regular infantry force.  For my 1000 points I took:

A regular Churchill Mk VI heavy tank with a 75mm gun upgrade

3 British Para Squads (each of 8 veterans with 1 Sten SMG and a Bren team)

2Lt 

Medic

Forward Observer

Sniper team

Vickers MMG team

Mdm Mortar

Light Howitzer

For a total of 11 order dice.  

Its my chaps' battle debut so in the best traditions of wargames it will no doubt it will be a bloody encounter with stacks of casualties!  More shortly...

Mega Bolt Action Game: A Cunning Plan!

Well today is the big day and H-Hour is in 3 hours time!  Our boss Lieutenant Tipplewink has devised a cunning plan to rout Jerry out of Sannerville today.  He says that by this evening we should be occupying his billets, drinking his stolen wine and enjoying the warm appreciation of the local French lassies.

So I'm off for a nice pre-battle cup of tea with the other chaps.  Might even squeeze in a biscuit or two.  Tally-Ho!

Mega Bolt Action Game: Prelude

Comrade James moved into his new place over the Christmas break and to christen his new Man Cave he is hosting a 3 v 3 Bolt Action game this weekend.

James has setup a historical battle set in Jul 1944 around the French town of Sannerville, east of Caen.  As part of Operation Goodwood, 3 British commanders will advance upon the town, which intelligence suggests is defended by Fallschirmjager of the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division reinforced by elements of the 21st Panzer Division.

In Bolt Action terms it will be 3000 points per side (1000 points per player) on a 9 x 4 foot table using the Normandy 1944 Theatre selector.  No flame tanks are permitted, 1 flamethrower max per force, and objectives can only be contested by infantry units of 3 figs or more.  Game duration will be 7 turns with an option for an eighth.


Dice draw procedures…..1.Dice are drawn from the three dice bags simultaneously and passed to the owning players2. Each player with a dice turns his dice so that the order he wants is face up3. When all 3 players are ready, they simultaneously place their order dice next to the ordered unit with the selected order face up.4. In the event that timing of orders becomes important (e.g a player orders a unit to Fire on another unit in the open that is simultaneously ordered to Run behind cover) then the following Order of Precedence applies 1. Down 2. Fire 3. Run 4. Advance 5. Rally 6. AmbushNote that an Ambush cannot be triggered in the same ‘phase’ or dice draw that it was selected.

Battle report, with accompanying pics of the awesomeness, to follow!

Allied aerial recon photos of the approaches to Sannerville, prior to the pre-battle bombardment...