Bolt Action Ally combat drills (with live ammo!)

Good day! Last week  The Bob and I got together for another session of Bolt Action. This is likely our (well mine anyway) last game before we all start playing BA 2nd edition (as I write this pre-orders of the new rule book have arrived and there is much excited rules discussion). So we gathered at our local Hobbytown USA, where we were joined by Mike and Screech, serving with the usual bombast as our merry band of hecklers.

Bob showed up with the U.S. Army and I used the same list of Brits from the last game. Whether it was these armies doing war game drills or the War of 1812 rekindled, it didn't mater to us. We chose a mission where we just tried to rack up the most VPs but we start out in reserves. Bob rolled some of his things onto the table and when my Firefly arrived it had a juicy tank to shoot at. And it did so very well and the tank was blown up almost immediately. A drastic improvement on the penetration results from the previous game and an impressive way to begin the game.

BOOM!

The troops continued to roll on but nothing else dramatic occurred on Turn One.

End Turn One

Turn 2 and the pin markers begin to accumulate. Bob's artillery piece was my next item of focus for my Firefly only it was too well protect by the cover that stood between it. This was also when I discovered how awesome Veteran level troops are vs my Medium level troops as Bob's Yanks proved quite stout compared to my seemingly soft Brits. It appeared that attrition would be a winning factor in this game after all...

Turn 2, the Pins begin to grow...

Both sides employed their Forward Observers to call in Air and Artillery strikes. In the next pic you'll see a scatter die, which is the incomong target point, in Bob's side of the field that his troops were quick to move away from.

End of Turn 2

Everything went nuts on turn 3, it seemed that by the end of it almost everything had a pin marker on it.

Under fire!

My right flank was starting to crumble quickly as my Infantry Division was taking far more damage than they were able to dish out.

End of Turn 3

Turn 4, as pin markers accumulated faster than they could be rallied off, my artillery barrage came screaming in and blew away the artillery piece that had been hounding me thus far.

End of Turn 4.

Needing VPs Bob's forces upped their aggression and wipped out the Infantry Division leaving just the Command Section in the Bren Carrier and the mortar team in the back woods. The remaining airstrikes and Artillery came in and I got to issue some payback from the last game by diverting his airstrike onto one of his own units. It wasn't as devastating as I had hoped, but both armies were starting to show a lot of wear.

End of Turn 5.

Last turn of the game and we were in a tie. Feeling bold, the command section raced up with the Bren Carrier and disembarked to attack the rival command section. Although a few soldiers were picked off, it wasn't enough to stop the yanks from charging the limey's for some good 'ol fashioned close quarter action. .

"Bayonets ready lads, 'ere they come!"

And by the time the dust had settled the U.S. was victorious.

"That was for burning the down the White House!"

The last actions of the game, at least for me, were a series of futile gestures intended to eek out another VP to secure lead, but they backfired. Most of my units were trying to wipe out his bazooka team that had gotten a bit too close but they just wouldn't go down! One of my Forward Observers got too exposed as a result of this foolish plan and was himself cut down, securing Bob and the Americans a slight edge in our tied game.

"Damn it man, they're RIGHT THERE!!!"

So it ends at officially a tie, but with the advantage to Bob. Had we kept going I am certain total victory would ultimately have been Bob's, as those vets are just very tough to kill. You can see in the pic below that his force was prepping for a final sweep.  It was a fun game, with Screech, who was our neutral dice puller and keeper of the bag, and Mike cutting up and helping us with the rules it was just a jolly good time. Thanks guys!

End of the game.

Comparing these rules to the changes we knew about for the 2nd edition, I am sure we would be in for a far more explosive game with the introduction of the template rules. As it was, the Firefly only really mattered against armored targets. I got my book yesterday and shall begin a proper read through in the coming week.

'Til next time, remember: