Sir Shvantselot's bolt action slow painting topic

[sir_shvantselot]

The truck carried smg squad does for the marines.

[sir_shvantselot]

The Sherman takes a simple shot at the side of the KV2

[sir_shvantselot]

Another cracking game of Bolt Actions, Japanese versus Marines at the Pit Gaming Shop, Borehamwood.

1074 points (as the lazy Japanese player, me, couldn’t be bothered to work out what to drop to get down to 1000).

I played the following:

First lieutenant regular + 2 regulars

IJA infantry squad 15 including 1SMG; LMG

IJA infantry squad 15 including 1SMG; LMG

IJA grenadier squad 9 including 1SMG; 3 light mortars; LMG

Bamboo fighters 10

Regular MMG

3 anti tank (one man) teams 1 regular

2 regular sniper teams

Medium mortar

Kai Shinhoto Chi Ha regular

I don’t know exactly what the Marines took but it was something like four infantry units with BARs, two MMGs, a Sherman, a bazooka, some kind of anti tank gun, a sniper, a medic and a priest.

We played the scenario where you basically just try kill as many units as possible and compare action dice differences. Hell in the Pacific indeed.

The scenery was lovely. A pretty little Far East village and a river running by. 

Much of the American force were either on a hill with full sight of the field of battle or in a very large bunker. And I was not going to win a firefight.

I realised I needed to just Banzai across the village ASAP and get the best out of fanatic...and Banzai rules.

I spent turns one and two charging across the field. There was not a lot of cover. It was ruled the benches and rock gardens were soft cover, and were too small to cover 50% of my units anyway.  The Americans started taking out decent chunks of the infantry who started to accumulate pins, which only Banzai could cleanse (go auto double ones on order checks!). But to get Banzai the infantry had to charge directly at the enemy rather than frog hop between buildings...and I’d taken units of 15 to account for attrition, and it’s hard to hide fifteen guys...

The snipers, MMGs, mortar, anti tank gun traded fire but the Americans were getting the best of it. The Japanese MMG May have wounded nothing all game. The Japanese mortar certainly hit nothing all game and spent about half of it failing order tests. No understanding of the threat to the home islands!

I learned the hard way there’s no point putting infantry in a building anyway if the opponent has a serious over the sights HE weapon. Its hard to miss the side of a barn, the shell goes into the building and...kaboom.

At the end of turn two there were about twenty five Japanese casualties to one American. I queried my investment in so many fantastic Assault Group and Warlord metal minis...

Then turn three came...and there was nowhere for the American infantry to run in the centre of the field and in the bunker.

I’d used my first lieutenant “with me” rule to pull dice out the bag to Banzai charge the bamboo sticks and one big infantry unit up the field (though usually screwing up and having one or other of the units too far from the lieutenant to benefit - my first mistake). 

But they got there, slightly depleted. My opponent had had fun pouring fire into the MMG, mortar and chi ha, looking at the big pile of infantry dead. But it wasn’t enough (the pile of infantry dead looked big but it was clippings off the edges of four units).  Once they made contact with his infantry it got very ugly indeed and over turns three and four there was just a lot of brutal hand to hand as the much of the Japanese infantry ended up within the US set up area, including in the bunker! The centre of the US position crumbled and you should have seen the smaller US units bundle out of that bunker running towards the Japanese lines after 10 Japanese made it in at the other end and wiped out an MMG!

But the American left and right flanks had survived. During all this carnage the Sherman has done little more than cause a few infantry casualties.

One of my tank hunters pile dived out of a building toward the side of the Sherman. It would have been ugly for the Sherman. But this being my third game of Bolt Action (and my opponent’s fourth), and learning the rules, I hadn’t remembered reactive fire to assaults. Ten MMG shots riddled our kamikaze hero before he reached the tank. My second mistake.

Avoiding a face off with the Sherman, the chi ha had used an intervening building to good effect and started taking pot shots at US infantry on the US right flank - causing mostly pins. A heroic bazooka team dived in front of the chi ha and took a pot shot...and failed to penetrate! The chi ha spent the rest of the game taking a long time to machine gun them down as they spent all their time...down. Once they were dead, the anti tank gun tried but failed to take out the chi ha. There was a fire but it got put out. It survived...but achieved very little all game except wasting the bazooka’s time and a bit of the Sherman and anti gun’s (which I guess it what allowed the infantry to Banzai through hell through the middle of the field of battle).

On the US left flank an MMG and infantry unit outduelled the Japanese grenadier squad and its three light mortars, who hit nothing all game and then started piling up pins making them do less and less.

In turns five and six the two US flanks turned inwards and poured huge firepower into the Japanese infantry who had heroically collapsed the US centre. With limited firepower, doing little damage in turn five from the bunker, and having relied mostly on Banzai anyway so far , they charged out the bunker, for a laugh, at the Sherman to practise the rules on infantry assaulting a tank. They weren’t tank hunters. It wasn’t worth it. They failed to injure the Sherman. They got wiped out. The lone lieutenant, having butchered the medic and cleric, line charged the US left flank infantry unit...and achieved nothing, except meeting his ancestors.

With three units left, a sniper, the chi ha and the pinned witless remnants of an infantry unit, the Japanese pulled out to higher ground and a massive bunker complex with a year’s supply of grenades. The marines hadn’t brought flamethrowers. Good luck to them.

But the result was something like 6 dead US dice to 10 Japanese ones. As in real life, all Japan could do was cause temporary pain, but strategically was doomed for having done something as dumb as Pearl Harbour to the greatest industrial power the world had ever known.

What would I change in my list?

You cannot outshoot the the marines. They really don’t like it up em though. The small mortars achieved nothing. I thought they and the medium mortar would force the US to keep moving around, including towards me... but they just shimmied here and there in their set up area. The MMG was pointless. The chi has was pointless. The LMGs in the infantry squads were pointless. Anything except infantry was pointless. Next time I may invest in two platoons, two commanders who can pull extra dice out of the bag and get vast numbers of infantry up the field.

Also, I will place the tank hunters last, like after I know where the enemy tank is! Two out of the three were totally in the wrong place!

[sir_shvantselot]

Brilliant game of Bolt Action though. Gags about loads of infantry aside I’ve got a 105 howitzer coming. Maybe that will help in the fire duelling bits whilst infantry run up the field?

I also think the field needed more scenery, so the marines get one go at reactive fire and that’s basically it’s fair’s fair...and so I have taken about twenty five trees out of the garage for our next game. I’m sure my opponent will agree... I’m sure loads of pines and oaks grow on coral islands.

[sir_shvantselot]

I was recently inspired to finish assembling some artillery for my Japanese bolt action force. There is nothing more entertaining than bringing down a building your enemy is hiding in with a heavy howitzer  attack! But I must say, though I do love warlord games for a wide range of reasons, the crew miniatures are pretty awful sculpts.

[sir_shvantselot]

Also, had a bit of fun with the bold action tank war book, where I played with 3 T34s and a couple of IS2s versus various Shermans and some kind of things that look like tanks but were basically soft skin vehicles that were glass cannons and went up in flames with one puff quite a lot. Not a very deep and inspiring game, but good fun with four players, two per side drawing four different coloured dice and taking potshots at one another. Is what a tanker worth a visit?

[sir_shvantselot]

Played another game of Japanese versus US marines.

I had the following:


First lieutenant regular 75 + 1 regular

IJA infantry squad 15 including 1SMG;

IJA infantry squad 15 including 1SMG;

Bamboo fighters 10

Regular MMG

3 anti tank (one man) teams regular

2 regular sniper teams

1 vet scout squad (2SMGs)

Medium mortar

105mm field gun regular plus spotter

Marines had something like three units of infantry pumped with BARs, two infantry flamethrowers and a Stuart mounted flamethrower, a sniper and three MMGs.

12 v 13 dice.

It was the scenario where you bring on units in turn one and just try kill for as many dice as possible.

I forgot Japanese snipers start on ambush and so let the US sniper take out one of mine in turn one.

My MMG was effectively taken out in turn one whilst the marines advanced.

The mortar hit on a 6 and 5 in turns 1 and 2 pinning the daylights out of a marine squad. My medium howitzer over the sights took chunks out of another squad and an MMG but didn’t destroy them.

I advanced my two infantry units up the centre right flank escorted by the extra dice of the first lieutenant but the flamethrower Stuart screeched up to them in turn two and after one casualty on a 15 man unit they failed a morale check (had a couple pins) and fled off the table. Combined fire from one  of the MMGs and a marine infantry squad took out the second and the sniper did for the lieutenant.

The flamethrower on my left flank took out my other sniper in a building and a tank hunter.

One of my tank hunters dived out of the central wooded area and hit the Stuart in the front arc and pierced it. It rolled a three but put out the fire. I think we may have forgotten some adverse rule like brewing up for a tank-mounted flamethrower. But as we did it the tank was disappointedly left unscathed.

So my central and left flanks had collapsed bar the medium howitzer (which was doing well but not getting dice by taking out whole units - it missed the side of the Stuart which would have made quite a difference to the game though).

But my right flank was doing well.  The bamboo fanatics had reached charge range of a flamethrower which had done nothing. They never panicked, becoming regular, after the flamethrower got off a shot in the turn before they charged. They then got bamboo speared to death.

My vet scouts came on the right flank,  took out the rest of the infantry unit, pinned to smithereens by the howitzer, and a US MMG just got out of the way and awaited oblivion.

But it was getting late. It was something like 8 dead Japanese dice to two American’s. Most of mine were the three tank hunters, two snipers and lieutenant on top of the two proper infantry units gone. I might have picked up a couple of dice from combats on the right flank but the small team and single minis on the US were well tucked away in the US rear.

I conceded at the start of turn 4.

I will be investing in more infantry and bamboo dudes, and dropping a sniper, MMG and couple of anti tank dudes. And maybe waiting a few more turns before advancing up the board?

Thoughts?

[gibby64]

Glad i'm not the only one building up a Japanese force! I agree about the crew sculpts.. not very dynamic.

[sir_shvantselot]

Glad i'm not the only one building up a Japanese force! I agree about the crew sculpts.. not very dynamic.

Well, I bought more infantry and bamboo militia. But my opponent has invested in a late war German army. Not sure what he’ll be taking but his pics of some assembled stuff is attached. So I’ve pulled together this Soviet 1000 point army list. Thoughts?

1000 point list - anti tiger

1. Regular Second Lieutenant with Regular friend with SMG -
2. SU76 + medium anti tank gun - regular
3. Free green squad (12 anti tank grenades but no LMG)
4. Truck - regular
5. 10 Guards squad 5 SMGs + Panzerfaust
6. Veteran sniper team 65
7. 10 Guards squad 5 SMGs  + Panzerfaust
8.  10 Guards squad 5 SMGs  + Panzerfaust
10. Inexperienced heavy mortar + spotter
12. Medium howitzer (regular)
11. Horse drawn limber
12. Zis 3 (regulär)
13. 8 Veteran squad (Sailors); SMGs; 2 Panzerfäuste

997

[sir_shvantselot]

I’m prepping for a thousand point Bolt Action game with Sikh British vs Panzergrenadiers.

Proposed list:

Special rule: Blood curdling charge

First Lieutenant 75pts (Regular) + friend

Artillery Forward Observer Free + extra man

3x 5 Ghurka infantry [2 with 1 SMG and 1 with 2 SMG].

3x Bren Carrier Regular including one single forward facing LMG.

3x 10 REGULAR INFANTRY SECTION (MID-/ LATE-WAR)

25 pounder - (Regular) - 3 men Weapons: 1 light howitzer Options.

Medium mortar (3 inch) (Inexperienced) Team weapon

MMG 35pts (Inexperienced)

Boys anti-tank rifle  (Regular)

Horse tow

1004

[sir_shvantselot]

I did a video unboxing the Assault Group Japanese and a quick summary of a few Bolt Action games:

Assault Group WW2 Japanese unboxing & Bolt Action games
https://youtu.be/4ua5VJJIbHw