Lebanon 1982 - AAR

[tomek917]

Not really an AAR, more a collection of pictures from e few games played during this weekend. But everyone likes pictures right? 

The scenario was pretty straight forward, the IDF had to escort an M109 self-propelled howitzer across the table. Easier said than done when the table was swarming with PLO-fighters.
Since it was played at a small con at my club I kept it simple and used a slightly tweaked version of Bolt Action. It's so easy a monkey can learn it in two or three turns, so worked perfect! 

Enough talk, roll on the pictures!

[Rob_bresnen]

great pictures- well done. it looked a fun game.

[carlos marighela]

Very nice! 28mm? Where on earth did you find an M109 in 28mm?

[tomek917]

Very nice! 28mm? Where on earth did you find an M109 in 28mm?

In the darkest corners of Ebay ofcourse
It's actually a really old (1976 I think) 1/48 Aurora plastic kit. I found it and just had to have it, it was fairly expensive though.
Its had some conversion work, the barrels have been lenghthened, some plating has been added to the front and so on. It's not perfect though but I found out I'm not a plastic modeler and gave up and slapped some paint on it. Looks really cool on the table though!

[carlos marighela]

Looks really cool on the table though!

Agreed! 

[Arlequín]

I went all moist-eyed when he said 'Aurora plastic kit'...

Great looking stuff though! 

[Centaur_Seducer]

Lovely!

Now, drop from Magnus' SAGA project and do this on Galore instead

[6sided]

A lot of purists turn their Moses up at bolt action, but in terms of its ability to get people gaming with tanks and stuff it is out there on its own!

[tomek917]

Now, drop from Magnus' SAGA project and do this on Galore instead

I won't be able to come to Galore unfortunately, just before you guys changed weekend I booked a trip to Paris on the Galore weekend. But Magnus board looks great, he won't dissapoint  I'll bring this set-up next year instead 

A lot of purists turn their Moses up at bolt action, but in terms of its ability to get people gaming with tanks and stuff it is out there on its own!

Definitely, it just took a few minutes before people could game completely on their own! It may not have been the most accurate of modern games but the players sure had fun! 

[Arlequín]

A lot of purists turn their Moses up at bolt action, but in terms of its ability to get people gaming with tanks and stuff it is out there on its own!

I won't be able to come to Galore unfortunately, just before you guys changed weekend I booked a trip to Paris on the Galore weekend. But Magnus board looks great, he won't dissapoint  I'll bring this set-up next year instead 
Definitely, it just took a few minutes before people could game completely on their own! It may not have been the most accurate of modern games but the players sure had fun! 

I think it's more the 'beardy element' who inhabit the Warlord forum that do more harm to Bolt Action than anything. 

It is a simple and straight forward system, I quite like it. Some of the weapon ranges are a bit odd in relation to each other, but that's easily corrected. Otherwise, if people stick to fielding forces based more on history than points, then there is no reason why it should be any less 'real' than other rule sets.

[commissarmoody]

So are you going to post up a blow by blow? Or at least give us the states you used?
I can guess but, would like to see your take on it. 

[tomek917]

I think it's more the 'beardy element' who inhabit the Warlord forum that do more harm to Bolt Action than anything. 

Agreed, that's why I hang out here!

So are you going to post up a blow by blow? Or at least give us the states you used?
I can guess but, would like to see your take on it.  

Sorry I don't have a blow by blow. We played a total of three games during one day and had six different players. It was interesting to see how the players tackled the scenario in their own way. Some were very cautious with their M109, screening it with infantry, others just rolled on with it, leaving the infantry on their own. The PLO players units regenerated during the whole game and could pop up anywhere, they had a decision in creating big 10 man units or small 5 man units. The bigger units obviously had more staying power while the smaller ones let the PLO player gain a bigger initiative because they had more order dice (a big flaw in the Bolt Action rules in my opinion).

And some players just rolled some really poor dice, in the first game the M109 got blown up by a lucky shot from the T-34/85 it had just immobilized in the previous round. And that was the first, and only, shot at it during the whole game. In the last game the M109 took dozens of RPG-shots without harm.

The IDF were treated as veteran while the PLO were inexperienced. The M109 was a super-heavy tank with a super-heavy AT gun. The T-34 was a medium tank with a medium AT gun, probably should have been classified as a light tank in correlation to the M109. RPGs were simply Bazookas and everyone was armed with assault rifles, which can make the game very bloody so I use a lot of terrain. Almost everywhere were treated as soft cover in some way.

[commissarmoody]

I figured as much. Just wanted to see if you used any special home made rules.
And I also would have thought of the T-34 as a light tank in comparison to modern tanks and Anti-armor.
 

[Westfalia Chris]

The IDF were treated as veteran while the PLO were inexperienced. The M109 was a super-heavy tank with a super-heavy AT gun. The T-34 was a medium tank with a medium AT gun, probably should have been classified as a light tank in correlation to the M109. RPGs were simply Bazookas and everyone was armed with assault rifles, which can make the game very bloody so I use a lot of terrain. Almost everywhere were treated as soft cover in some way.

While I agree on the potential of the howitzer in direct fire mode, I wonder if "superheavy tank" doesn't make it too resilient, considering it only had 20mm armour, most of it almost vertical. That might explain the RPGs pinging off.

Apart from that, quite interesting stuff! Have to look into "modernizing" Bolt Action as a possible alternative to Ambush Alley (although I'll have to see how the latter plays, first).

[Arlequín]

Apart from that, quite interesting stuff! Have to look into "modernizing" Bolt Action as a possible alternative to Ambush Alley (although I'll have to see how the latter plays, first).

Try and keep up, it's called 'Force on Force' nowadays. 

I'll happily tick the boxes for both systems though... I'll give FoF points for 'realism' and BA points for 'simplicity', but both are enjoyable games in their own right.