Bolt Action Game

Had an opportunity to play in a great Bolt Action game on Friday hosted by my friend Ralph.  The  scenario was not only a great wargame - it had the additional special attraction as it was based on an actual action where Ralph's father was the American company commander!  The game went very well.  It was a large game in terms of Bolt Action, but it played very well and everyone had a great time.

In this scenario an American infantry company was attacking across a river to secure a small German town as a flank support attack for the main effort in another part of the Regimental sector.  All of the artillery and armor support was with the main attack so the Americans were on their own. 

Fortunately, the Germans opposite the attack were mostly Volkgrenadiers.  The Germans, as always, had substantial firepower in the form of light and medium machine guns and Sturmgewehr 44's.  Unfortunately, the Germans could not compete with the pins and losses inflicted by the much larger American squads with their Garands and BAR's. 

In the end the Germans ran out of troops and the Americans ended up crossing the bridge and securing the road in several places.

Here are a few photos of the truly outstanding terrain and figures in Ralph's collection.

An American squad crests a hill in an effort to overwhelm the German VG on the far side of the stream.

One of my medium machine gun teams providing covering fire.

German troops come out of the buildings and attempt to establish a defensive line along the stream they were defending.  The American flamethrower team in the foreground did not get to fire (unfortunately) as they took a substantial amount of fire from the Germans before they could act.

An American forward observer for the medium mortar attached to the company.

Two American infantry squads overwhelm a German VG squad opposite them.

2014 - The Insurgency

Here are some photos of the insurgents and one of their vehicles.  I have three insurgent armies: The White Sheiks, the Black Terror and the Red Martyrs.  The armies have their own strengths and weaknesses - but all are ready to try and overthrow the Moan government!

A Unimog truck being used as a gun platform for a 14.5mm Heavy Machine Gun.  The truck is a Matchbox.  The gun and crew is from the excellent Liberation Miniatures range.

More from Liberation Miniatures - This time they are "insurgents" who are from the White Shieks terror cell.

The White Shieks commander and some support units.  All of the figures, as well as the Motorcycle, are from Liberation Miniatures.  The heavy machine gun is from the Stan Johansson range.

The Black Terror insurgent cell has occupied a small town in the northern part of DR Moa.  Figures from Liberation Miniatures.  The buildings are paper models from the excellent Paper Terrain line.  The buildings are available in 6mm, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm.  They go together very easily and I think they look fine on the table.  They have the added benefit of coming with partially destroyed copies of each building.  This adds greatly to the versatility of the buildings and fills virtually every building need you could have.

More Black Terror fighters in another building.

The buildings not only come with destroyed versions, there are also walls and out buildings as part of the set.  The walls are glued to foam core board and mounted on a cardboard base.

The Red Martyrs terror cell.  These figures are OOP (Heroes?)

2014 Statistics

During 2014 I played in the following Games:
Brother Against Brother - 4
Special Operation Forces - 6
Bolt Action - 4
Napoleon's Rules of War - 1
Aerodrome 1.1 - 3
Fire and Fury - 2
Pirates - 2
That's almost two a month!  Not a bad year!

I painted the following Figures:
20mm - 105
Rebased the following Figures:
20mm - 176
Vehicles - 26

Overall it was a pretty good year!

Another Two Months!

Where does the time go?  I can't believe it has been two months since my last post!  I have been working on hobby stuff though.  I have completed and based a total of 61 20mm figures and based a few new Matchbox type vehicles. I am also currently setting up a couple of game scenarios. So it has not all been a dearth of hobby stuff.

The figures I have finished painting were all African rebels and civilians. I will get photos up as soon as I can get some time with the wife's camera!  They all came out pretty nice.

2014 Projects - President Mumbato and Moan Army Vehicles

Here are some photos of President Seliki Mumbato of the Democratic Republic of Moa (DRM).  He is the figure on the left of the photo.  The figure on the right is his brother, Jerome Mumbato.  Jerome is the Prime Minister of DRM and commander in chief of the DRM Air Force.

President Mumbato is in his ceremonial Army General Officer uniform with an Olive Green blouse and Tan trousers with wide Red stripe.  He wears all of the awards he was granted during his time as a regular army officer prior to assuming his duties as President of the country.

Prime Minister Mumbato is in the Royal Blue uniform of a General Officer in the Moan Air Force.  In his usual understated manner, he wears the uniform devoid of any decorations.

President Seliki Mumbato (l) and his brother Prime Minister Jerome Mumbato (r) commander of all Moan Air Forces.

Below are a couple of pictures of Moan Army vehicles as well as the presidential limousine.

The pride and joy of the 62nd Mechanized Battalion, a T-55 Main Battle Tank with a very large Moan National Flag.  There are 11 of these vehicles in the tank company attached to the 62nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion.  They are not used in company or even platoon strength in most circumstances.  The T-55 has a 110mm main gun and is advanced enough to make a significant impact on most tactical situations.  I have purposely left the vehicle without any markings so it can be captured and used by any force in the conflict.  It is still very 'clean' and could definitely use some weathering to make it more African in nature.

A Fox Armored Car leads the Presidential Cadillac Escalade limousine.  Again the vehicles sport the Moan national flag so everyone is aware of which side of the battle they are on!  The Fox armored car is devoid of markings so it can be used by any force with the addition of an appropriate flag.

Pictures of 2014 Projects - The French in Modern Africa

Here are some photos of figures and vehicles I completed in 2014.  I hope that I will be able to add to them in 2015.  First are the French from my modern Africa range.

French troops escort an M-1 Panther mine clearing vehicle on loan from the United States

French forces survey the rocky surface of the "Democratic Republic of Moa" or "DRM" which is a fictional nation I have invented to be the setting for my modern campaign.

French troops provide covering fire with a Light Machine Gun and FAMAS assault rifle.

An up-armored French Light Truck.  This is a Matchbox model based on the British Spartan LAV from what I can find out.

Heavy firepower for the French.  An AMX-10RC armored car sporting a 105mm main gun!

The New Year 2015

Well, the start of a New Year!  I have the following goals for the new year of hobby efforts.

1.  Finish revisions of my modern skirmish rules and run games using them.
2.  Get caught up on painting 20mm modern figures.
3.  Run Bolt Action games.
4.  Run Volley & Bayonet games.
5.  Paint at least three new V&B units.
6.  Build at least ten vehicle and/or aircraft models.
7.  Get caught up on painting and basing naval ships and aircraft.
8.  Run Axis & Allies naval games.

This is a good mix of time periods and games and they build on forces I already have started.

Let's see how I do on the list.