Sunday Gaming — Game 1

So, Sunday gaming has rolled around once more, and this time we were at the Pukekohe club, in the scout hall off Harris Rd. Good crowd there, but low attendance today.

The game was Bolt Action! (because we all love WW II, right?), and it was my (finally) fully painted USMC up against Noel's IJA. The mission we rolled was Demolition, in this we each have a base (for Noel the stack of crates just left of the northernmost building; and for me my triple 60mm objectives in the south-east sector).

Not a great deal was to start on the table, mostly support forces and a few weapon teams, plus one infantry squad for me and a tank for us both. I placed three units in reserve (Engineers and Medic team on the west flank (left) and squad 2 on the right).

Everything else was in reserve, and almost everything Noel had on the table started both Hidden and in Ambush—dirty Japanese special rules.

Which really did little to help him when my medium mortar landed a hail mary on his MMG as the very first action of the game. Unfortunately in a theme that was to continue most of the game, despite hitting well I only killed 1.

At the end of turn 1 honours are roughly equal, with very little damage actually inflicted on either side, and a whole lot of missed AT rounds. Tanks being hidden is nasty.

Turn two sees a lot of action in the northwest, with my Stuart once more failing to ding the Chi-Ha (Hi, Ro?) but putting some pines on the flamer team there. In reply the Japanese tank puts a pin on the Stuart with its light howitzer.

 The end of turn 2 sees most everything barring my outflankers on the board. Casualties remain low, but pin markers are slowly starting to stack up.

An airstrike pinned the central unit here (squad 1), which then took further pins from a sniper and an advancing IJA squad. Unfortunately for them my Lt raced over, and with his +2 morale bonus saved them as they rallied, removing all pins.

 The outflanking squad on the east fails to show (but this later saves me some trouble).

On the west, however, the engineers show up, and "Toasty Jones" with the flamer proceeds to show everyone how it's done and immobilizes the Chi-Ha.

 Imagine, if you will, a large explosion where the Chi-Ha used to be. Seeing their target sitting disabled and in the open, the Bazooka team make short work of it, putting a rocket straight through the turret and detonating the magazine.

 Here, at the start of turn 3, we see Noel's second airstrike going horribly wrong (he took two FAC's the first who killed one of the MMG's next to my base). The central IJA veteran squad is reduced to 1 man, who gives exactly zero fucks about losing all his friends.

Then everything got pinned and it was hilarious.

 At which point my plane showed up, dropped several 250 lb bombs on a lone IJA officer, and promptly left feeling very happy with himself.

And pinning everything even further, adding insult to injury for Noel.

 Here my Stuart (the "Navy Brat") decides it would be funny to try gunning down the MMG and flamer teams. Pins were inflicted, but once again no kills. Did we load blanks?

The engineers advance around the wreckage of the tank, gunning down the flamer team with massed firepower.

The medic team also arrives, doing a whole heap of nothing.

 The eastern flanking force now arrives and makes its presence felt at the end of turn 3, chewing through entire magazines as they decimate the (previously rather larger) IJA squad in front of them.

Turn 5 saw the big upset of the game, with Bazooka team rushing the Japanese objective after "Toasty Jones" and the engineers cleared the door of the MMG team resting out there.

This was the penultimate act of my forces.

Having nothing to shoot at, the MMG team assaults one man, kills him, and runs back to position. I still have one order die that could turn a hard fought draw into a hard fought win…

Warrant officer Hawkins, carrying the hefty SC-250 radio sprinted forward, technical sergeant Francis at his side. Hawkins skidded to a halt, dropping one knee into a marksman's crouch and unslinging his M1. Beside him Francis started firing at the Jap next to the disabled jeep, but just as Hawkins saw the flash of rounds striking metal the entire vehicle erupted in smoke flames, their injured captain caught in the conflagration. To his left Hawkins heard a dull crump and saw a massive geyser of dirt falling behind PFC Ramirez and his loader. The Japanese supply dump was gone, but it was cold comfort for losing their captain.