Bolt Action - "First Blood".

Some pics from a recent Bolt Action game played with my bro-in-law Jimsy.

First time I had played (Jimsy had many games under his belt) so we started simple with about three squads per side, me as the Jerry and Jimsy as a unit of Paras.

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It was as close as you could come to a draw but the bro-in-law ultimately won out.

Enjoyed the game in general but it seems pretty basic after playing Chain of Command, which is definitely my favourite WW2 game at the moment.

There also seemed to be some weird imbalance where despite my well built in defensive positions, veteran troops and stock of MG42's the Paras easily ran up and overwhelmed my troops with ease due to the 'Blood curdling charge' rule.

Anyhow, kind of fun but doubt I will play using these rules again...

Troops, Weapons & Tactics - Capture the Farmhouse.

We finally made a decision on what set of rules to try out and at last got to play our first game of Troops, Weapons & Tactics. Rob, Andy and myself gathered our mix of terrain and figures and set up a couple of 'playtest' games only to realise that all three of us had only really skim read the rules...

Despite this, after much page flicking we managed to get to grips with the majority of the system and were even able to cram two games into the afternoon. The rulebook itself could probably do with a better layout - as beginners we found the some of the rules too spaced out across the book, meaning all three of us rustling through our copies as we double checked if we had remembered a rule correctly.

The two games were played over the same terrain set up with a central farmhouse playing the key objective in both. We were left with a fairly satisfied feeling with them overall and the desire to use the rules again - hopefully this time with a better idea of what we are doing!

If I can make sense of my notes I will try to post a batrep with some more pics...


Figures in the photos are Artizan, Black Tree, Bolt Action and Crusader.
The farmhouse is from 4Ground.
Roads by Last Valley.
Bocage scratch-built by Andy.

Iron Ivan Games - Disposable Heroes: Point Blank Rules.

From the Iron Ivan Games website:
Point Blank is a brand new squad level skirmish system for 1:1 modern tactical firearm combat. Players are in charge of a squad or several fire teams and control the individual actions of their soldiers, weapon teams, vehicles or support weapons. The rules are focused on the tactical concepts of fire and maneuver, command and control, and morale as well as training and experience. Any period of modern firearms combat can be simulated, from The Great War all the way to today and beyond.
The Point Blank book contains everything you need to run games with infantry, artillery, and vehicles as well as rules for spotting and hiding, as well as night, weather, smoke, and fog. There are three major periods represented for the army lists in the book: WWII (which includes Germany, U.S., Soviet, British, French, and Polish. Vietnam (which includes U.S., ARVN, Australian, NVA, and VC. As well as modern forces for the Global War on Terror or any other modern hot spot (which includes U.S., British, Mujahideen, and Insurgent). Rounding out the book are three scenarios, each one concentrating on one of the periods covered in the book and focusing on a tactical concept. The missions include Combat Patrol, Ambush, and a VIP Snatch. There is lots more besides in this 94 page rulebook to keep players busy and gaming.
Players familiar with our other systems will find there is much familiar to allow them to get to grips with the rules quickly, yet there are some major differences that will keep them on their toes. New players will find the rules play very quickly, with a streamlined and heavily playtested engine built on 10 years of game design experience. The rules are focused on players making tactical decisions over game mechanic decisions. Machine guns can set up crossfires, vehicles have to decide when to load and fire...and each decision can mean the difference between victory or defeat. With the Command and Control, Activation and Action Point, and Training & Experience system, players will find it easy to master the mechanics of the game but will find that the rules allow for challenging tactical simulations. With the Morale and Training & Experience system players can simulate modern asymmetrical warfare, even when there are major disparities in two opposing forces.

World War II Project Begins.

Thought it appropriate to start another blog specifically for our groups planned WW2 game, scheduled for later in the year. Generally we are thinking of playing some minor skirmish level scenarios with a 1:1 figure to man ratio.
At this point we are only looking a very small figure levels, roughly squad/section sized combats. Eventually we hope to build this to platoon and even company level combats in the long term.
Andrew @ Deviant Designs Deeds has already painted roughly a platoon of British infantry and also has at least four tanks lined up (two German, two British) and has started work on a few German Werhmacht by Warlord Games. I have commited to buying the bulk of the Germans forces and so far have picked up around 40 Fallschirmjager and 50 plus Werhmacht from Warlord Games, Artizan and Wargames Foundry.
Rules wise we have not decided but looking at starting to play as soon as we can we may try out Operation Squad first as you literally only need a handful of figures each!

Operation Squad.



We may look at different rulesets at a later date such as Rules of Engagement -

Rules of Engagement.

Or Rate of Fire by Crusader Publishing -

Rate of Fire.

I own all three of these ruleset but Andrew has suggested we could also look at I Ain't Been Shot Mum by Two Fat Lardies or Disposable Heroes & Coffin For Seven Brothers by Iron Ivan Games.

Will update this as and when but our Viking / Saxon (see Gjallerhorn) project remains the priority!