Burma - Hold Until Relieved

14th Army rifle section

Yesterday Phil and I had another game of Bolt Action set in Burma, again pitting my British 14th Army against my Japanese 15th Army somewhere in Burma late in WWII.

Phil elected to use the British again so I would be using the Japanese, both sides were a reinforced infantry platoon and were pretty much the same as the last time we played:

British

Headquarters Units
Officer - 95pts
First Lieutenant - Regular - Thompson SMG
Two additional men - Regular - one Thompson SMG and one SMLE Rifle

Forward Observer - 20pts
Artillery Forward Observer - Regular - SMLE Rifle
Two additional men - Regular - SMLE Rifle

Infantry Squads and Teams
Infantry Section - 123pts
NCO - Regular - Thompson SMG
8 Riflemen - Regular - SMLE Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Bren LMG

Infantry Section - 123pts
NCO - Regular - Thompson SMG
8 Riflemen - Regular - SMLE Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Bren LMG

Infantry Section - 123pts
NCO - Regular - Thompson SMG
8 Riflemen - Regular - SMLE Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Bren LMG

Infantry Section - 123pts
NCO - Regular - Thompson SMG
8 Riflemen - Regular - SMLE Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Bren LMG

Machine Gun Team - 50pts
Three men - Regular - Vickers MMG

Flamethrower Team - 50pts
Two men Regular - Flamethrower

Light Mortar Team - 35pts
Two men - Regular - 2” Mortar
Total - 742pts

British infantry squad

The British get the following special rules:

BOMBARDMENT
When rolling for the effects of a Preparatory Bombardment instead of rolling one die on the results chart for each enemy unit (p181) roll two dice and choose the best result
 ARTILLERY SUPPORT
British armies can include one regular Artillery Forward Observer for free.
 

Japanese

Headquarters Units
Officer - 85pts
First Lieutenant - Regular - Sword & Pistol (Tough Fighter)
Additional man - Regular - Type 100 SMG

Medic - 23pts
Medic - Regular - Pistol

Infantry Squads and Teams
IJA Infantry Squad - 120pts
NCO - Regular - Ariska Rifle
8 Riflemen - Regular - Ariska Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Type 99 LMG

IJA Infantry Squad - 120pts

NCO - Regular - Ariska Rifle

8 Riflemen - Regular - Ariska Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Type 99 LMG

IJA Infantry Squad - 120pts
NCO - Regular - Ariska Rifle
8 Riflemen - Regular - Ariska Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Type 99 LMG

IJA Infantry Squad - 120pts
NCO - Regular - Ariska Rifle
8 Riflemen - Regular - Ariska Rifle
1 Machine gunner - Regular - Type 99 LMG

Machine Gun Team - 50pts
Three men - Regular - Type 92 MMG

Light Mortar Team - 35pts
Two men - Regular - Type 89 Grenade Launchers

Light Mortar Team - 35pts
Two men - Regular - Type 89 Grenade Launchers

Light Mortar Team - 35pts
Two men - Regular - Type 89 Grenade Launchers

Total - 743pts

A Banzai charge goes in

The Japanese get the following special rules:

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR
Every unit in this list has the Fanatics special rule, as described on page 70 of the Bolt Action rule-book  In addition, infantry and artillery units automatically pass morale checks for being assaulted by enemy tanks (note that artillery pieces are still destroyed as normal).
BANZAI CHARGE
If a Japanese infantry unit is ordered to Run towards (or Charge) the closest visible enemy, any Order test for that move is automatically passed, as if the unit had rolled a double one. 
All models in the unit must then be moved directly towards one of the models in the target unit, and must make contact with the target unit if possible.
Note that a unit can be ordered to Run/Charge in another direction, but in that case it will follow the normal rules and the Banzai Charge rule has no effect.

The field of battle

It is suggested in Bolt Action that you use a 1000pt force, I can field the British and Japanese at this size, but these 750pt armies do seem to give a good evenings game and the 1000pt games seem to have far too much stuff. Maybe we are playing with 'realistic' size force and the 1000pt games are made up of loads of veterans and tanks.

Anyhow, on to the game. We rolled up the Hold Until Relieved mission and Phil elected to be the attacker. The table represented an area of jungle with some village sections and some thicker areas of jungle. The houses are only made of local materials so rather than a damage roll of 6+ they count as cover with a normal damage roll.

Japanese troops defend the jungle hut

I deployed one IJA Rifle Squad in the house at the center of the table supported by a light mortar team in the patch of jungle to the right. Phil deployed his entire force on the table. I looked again at the scenario rules and it seems that there is no preparatory bombardment in this mission.

The game started with the Japanese in the house going down to avoid the effects of the incoming fire, and by the end of the first turn they had only accumulated a single Pin marker. The light mortar team to the right of the village were pulled back to avoid fire. The Japanese first wave came on and were able to to put a couple of pin markers on one of the British rifle sections attempting to flank the objective, these subsequently failed their activation test and were pinned down in a thicket of jungle.

Another British rifle section

The British artillery was pulled in against the Japanese attack, and one of the IJA Infantry Sections was soon racking up five pin markers. Although I tried to issue a a rally order, I rolled a 4! followed by another four, unpinned!

Under a lot of fire and slowly taking casualties the IJA rifle section on the objective launched a Banzai charge and scattered one of the British sections advancing on the objective although they were subsequently cut down by the flame thrower team that had a great game. The flame thrower then went on to attack another IJA section, in conjunction with accurate rifle fire they causing an eventual test on the IJA section at -6 the Japanese threw a three - get in! The Japanese section eventually reached nine pin markers and was removed.

Banzai!

One British rifle section soon occupied the objective after the Japanese had vacated it but were soon racking up the pin markers.

The British flame-thrower section eventually got four shots in before succumbing to an assault by a Japanese infantry section. In a duel between the HQ sections the Japanese HQ charged the British HQ killing two of them and losing one in return, the British HQ was out of the game.

The light mortars on both sides were deadly accurate generally ranging in on the first or second attempt. On turn 6 we rolled and there would be another turn. The British section on the objective were soon racking up the pin markers and eventually hit nine and they were removed, but the British 2" mortar was able to sneak within 3" of the objective to tie the game.

On count-back though the Japanese had sneaked the win, they had lost two IJA infantry squads while the British had lost all four rifle sections, the Flame thrower, artillery observer and their HQ.

Another great game of Bolt Action, Phil and I have scheduled another game in a few weeks time.

All the figures were painted by myself and are mainly from The Assault Group with a few from the Bolt Action Chindit range. I also made the terrain.