Entertaining Dean, Stu and Pat with some Burma action

Pat and Stuart prepare their strategy

Following on from the WAB GT I had invited DeanM and SocalWarhammer (Dean and Pat) to play Bolt Action at Maunsfield Gaming, we were also lucky to be joined by Stuart from Great Escape Games who was also in Nottingham to visit the chaps.

I picked a couple of 750pt forces for us to use. We took a pick, Dean and myself would be playing the British, while Pat and Stuart took the Japanese. We rolled up a scenario and we would be playing 'Demolition'.

The forces:

A PDF of these forces can be downloaded from here.....

British
Headquarters Units
Officer			95pts
First Lieutenant	Regular	Thompson SMG
Two additional men	Regular	SMLE Rifle
Forward Observer			20pts
Artillery Forward Observer	Regular	Thompson SMG
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	Sten 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
			742pts

Myself and Dean - a rare photo of me on the blog

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
			743pts

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOUR

Japanese MMG and 50mm mortar teams

Every unit in this list has the Fanatics special rule, as described on page 70 of the Bolt Action rulebook. 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.

Well, true to form the British artillery backfired on us, a '1' was thrown resulting in one infantry section and the Vickers MMG carrying a load of pin markers from turn 2.

A Burmese scout points the way

Pat was a dead-eye with the Japanese 50mm mortars and the pin markers were raining down on our troops, although a nifty flanking maneuver with an infantry section and flame thrower meant we were clear down our right flank, although I made the mistake of doing my follow-up move into a jungle thicket rather than towards the objective that could have cost us dearly.

The Japanese pushed through the center brushing aside the British troops positioned to block them, one British section soon had five pin markers on it before succumbing to a Banzai charge.

At the end of turn six there was no way we could get any British troops on to the objective, but Pat and Stuart were poised with two almost unscratched squads of Japanese infantry within 6" of our objective which was only screened by the Vickers MMG with a single crew-member. Only one thing could save us and that was the 50:50 chance of there not being another turn.

The dice were with us, the game was over and it was a draw, although on count-back, the Japanese had removed many more of our squads so it would still be a minor win to them, although they really deserved much better.

The evening ended and it was time to wish Pat and Dean a safe trip back to Washington State and Stuart a safe one back to Newport.

Thanks chaps.

Dean supervises the British advance

The Japanese left - this is the only section we managed to take from them.