This was my first time attending Polar Vortex, and the second opportunity to put my French Army to the test. Polar Vortex was my second Bolt Action event of 2023 after the successful Siege of Tobruk event at Golden Rhino Games in January. This was also my first escalation-style event in any game let alone Bolt Action and I couldn’t wait to see how it would go!

Game 1
Prisoner Capture vs Dan (Germany)

My Army – 449pts, 8 Order Dice

2nd Lieutenant – Reg +1 extra man	60pts
Infantry Section – Reg 6 men with Rifles	60pts
Infantry Section – Reg 6 men with Rifles	60pts
Infantry Section – Reg 6 men with Rifles	60pts
Infantry Section – Reg 5 men with Rifles 1 man with Pistol 1 man with VB Launcher	87pts
Anti-Tank Rifle Team – Reg	30pts
Light Anti-Tank Gun– Reg	50tps
Renault FT – Vet Turret-mounted MMG, One-man Turret, Slow…Pitifully Slow	42pts

My Opponent’s Army

Dan was running three squads with an LMG, Lieutenant, Sd.Kfz. 222, and a Light Howitzer. The mission was to both scout out the enemy forces on the field and try and capture a prisoner to gain valuable information. The key to this mission was the Lt in charge, for he would be reporting on what was seen.

The Game

All units on both sides were First Wave. In the opening shots, a German LMG cuts down two Frenchmen.

Turn 1 – German HE starts to zero in on the French AT Gun and each side has one unit identified.

Turn 2 – German HE kills three Frenchmen and they fail the Moral Check with 1 Pin! uh-oh… FT-17 kills three Germans but the squad stands strong.

Turn 3 – 222 kills the French Light AT Gun, units identified still tied at one each.

Turn 4 – 222 knocks out the FT-17, German LMGs kills the ATR assistant and it then fails the Moral Check with 1 Pin!

Turn 5 – Lots of movement, the French Lt manages to spot a second German unit, 2-1 to the French.

Turn 6 – Germans kill my Lt’s aid, who then, of course, proceeds to fail a Moral Check with 1 Pin…

Poor moral check rolls and hot German LMG dice, not a great combo for the Frogmen. With the Germans just sitting back and using their LMGs to hammer anything that moved up to gain line of sight, it seemed my opponent was playing for the Draw rather than the Win. Poor rolls aside, the mission was as fun as could be. Once again Andrew delivered a fantastic mission for us to play that was both challenging yet a blast to play.

Result – Draw
1 VPs to 2

Game 2
Scattered Drop vs Rob (Vichy French)

My Army – 750pts, 10 Order Dice
The Battle of France 1940 – Armies of France and the Allies

2nd Lieutenant – Reg +1 extra man	60pts
Infantry Section – Reg 10 men with Rifles 1 man with Pistol 1 man with LMG	137pts
Infantry Section – Reg 10 men with Rifles 1 man with Pistol 1 man with LMG	137pts
Groupe France Vet Infantry Section – Vet 8 men with Rifles 2 men LMGs	170pts
Anti-Tank Rifle Team – Vet	39pts
Med. Artillery – Reg Spotter	85pts
Med. Artillery – Reg Spotter Forward Artillery Doctrine	10pts
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG	35pts
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG	35pts
Renault FT – Vet Turret-mounted MMG, One-man Turret, Slow…Pitifully Slow	42pts

Opponent’s Army

Rob was running four Inexperienced squads, two Vet Cavalry squads, two Medium Howitzers, a Lt and an ATR. The mission had half your army units scattered and dropped onto the board with the remaining arriving via Reserves. This was a wild mission and I mistakenly held my Artillery in reserve and put all my Infantry into the scattered drop. Three Objectives along the middle line of the table finished deployment.

The Game

Deployment – French: Three infantry squads, ATR and Lieutenant scattered in. Vichy had both Howitzers and three Inexperienced squads making the jump. Both Vichy Med. Howitzers scattered forward up the table and into decent cover. This made my left flank come right under the Vichy guns.

Turn 1 – Vichy HE kills three guys, only one Pin and they actually held this time! Frenchmen kill two Vichy gunners, but they hold their ground. French artillery stubbornly refused to come in from Reserve.

Turn 2 – Vichy Cavalry thunders in and kills the French Veterans in CQC, the Vets falter and kill only one in return. Second Cavalry charge kills the Frogs in the middle, but they go down swinging killing three of the seven traitor horsemen.

Turn 3 – Pins. Pins everywhere. At the end of the Turn, there were 8 Pins were put out onto units but no kills. One of my French Artillery pieces still defies command and stays in Reserve.

Turn 4 – French Artillery finally arrive, only to be assaulted by Calvary. My FT-17 kills two Cav, two remain and they fail their Moral Check.

Turn 5 – Infantry squad in the courtyard defeat Cavalry in close quarter combat, 7 of the heroic Frenchmen survive.

Turn 6 – At the end of Turn 6, two Objectives are contested but Vichy has control of the third.

Not putting the Arty into the Scattered Drop was a big mistake. They lost multiple rounds of shooting that could have either killed Rob’s troops or at least kept them at bay or forced them to recce away for a turn. The saving grace for me was the Motorcycles were able to force Rob to waste around 7-8 activations trying to shoot them. If those dice were put towards other parts of my force, the game would’ve been over much sooner.

Result – Loss
1 Objective to 0

Game 3
FUBAR! vs Lexx (Fallschirmjäger)

My Army – 999pts, 13 Order Dice
The Battle of France 1940 – Armies of France and the Allies

2nd Lieutenant – Reg +1 extra man	60pts
Infantry Section – Reg 10 men with Rifles 1 man with Pistol 1 man with LMG	137pts
Infantry Section – Reg 10 men with Rifles 1 man with Pistol 1 man with LMG	137pts
Infantry Section – Reg 10 men with Rifles 1 man with Pistol 1 man with LMG	137pts
Dragons Portes Infantry Section – Reg 6 men with Rifles 1 man with SMG	73pts
Anti-Tank Rifle Team – Reg	30pts
Med. Mortar Team – Inexp.	35pts
Med. Artillery – Reg Spotter	85pts
Med. Artillery – Reg Spotter Forward Artillery Doctrine	10pts
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG	35pts
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG	35pts
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG	35pts
Char 2C– Reg Turret-mounted Light Howitzer Forward-facing MMG Turret-mounted MMG Front/Left MMG Front/Right MMG Slow	190pts

My Opponent’s Army

Lexx had some crazy squads. Two FJ Engineer squads with Flamethrowers, two Snipers, three or four squads with pistols and Panzerfausts, two Trucks, a Raketenwerfer with +6 Pen, and an Officer team. This was a very interesting list and something I had not ever encountered before. These crazy Fallschirmjäger in Italy certainly looked the part. High mobility and hard hitting firepower was a deadly combination. Could the battered and bruised French hold on?

The Mission

The mission was a wild one. Everything deployed in an up close and personal deployment zone with nothing but 12 inches and some terrain between you and the enemy! Then two NCO’s get removed, then two squads get Pins on them, and three units go Down to start the game! I spread my Down units throughout the line, Lexx chose to put his entire right flank Down.

The Game

Turn 1 – Char 2c MMG killed one of the Snipers buddies but the Sniper holds on Moral Check. Right side MMG killed the Raketenwerfer Team. Lexx strikes back with a Flamethrower Team who blast the Char 2c and it bails after failing an On Fire Morale check. 2-1 French.

Turn 2 – Medium Howitzer kills seven Fallschirmjäger in a building and the squad flees the table. The Flamethrower team missed the Frenchmen at point blank range. My Motorcycle unit kills the Flamethrower team, opening up my right flank. 4-1 to France. My motorcycle recces right next to Lexx’s empty Truck, forcing him to run his Sniper Team next to the Truck in order to save it from fleeing the battlefield.

Turn 3 – Motorcycle kills the remaining FJ Engineers after they fail a Moral Check. Mortar Team hits another FJ squad and kills two, they hold fast. French rifles kill the Sniper Team, and the Truck fails an Order check and backs away. 7-1 France.

Turn 4 – ATR kills the Truck, Med. Howitzer kills three more Fallschirmjäger and they fail the Moral Check. The score is now 9-1 and we call the game. Lexx has almost no Infantry left, and I have total control of the table.

Lexx was an absolute delight to play against. He was gracious in defeat. Taking the rolls with a smile on his face and laughing and telling jokes. I learned after the game that he is the owner of the local Chicago store called The Dice Dojo. He gave me some dice from his shop, which he most definitely didn’t have to do. He was one of the most fun opponents I’ve ever played against at a tournament. Wow what a game!

Result – Win
12 VPs to 1

Final Thoughts

Final record stands at 1-1-1. Not exactly the best record or what I was hoping to do, but s@!t happens. A couple of costly mistakes Game 2 and some horrible Moral rolls in Game 1 really held me back. But at the end of the day, I played three games of Bolt Action with a newly painted army that for the most part, served me well. This small convention was very fun and laid back, which I really enjoyed. As always Andrew ran a tight tournament and provided a great mission packet that made for some fantastic games. I cannot thank him enough for talking me into coming out for it. I look forward to next year where I can hopefully improve my performance!