On April 29th I made the drive from Chicago up to Noble Knight Games outside Madison, Wisconsin to take part on the 2023 Wisconsin Bolt Action State Championship. The tournament was organized by Chad Murry and in addition to being a competitive event, it was also a charity fundraiser which raised money for the War Room Museum & World History in Marshfield, WI and the Military Veterans Museum & Education Center in Oshkosh, WI.

The tournament was a 3-game, 1,100pt event where players could bring 1-2 Generic Reinforced Platoons. I constructed my list without a specific historical focus, but I built it using units from my Early-War desert Commonwealth forces that I brought to AdeptiCon. I was confident my army was well-rounded and ready for anything, but I hadn’t played any test games with it so I was excited to see how it would fare on the tabletop.

My Army – 1100pts, 16 Order Dice

Platoon #1

2nd Lieutenant – Reg (50) +1 extra man (10)	60
Infantry Section – Reg 8 men with Rifles	80
Infantry Section – Reg 8 men with Rifles	80
Free Forward Artillery Observer – Reg	0
Free Infantry Section – Reg 10 men with Rifles Manpower of The Empire	0
Medium Mortar – Reg (50) Spotter (10)	60
Light Artillery – Reg Spotter (10) Light Howitzer/Light Anti-Tank Gun (25-pounder AP Shell)	65
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg Anti-tank Rifle (10) Recce	45
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG Recce	35
Early War Motorcycle and Sidecar – Reg LMG Recce	35
A10 Cruiser Mk IIA – Reg Armor 8, Light AT gun with co-ax MMG, hull MMG	135

Platoon #2

2nd Lieutenant – Reg (50) +1 extra man (10)	60
Infantry Section – Reg 8 men with Rifles	80
SAS Infantry Section – Vet 8 men with SMGs	160
AEC Heavy Armoured Car MK II – Reg Armor 8, Medium AT gun with co-ax MMG, Recce	155
30 CWT Truck – Reg Pintle MMG	50

Game 1
Fog of War vs Chad (Germany)

My Opponent’s Army

One of the registered players had to cancel last minute, so I ended up playing against Chad the TO in Game 1. He told me before the game that his army was basically made up of whatever he had on hand and consisted of a Veteran 2nd Lieutenant, three squads of Veteran Infantry (one with rifles, one with SMGs, and one with assault rifles), a Regular Sniper, a Regular Medium Mortar, an Inexperienced 222 Armored Car, and a Regular Tiger II. With only 8 Order Dice to my 16, I knew I would have initiative advantage throughout the game, but my army lacked the firepower to deal with the King Tiger, so I’d have to give it a wide berth.

The Mission

Our fist mission was Fog of War. This mission had five objectives on the board, one in the center and one in each corner. The winner would be whoever controlled the most objectives at the end of the game, with the center objective being worth 2 VPs. Deployment for this mission was unusual, with players being able to deploy units all the way up one side of the table, as well as along their long table edge. We could keep up to two units in Reserves/Outflanking, but the rest started on the table.

Game Highlights

• I deployed my units aggressively, placing one of my rifle squads, my A10 Cruiser Tank, and two of my Motorcycles far up my right flank. I left my Armored Car and SAS squad in Outflank on my left flank, expecting them to capture or contest the far objective on that side.
• Chad spread his Infantry squads along his table edge, putting them in a position to move onto his two corner objectives and the center. He left the Tiger II in Reserve, so I had to be prepared for it to arrive anywhere along his table edge in Turn 2.
• On Turn 1 my Motorcycles on the right flank made a mad dash into Chad’s lines, hoping to destroy the German 222 Armored Car with my Motorbike AT Rifle and damage one of his Veteran squads. I failed to cause any damage and left my bikes dangerously overexposed.
• At the top of Turn 2, Chad’s Tiger II advanced onto the board and immediately destroyed both Motorbikes with a hail of machine gun fire. My aggressive opening move had not paid off!
• There was a scramble for the middle objective, but my significant numbers advantage allowed me to secure it.
• On the left flank, my remaining Motorcycle was able to eliminate Chad’s Mortar Team.
• He had an Infantry squad controlling the objective in that corner, but my Outflanking AEC Armored Car and SAS were able to wipe them out.
• By the top of Turn 4 I controlled four of the five objectives, and Chad lacked sufficient manpower to effectively take them back, so we called the game early and he was able to resume his duties as TO.

Result – Win
4 Objectives to 0

Game 2
Priority Targets vs Ernie (Germany)

My Opponent’s Army

Ernie’s well-constructed army included two Platoons. The first had a 2nd Lt, two squads of 8 Grenadiers (one with an LMG and a Panzerfaust, the other with 3 assault rifles and a Panzerfaust), a Light Howitzer, an MMG Motorcycle with sidecar, and a Kugelblitz – all regular. The second Platoon had a 2nd Lt, two more squads of 8 Grenadiers with an LMG and a Panzerfaust in each, a Howling Cow multi-launcher, a second MMG Motorcycle, and a second Kugelblitz – also all regular except the multi-launcher which was Inexperienced.

I got to see Ernie’s army in action during the final turns of Game 1 since my game ended early and I knew I would have my hands full. Our armies were well matched, and I was looking forward to a close game.

The Mission

The second mission was Priority Targets. Players scored one VP for each enemy unit destroyed, but at the start of each turn we rolled a die to determine the “priority targets” for that turn. Destroying a priority target was worth three VPs, so making of the most of unit kills would be crucial.

Game Highlights

• The game got off to a rocky start when Ernie’s Howling Cow destroyed my 25-pounder and immobilized one of my Motorcycles with the first shot of the game.
• Ernie had concentrated his forces in the far corner on my right flank, while I put the majority of my units in the center and on the left flank. I was able to effectively sweep into the center with a mass of infantry but scored relatively few casualties.
• On Turn 3 the priority targets were HQ units. Despite pouring fire into one of Ernie’s Lieutenants, I failed to score the kill and the 3 VPs that would have come along with it.
• My Armored Car received a single Pin early in the game and proceeded to fail three Order Tests in a row in the following turns, rendering it useless for the duration of the game.
• In the end, we each destroyed four enemy units. But Ernie’s timing was better – he scored two priority targets while I only scored one. This gave him the two-point advantage necessary to secure the win.
• This was a back-and-forth game and a much closer result than the last time I played Ernie when his Japanese spearman horde clobbered my winter Soviets at AdeptiCon 2022.

Result – Loss
8 VPs to 6

Game 3
Nuts! vs Adam (Poland, Warsaw Uprising)

My Opponent’s Army

Adam was one of two Warsaw Uprising armies at the tournament, and they were both flavorful and fun armies. Adam brought a Regular 2nd Lt, two Regular, 10-man Partisan squads with an LMG in each, a Liaison Officer (Forward Air Observer), two squads of 5 Vet Guerrilla Fighters with SMGs, a Regular Flamethrower and Sniper, two Inexperienced Trucks, the Kubus Armored Car which transported the Guerrilla Fighters and Flamethrower team, and an Inexperienced captured Panther.

The Mission

The final mission of the day was Nuts! There were five objectives on the board – one in the center and one in each of the four quadrants, placed by the players. Whoever held the most objectives at the end would be the winner, with ties being decided by kill points. Players were required to deploy up to half of their army on the table and could keep the rest in Reserve/Outflank.

The table for this game was a crowded city map with lots of buildings, which I felt would be helpful in avoiding Adam’s Panther and allowing my Motorcycles and AEC Armored Car to quickly maneuver through the city streets.

Game Highlights

• Before the game started Adam and I were discussing our forces and chatting about the history of the Polish resistance. He was kind enough to gift me a digital copy of the book No Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland’s Forces in World War II. One of my favorite parts of playing Bolt Action is learning more about the history of the conflict, especially the lesser known chapters, so I greatly appreciate Adam’s generosity. It was yet another example of the Bolt Action community being full of kind, welcoming players who care just as much about the stories behind their models as they do about their performance on the table.
• We both made liberal use of Reserve and Outflanks. Adam left his Lt and Trucks in Reserve, while the Kubus carrying two squads of Guerrilla Fighters and a Flamethrower team was Outflanking. I put my Truck carrying a 10-man rifle squad, the SAS squad, all three of my Motorcycles, one of my Lts, and my Armored Car in Outflank and my A10 in Reserve.
• As so often seems to be the case, Adam’s Sniper struggled throughout the game, scoring only a couple of hits and a single kill. It did survive multiple rounds of LMG fire, but did little to contribute to Adam’s game plan.
• The Panther rolled up on my right flank, nearby two objectives. I didn’t have the firepower to destroy it, so I focused on putting as many Pins as I could onto the Inexperienced crew. As a captured vehicle, it had the Unreliable rule, which caused it to take an second Pin whenever it received one. This allowed me to prevent it from making many effective shots.
• Adam placed his Partisan Bombs on the center objective and the two on my side of the table. I was cautious when approaching them, making sure not to have multiple units in the blast radius. But ultimately none of them successfully detonated.
• Heading into Turn 3, I was well positioned on three of the objectives and Adam had to make a big play. He brought in the Kubus, outflanking on my left side and attempting to push deep into my back line. Unfortunately, a turn earlier I had placed my A10 in Ambush, hoping he had chosen to outflank the Kubus on that side. My prediction paid off when my tank destroyed the Polish transport and scored several kills against the squads as they bailed out.
• With all three squads forced Down for the turn, I brought in my SAS squad and Truck, which caused further damage to Adam’s squads.
• At the top of Turn 4 I was able to finish off Adam’s outflankers. With the loss of those squads, Adam’s path the victory was all but entirely collapsed and we ended the game early. He was a gracious opponent and it was a very fun game playing with him.

Result – Win
3 Objectives to 1

Final Thoughts

This was a really fun tournament. The turnout was strong, the venue was spacious and accommodating, the prize support was excellent, and the players were pleasant. Chad deserves a ton of credit for organizing, including ordering lunch for everyone, and raising money for two local organizations dedicated to preserving artifacts and memories from the WW2 era.

I am pleased with how my army performed, and while I didn’t place highly enough to win an award, the table I brought was voted as the players’ favorite and I won one of the raffles, so I didn’t go home empty handed.

All-in-all it was a great day full of exciting games and top-notch opponents. I’ll gladly be back next year! Up next – the Springtime Offensive doubles tournament in Michigan!