Over 16 missions, Joe & Andrew will battle through the full campaign – each trying to secure victory in a desperate fight for control of Fortress Budapest.

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After 15 games it all comes down to this. Game 16 – Death Ride of the Panzers. It’s the last chance for Andrew and the Axis to halt Joe and the Soviet storm.

Andrew’s Axis had a 50% points advantage and rolled up with 1,500pts of 6th SS Panzer Army. The Soviets under Joe’s command had 1,000pts of Anti-Tank Strongpoint defenders. Joe’s Soviet defenders would start the game as “hidden” tokens, waiting to spring their ambush on Andrew’s First Wave Axis Tank Platoon.

The game was played “Hammer & Anvil” style, long ways across the table. The Commanders also used the rules for Mud and Snow in this mission. These adverse battlefield conditions would prove difficult to manage for both sides. Andrew could score 2 VP per unit within 12″ of the Soviet table edge at the end of the game. Joe would score 1 VP per Axis unit destroyed. The secure victory, you needed to win by 2 VP.

The Pre-Game

The Axis Strategy

And here we are, the final showdown. It’s a “victory or death” situation for my forces. The only way to secure overall Campaign victory is to no only win, but decimate Joe’s forces. Anything else would end in defeat. After reading the mission, I can’t say I like my chances. I snagged my trusty triple Panzer IVs, added a Panther for support, two half-tracks for speed and one fully loaded Hanomag. I needed to get the infantry into the Soviet Deployment Zone at all costs. If I could weather the defensive fire for two full turns and score just a few lucky hits I may have a chance.

The stage is set and now it’s time to face the enemy. – Andrew

The Soviet Strategy

This was it, months of tense moments, rolls of the dice, bitter fighting and a great time with my friend. This mission was seriously next level with its crazy rules/set up conditions. Being able to only deploy tokens representing units is insane! This would give me a massive advantage. My thoughts on this were simple. Take as many AT Guns as I could. I settled on the often forgotten ZiS-2, as I felt like it gave the same punch against tanks as the ZiS-3, but was cheaper due to the lack of HE. Five of these plus two BS-3 Heavy AT Guns would be a potent force. But then I added two Su-76is to give me some mobile reactionary forces, and a Light Howitzer to round out the points. With Andrew having double the points I knew I would have quite the fight on my hands, especially since this game was for all the marbles! The plan was simple. Stay hidden and in Ambush and wait until the German armor comes in close before unleashing my guns. – Joe

The Game

Deployment

• The attacking Axis started off-table in 100% First Wave.
• The Soviets forces started the game as hidden tokens, each numbered and correlated to a specific Soviet unit. Joe knew the location of each of his unit, Andrew was going in blind per the Reckless Attack mission special rule.
  • Joe could only issue Ambush to the tokens and would “deploy” once they fired or if any enemy unit got within 12″ of the token.
• A handful of Soviet units were held back in Reserve.

Turn 1

• The armored vehicles rumble forward and the Axis Frist Wave arrives on the table.
• The Soviets remain as hidden tokens, no units “deployed” and no shots fired.
• Joe only returns 5 of his 13 Order Dice to the bag, the rest hold on Ambush.

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
0 VP	0 VP

Turn 2

• The Soviet defenders spring their trap! AT fire blasts down the line.
• Soviet Heavy AT Gun fires at the Panther at the top edge and misses.
• Soviet Heavy AC fires at the 251/1 and misses.
• Soviet Med. At in the middle woods fires at the 250/9, hits and bounces the shell.
• Two SU-76s arrive from Reserve. Note that Soviet tanks are not affected by the Snow rules.
• Panzer IV pushes forward into the woods, triggers the Ambush on a Soviet Med. AT Gun who hits, pens and knocks it out! First blood to the Soviets.
• Command Panzer IV dashes up the road, triggers Heavy AT Gun Ambush resulting in a second engine kill.
• At the end of the Turn 2, it was already looking grim for the Axis Tank Platoon.

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
2 VP	0 VP

Turn 3

• Panther advances, triggers a Soviet AT Gun in Ambush. The shell bounces.
• Panzer IV advances to cover the Panther and misses its shot on the Heavy AT.
• A second Heavy AT blasts at the Panther and pings the shell off the front armor.
• Heavy AC sends two shots right into the 250/9 and sends it sky high.
• Along side the 250/9, the 7/2 makes a dash into the woods but takes a Med. AT shell and gets knocked out.
• At the top of the field, the German infantry dive out of their half-track with a Snap To Action with Lt. and two SS Replacement Squads. All three units make an Advance towards the woods (Due to the Snow rules the infantry was not allowed to Run).
• The Axis push on the “bottom” flank has completely collapsed. With the momentum at the “top” be enough?

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
4 VP	0 VP

Turn 4

• First Order Dice to the Axis and a full Snap To Action pushes the German infantry into combat. The first squad of SS Replacements open up with six point blank rifles and delete a Soviet Med. AT Gun. The Lt. fires and kills two crew of a Med. AT Gun who hold.
• Panzer IV advances, hit and kills one of the Heavy AC crew and bounces a shell off the SU-76.
• Med. AT with only one remaining crew pivots, fires point blank and kills two SS replacements.
• Med. AT down low pivots, fires and bounces a shell off the Panzer IV.
• SU-76 attempts to cross the mud on the road and gets bogged down, unable to move any further.
• The Panther Rallies.
• Soviet Lt in the ruined house advances and kills two SS replacements.

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
4 VP	0 VP

Turn 5

• A third Snap to Action! The Axis Lt. and both squads of SS Replacements push forward with Advances. The kill last remaining Med. AT Gun crew and force the Soviet Lt. Down.
• Heavy AT fires, hits, pens and Immobilizes the last Panzer IV.
• Med. AT in the middle woods hits and knocks out the now empty Hannomag Half-track.
• SU-76 fails its Order Check and reveres towards the soviet Table edge.
• The second SU-76 fails it’s Mud roll and is once gain bogged down on the road and unable to move forward.
• Panther advances and kills another Heavy AC crew. The remaining crew pass their Morale Test. and hold.

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
5 VP	0 VP

Turn 6

• Med. AT fires, hits and pens the Panther with an Immobilized. That’s both of the remaining Axis tanks now unable to move to within 12″of the Soviet table edge and score.
• The Lt and both Replacement SS squads advance together in a Snap To – but are unable to kill the Soviet Lt who goes Down.
• A Soviet Light Howitzer lands a shell on one of the SS Replacement squads, kills three and they fail their Morale Check!
• The Panzer IV hits and bounces a shell against the SU-76.
• The Free Rifle Squad enters the fray! they advances and kill the German Lt.
• The Panther is forced to Rally.

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
6 VP	0 VP

Turn 7

• The Panther fires and kills the Heavy AC with a hull MMG and the SU-76 with a Super Heavy AT shell. It would be far too little, far too late.
• Soviet Lt fires and kills the one of the two Replacement SS solider remaining.

The last Replacement SS solider launches a futile charge out of the ruins into a hail of Soviet Ambush fire.

Soviet VPs	Axis VPs
8 VP	0 VP

Soviets: Killed 8 Axis units.
Axis: Ended the game with no units within 12″ of the Soviet table edge.

Final Result – Soviet Win
After 16 hard fought games, Joe and the Soviets have secured final victory of Campaign: Fortress Budapest!

The Post-Game

The Axis Conclusion

Death Ride of the Panzers indeed. Rarely is a mission name so accurate! I knew it would be a difficult mission to win but dang yo. That was a tough one. For the Attacker to have a chance you’d probably need a force double the size! That being said, it really was a cool mission. The deployment was super unique and unlike anything in the previous 15 games.

I want to thank Bryan Cook for authoring the best Bolt Action Campaign book ever published. There is no contest and no question. Fortress Budapest stands tall above all the rest. In some ways I kinda wish we hadn’t played through Fortress Budapest as our first campaign because there is no way the next one will be as good. It’s simply the GOAT.

Joe ya did it! Comrade Stalin will be most proud! But seriously, that was one hell of an adventure. So rarely in our hobby do we get the chance to not only start but actually finish a full campaign. I cannot thank you enough for all the games, the clutch rolls, the risk-it-all strategies, and above all else, the friendship. Congrats brother! I look forward to our next battle – win, lose or draw, it is guaranteed to be a great time. Until next time. – Andrew

The Soviet Conclusion

I did not envy what Andrew had to push into; and even worse he couldn’t shoot back until I had fired; most likely from Ambush mind you. His task seemed unobtainable, but always the professional, Andrew met this challenge head on! Going with the weight of fire seemed to definitely be the right choice here for the list building aspect. The mass of Red Army guns was enough to stem the fascist armored tide.

Hard to believe that it’s been 16 total games already. It seems like it was barely 10. This endeavor was quite the undertaking. Neither of us had ever tried something like this; but I’m confident neither of us regret it. I was fortunate to be the one on the opposite side of the table from a worthy opponent for 16 spectacular games. Even when we thought the mission wasn’t amazing, or a blow out, or ended on some lame rule, I had a spectacular time. While it was nice to win, the destination was not as fun as the journey. The ebbs and flows of the campaign. Gaining a two game lead on Andrew then him tying it back up…twice! The feeling of nervousness when it came down to the wire in a tight game to see who would clinch victory.

Our gracious host, Michigan Toy Soldier, home to 12 of our games. I cannot give Rick and his staff enough love and thanks for putting up with us. The support they gave us each week was amazing and they would constantly check in and see who was winning or what the status of the game/campaign was.

Andrew, my most worthy opponent. Thank you for all the great memories and all the great times. I hope you’re doing well and are happy in Chicago. I miss you brother. Take care. – Joe

Soviet Campaign Score	Axis Campaign Score
9	7
7-5-4	5-7-4

Soviet Campaign Kills	Axis Campaign Kills
73	63

Game 15 – The Last Redoubt

Game-by-Game Stats

			Campaign Score		Campaign Kills
Game	Mission	Result	Soviet	Axis	Soviet	Axis
1	Hold the Ojtozi Pass	Soviet Win	1	0	5	3
2	Into the Valley of Death	Draw	1.5	.5	7	6
3	Operation Debrecen	Axis Win	1.5	1.5	13	11
4	Flak Regiment 133	Draw	2	2	18	17
5	The Attila Line	Soviet Win	3	2	22	25
6	Counter-Attack at Pestszentimre	Soviet Win	4	2	26	29
7	Back Door Left Open	Axis Win	4	3	30	35
8	Street Fighting in Pest	Axis Win	4	4	32	40
9	Withdrawal Across the Danube	Soviet Win	5	4	35	42
10	Operation Konrad I	Axis Win	5	5	40	48
11	Operation Konrad III	Soviet Win	6	5	47	48
12	Farkasreti Cemetery	Axis Win	6	6	48	53
13	The Buda Hills	Soviet Win	7	6	57	56
14	Supply Drop	Draw	7.5	6.5	59	58
15	The Last Redoubt	Draw	8	7	65	59
16	Death Ride of the Panzers	Soviet Win	9	7	73	63