We once again packed up our forces and hit the road for Battle in Berlin – A Bolt Action Combat Patrol Tournament at Gamer’s Realm in New Berlin, WI. Using the AdeptiCon Combat Patrol format for this event, 16 players arrived for what promised to be an exciting day of fast and furious games. Quick overview with some of the event rules:

• 1 Combat Patrol Platoon, 450pts, 8 Order Dice max
• No free units or equipment of any kind
• No unit “multiple selections” allowed
• Max 1 flamethrower, vehicle flamethrowers are not allowed
• Max HE 2″
• Max Armor 8
• Max 3 vehicles

Our Forces

Andrew – Back again for Battle in Berlin! We had a great time at last year and I was looking forward to another solid event. My German Combat Patrol force was a slice of my larger Kriegsmarine collection. With the Combat Patrol constraints in mind I brought a First Lt, three units of eight Kriegsmarine (two with all rifles, one with x2 LMGs), an AT Rifle Team and a Heavy Autocannon. With only six Order Dice I knew that I’d be on the low end but with two Heavy Weapons I felt confident that I’d be able to deal with any enemy vehicles. It was strange not having the 88 though!

John – While I originally planned to bring a Vichy French or Hungarian force for this event, insufficient hobby time meant those projects were put on hold and I fell back to my old reliable North Africa British/Indians. My 8-Order Dice army consisted of an Inexperienced Second Lt, three squads of six Regular riflemen, a Sniper Team, the valuable, versatile, and venerable 25-pdr, a motorcycle with LMG sidecar, and a Vickers Light Tank Mk VI C armed with a Light Autocannon and co-axial MMG. This list is similar to other Combat Patrol lists I’ve run in the past so I felt comfortable that I’d be able to get the most out of my units.

Game 1 – Pre-Sighted

Andrew – My first game was against Gary and his US Airborne. Garry brough three squads of Paratroopers, a Transport Jeep with a Bazooka Team aboard, a Sniper Team and a Greyhound Armored Car. Our forces faced off on a dense Italian city filled with buildings and crisscrossing roads. With only a few open lines of sight both our forces aggressively advanced into the city. For the first four turns not a single models was killed! It wasn’t until my Lt called in the pre-sighted artillery strike that resulted in the destruction of an Airborne Squad and a Transport Jeep that the game opened up. I had an opening, and I took it. Gary’s US were pinned down and couldn’t make an aggressive move on the objectives. Despite a desperate shot from an Airborne Bazooka at the last minute, the Kriegsmarine held onto the objectives and secured the victory in Game 1.

Kriegsmarine seize the objective on the top floor.

John – After a last-minute drop from one of the registered players our brilliant TO Rob stepped up the fill the gap and provide an even number of players. Rob and I faced off in Game 1. Rob’s Maquis force included two small Maquis squads with Marksmen, a larger Partisan squad with a few SMGs, and SAS support in the form of a Sniper Team, Bazooka Team, jeep transport, and and Armored SAS Jeep with lots of MGs. Utilizing the Partisan rule that allowed his troops to ignore Rough Ground on the first turn as well as his mobile jeeps Rob seized the initiative and pressed up towards the three objectives. Some lucky hits from my Sniper and 25-pounder helped slow the advance but things took a turn for the worst when one of my rifle squads assaulted the Bazooka Team and, despite outnumbering the veteran SAS 5-to-2, lost the assault and dashed my hopes of victory. A tactical blunder on my part meant that my pre-sighted artillery strike was wasted and by the end of the game I lacked the firepower to remove Rob’s remaining units from the objectives and he took a well-deserved victory.

The Sikhs must have equipped their rubber bayonets!

Game 2 – Lead from the Front

Andrew – Kill points with a twist! Kills worth 1 VP and Lts being worth an additional VP. The Lt could only be killed in assault and could not be targeted by enemy fire. This resulted in some very interesting situations with our Lts very much leading from the front, blasting away without fear of return fire. I squared up against Andrew B and his German patrol with a mix a infantry, AT Rifle, LMG Team, Light Mortar. MMG Motorbike and a Sdk.Fz 7/1 with the Heavy Autocannon and Armored Cab – a significant threat for my own Heavy AC to try and take down. To put it bluntly, Andrew had all the tools in the toolbox!

Without going into the details, I was out-deployed and out-maneuvered. Andrew B played the game incredibly well. He didn’t take an unnecessary risks, played it close and denied my Heavy Autocannon. Getting two Inexperienced rolls on Unprepared didn’t help my cause but Andrew was in control throughout the game. There was, however, one chance to snatch a Draw on the finale Oder of the game but sadly, my Lt missed the shot. A great game and in well earned win for Andrew!

Andrew’s expertly placed MMG Motorbike was a real menace.

John – In Game 2 I played against Dave’s German platoon which included lots of Assault Rifles across his officer team, a large squad of Veteran Grenadiers and a squad of Volks Grenadiers. The infantry was supported by an LMG Team, a Motorcycle with MMG sidecar, and a Panzer I. The highlight of the game for me came when my lone Lieutenant was able to destroy Dave’s motorcycle with a single well-placed rifle shot! Dave had some fortunate rolls of his own, including his Volks Grenadiers upgrading to Veterans thanks to their Mixed Quality special rule. I made my second strategic error of the day when I impetuously moved a Rifle squad out of the protection of a building so that they could assault Dave’s Lieutenant in the following turn. Unfortunately, I placed them in the open while Dave’s Panzer I hadn’t yet activated. The tank’s 12 shots took out half of my rifle squad and I no longer had the opportunity to score bonus points by capturing the enemy Lt. The game ended in a 4-4 draw when neither of us could break the deadlock in the final turn.

Havildar Ishar Singh scores an improbable kill

Game 3 – Lost

Andrew – Final game of the day and it’s against Dave and his Germans (who John played in Game 2). This mission had five objectives placed around the table and we both picked an enemy unit that was “lost” and would arrive from Reserve on Turn 4. Dave picked my Double LMG Squad and I picked his Panzer I. With both our forces at only six Order Dice this was going to be a deadly matchup. Luckily, the objectives were “sticky” and once you controlled one at the end of turn, it stayed under your control unless an enemy took it. This meant that our forces were both thrown in a battle over control of the middle objective with neither one of us giving any ground. After five turns of battle, it all came down to the scrum on the middle objective on Turn 6. Desperate assaults and lucky shots fired from all corners of the table to try and clear the enemy. In the end, neither could take control and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Playing a game with Dave’s Mixed Quality infantry and my Unprepared squads made for a wild game. We both had chances to “upgrade” our troops to Vet or get stuck as Inexp – a pretty insane way to build your force, I must say. A great came that could have gone either way the whole time.

Complete and total chaos around the middle objective

John – Heading into Game 3 with a loss and a draw I was hoping to secure a victory as not to end the day winless. In the final game I played against Gary (Andrew’s opponent from Game 1) and his American patrol including two rifles squads each with two BARs, a Sniper Team, a Bazooka Team, a Greyhound armored car and a transport jeep. In this mission we each selected one of our opponent’s units to put into Reserves and on Turn 4 it would arrive on a random table edge. I selected Gary’s transport jeep, forcing his Bazooka Team to hoof it with the hopes that my Sniper would be able to pick them off. Gary forced my Vickers Light Tank into reserves, limiting my firepower for the first half of the game. I had an advantage in this game since there was a church near the center of the board, close to the middle objective, that happened to be on my side of the table. I was able to get a rifle squad into the building where they hunkered down for the remainder of the game, denying Gary the opportunity to capture the tie-breaking objective. There weren’t many kills this game, thanks in to a terrain-heavy table and each of us playing rather conservatively. Ultimately my securing of the center objective was enough to lock in the win.

Outflanking the Americans

Final Thoughts

Andrew – I ended the day 1-1-1, a repeat of my results from 2023! No complaints leaving an event as “Even Steven”. I haven’t actually played Bolt Action in some time and playing these three games against three fantastic opponents was just a lovely time. I had not played any of my opponents before and I had great games against them all. Once again Rob did a fantastic job running the tournament. It’s no easy task, especially when you have to step in and play as a Ringer! Gamer’s Realm continues to impress as a fantastic little FLGS, highly recommended for anyone in the New Berlin area.

John – I was excited to return to Gamer’s Realm for this event and it did not disappoint. Some costly errors impacted my record but all three of my games were enjoyable with great opponents. The event ran like clockwork and everyone walked away with multiple prizes thanks to the event sponsors and a trove of 3D printed units provided by one of the players, Joshua T. Combat Patrol remains a favorite format and here’s hoping this event returns for another round next year. Next up is the final tournament for 2nd Edition, Operation Midnight at Old Guard Games, and I will do my best to learn from today’s mistakes and play a little more thoughtfully.