The Chicago Dice Bolt Action Learning League has officially begun. Follow along as we recap the progress of the Bolt Action League week by week.
Week 1 – 500pts – Supply Capture
The Mission
Classic mission for Week 1, nothing fancy. Played on a 4×4′ table with d3+2 objectives placed by the players. The win condition was simple: end the game with more objectives than your opponent. To have control of an objective, you needed an Infantry or Artillery unit to end the game within 3″ of the objectives with no enemy units of any kind within 3″. So, no “sticky” objectives and no checking for scoring until the end of the game. With a full six-turn game length, this would be a battle until the end.
Andrew V (Great Britain – BEF) v Rob R (Soviet Union)
My Force
First game with the BEF! As this is Week 1 of the league and I am running a brand new force, I hit the table with 500pts of unpainted models. Some may find this offensive, but with how quickly the League got up and running, I simply did not have time to get these painted before the first game. To be honest, I was pushing just to get them built. I used the excellent Wargames Atlantic BEF for the bulk of my force with some Warlord bits thrown in here and there for variety. My 500pt BEF list was:
- Regular Platoon Commander (SMG) with two additional men (SMGs)
- Regular Infantry Section – x6 men, NCO SMG, x1 SMG
- Regular Infantry Section – x5 men, LMG
- Regular Infantry Section – x5 men, LMG
- Regular Light Mortar Team
- AEC Mk 1 Armored Car – Armor 8, Light AT Gun w/ coax MMG, Recce, Command Vehicle
- Recce Carrier – Armor 7, Pintle LMG, Hull-mounted AT Rifle, Recce
- Total – 498pts, 7 Orde Dice
I don’t typically run units this small, but I really wanted to bring the AEC Mk I, and the Combat Patrol format limits us to just 500pts and 9 Order Dice max. My plan was to march the infantry towards the objectives slowly, laying down LMG fire with the Light Mortar targeting any fixed weapons. The Recce Carrier would go on a flanking run, and the AEC would focus on any enemy armor. I’m hoping the single Light AT Gun will be enough anti-tank to cover my infantry.
The Game
Rob and I played our game at the fantastic Prism Games in Logan Square. We got our 4×4′ set up with various bits of terrain and prepared our forces for battle. Rob brought Soviets with three Reg Infantry Squads, a Light Mortar, a Platoon Commander and two buddies (all with SMGs), and a pair of T-60 Light Tanks.
Rob’s Soviets started the game hot with effective fire onto my Light Mortar and a Rifle Section. I took a few casualties and then failed not one, but both of the Morale Tests. Both units broke, and at the end of Turn 1, I was already down two units. Rob was in control, and I had to play from the back foot to have any chance of clawing my way back. The next four turns saw the BEF slowly advancing into enemy fire. The AEC on the right, the Recce Carrier on the left, and the remaining infantry down the middle.
I say this without hyperbole; the game could not have been closer. It came down to the last two Order Dice on the final turn that decided the game. If Rob had been able to kill my lone rifleman holding my back objective – the game would have been a draw. And then, if I failed a Morale 7 Order Test to move my Recce Carrier and contest an objective, Rob would have won. The whole game was like that – little things breaking one way or the other that led to an absolute nailbiter of a result. In the end, the BEF held two objectives, the Soviets held one, and two were contested. A win for the BEF – but just barely. My thanks to Rob for a fantastic game – what a way to start the League! – Andrew
Logan X (Germany) v Adam S (Great Britain – 8th Army)
The Germans raced the British to the supply drops. One was squirreled away in the upper floor of a building. The German Sniper Team snuck into the building, attempting to hold it until reinforcements arrived. Another fell into a copse of trees. The third was stashed in some ruins. The British quickly grabbed the stash in the ruins. The Germans amassed forces around the supplies in the trees. The German Sniper cut down an NCO before working in tandem with a Light Mortar team to render the British MMG ineffective. The German AT Team secured the supplies in the trees, but British troops shot one of them down and killed the German Sniper Team. A section of British infantry began to advance toward the trees. Shots were fired back and forth with little resolution. A squad of German infantry ran into the building to reclaim the cache the Sniper was holding previously. A squad of British infantry charged them in the building. Many were shot down during their advance, before being cut down entirely. A squad of German infantry charged toward the supplies in the ruins, but the fast-moving river kept them from getting there. They fired shots into the British advancing toward the trees. When those British infantry charged the Germans who had massed up around the supplies in the trees, they too were cut down, just barely. The British Commander made a last-ditch effort to grab the supplies in the building, but his group was no match for the German infantry nested within. It was a fun game with Adam and my Germans won 2-1. – Logan
League Standings After Week 1
| Player | Force | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Draws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zach D | Yugoslavia (France) | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| Maple S | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| John V | France – Colonial Vichy | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Andrew V | Great Britain – BEF | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| Sammie A | Great Britain – ANZAC | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Dave F | Italy – Bersaglieri | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Zak K | Poland – Partisans | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Terry D | Finland | |||||
| Adam S | Great Britain | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Kevin K | Germany | |||||
| Logan X | Germany | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| Jacky L | Poland | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| Rob R | Soviet Union | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Lexx D | Great Britain – SAS | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| Kevin C | USA | |||||
| Giuseppe I | Germany | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| Nate B | USA | 1 | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| John M | USA | 1 | – | – | 1 | 2 |
| Russel R | USA | 1 | – | – | 1 | 2 |
Dispatches from the Front
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 – 500pts
Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 – 750pts
Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 – 1000pts
Chicago Dice 