It’s the final week of The Chicago Dice Bolt Action Learning League! After eight games it comes down to this. It’s all to play for in Week 9.
Week 9 – 1,000pts – FUBAR!
The Mission
Sam asked me to select the mission for Week 9 and I immediately knew what to pick. FUBAR! was originally written for Polar Vortex 2023 and will be just as insane in Third Edition. FUBAR! is a full-deployment mission – no Reserves, no Infiltrators – with only 12″ of no-man’s land between the two armies this mission gets real hot from Turn 1. Adding to the chaos, three units from each side must begin the game Down, two Infantry units start the game without their NCO (they were killed before the start of the battle), and two units start the game with a Pin. FUBAR indeed.
Players score 1 VP per kill,1 VP for every 3 Pins in total on their opponents’ units, and 1 VP if they end the game with fewer total Pins than their opponent. You must win by 2 or more VP to secure victory.
Andrew V (Great Britain – BEF) v Logan (Germany)
My final league game was a Week 6 rematch against Logan and his Germans. Would the BEF emerge victorious once again? Or would the Germans get some sweet revenge? I’ll let Logan provide the full report below but wow, that was a fantastic game. Tactical, suspenseful, and on the razers edge. On the last turn all I needed to do was pass a Rally … I won’t spoil it. – Andrew
The British are attacking! Drive them back!
The German forces mobilized. Ruins, forests, and walls provided cover as they spread out across the front. Two Matilda IIs, some infantry, a Light Mortar, and a Platoon Commander approached from the left. Another Matilda II, an MMG, and more infantry approached from the right. Up the center were more infantry, a Light Mortar, and an AT Rifle team. The German Artillary Observer called in a bombardment that pinned down the Matildas and infantry on the left. German infantry pushed up the right flank with a Medic and Platoon Command squad following for support. Fire was exchanged along the left flank with a few casualties. A squad of British infantry pushed up to the left of center, drawing heavy from from many German units. They were able to survive the attacks for much longer than expected, providing time for their allies to regroup. The Germans on the right flank gunned down swaths of British infantry and fired off a successful Panzerfaust shot at the Matilda before being shot down. The German MMG and Medium Mortar provided steady kills. The Matildas on the left began to advance, inflicting several casualties. Finally, the Germans fired into the British back lines, pinning down the British MMG and killing a PC. The British weren’t retreating just yet, but the battle was tipping into the Germans’ favor.
This was an incredibly well fought and close game with Andrew. I got lucky with my Artillery Bombardment. He got lucky with how many of my activations were consumed by shooting at an infantry squad that would not die. In the end, it was all decided by a failed Order Test to Rally the British MMG at the end of the final turn. Had they passed the test, we would have tied. I just barely squeaked out a victory. Well played! – Logan
John V (France – Colonial Vichy) v Dave F (Italy – Bersaglieri & France – FFL)
Good game with Dave at Games Plus. We played 1,250 so I could test my list for The Great Fire. The game was carnage from the jump. Some unfortunate rolls for Dave’s Italians gave my US and edge, and things snowballed from there. Italian morale broke as my Airborne poured on the fire. It was my first time using a Company Commander and I am sold. Having him and his buddy blasting HMG shots from LVT while Snapping To was very effective. – John
My brief hot streak with the Italians has come to a predictable end lol! Thanks John! I’m pretty sold on Company Commanders myself. Gonna revisit my Green Fallschirmjagers and Company Commander draft list… – Dave
Maple S (Soviet Union) v Russell R (USA)
Reporting a Week 9 win for the Soviets against Russell’s Germans. – Maple
Great game Maple!! Those waves of Russians were no joke. – Russell
Jacky L (Great Britain – Polish Independent Brigade) v Terry D (Finland)
Terry’s Finns annihilated my British. Commander Terry deserves a tank fear test for how well they were shooting. – Jacky
Started with a pin…turn one given order, failed, and backed into cover. Turn 2, given order, passes, and moves forward to shoot at Achilles. Hit, penetrates, but just sets it on fire and immobilzed it. Turn 3 fire again, destroy Achilles. Turn 4, move, fire at half track, miss. Turn 5, again fire at half track, hit, destroy it, MG fires and kills a few infantry. Turn 6, fires HE on light mortar in ruins, hits, kills them. Not a bad days work for an old man…. – Terry
Andrew V (British – Chindits) v Ben T (USA)
My Week 7 opponent had to bow out. Luckily, Ben was able to play as a stand-in for a Week 7 make-up game. We played an Attacker/Defender mission – Pincer Move – from the Bolt Action Alliance 2023 Mission Pack and it was awesome. Ben was on the attack and I was on the defensive. But unlike most Attacker/Defender missions, the objectives were not asymmetric. It’s three objectives down the center of the table, 12″ apart. The difference in in deployment. I started in a 18″ bubble on the back-middle table edge. Ben deployed into two 18″ bubbles from his left and right back corner. It was asymmetric deployment and that made from a really interesting game.
Ben’s gun-line style winter GIs brought down some serious hurt onto my Chindits and getting the business end of two Airstrikes didn’t do my any favors. At the end of Turn 6 I managed to claw my way into a desperate Draw, but we rolled for a Turn 7 and by the end of that I only had three models remaining. A deceive win for the US! – Andrew
The Final League Standings after Week 9
| Player | Force | Games Played | Wins | Losses | Draws | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew V | Great Britain – BEF | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Logan X | Germany | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 19 |
| Rob R | Soviet Union | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Russell R | USA | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 17 |
| Maple S | Soviet Union | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 16 |
| John V | France – Colonial Vichy | 7 | 4 | 3 | – | 15 |
| John M | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | |
| Zack D | Yugoslavia (France) | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 14 |
| Hayden R | USA & Partisans | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Giuseppe I | Germany | 6 | 3 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Dave F | Italy – Bersaglieri & France – FFL | 8 | 2 | 6 | – | 12 |
| Terry D | Finland | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| Zak K | Poland & Partisans | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Nate B | USA | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Jacky L | Great Britain – Polish Independent Brigade | 6 | 2 | 4 | – | 10 |
| Sammie A | Great Britain – ANZAC | 6 | 1 | 5 | – | 8 |
| Adam S | Great Britain | 4 | 1 | 3 | – | 6 |
| Lexx D | Great Britain – SAS | 2 | – | 2 | – | 2 |
| Kevin C | USA | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 |
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 