Friday, December 22, 2017

Modern Bolt Action - Outskirts of Baghdad AAR

Finally got together for a game with the guys!  Decided to pull out the modern Iraq stuff since it has been a while since we played modern Bolt Action.  Fear not, my Waterloo preparations remain in full swing other than taking some time today to play a game.

NOTE:  Picture heavy, tons of pictures below.

I really wanted to start this post off with a Die Hard movie reference ... something like: "Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring ... except four assholes in standard two-by-two formation advancing ..." --- hahahaha ... hey, if you can't make yourself laugh, why bother!  Anyways ...

This was a fictional engagement on the outskirts of a major city - in this case we called it the outskirts of Baghdad.  The battle saw two combat teams from the USMC fighting against elements of the Iraqi army and insurgents. 

Acting on intelligence that the mosque is HQ for a large insurgent group and harboring a large weapons cache, USMC have been ordered to seize a foothold on the main highway into the city, clear out the blocks surrounding the mosque, and clear the market while protection civilians who are in the area and may be attempting to flee the fighting.

Table was setup as below ...


USMC OOB:

Combat Team Alpha:

  • 1 x M1A2 Abrams Tank
  • 1 x AAVP-7A1
  • 1 x Squad Leader
  • 3 x Fireteams (2 x Assault Rifle, 1 x SAW, 1 x Assault Rifle w Grenade Launcher)
  • 1 x Humvee (uparmoured)
  • 1 x SMAW Team

Combat Team Bravo

  • 1 x M1A2 Abrams Tank
  • 1 x AAVP-7A1
  • 1 x Squad Leader
  • 3 x Fireteams (2 x Assault Rifle, 1 x SAW, 1 x Assault Rifle w Grenade Launcher)
  • 1 x Humvee (uparmoured)
  • 1 x Sniper Team

In addition to the above forces:
  • An intelligence drone is on station for D3+1 turns (rolled a 2 - so 3 turns).  USMC decided to bring the drone in on turn 2-5.
  • A Cobra Gunship comes on station at the start of turn 4 (specific colored die was added to the bag).

Iraqi insurgent forces had 7 cells each with 6 figures (mixture of assault rifles, RPGs and LMGs).  A T-55 tank and BMP-1 (with ATGM @ -1 pen) could enter at the start of any turn for the Iraqi army.  The BMP-1 carried a section leader and 2 x infantry fireteams (6 figures each:  4 x assault rifles, 1 x RPG, 1 x LMG).  A technical with HMG and another with a recoilless rifle could also enter at the start of any turn.

All insurgent cells move out from the mosque on turn 1.  While the cells did not regenerate for this game, we used golf tees to mark locations of insurgent forces.  When discovered the insurgent player could deploy any insurgent cell they wanted at that time.  We had some basic spotting rules in place for discovery of the golf tees.  The easiest way was for the intelligence drone to use it's "detect" action to automatically reveal any golf tee.

The USMC was able to complete their objectives but took some casualties along the way.  Most notably was the ATGM from the BMP knocking out an M1 Abrams ... John Lantz managed it ... Roy did the math and there was somewhere in the vicinity of a 2% chance that it would do it ... John rolled very well.

Another great moment was John rolling for Amateur Hour on 2 x RPGs at one time - he rolled snake-eyes and they both blew up!  Anyways, it was a really fun game and enjoyed by all.

Pictures below ...














































John Lantz also took some pictures with his phone ...
























Hope you enjoyed the pictures - more to come!

36 comments:

  1. Outstanding attention to details in these fabulous street views, spectacular and superb!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a tremendous looking table! Lots of eyecandy here. These Crescent Roots buildings look really tempting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! Yes ... Crescent Root is awesome ... they'll be expanding the range in 2018 :-)

      Delete
  3. As always, outstanding work my friend.
    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks mate! Likewise ... Merry Christmas and happy new year! May Santa bring your more lead and plastic happiness :-)

      Delete
    2. Thanks mate. I've made sure he does.LOL!

      Delete
  4. looks absolutely amazing, and sounds like a blast! Thanks for sharing it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Way too contemporary for my gaming tastes, but what a spectacular table! Wow!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hear ya ... fear not ... Waterloo coming next :-) Thanks! :-)

      Delete
  6. Absolutely brilliant! So much goodness in one space it brings a tear to my eye :)
    Bonus points for the Die Hard reference too! Every year around Christmas the wife and I have our usual argument about how Die Hard is the greatest Christmas movie ever and how she is completely wrong by not agreeing with me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol ... brothers from another mother ... I just had that argument last night ... and again this morning after showing her your post ... still unresolved ;-) I can see why ... Die Hard 2 has more snow in it ... hahahahahahaha!! Merry Christmas!! :-)

      Delete
    2. Ditto! A co worker and I were just saying the other day at work how Die Hard is the Best Christmas movie ever made, hands down.

      Delete
    3. Lol ... heck yeah! Wife remains unconvinced ... lol.

      Delete
  7. Just once, I’d like to see y’all play a game that wasn’t a jaw dropping spectacle, you know, just to prove you’re human. 😀

    Great post! And great minor mods to the BA engine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ... you are too kind Stew!! Lol Waterloo next ... can't make any promises :-)

      Delete
  8. Stunning set-up, turned my eyes green.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lead up to Christmas had me away from blogging. It was your article on this very subject in WI that turned me on to your blog, and the big show. I now have Crescent root buildings, some painted modern figs, your rules, and only need to get a few bits more to get on with my show. Now I only need a little snow out your way to go Hans Gruber on your ass and pull off the big heist to flush out those bits;)

    Cheers
    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well heck ... glad somebody read it :-) Thanks Kevin! I look forward to seeing the end result :-) Just remember ... shoot the glass ;-)

      Delete
  10. Hey Jay, two things

    1) Where did you get those bricks from. I looked through past blog posts (especially the Desert Scatter terrain one) and I couldn't see anything.

    2) This is the best modern table I've ever seen. The CRS buildings are stunning and so are your figures. Do you think you could do a full battle report for one of these? Write down a turn by turn with corresponding screenshots? I would read that.

    Either way, I love the modern stuff. So excited to see the Russia Resurgents in action again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe the bricks are 1:48 ones from the following link. You’ll have to copy and paste the following to see them.

      http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=114_115&zenid=86b2b378f81f4eb2a388060a8159d0f4

      Cheers
      Kevin

      Delete
    2. Kevin nailed it. I mix those Juweela bricks together. I have a "European mix" that is more red brick a d the "desert" mix used in this game. I also mix in some rocks and broken up planks from the Battlefield Terrain Concepts snake rail kits.

      Delete
    3. Oh and ... yes, I will have to look at doing a more detailed battle report for modern. Will have to be a smaller scale game so it doesn't turn into a novel. Something to think on for 2018 :-)

      Delete
    4. Thanks guys! Look forward to 2018.

      Delete
  11. Hello:
    Excellent table! I have CR's European buildings and they're awesome.
    Did you make the asphalt streets? If you did, how did you make them?

    Jorge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jorge! Yes, I cover how to make the roads here: http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/2016/08/modern-paved-roads-cheap-and-easy.html

      Delete
  12. Hi,
    Spectacular looking game!
    Just wondering how you figured Points per side or did you just roughly guess?
    Our group is thinking about trying BA modern since we’re already familiar with BA.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there. My thoughts on points: http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-few-words-on-building-scenarios.html

      Delete