Sunday, January 10, 2016

Bolt Action Modern AAR - Another Day In Basra

Pulled out the British today to play a Basra themed game.  This was my first game playing the coalition forces ... I've been playing the bad guys in every game so far.  Ironically that bit me in the but for the first two turns while I remembered how to play with decent troops and equipment (and how painful it is to take any casualties).

The objective for the British today was to clear the area of enemy resistance.  The two Martyr cells recycled from a compound adjoining the park and the 3 regular Insurgent cells recycled from a rear building in the Mosque.  You can see this in the picture below.


Roy Scaife played the Iraqi's today and took a very different initial strategy.  He used the buildings almost exclusively for his units (very WW2 Bolt Action).  This was great because I wanted to see how the rules played out in this way.  By default, the Insurgents that recycle are better left outside of buildings as that way the deadly weapons of the coalition can't get LOS to them (behind a building, no LOS ... in the building, LOS).  Recent adjustments also made it easier and more deadly for the coalition heavy weapons firing on the buildings.  As expected, Roy moved his guys out of the buildings for "wait and strike" attacks that proved effective.  If you pop out a recycling squad a kill 1-2 coalition troops, that is 2 x VP ... and if you're squad is wiped out as a result than you've only given up 1/2 a VP.  By games end I was very happy with how the game turned out ... the rules are really working well IMO.  For the next battle I'll be adding in helicopters (transport and assault) to make sure we give those a good run through.

British Order of Battle

  • 1 x Challenger 2 MBT
  • 1 x FV510 Warrior IFV
  • 1 x Squad Leader
  • 4 x Fireteams (each with 2 x assault rifles, 1 x AR with UGL and 1 x SAW)
  • 1 x HUMVEE with HMG
  • 1 x SAS Team (2 x assault rifles, 1 x AR with UGL and 1 x SAW)

Iraqi Order of Battle
  • 1 x Martyr Leader (assault rifle)
  • *1 x Martyr Cell (2 x assault rifles and 2 x LMGs)
  • *1 x Martyr Cell (3 x assault rifles and 1 x LMG)
  • 1 x Insurgent Leader (assault rifle)
  • *2 x Insurgent Cells (each with 4 x assault rifles, 1 x LMG and 1 x RPG)
  • *1 x Insurgent Cell (3 x assault rifles, 1 x LMG and 1 x RPG)
  • 1 x MTLB
  • 1 x Republican Guard Squad (4 x assault rifles, 1 x LMG and 1 x RPG)
  • 1 x Insurgent Recoilless Rifle Team

The units above with the * are units that recycled being worth 1/2 VP each time they are eliminated.  The other units do not recycle and are a full VP when eliminated.

The Game

This was the first Iraqi/Insurgent victory.  The final VPs were 8 for the coalition and 10 for the Insurgents.  I did a really stupid thing and entered a building in front of several Insurgent cells that were in ambush.  Roy rolled really well and I didn't make any medic saves.  This was in turn 2 and I lost a whole fireteam (4 x VPs) ... ouch!!!  After that I pulled back and used my armoured vehicles for cover while moving up the main road.  I left two squads in the large compound ready to move once I made enough progress down the main road.  The FV510 Warrior deployed its smoke dischargers (one shot weapon) right at a critical intersection and that broke the whole thing wide open as it close down many of the firing lanes for the insurgent cells.  That being said, I wasted two turns playing like an "insurgent" and didn't get my act together until turn 3.  After losing that entire fireteam I was too far behind in VPs and attempting to play catch up for the rest of the game.  We played to turn 7 and I rolled for a turn 8 but didn't make it so the game ended with an Iraqi minor victory.  In other notes, one of Roy's RPGs failed a amateur hour roll and blew up.  Another caused a pin marker on my Challenger ... which I promptly failed two order tests in a row (turn 6 and 7) ... an big swing for Roy there ... I think the crew had tea for two turns ... man I really could have used that tank for both of those turns.  Oh well, the dynamics of modern warfare ... still a very fun and entertaining game.  In fact, every game we've played so far has been really good.  Ok, enough talk, on to the pictures ... 








































Managed to take a few pictures with my phone as well ...







After the game I took a few "staged" pictures of the British entering and clearing the market area.

















That's all for now ... back to getting my Dead Man's Hand stuff ready for DundraCon 2016 ... whoot!

36 comments:

  1. Truly stunning terrain, minis and pictures!

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  2. Beautiful table! I especially like the authentic posters (nice detail) and the Humvee.

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    1. Thanks Andrew -- just did those posters/signs up last night. :-)

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  3. Wow That is a stunning game board and Lovely minis great work!

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  4. Great looking game! You've really got some amazing terrain built for this! And the minis are top notch as well

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  5. That terrain is fantastic! the little details like posters and scatter pieces are superb.

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    1. It all comes down to the details, thanks Jamie :-)

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  6. Most awesome setting and pics I've see in quite a while!

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  7. Stunning table and minis. A visual feast.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

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  8. Shock and awe - in a positive way, of course.. I´m amazed!! Thanks for sharing these wonderful images! :D

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  9. Have you sent this in to Warlord Games? This table and rules set is just brilliant!

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    1. Thanks Chris! I have not yet ... I've avoided it just in case they tell me to stop using Bolt Action ;-)

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  10. Awesome!
    What stats do you use?
    I tried moderns. Here's a link to my blog.

    http://noduffgamer.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/modern-bolt-action-australians-vs.html

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    1. Thanks! I posted up my Bolt Action army lists here: http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/2015/12/bolt-action-modern-army-lists.html

      BA modern rules here: http://jayswargamingmadness.blogspot.com/2015/11/bolt-action-modern-rules.html

      Cool - I'll check out your blog! :-)

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  11. This is really looking ace!

    IMHO the most realistic looks for the invasion of Iraq I have ever seen on the war-games table!

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  12. Oh my god - some of the best and evocative pictures I have seen for a long time.

    Personally I feel that this period is just too recent to 'Wargame' but personal views aside you have some seriously cool kit on show.

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    1. Thanks Mr. Shed!! I recall you feeling that way ... call it "early Iraq" so it isn't so recent ;-)

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    2. Having actually served in Basra, I do agree with Eric the shed, but having looked again today, you have some very cool figures and terrain there. (even if the troops are wearing MTP!!)

      Steve

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    3. Thank you for your service sir!

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  13. Absolutely amazing. Very inspiring stuff. Thanks for shearing.

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  14. a suggestion for buildings and irregulars. If Irregulars are in a building and have not shot at a regular unit since entering the building then the regular unit must first spot them to verify that they are not just civilians. If they fail to spot them then they cannot fire upon them. This might force the regular unit to breach the building to clear it for sure. You could even make it almost impossible to spot if the irregular unit is under an ambush order. This is a tactic used by insurgent forces and an issue coalition units face.

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    1. That is an excellent suggestion and something I've been thinking about. I'm working through some minor updates right now on the rules and this is going to be one of the changes. Thanks!

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