Late 1944 - Brits vs German Bolt Action

It has been ages since my last Deetails/54mm game.  Have been happily distracted by 40mm...

These are mostly all from Ross Mac of the great blog Battle Game of The Month.

They are all beautifully painted and a pleasure to move around the table and admire...

But the Kid reminded me it has been way too long since our last Deetails Bolt Action game...So, a Sunday afternoon took us to Holland in late 1944...

A village must be held to slow the British advance!

Here are some pictures:

(The Daimler Dingo that just would not die!)

In the end a German victory.   Very fun game and a joy to bust out the WWII guys again!

Scottish Tro-Spartans vs. Vikings!

Sometimes one just has to play everything in 54mm! 

Today it was a Four Point SAGA game using the special "Heros of The Viking Age" characters.    The Vikings had "Ragnar Lothbrok" leading a force of mounted Hearthguard, Berserkers and a foot Hearthguard unit.  They sailed to Scotland to fight "Macbeth" and his Scots (who, for some reason, decided to don Tro-Spartan arms and apparel).  The Scottish force was made up of an unit of Levy Archers, and two Warrior units. 

Really the game was just a fun excuse to finally get the Vikings my brother had kindly given me for Christmas onto the table.

I learned that charging Levy Bows with a Mounted Hearthguard unit is a bad idea!

But Berserkers are always fun and do their bit!

Here Ragnar Lothbrok convinces the Scots that he is truly "the son of Odin"!

In the end, Ragnar (and friend) challenge, and then defeat, the mighty Macbeth.

Robin Rampant (or Robin Running?)

Wanted an all Made in China Deetails game last night.  Naturally, Robin Hood and his Merrymen were the first to jump onto the table.  Decided upon Dragon Rampant as the rules and came up with the following:

Robin Hood - Elite Foot, Missiles, with Blessed Bow.  10 Points.

Maid Marion - Light Foot, Spellcaster.  6 Points.

Little John - Bellicose Foot, Shiny Armour (well, not really he's just Little John!). 6 Points.

Friar Tuck - Offensive, Heavy Foot.  6 Points.

Will Scarlet - Light Missile with Sharpshooter.  6 Points.

Total - 34 Pioints.

       Vs.

Prince John And The Sheriff!

Prince John - Elite Foot, Mystical Armour.  8 Points.

Sheriff Of Nottingham - Bellicose Foot, Terrifically Shiny Armour, Hatred of Robin Hood.  7 Points.

Prince John's Crusaders - Elite Foot.  6 Points.

The Sheriff's Men - Elite Foot.  6 Points.

Archers - Light Missiles with Sharpshooter.  6 Points.

Total - 33 Points.


It was a wonderful day in Sherwood Forest...

Suddenly, "It's Robin Hood", says the Sheriff of Nottingham, "I hate that guy!"

"Attack!!!"

Will Scarlet takes up position and begins sniping the Sheriff's men.

But the Sheriff "Wild Charges" Little John!

And sends him packing!

Friar Tuck also runs off after being defeated in combat by the Sheriff and Prince John!  The Merry Men (and Woman) are now down to just three.

Until the Crusaders charge Maid Marion!  They tire of being the targets of her deadly Power Bolt spell!

Disgusted by this, Robin Hood charges Prince John and tries to reason with him.

But Prince John will have none of this, and chases Robin off!

Will Sherwood forest ever be the same again...?

A fun game.  Dragon Rampant really does work nicely for an easy skirmish as well as bigger battles.   Nice to be playing with Robin and the Lads (and Lass) again too. 

A Late Battle of The Bulge

Ever since I was a boy I have been fascinated by the Battle of the Bulge.  So every December 16 (or as close as I get) I try to have some sort of tabletop trip to the Ardennes.    I was just looking at some holiday photos when I saw these pictures from a Bolt Action game and thought I post them:

Tiger love!  And proper scaling - who needs it!  1:38 and 1:32 just seem so perfect together for toy soldier games. 

This game was based on Patton's counterattack.  Kept hearing George C. Scott's voice in my head as the battle raged on. 

That's all the pics.  In the end a German victory...until the skies cleared...

DSG Bolt Action - Finns vs. 8th Army

For a brief time in late 1942, various portals simultaneously, and most mysteriously, opened up.  When General Montgomery heard about the Portal that connected North Africa to Finland, he exclaimed, "We will get to Berlin via Finland!"   

But the Finns were not about to have their country be trampled through by the British!  

SAS troops spearhead the 8th Army attack!

The Finns and their Chi-Ha tanks advance cautiously.

Here comes the Desert Rats!   (I had been looking forward all week to playing with these guys!)

And these terrific Chi-Ha's!  These are the work of Ross Mac, of the inspiring blog, Battle Game of the Month.  Really nice paint jobs on these two tanks!

The shooting in this game was atrocious.

Which left Close Combat as the only option.

The remains of the 8th Army retreat back to the desert.

And then, without warning, all the portals closed...

Battle For Poland

Bolt Action 1939 Poland with the Kid this afternoon.   750 points per side.

The Germans:

The Poles (wearing British uniforms and borrowing a Daimler for a TKS tankette, and the ever-present Chi-Ha as a 7TP):

Some pics from the game:

Mortars are so amazing in Bolt Action!  Plus I love these figures!