Bolt Action Escalation Campaign: Game Two

A German assault gun takes up it’s position next to the church.

By Kreighton Long

Survivors from the mornings spoiling attack march back into town under the watchful eyes of their fellow defenders. The spoiling attack succeeded in delaying the advance of the British paratroopers and more importantly, their vehicle support.

The German soldiers have a short time to rest and refit for they know the British are close behind them. Ammo pouches are restocked and a few bites of food are swallowed just in time for the officers and NCOs to rouse their men to their battle position.

The church, which is located in the center of town just as God and religion was the center of life when the town of Colline de L’église was built so many centuries ago, must be held. A German sniper in the church’s bell tower reports sighting British infantry nearing the town and the engine of a nearby assault gun roars to life.

British paratroopers advance towards the town.

The British commander sees light reflecting off some glass in the bell tower of the church. He knows the Germans are prepared for him. The morning did not go as planned as a surprise attack by a few Germans caused serious delays at a crossroads outside of town and after chasing away the Germans, the men under his command had to follow them all the way to Colline de L’église where they no doubt had warned the garrison of the impending attack. Further delay was unacceptable and the bold British commander ordered his men into the attack. “Fortune favors the bold” muses the commander not knowing if his aggressive plan will bear fruit or end in disaster.

The second game with Brandon and my Bolt Action campaign saw the British reaching the fictional town of Colline de L’église and preparing to storm the defenses. The church we were so eager to theme this campaign around made its first appearance and we were both way too thrilled with how it looked on the table. Each faction was allotted 800 points doubling our points allowance from the first game. The first game was over a crossroads outside of town. The German victory there prevented the British from deploying vehicles until turn three as a consequence of not having their route of advance cleared before the main attack on the town.

The German force was built around a balance of defensive and offensive capabilities. Two Grenadier squads with MG-42s would provide over watch and defend the objectives while two Grenadier squads with assault rifles would attempt to catch the attackers off-guard with offensive thrusts. A StuH42 with its medium howitzer would deliver a much needed punch against the veteran British infantry.

Seven order dice is a low count for an 800 point game but the well equipped squads would hopefully last long enough to impact the game.

Turn One: The defending Germans pre-deployed three Grenadier squads and a sniper on the table focusing their deployments in the center and German right. The British deployed heavily in the center with a few units on the British right. The Germans launched their localized attack on the German left hoping to roll up the British line. The German assault gun came on the table firing scoring a lucky hit on the British artillery.

Turn Two: British artillery rained from above scattering pins on five units including the British sniper. Units continued to maneuver into launching positions for future attacks.

Turn Three: The British pressed their attack across the entire front as their vehicles arrived on the scene. An exclamation mark came from the PIAT team who knocked out the German StuH42 with their first shot. The timely arrival of the British machine gun jeep stalled the German thrust against the British right flank.

Turn Four: The British continued to advance into heavy fire with minimal losses.

Turn Five: Germans attempt to advance up their left flank while the British press into the center.

Turn Six: The British PIAT team is raced across the table to capture a second objective for the British. The German Grenadier squad sallies forth from the church to reinforce the hard pressed Grenadier squad falling back through the cemetery. If the center can hold, perhaps a lucky turn of events can see the Germans reclaiming the objective on the German right flank. On a roll of 4+ the game continues with a turn seven. A turn seven is granted by the die and the British must hold their gains for one last turn.

Turn Seven: The Germans hold the center objective but fail to retake the objective on their right flank. The game ends in a British victory with two objectives to one.

Throughout the morning the British and Germans exchanged fire and attempted to outmaneuver their opponent. A German counterattack on the British right was first stalled then repulsed by a machine gun jeep. A lucky shot from the StuH42 reduced the British artillery crew to one man keeping it from redeploying to a better position and made it nearly impossible for the piece to hit anything from where it sat. What goes around comes around as the British PIAT team rode onto the board from reserve, dismounted, and knocked out the StuH42 all in one turn. The following turn the PIAT team remounted and prepared to make their getaway (insert montage of cool guys now looking at explosions). The loss of the StuH42 deprived the Germans of much needed firepower to repulse the tenacious British airborne squads that refused to die when hit.

The British PIAT team dismounts and knocks out the German assault gun at long range.

By midday it was clear that the British gamble had prevailed. With the two roads captured the German defenders in the church graveyard were forced to withdraw or risk encirclement. Smoke from the burning assault gun created an ominous atmosphere as the German defenders withdrew to the rear and to hope reinforcements arrived to help counterattack and to drive the British out of the town. The British paratroopers rested among the houses and behind walls that so recently were tenaciously fought over. The British knew the Germans would be back, so the rest was short, but still appreciated.

The British emphasized an overwhelming superiority in order dice when building the platoon. Holding the majority of order dice in the game, the British, led by 1st Lieutenant Archie Hicox, were able to seize the initiative most turns and maintain an aggressive posture while the order dice deficient Germans were left flat footed at key moments. The British tactics for the game were to use their infantry to push the line and to use the local light howitzer to target German strong points. Overall the British infantry performed well in maintaining contact with the German units forcing the Germans to remain stationary dealing with immediate threats rather than redeploy to where reinforcements were needed most. The British light howitzer fumbled its way onto the battlefield in an less than ideal location and was punished for it limiting the artillery’s usefulness for the game. First Lieutenant Hicox needs to spend more time thinking out the positioning of the howitzer.

British paratroopers advance towards the German held cemetery.

The German defense focused on two parts: to provide a stationary defensive line (anvil) and use a few offensive units to drive the British back in an isolated sector to secure the flank and isolate attacking squads from the supporting units (hammer). The plan was set-back by the over-the-top action heroic movie-ness of the British PIAT team when the StuH42 and its medium howitzer were eliminated.

Combining that set-back with the failure to reconsolidate units after the artillery barrage left the German defenders isolated from each other and unable to come to each other’s aid when needed most. The British plan of sticking infantry squads on the numerically inferior German units kept the Germans tied down when repositioning was needed. The German First Lieutenant did a superb job of using his Snap to Action ability to somewhat offset the disparity in order dice early in the game. By late game the German counterattack plan had failed to materialize and the officer’s leadership was less useful as the Germans were forced to shift to strict defensive play rather than a more fluid defense.

Round Two of the Escalation Campaign went to the British. Round Three will see 1200 points of Germans counterattacking in an attempt to drive out 1200 points of British paratroopers in Colline de L’église. With the campaign conveniently scored at one win apiece the third game will be an appropriately high-stakes game for the always sought after bragging rights.