By Dennis,

Back on July 1st I ran my first ever Bolt Action event, Operation Südlicht, a 1-day Axis vs Allies 1000 point event.  It was also Tasmania’s first event for 2017.

Hey Bolt Action Community! Hopefully you've had a chance to check out the first part of this discussion, all about how to pull together the best models on the market for your Early War Fallschirmjager (found HERE). Hopefully, too, you've had your interest piqued and did a little research on Eben Emael and Operation Sea Lion and you're really pumped about early war games! In this article I'll walk you through my method for painting Fallschirmjager appropriate for the early days of World War 2, right up to and including Operation Mercury when the Splittermuster pattern was introduced. The green grey smocks found use right up until the end, and indeed there are a good number of photographs from the fighting in Normandy, 1944 where the Green Devils were still using them. You could easily mix these into a late war force for a bit of variation, too.

It has been a while since I wrote an article about anything other than the Team Yankee Tournament at Historicon.  With that behind me, I wanted to review the new book for Team Yankee called “Red Thunder”. What a great title, especially since thunder has no color, it’s a sonic event, but anyway I was very impressed by the book and I feel you will feel the same. With the initial release of the game, we were given rudimentary forces based in part by the book the game is based on. Many tank-grogs argued about using the T-72, which was not really the top of the line Soviet tank in 1985, however it was used in the book so we got stuck with it. However Red Thunder corrects this mistake and gives some love to those of us who like to push the red horde.
I plan to talk about the new toys first.

Tanks for the Memories
The biggest addition to the game is the new T-64, which is more than just an improved version of the T-72. While it mounts the same gun, the T-64 has better armor, moves faster, and has the ability to shoot the Songster missile from its main gun while on the move.  With a front of 17 and side of 9, the T-64 now has the protection that is closer to what your NATO opponents have had for a while now.  The Songster missile has an AT21 and a range of range 48”; which gives the T-64 a mighty punch.  The range of the missile also gives the T-64 the ability to fire against the longer range guns of NATO tanks before they get into gun range. This also comes without the +1 for distance and another +1 for the target’s armor save.  The speed of the tank is also 14”, which makes it 4” faster than the T-72, so you now enjoy some of the mobility the NATO tanks have had so far.

Tanks - Our Teaching Game

We had four 3'x4' tables set for TANKS and two of our GM's ready to teach the game during our four  2-Hour Gaming Sessions each day.  We had eight 100pt. Forces of 4 Tanks for the Players to use.  The Tanks were painted by members of Able Kompanie.  Here are some of the Forces (I missed getting a photo of one of the German Forces):

Most of the people who came to play TANKS had not played the game before.  Everyone seemed to have a great time and it looks like we launched quite a few new Players into the game.  The GF9 Booth sold out of the Starter Sets in the Vendor Hall so I guess we were successful.

Tournaments, Tournaments, Tournaments

We had three very successful Tournaments this year.  About 40 individual players playing over 50 different Armies competed over the weekend.  All three Tournaments were using the V4 Rules.  As V4 is still kind of new in the Tournament Scene, here is a breakdown of how we handled the various mechanics of the Tournaments.

Mission Choices

Our Group feels strongly that all players should be playing the same mission each Round so we did not use the Battle Plans.  We did want to keep the Missions at least semi-random so we used our old favorite "Wheel of Doom" for Mission Selection.  We like the visual excitement of spinning the wheel each Round.  And this system allows the TO to guide the Tournament by making pie slices bigger or smaller for the Missions on the Wheel.  As you will read below, we used a slightly different process for selection of Attacker/Defender. 

Attacker/Defender Selection

We used two different methods of selecting Attacker/Defender - one for MW and another for EW/LW.  We like both so thought we would give them a try.

For MW Attacker/Defender Selection 

Both Players add up the total points for any Infantry Formation(s) they have in their Force.  This includes all units including Bren Gun Carriers, AT Guns and AA.  They would also add the total points for any Infantry Platoon taken as a Support Choice.  Players would compare the Point Totals and the Player with the higher number would be the Defender.  Our thinking is that the player with the lower number would have more Mobile Assets and would therefore be better suited to be the Attacker.  This would help in Infantry on Infantry Match Ups as well as opposed to a simple die roll regardless of how much of each force is Infantry.

For EW/LW Selection

We used the following point values for each type of Force:
Tanks = 3pts
Mech = 2pts.
Infantry= 1pt
Fortified=0pts.

Players add up the total points for all their Formations and then divide by the number of Formations.  The player with the lowest number is the defender.  So, for example, A player with a Mech/Infantry Multi-Formation would have a point value of 1.5 while a player with a Tank Formation would have a point value of 3.  As it turned out we only had one player with a multi-Formation List so we really ended up with the V3 Tanks attack Mech & Mech attacks Infantry. It all seemed to work out fine.

Victory Conditions 

We were presented with the opportunity/challenge of having our first Tournament on the morning of the new Victory Conditions being released.  I did see a post the night before detailing the changes and got in touch with Joe Lewis and Andrew Hopson - the other TOs for the Tournaments.  We looked over the changes and liked them .  We decided it would be a lost opportunity if we didn't try them out over the 30 + games and 40+ Players over the weekend.  We took the time each morning during the Tournament briefing to explain them and by the second day had handouts for each player with the Victory Conditions wording.  And the results were great.  A large number of players, both as attacker and defender, reported that the new Conditions worked well and contributed to the completion of games which might have otherwise ended as draws.

Wins vs. Draws

Overall through the 78 games played in the three Tournaments we saw 75% of the games played have a Winner.

Here are the Breakdowns for each Tournament:

Early War - 15 of 24 Games Completed  63%
Mid War - 19 of 24 Games Completed 79%
Late War - 25 of 30 Games Completed 83%

I think the lower completion rate for Early War is a combination of quite a few large infantry forces, Russian Strelk and Polish Infantry especially, and a higher percentage of V4-inexperienced players in their mix.

Here is the Breakdown by Mission

Encounter -        13 Completed & 5 Draws  72%
Dust Up -           12 Completed & 4 Draws  75%
Breakthrough -   7 Attacker Wins & 6 Defender Wins & 5 Draws    72%
No Retreat -        4 Attacker Wins & 5 Defender Wins & 1 Draw     90%
Counterattack -   4 Attacker Wins & 4 Defender Wins & 0 Draws  100%
Bridgehead -      2 Attacker Wins & 2 Defender Wins & 4 Draws     50%

Bridgehead clearly had the highest percentage of draws accounting for almost 25% of them.  It was played in the Early War Tournament so it may be that again the large infantry forces in that Tournament contributed and number of inexperienced players contributed to that number of Draws.
The Last Section of this Article is all the details of the Tournaments - Enjoy! Early War 1500pts.

8 Allies & 8 Axis

Final Standings

1. Joe Lewis – German Mtn. Infantry                                   

2. Scott Dyer – German Light Panzer                                    

3. Richard Hurchanik – German Panzershutzen                       

4. Chuck Hiner – Russian Light Tank Battalion                       

5. Garrett Hunter- French Recon                                               

6. Chris Novak- Russian Strelkovy                        Best Sport

7. Jim McKinney-British Armoured Regt.                                   

8. Doug Wood – German Light Pioneer                                   

9. Alan Wright – Hungarian Tank Co.                                   

10. Mike Brenneman – British 8^th Army Rifle                       

11. Jackson Simon – Russian Strelkovy                                   

12. Ben Mulick – Polish Infantry                                               

13. Robert Klemic- Italian Bersaglieri            Best Army

14. Scott Erny – German Grenadier Co.                                   

15. Bob Boggs – Russian Strelkovy                                               

16. Mark Jones – German Panzer Co.- Czech   

Round by Round Breakdown

Round 1 – Dust Up – 2 Axis Wins, 4 Allied Wins, 2 Draws – 75% Completed

German Light Panzer Win

German Mtn Infantry Win

Russian Light Tank Battalion Win

British 8^th Army Rifle Co. Win

British Armoured Regt. Win

French Recon Win

2 Draws

Top 5 after Round 1

German Mtn. Inf Co.                                8pts

German Light Panzer Co.                        8pts

Russian Light Tank Battalion                  8pts

British Armoured Regt.                           8pts           

French Recon                                           8pts

Round 2 – Bridgehead – 3 Axis Wins, 1 Allied Win, 4 Draws – 50% Completed

German Mtn. Inf Co. Win                       

German Light Panzer Co. Win           

Russian Strelkovy Win                       

German Panzershutzen Win

4 Draws

Top 6 after Round 2

German Mtn. Inf                                    16pts.

German Light Panzer Co.                      16pts.

Russian Strelkovy                                  11pts.

Russian Light Tank Battalion                   9pts.

French Recon                                            9pts.

German Panzershutzen                             9pts.

Round 3 – Breakthrough – 4 Axis Wins, 1 Allied Win – 63% Completed

German Mtn. Inf. Co. Win

Russian Light Tank Battalion Win

Hungarian Tank Co. Win

German Light Pioneer Win

German Panzershutzen Win

3 Draws

Top 5 EW Lists       

1st Place - Joe Lewis – German Gebirgjagers 

 

8-1 Encounter vs. Jackson Simon – Russian Strelkovy

8-1 Bridgehead vs. Jim McKinney – British Armoured Regt.

8-1 Breakthrough vs. Scott Dyer – Light Panzer Co.

2nd Place - Scott Dyer – Light Panzer Co

 

8-1 Encounter vs. Bob Boggs – Russian Strelkovy

8-1 Bridgehead vs. Mike Brenneman – British 8^th Army Rifle

1-8 Breakthrough vs. Joe Lewis – German Gebirgjagers

3rd Place - Richard Hurchanik – German Panzershutzen

1-2 Encounter vs. Ben Mulick – Polish Infantry

8-1 Bridgehead vs. Bob Boggs- Russian Strelkovy

8-1 Breakthrough vs. Chris Novak – Russian Strelkovy

4th Place - Chuck Hiner – Russian Light Tank Co.

 

8-1 Encounter vs. Alan Wright – Hungarian Tank Co.

1-1 Bridgehead vs. Garrett Hunter – French Recon

7-2 Breakthrough vs. Jim McKinney – British Armoured Regt.

5th Place - Garrett Hunter – French Recon

8-1 Encounter vs. Doug Wood –German Light Pioneer

1-1 Bridgehead vs. Chuck Hiner – Russian Light Tank Co.

3-1 Breakthrough vs. Mike Brenneman – British 8^th Army Rifle

Mid War -  75pts.

9 British & 7 German

Final Standings

1. Rozy Rozmarin - German Tank Co.                                   

2. Jeremy Cicak-Grant & Honey & Motor Co.                       

3. Jim McKinney – Grant and Honey Squadron                       

4. Chris Fretts-Crusader & Motor Co.                                   

5. Chuck Hiner-Crusader & Motor Co.            Best Army                                   

6. Rick Gearheart –Crusader & Motor Co.                                   

7. Harlow Stevens – Afrika Rifle Co.                                               

8. Dick Hurchanik-Afrika Rifle Co.                                               

9. Chris Novak-Afrika Rifle Co.                        Best Sport                                               

10. Mike Brenneman-Grant Squadron                                   

11. Andrew Hopson-Honey & Motor Co.                                   

12. Mike Mansfield-Afrika Rifle Co.                                               

13. Robert Klemic-Afrika Rifle Co.                                               

14. Joel Hassler – Honey Squadron                                               

15. Alan Wright-Honey & Motor Co.                                   

16. Charles Smith – German Tank Co.

Round by Round Breakdown

 

Round 1 – Encounter v- 2 German Wins, 3 British Wins & 3 Draws- 63% Completed

German Infantry Win

German Tank Win

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co. Win

Grant Squadron Win 

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co. Win

3 Draws

Top 5 after Round 1

German Tank Co.                                             8pts

Grant Squadron                                                8pts

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co                      8pts

Grant & Honey Squadrons & Motor Co.         7pts

Afrika Rifle Co.                                               7pts.

Round 2 – Counterattack – 3 German Wins, 5 British Wins – 100% Completed

German Tank Win

Afrika Rifle Win

Afrika Rifle Win

Honey Squadron & Motor Co. Win.

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co. Win

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co. Win

Grant & Honey Squadrons Win

Grant & Honey Squadrons & Motor Co. Win

Top 6 after Round 2

German Tank Co.                                                15pts

Grant & Honey Squadrons & Motor Co.            15pts

Afrika Rifle                                                          11pts.

Afrika Rifle                                                          11pts

Grant & Honey Squadron                                    10pts

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co                          10pts

Round 3 – Dust Up – 3 German Wins, 3 British Wins & 2 Draws - 75% Completed

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co. Win

Afrika Rifle Win

German Tank Win

Grant & Honey Squadron Win

Afrika Rifle Win

Crusader Squadron & Motor Co. Win

2 Draws

Top 5 MW Lists

1st Place - Rozy Rozmarin – German Tank Co.

8-1 Encounter vs. Charles Smith – German Tank Co.

7-2 Counterattack vs. Rick Gearheart – Crusader Squadron & Motor Co.

6-3 Dust Up vs. Jeremy Cicak – Grant & Honey Squadrons & Motor Co.

2nd Place - Jeremy Cicak – Grant & Honey Squadrons & Motor Co.

7-2 Encounter vs. Jim McKinney – Grant and Honey Squadrons

8-1 Counterattack vs. Mike Brenneman – Grant Squadron

3-6 Dustup vs. Rozy Rozmarin – German Tank Co.

3rd Place - Jim McKinney – Grant and Honey Squadron

2-7 Encounter vs. Jeremy Cicak – Grant and Honey Squadrons & Motor Co.

8-1 Counterattack vs. Mike Mansfield – Afrika Rifle Co.

6-3 Dustup vs. Rick Gearheart – Crusader Squadron & Motor Co.

4th Place Chris Fretts – Crusader Squadron & Motor Co.

2-2 Encounter vs. Harlow Stevens – Afrika Rifle Co.

7-2 Counterattack vs. Richard Hurchanik – Afrika Rifle Co.

7-2 Dustup vs. Andrew Hopson – Honey Squadron & Motor Co.

5th Place - Chuck Hiner – Crusader Squadron & Motor Co.

2-1 Encounter vs. Mike Mansfield – Afrika Rifle Co.

7-2 Counterattack vs. Joel Hassler – Honey Squadron

7-2 Dustup vs. Mike Brenneman – Grant Squadron

Late War 1625pts.

 

13 Allies & 7 Axis

Final Standings

1. Chris Fretts-  US Armored Rifle – Battle of the Bulge                       

2. Mike Brenneman – British Rifle Co. –Nachtjager                                   

3. Joe Lewis – US Tank Co – Battle of the Bulge                                   

4. Chris Novak – Russian Motostrelk-Desperate Measures                       

5. Jim McKinney-Fallschrimjager – Fortress Italy                                   

6. Christian Bach-US Paratroops- Battle of the Bulge           

7. Joshua Miller-US Tank – Bridge at Remagen                                   

8. Scott Erny-US Tank-Bridge at Remagen                                               

9. David Cicak-Russian Motostrelk – Red Bear                                   

10. Jason Stubbs- US Armored Rifle(Dismtd)-Bridge at Remagen           

11. Will Yankausky – Hungarian Tank Co.-Grey Wolf                                   

12. Doug Wood – Pieper Tank/Volksgrenadier-Ardennes                       

13. Mark Jones-Canadian Tank Co. – Road to Rome                                   

14. Richard Hurchanik-German Tank Co. Peiper-Ardennes                       

15. Matthew Thomas-British Tank Co-Market Garden            Best Sport                       

16. Drew Merrill-German Heavy Tank-Bridge at Remagen                       

17. Alan Wright-New Zealand Rifle – Road to Rome                                   

18. Chuck Hiner-US Paratroops – Battle of the Bulge            Best Army                                   

19. Scott Dyer – German Panzergren (Lehr) Atlantic Wall                       

20. Peter Adolphsen-German Panzergren-Grey Wolf     

Round by Round Breakdown

Round 1- Encounter – 3 Axis Wins, 5 Allied Wins & 2 Draws

8-1 US Armored Rifle Win vs. US Paratroopers

8-1 British Infantry Win vs. Canadian Tank

8-1 German Fallschirmjager Win vs. US Tank Co.

8-1 Russian Motostrelk Win vs. German Panzergren (Lehr)

8-1 Hungarian Tank  Win vs. US Armored Rifle

8-1 German Peiper/Volksgren Win vs. New Zealand Infantry

8-1 US Tank Co. Win vs. British Tank Co.

6-3 US Tank Co. Win vs. German Heavy Tank Co.

2 Draws

Round 2-No Retreat –  0 Axis Wins, 9 Allied Wins & 1 Draw

8-1 US Armored Rifle Win vs. German Peiper/Volksgren.

8-1 US Tank Co Win. vs. Hungarian Tank Co.

8-1 US Paratroopers Win vs. US Paratroopers

8-1 US Tank Co. Win vs. German Panzergren (Lehr)

8-1 US Armored Rifle Win vs. British Tank Co.

8-1 Canadian Tank Co. Win vs. New Zealand Infantry

7-2 British Infantry Co. Win vs. German Fallschirmjager Co.

7-2 Russian Motostrelk Win vs. German Heavy Tank Co.

6-3 US Tank Co. Win vs. Russian Motostrelk

1 Draw

Top 5 after Round 2

US Armored Rifle Co.    16pts.

US Tank Co.                    16pts 

British Rifle Co.              15pts.

US Tank Co.                    12pts.

Russian Motostrelk          11pts.

Round 3-Breakthrough – 2 Axis Wins, 6 Allied Wins & 2 Draws

8-1 US Tank Co. Win vs. Hungarian Tank Co.

8-1 British Rifle Co. Win vs. US Tank Co.

8-1 Russian Motostrelk Win vs. Canadian Tank Co.

8-1 US Paratroopers Win vs. German Heavy Tank Co.

7-2 US Armored Rifle Win vs. US Tank Co.

7-2 British Tank Co. Win vs. German Panzergren (Lehr)

7-2 German Fallschirmjager Win vs. Russian Motostrelk

7-2 German Tank Co. Win vs. New Zealand Infantry

2 Draws

25 of 30 Games Completed

7 Axis Players (35% of Total)      5 Wins (20% of Wins)

13 Allied Players ( 65% of Total)      20 Wins (80% of Wins)

Top 5 LW Lists       

1st Place - Chris Fretts – US Armored Rifle (CV) – Battle of the Bulge

8-1 Encounter vs. Christian Bach – US Paratroopers

8-1 No Retreat vs. Doug Wood – German Tank (Peiper) & Volksgrenadiers (2 Formations)

7-2 Breakthrough vs Joe Lewis – US Tank Co. (CT)

2nd Place - Mike Brenneman – British Rifle Co – Nachtjager

8-1 Encounter vs. Mark Jones – Canadian Tank Co.

7-2 No Retreat vs. Jim McKinney – German Fallschrimjagers

8-1 Breakthrough vs. Scott Erny – US Tank Co.

3rd Place - Joe Lewis – US Tank Co. (CT) Battle of the Bulge

8-1 Encounter vs. Matthew Thomas – British Tank Co.

8-1 No Retreat vs. Will Yankausky – Hungarian Tank Co.

2-7 Breakthrough vs. Chris Fretts – US Armored Rifle Co. (CV)

4th Place - Chris Novak – Russian Motostrelkovy – Desperate Measures

3-1 Encounter vs. Peter Adolphsen – German Panzergrenadiers

7-2 No Retreat vs. Andrew Merrill – German Heavy Tank Co.

8-1 Breakthrough vs. Mark Jones – Canadian Tank Co.

5th Place - Jim McKinney – German Fallschrimjager – Fortress Italy

8-1 Encounter vs. Joshua Miller – US Tank Co.

2-7 No Retreat vs. Mike Brenneman – British Rifle Co.

7-2 Breakthrough vs. David Cicak – Russian Motostrelkovy

Wrap Up 

Thanks to everyone who helped make our Events at GenCon 2017 a big success.  All seemed to have a great time.  We plan to do this again next year so please consider joining us then!