Bolt Action: back in the bocage

It has been a busy holiday season, but we managed to squeeze in a few family games, a round of Dark Deeds, one Bolt Action skirmish and a game of Tercios between Lithuanians and Cossacks. I was also given a tutorial on the airbrush, after which I camouflaged my first two German vehicles for Tank Wars. No figures this year, but my son Nick gave me two lovely 28mm buildings by Charlie Foxtrot models. The Boulangerie is half-assembled and the Banque de France will soon follow. I'm aiming for a village of five or six houses. I'll probably make the Banque as a grand house, since no village that size would boast such a hefty bank!


Nick and I played a 500 point Bolt Action game on the kitchen table, between two regular platoons with no vehicles on either side. We had five dice apiece and it was a nail-biting game. Of course it's good to see bigger forces on the table but this reminded me we don't need buckets of models to get a satisfying game. The star of this encounter was the medium mortar. A very useful bit of kit, especially with a spotter attached. I tried to apply the lessons from my last game, so hit the dirt when fired upon, hugged cover and kept the troops more or less in supporting distance. I broke the last rule to contest a table quarter and paid for it: in the last turn my isolated section was beaten up by a succession of German units, eventually running away after suffering heavy losses. The result was technically a draw but I gave bragging rights to Nick for being ahead on bps and much better placed on the table than my troops. I am growing to live this game.


More on the game of Tercios another time.

First airbrush attempt. I am trying not to overdo it. Weathering next.