October 22, 2014

Bolt Action: Panther Ausf A Plastic Box Set (ordered)

Back in March of this year, Warlord Games and Italeri announced a partnership to have Italarei bring more plastic vehicles and terrain pieces to the wargaming world and further enhance the Bolt Action range.

The first two vehicles they were going to release are the United States M4 Sherman and the German Panther Ausf A.  Well in August the Panther was officially released.


The Panther was the best all-round German tank of the war and although conceived as a medium tank, at 45 tons and with frontal armour over 100mm thick, it could easily be rated more highly.
The Panther’s thick, sloping front armour was copied from the Russian T-34 but the main gun was a weapon that far excelled anything the Russians possessed, the high velocity KwK 42 L70, which was capable of penetrating any Allied tank in service when it was first introduced.
This is the second variant of the Panther – bizarrely the Panther’s marks don’t run alphabetically, instead running D, A and then G. Built from mid 1943 onwards, it saw action on both Eastern and Western fronts, serving with distinction.  Changes on the original Panther Ausf D include a redesigned hull machine gun and a commanders cupola.
Seeing how I am just getting back into Bolt Action from a short hiatus, I thought adding a new German tank would be a great start.  I was really considering adding the Tiger 1 (after watching FURY), but seeing how Warlord Games will probably be releasing more and more plastic kits, I opted to go ahead and order the new Panther Ausf A.

I happen to come across a new retailer with an online presence the other day, www.boltaction.us with all of their models being 10% off and free shipping on all orders over $25.00.  I placed my order late yesterday afternoon and received an email today that my order has shipped.  So far so good with this retailer.  More than likely my order will come in sometime next week and I will then start on the assembly.

October 17, 2014

Bolt Action: United States 'M10 Tank Destroyer'

WOW! it has been 4 months since I last posted a model that I painted, let alone a few actual months that I posted anything at all.  It's not that I haven't been gaming, I have been playing some X-Wing during that time, I just haven't been posting any battle reports on it.  But it has been since D-Day that I last played a game of Bolt Action.  Other things in life just get in the way.  I've been trying to get back into shape....again.... and waking up early every morning to go bike riding just makes me too tired in the evenings to want to do anything.  Plus our Sundays are now devoted to playing the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

So lately I've been thinking about Bolt Action again, what a perfect time to jump back in with the new WWII movie that opened up today 'FURY'.  With having my wife and kid work at the theater, my son and I did catch the late night premier last night and I really enjoyed the movie.  It got the blood pumping again to get back to painting my Bolt Action.  I probably wont go all out crazy like I did to start the year off, but I will slowly be adding more models to the painting table when time allows.

I have a lot of Bolt Action models that need assembling and painting, and in honor of the movie, I started off with a tank.  My sons United States M10 Tank Destroyer.  This is only his second tank for his US army.

United States: M10 Tank Destroyer

United States: M10 Tank Destroyer
Painting Points: 10

August 18, 2014

Battle Report: 8/17/2014 X-Wing

I cannot believe it has been just slightly over 3 months since I last played a game of X-Wing and about 2 months since playing any game..... been keeping myself busy trying to quit smoking, diet and picked up cycling all at the same time (been doing really good with those three). Plus the garage is really really hot here in the summer months. So after my morning ride yesterday morning, I decided to go and get a game of X-Wing in with my son and we headed on out to our LGS with our X-Wing gaming mat in tow.

I actually really do enjoy playing this game, pretty quick to setup and cleanup, plays really quick (standard tournament game is 75 minutes) and no models to paint, LOL.

Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures of the game, but here are the lists that we played.  I was going for a 'Han Shoots First' alternative and my son, of course had Luke.

=============
Han And 2 Y's
=============

100 points

Pilots
------

Han Solo (54)
YT-1300 (46), Marksmanship (3), Gunner (5)

Gold Squadron Pilot (23)
Y-Wing (18), Ion Cannon Turret (5)

Gold Squadron Pilot (23)
Y-Wing (18), Ion Cannon Turret (5)

=============================
Luke/Rookie/2x Green Squadron
=============================

100 points

Pilots
------

Luke Skywalker (35)
X-Wing (28), R2-D2 (4), Marksmanship (3)

Rookie Pilot (21)

Green Squadron Pilot (22)
A-Wing (19), Push the Limit (3)

Green Squadron Pilot (22)
A-Wing (19), Push the Limit (3)

Let's just say that Han shot the $#!7 out of Luke and from there it was all over.  I always enjoy playing with the YT-1300 (favorite ship).... but next time I'll try something different.

June 10, 2014

June 9, 2014

Battle Report: 6/6/2014 Bolt Action on D-Day

Well we could not miss playing a game of Bolt Action on the 70th anniversary of D-Day.  So after my son got home from work we headed out to our local game store for a late night game.

Since it was D-Day, I let my son play his US army while I commanded to the Germans.  We tried to setup the table to represent the beach landing (minus the water) and elected to play the scenario "Envelopment" with the US being the attackers (without the ability to 'Outflank').  We both selected 'theater' lists with the Germans playing 'Normandy' instead of 'Atlantik Wall' (I do not have the appropriate models for that list).

With the layout of the table and the Germans being able to start 'Hidden', I knew it was going to be hard time for the Americans, but it was all for fun, and with the possibility of re-writing history.

Friday 6/6/2014
Points: 1000
Scenario: Envelopment
Objective: The attacker must try to move as many of his units as he can into the defender's set-up zone or off the opposing side's table edge.
Armies: United States 'Attackers' (Dragi) vs Germany 'Defenders' (Dean)

Table Setup
Germans Deployed


Turn 1:
During the first turn it was mainly just the US advancing onto the table.  Not too many units had range to fire.  The German sniper missed with his shot as well as the German MMG.

Turn 2:
The Germans kill 4 US Pioneers and they fail their Morale test.

Turn 3:
The US new 75mm Pack Howitzer takes out the German MMG team.

Turn 4:
The Germans concentrated fire on a US squad and eliminating them while also thinning down the US Rangers squad.



Turn 5:
The US Sherman fires at the German Stug III and misses. Germany fires back and knocks out the Sherman.  Germany also then concentrated fire on the US Rangers and they fail Morale.

US Sherman knocked out.
US Rangers fail Morale.

Turn 6:
German squads concentrate fire again on US squads and finishes off another one.

Turn 7:
Remaining US squads miss their shots while the Germans bunker down.



Germany: 10
United States: 2

June 6, 2014

Bolt Action: United States '75mm Pack Howitzer'

With today being the 70th anniversary of D-Day, I had to get something completed for Bolt Action.

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy – perhaps the most pivotal moment in World War II, when the Allied forces commenced operations to push the German army back out of France, culminating in the fall of the Third Reich.


It has been awhile since I added anything to my son's United States army, and since he received a lot of items for his High School graduation, it was time to get some of those items on the painting table.

This week I completed his US Army 75mm Pack Howitzer, he has been lacking in some artillery, so I thought this would be a good start.

United States: 75mm Pack Howitzer
United States: 75mm Pack Howitzer
United States: 75mm Pack Howitzer
The plan will be to try and get in a game tonight after my son gets off to work.  We have to get a Bolt Action game in on D-Day.

Painting Points: 3

June 4, 2014

Bolt Action: Errata and FAQ Updated 05/30/2014

Warlord Games released this morning an updated Errata/FAQ for Bolt Action.

Alessio Cavatore has been busy working on an update to make tank pinning a little more realistic – you can check out the results in our free PDF download.
There are also various other clarifications as well as rules for the Luftfaust rocket launcher and Krumlauf assault rifle from the Last Levy boxed set (allowing you to fire round corners!).

Here are some of the changes:
  1. Pinning against vehicles has changed to make it a little harder to Pin enclosed vehicles.
  2. Units that are receiving fire from a Mortar must now move at least 1" to re-set the firing sequence.
  3. Snipers hit as normal against units inside buildings.
  4. LMG loader rule is clarified.  You can change the loader each turn, but for more realism they recommend to assign a man to be the loader for the entire game.
There are also a few other changes and army book errata/faq's.

"The Demo Gamers" blog has also updated their excellent Main Rulebook Index he has created and can be found HERE.

June 3, 2014

Painting Points: May 2014

I know a few days late, but there was not really much to report for the month of May.

May was a busy month personally for me, plus spending the last week of it at Disneyland.  I did manage to paint 2 models for the month.  A Dreadlord for my Warhammer Fantasy Dark Elves army, and a HMG for my Bolt Action Soviet Union army.

I was hoping that June would really pick up for me.  My son received a lot of models for his Bolt Action US Army, and we have a lot of Warhammer Fantasy models we need to complete.  I just need to sit down and get started on a few items.

We'll see how the month goes.....

Total Painting Points for the month: 4

Total Painting Points for the year: 351

May 18, 2014

Bolt Action: Soviet Union 'Maxim HMG Team'

Well I did not think I was going to be able to get another model finished this month, but Friday night I squeezed in my Soviet Maxim HMG Team.

I've got two boys graduating next week (one in High School, one in Jr. High) with family flying in.  Then taking the extended family off to Disneyland the week after.  Gonna be busy.

Once June come around, I'll be busy with the modeling/painting.  A bunch more models for Bolt Action, then need to finish out some units for Warhammer Fantasy.

Soviet Union: Maxim HMG
Soviet Union: Maxim HMG
Soviet Union: Maxim HMG

Painting Points: 3

May 13, 2014

Battle Report: 5/9/2014 Warhammer 'Dwarfs vs Skaven' (2500 Points)

Friday night May 9th, I played my first game of Warhammer Fantasy in a few years (I did get a quick 1000 point game in the weekend before with my son, but that was more of a refresher on the rules).  I've been working on a 2500 point Dark Elves list, since I did not have everything quite done with them, I decided to break out my Dwarfs for this battle and enjoy some 'Hatred' vs the Skaven.

I met up with 'SkavenInAz' at Empire Games for our battle.  Seeing how I have not played in a few years (and he knew that) it was more of a 'learning' type of game where I had asked a lot of questions and tactical decisions.

Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of the game, but 'SkavenInAz' posts all his battle reports on his YouTube channel.  Below is his battle report.


The Dwarfs did take a beating from the Skaven, but not without taking out quite a few of those dirty rats.  It was good to get out and get a game of Fantasy in again.
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