Bolt Action Battle Report: Sollum, January 1942

Been looking forward to this battle report for a while.  I'm not going to capture the whole fight in detail, but I will relay the critical bits that I saw as the GM.

This past weekend our gaming group played a North Africa scenario on the table that John and I built over the past few weeks.  At the risk of sounding self-congratulatory, the table looked really good and I was eagerly anticipating this game.

Here are some shots of the table set-up for the game.  The South Africans would enter and advance from the high ground on the left of the photo.  Their objective was the port on the right side of the photo.

We used a scenario generally based on the 8th Army assault against the besieged Deutsches Afrika Korps garrison in the small frontier port of Sollum in January 1942.  It was one of the final acts of Operation Crusader.  Our scenario was designed to capture the flavor of a small, desperate force trying to hold out against a larger attacking force.

The defenders represented a single platoon from the 300th Oasis Reserve Battalion defending in urban terrain.  Their mission was to interdict the 8th Army forces attacking toward the port.  The DAK platoon was comprised of a platoon HQ and four infantry squads:

HQ:
Veteran 1st Lieutenant
1 Veteran Rifleman
2 Veterans with SMGs
1 Veteran Light Mortar Team

1st Squad:
Veteran NCO w/ SMG
2 Veteran LMG teams
3 Veteran Riflemen

2nd Squad:
Veteran NCO w/ SMG
Veteran LMG Team
5 Veteran Riflemen

3rd Squad:
Veteran NCO w/ SMG
Veteran LMG Team
5 Veteran Riflemen

4th Squad
Veteran NCO w/ SMG
Veteran w/ SMG
Veteran LMG Team
4 Veteran Riflemen


The DAK team consisted of one assistant GM acting as the Platoon Commander and four players, each taking the role of a Squad Leader.

To enable the kind of game play intended for this scenario we gave the DAK some game-specific special rules.  Each DAK player could break his squad into any number of 2-4 man teams.  Each of these teams would generate an activation die (this was the fundamental mechanic we used to balance the difference in activation dice between the South African company and the DAK platoon).  Each 2-4 man team had special rules that allowed them to move quickly and unseen around the game board.  In addition, 2-man rifle teams gained the sniper special rule (24" range) and also had the ability to snipe the enemy with a low chance of being detected.  Finally, small teams were allowed to break contact, which gave them the chance to shoot first, and then run away using an ADVANCE order.  The intent was to create a defense force that lacked mass, but maximized mobility, protection (buildings), and surprise.  A "death from a thousand paper cuts" kind of approach.

Which is exactly what the DAK team planned.  They devised a scheme with three squads forward and one in reserve with the platoon HQ.  The forward squads would engage and then break contact to fall back toward the port, sniping the enemy as they withdrew.

On the other side of the board was a company from the 6th Infantry Brigade, South Africa.  The mission of the South Africans was to clear a route through Sollum to the port to enable the Brigade main effort (in this case a company of Valentine tanks) to assault and seize the port.  In an effort to balance the nimble, unseen, and hard-to-kill snipers of the DAK defenders, we gave the South Africans an "Overwatch" special rule.  This allowed them to use an AMBUSH order to focus on a specific target area no more than 6" in width.  If an enemy unit fired from or moved within the target area, the Overwatching unit got to fire at that target, adding +1d6 to hit for each weapon shooting.  This rule was intended to give the South Africans powerful "hammer" to use against the "thumbtacks" of the small DAK teams.

The attackers were broken into a company headquarters and three platoons.  The company commander would be played by an assistant GM, and the platoons would each be controlled by a player.  In addition to the infantry company, we also added a tank company to represent the brigade main effort, positioned to roll into town as soon as the infantry cleared the way for them.  The tank company was controlled by two GMs, and would not actually engage in this scenario (though it was this GM's hope that the tanks' presence would frustrate the South African players, much like that scene at the end of A Bridge Too Far where MAJ Cook berates a XXX Corps tank officer for refusing to enter Arnhem).

Company HQ:
Captain
3 LMG Teams
Engineer Section (attached)
Morris Truck

3xInfantry Platoons:
HQ (2nd Lieutenant, Rifleman, Light Mortar, AT Rifle)
2x Squads (NCO w/ SMG; LMG team; 8 Riflemen)

The South Africans devised a radical plan to accomplish their task.  Instead of advancing along the intercoastal highway (as tasked in their order), they planned a sweeping maneuver around the outskirts of the city followed by a penetrating assault straight through to the port.  Casey's platoon would provide support-by-fire while Mike's platoon conducted the assault.  Dan's platoon would escort the engineers to deal with obstacles following the assault.  Rhett task-organized the company to best accomplish their assignments, loading Casey down with LMG teams and giving Mike a ton of riflemen to use in the assaults.  He would need them.  Dan had an economy of force with one squad (plus PLT HQ) to escort the engineers.

Rhett also consolidated the mortars into the company HQ, which proved critical to success as the assault proceeded.

Below, the battle begins with a toast between Mike and Dan while Casey moves his forces onto the board.  You can see the tanks of the brigade main effort on the left.  It didn't take long for their presence and inaction to frustrate the attackers.  Heh, heh.

Dan moves his breaching element onto the board while Mike fortifies himself for the assaults ahead.

Mike moves his platoon to his right flank to position for the assault.

South African infantry advancing down the escarpment toward the town.

It was right around here when Drew took the first shot of the game, dropping Casey's lieutenant with an undetected sniper shot.

Mike continues to shift his platoon to his right.

Rhett, the South African company commander and assistant GM, reacts to one of his lieutenant's requesting additional forces.  At least that's how I'm imagining this scene.

The South Africans are poised to start the assault.  Mike's forces are mobbed up on his right (our left). Casey's forces are slightly forward in the center, providing overwatch.  Dan's forces are still on the escarpment in an attempt to keep the engineers (in the truck) safe until they are needed.  Drew's snipers, now visible in the center building, prepare to break contact.

At this point the DAK started to increase the volume of their sniper fire.  Here is how we handled all the hidden setup and movement on the DAK side:

This is a screened battle board with the buildings drawn onto it.  The DAK team used it to maneuver their hidden units.  If you try this mechanic, which works well, I recommend numbering the buildings so the DAK GM can call-out the overall GM where the shots are coming from.  We spent a lot of time going back-and-forth between the table and the DAK battle board to make sure we understood what was going on.  The buildings with dark outlines are sewer nodes, which DAK forces could use to redeploy quickly from one part of the battle to another.

Below, the DAK snipers are forcing the South Africans to seek cover.  What the DAK commander wouldn't give for an air strike right about now.

Gavin and Sean started to pour in sniper and LMG fire from the right of the DAK defensive line, drawing the attention of Dan and Casey.  Drew continued to pepper Mike's advancing assault force form the DAK left, and then suddenly the South Africans were all up in the DAK's grill.

In the picture below, Mike's assault on the right sweeps Drew's DAK teams out of the front line of buildings.  On the left the South African commander uses smoke from his mortars to screen a secondary attack by Dan and Casey into the town.

The DAK were caught flat-footed by the SA assault and several sniper teams died before they could break contact.  The effective use of smoke by the South Africans allowed assaulting forces to penetrate deep into the town.  On the DAK right flank, Gavin sprung an ambush on one of Casey's squads, while Dan, in turn, plastered Gavin's ambush with an overwatching squad.  Sean did a lot of shooting and running around, which concerned the South Africans hardly at all.  Bad dice. 

But the DAK defenders recovered and fought back hard.  Keith and Drew annihilated one of Mike's squads as they assaulted their final objective without the benefit of obscuring smoke.  Birger dropped a perfect mortar shot and totally disrupted the South African attack through the center of the town.  Mike's final squad made an assault, away from the company objective and across the town center, and got cut down by one of Gavin's teams.  With Mike's platoon down, Casey and Dan assumed the assault role, with only marginally better results.  Using the sewers to redeploy undetected, Keith, Birger, and Gavin surprised the South Africans' second assault against the "hotel" with three times as many defenders as they expected to find.  This move caused more than a couple of "WTF" reactions from the South African players.  Thing of beauty.

Here, The South Africans' last assault squads are poised to continue their rampage onto the "hotel" that became the de facto final objective for both sides.  They are about to discover that there are more DAK defenders inside than the two dudes on the ledge.

In the end, the South Africans succeeded in gaining control of the hotel, but at a terrible cost; only 2 of their 9 infantry squads remained combat effective, and the remnants of the assault were in danger of being isolated deep inside the town.  Meanwhile, Dan's engineers were able to remove a couple of obstacles, but they started to take losses from DAK snipers still hidden throughout the town and would be unable to continue until additional infantry arrive to provide security for the breaching operations.  The South African commander would have had no choice at the end but to request reinforcements so he could fight his way back into the city to extract the remnants of his company before they got cut off entirely.  Meanwhile, the brigade main effort is backed-up on the intercoastal highway, unable to proceed until the route is cleared of mines and anti-tank obstacles.  The impending conversation between the South African company commander and the battalion and brigade commanders will not likely go well.

On the DAK side, they were severely bent, but not broken.  Each of their 4 squads took substantial losses.  Although there was not much fight left in them, they still possessed a few key weapon systems in good positions. They would be able to prevent the existing South African forces from breaching any more obstacles, and might succeed in isolating and destroying the remnants of the assault element in the hotel, but another company attack would likely prove too much for them without diverting reinforcements from another part of the town.

Both commanders will have some tough decisions to ponder tonight as they prepare for the next battle.

Below you can see the remnants of Dan's lone infantry squad on the South African objective at the end of the game while a nearby DAK squad prepares to cut them off from their comrades.  Dan's other squad, the engineers, remained behind (and unprotected!) to try to locate and remove mines on their own.  They quickly learned that the DAK still had weapon systems covering the obstacles.  One of Casey's squads is deployed in the background outside the town, while his last remaining squad is barely visible on the building to the far right of the picture.  Behind them, you can just make out the radio operator from the South African company HQ behind a building.  The square panels represent minefields, which the South Africans hilariously (for me at least) managed to avoid against all odds during the game.

This shot says it all.  Lots of intact obstacles on the road to the port with some lonely engineers in the backgroud, while the brigade main effort sits stalled on the highway in the distance.  It will take another company attack to rescue the remnants of the attack, and still another to clear the route, though the DAK resistance against follow on attacks will be greatly reduced.

This was a fantastic game.  Both teams enjoyed some degree of success.  While the South Africans failed to accomplish the mission assigned to them, the manner in which they executed their own rogue plan was pretty well-done, and they deserve some credit for that, at least.  Their coordination of direct and indirect fire support and obscuration allowed the assault element to get on top of the DAK defenders before they could initiate their withdrawal.  On the DAK side, redeploying teams to critical points late in the game allowed them to slow and disrupt the South African attack.  The DAK almost blew it early by waiting too long to reposition their forward squads, but they had just enough Schlitz left at the end of the game to force the South African brigade commander to change his plan.  Tactical success for the South Africans, operational success for the DAK.  The 8th Army will have to divert resources to complete this mission.

There was a lot more to it than that, and I'm sure I do not have all of the facts straight, but this report gives you a general picture of how the game went down.  Bottom line, by cheating/breaking/making rules to fit this specific scenario, the GMs gave the players a format that allowed for some fun and dynamic play between two severely imbalanced force organizations.  Going by Bolt Action army composition values, the attackers enjoyed a better than 2:1 point advantage (not counting the tanks).  After seeing the way this game went down, I would go back to a 3:2 point advantage for the attacker.  A couple of dismally unlikely assault rolls at the end of the game prevented the South Africans from sweeping the DAK off the table, resulting instead in the annihilation of Mike's platoon.  So as a GM, I got lucky with the way it worked out.

Great game, Gentlemen.

Tobruk 1941 Battle Report

Our newly-formed wargaming group met for the first time this past weekend and played a Bolt Action scenario based on the Australian defense of the Tobruk garrison in April 1941.  John and I put together a scenario, the forces, the terrain, and GMed the game jointly.

It was a lot of fun and we all learned a lot about large-scale games.

We had a total of 11 players (6 attackers and 5 defenders) each of whom controlled a platoon (or served as the commander of their respective sides).  We opted not to adjust the Bolt Action activation mechanic because we are absolutely in love with the Bolt Action activation mechanic.  The predictable result is that the game started to drag in the later turns as more units got into the action and we were unable to play to a conclusive finish.  We will work to develop techniques to make the Bolt Action activation work with large-scale holistic games.

The bottom line is that I am really excited about this gaming group.  It is a great group of guys dedicated to high quality miniature wargaming.  I really look forward to future games.

The day started with a bunch of dudes gathering in the common room at Drew's condo.  Many (most) of us were meeting for the first time.  After a brief champagne toast to celebrate John's birthday (happened earlier in the month) we all got down to business.  More or less.

Owen took some great photos of the game from a (mostly) DAK perspective (more photos to follow as they come in):

Here's a shot of the formidable forces of the Deutsches Afrika Korps organized for battle.  It included a company command element with three tanks, a reconnaissance platoon, an infantry platoon, two tank platoons, and an artillery detachment.  Lots of activation dice.

The Australian side consisted of a Company HQ with a captured 222 armored car and 3 Bren teams, an infantry platoon, two light anti-tank platoons equipped with captured Italian Elefantino guns, a platoon of captured Italian M13/40 light tanks, and one bad-ass Artillery FO.

The DAK fought as a platoon pure formation while the Australians task-organized into tank-killing teams ready to defend their obstacle belt.

As this was a GM-run game, we were able to utilize true hidden setup for both the Aussie units and their obstacles.  This presented considerable problems for the DAK.

Scouts Out!  DAK reconnaissance searching the desert (unsuccessfully) for the Australian obstacles and anti-tank guns.  That motorcycle scout squad by the rocks in the upper left is about to receive a nasty surprise.  On the plus side, they did locate an Australian infantry squad.

Trucks with infantry move up to try to locate and breach the Aussie obstacles as tanks and dismounted infantry deal with a tenacious squad of Aussie infantry in the rocks.  This squad caused a lot of problems for the DAK as they just.  would.  not.  die.

Aussie light mortar team tries valiantly to suppress a DAK 88 as a captured Italian M13/40 burns in the background (after running into its own anti-tank obstacle).

For whatever reason, that mortar team was really photogenic in its spot amongst the rocks.  I had to take a break to snap this shot.

 Captured Italian M13/40 with Australian markings engages DAK vehicles and infantry at long range.

The DAK attack starts to bunch up while they are still looking for a good breach site.  Note the burning Panzer IV in the bottom left.  Courtesy of a ridiculously effective Australian artillery barrage

 

 

DAK and Aussie infantry gettin' after it in the rocks overlooking the breach site.

 

DAK infantry trying to reduce the obstacle and open the breach.

 

Endstate.  (Note the Aussie FO team, middle left, charging toward the DAK breach site.  Resist by any means possible, Mates).  Anyhow, the DAK attack culminated at the obstacle belt, halting the attack on Tobruk.  For now...

John and I going over the results of the game with the obstacles and Australian positions revealed for both sides to see.


Man of the match definitely goes to the Aussie Artillery FO for destroying one tank and putting about a billion pin markers on the rest (before giving in to suicidal tendencies and charging toward the DAK breach point).

Thanks to John for getting the North Africa ball rolling and letting me GM this game with him.  The players all seemed to have a really fun time.  Thanks to Drew for providing the excellent gaming facility and chili.  And thanks to the teams (DAK: Sean, Owen, Rhett, Gavin, Casey, and Keith.  UK: Mike, Drew, Lee, Richard, and Marcus) for superb game play and excellent refreshments.  I cannot overstate how cool it was to see a group gel like we did-that was a lot of fun.

I think we are onto a really fun format.  See you guys next month.

WIP Update: Models for the Tobruk 1941 Game

 Here's the latest round of models for the Tobruk 1941 game coming up.  I painted Warlord 4 Panzer IV models for the DAK team as well as a captured Warlord 222 models to go with the captured Italian tanks for the Aussie team.

They turned out OK.  Some of the weathering and rust is a little ham-handed.  Some of the dirt effects on the road wheels looks pretty good.  Overall, though, they should look respectable on the tabletop.

New Project: 2/28th Infantry (Australia) at Tobruk

Here is the next project in my deep dive into Bolt Action WWII wargaming.  I have assembled the Perry miniatures Desert Rats box set.  I absolutely love these minis.  These models will form an infantry platoon for next month's narrative game which will take place in and around Tobruk in 1941.  John is putting together the opposing DAK force for this scenario, so I need to up my game and paint a force that is at least worthy of sharing a tabletop with his amazing models.

First off, they are a great deal.  For around $36 you get a a core body of command, infantry, and support weapon teams for an entire force organization.  For my money this is the best miniature buy-in for a Wargame on the market right now.  In one box I was able to assemble three infantry squads, 2 Bren teams, a mortar team, and a platoon command.  This left me with three models that worked perfectly for a non-standard "tableau" base that would work for a company command section or forward observer team.

This command/FO unit probably will not work for tournament play, but for the type of narrative wargaming our gaming group has been exploring, it will work very well.

The detail and proportions on these models is fantastic.  I definitely prefer the true 25mm scale to the heroic scale.  Something about the giant heads, hands, and weapons of the heroic scale tends to distract me.  This prone Bren team is one of my favorite models-I really have a thing for prone models firing.  I'm really looking forward to painting them.

So my plan is to hit the seam between the last set of minis, which I completed in very little time (about 7-10 minutes/model), but almost too much at the cost of quality, and some of my better quality tabletop models like these, which represent about 60 minutes per model.  That said, I still need to paint these Aussies in a hurry and move on to the next project for the February game.