I got a game of Bolt Action in with the ever gregarious Old Man Morin, contributor at http://www.boltaction.net and co-host of the BA themed podcasts at LRDG and Ghost Army (as a fan of BA with an interest in Monte Cassino, I can recommend episode 3 of Ghost Army).
We played at Games Laboratory in town. It was my first visit, but I’ll be back. There was a convivial atmosphere with the tables full of everything from Magic to Tokaido to X-Wing.
(All of which appear at different times on Will Wheaton’s podcast, spooky!)
I had my Germans, boosted to 1,000 points by including a sniper, a medic and a veteran squad. Brad took his Sikh army for a spin in their India Pattern carriers. We did Kittyhawk down, where a Kittyhawk crashes a random distance along the centre of the table in turn three to become the objective. This creates a nice tension as you don’t initially know where to concentrate your force. In the end it was a moot point as the Heer were machine gunned to pieces by speeding India carriers and a Grant. I headed for cover in a village in the centre of the table, but the Sikh got there first. Tip for beginners: don’t stand around in the open with machine guns nearby. There was a glimmer of hope as the Allied artillery came down on their own lines, but it was too late to make any really difference to the Germans.
Fuck it Hans, let’s get out of here while no-ones looking
Brad’s Sikh dominate the village
I discovered that veterans are tough, but rather than 2 x LMG which I had on the day, I’m going to fill a vehicle with SMG. I can get that into 1,000 points by dropping a couple of regular grunts. I had not seen a lot of medics, so I took one. They rock. He only saved one wound on the day, but it was sweet to keep my MMG at full fire rate as a result. I think he can stay.
My photos don’t do his army justice (some time ago I buggered the lens in my phone trying to record an occultation; don’t ask!) but you can catch a glimpse of his work in the final image of this article at boltaction.net. It is a fine looking army.
Next time, Mr Morin, next time …
Faith&Steel 
You know what they say, “sikh and ye shall find!”
That’s a great write up of the day and it looks like some valuable lessons have been learned!
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Groan! Thanks Adam; indeed, in future I’ll be keeping my head down a bit more
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Looks like a fun battle. I still need to get my BA stuff up to speed, as I’ve not touched them in ages. I’ve not heard of Games Laboratory before, but I’ll have to check them out next time I go into town.
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There is a BA tournament at Games Laboratory on 8 Feb, might be a good day to drop in for some WWII inspiration! Cheers.
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