to the barricades

I’ve signed up for a Bolt Action tournament in July. A fun looking format where armies must come from theater selectors not in the main armies of books. A perfect opportunity to get my Budapest Pocket Defenders on the table.

Angus thinks the lack of transport is a mistake

At 1,100 points I have to restrict what I bring. Given I also get d3 barricades, I’ve gone for lots of bodies. On open boards I might be in trouble, but anywhere that breaks up line of sight and provides a bit of cover shout be OK.

Since I’m in Budapest I started with a squad of Hungarians. I will pay to upgrade the squad LMG to an MG42. I will not only get an extra shot, but it also means all the LMG will have the same stat line. One less thing to remember.

A squad of panzer grenadiers. With no transport their special rule is wasted, but I do get to field two LMG in the squad. Expensive, but they will be behind a barricade holding an objective and will be hard to move.

These ugly chaps are assault pioneers. My veteran squad. They have a flame thrower.

In the defense of Budapest, many citizens also took up arms. A Vannay squad is made up of older (often first world war veterans) and younger pups. They are regular but might downgrade to inexperienced when they first take a pin. Full of flavour and sure to be amusing. I have proxied them with a selection of partisans and a spare Hungarian trooper.

A couple of grognards to lead the army. Armed with SMG and assault rifle they can be handy in a tight corner.

A selection of support weapons: a panzershrek, MMG and sniper.

A medium mortar with a spotter. These can be game winners. Even if they don’t hit, ranging in can cause an enemy squad to move which can change the tempo of the game.

And a Hetzer. The weak sides are not a problem when the profile is so small. Their task is enemy armour (even more than the panzershrek, which is plan B).

A selection constrained by accepting I don’t have room in my paint queue to get any new units done before July. So no new models. Some tweaks to go yet. But the this is the broad shape.

Now, the Russians are coming .To the barricades.