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.
Just finished a book about camouflage and deception in the desert war.
The author Rick Stroud does a great job of telling what could be a pretty dull story about development of camouflage in the British Army in early WW2. It is written with wit and not too much detail. Footnotes and bibliography are there for those who crave more detail.
The story culminates in Project Bertram, the lessor known little sibling of the phantom armies that supported the Overlord preparations and invasion.
For those watching SAS Rogue Heroes at the moment, it even has a cameo from Dudley Clarke.
A question I now have is how to include deception units into Bolt Action. I suspect it may not have a place, but it would be funny to be able to pay a premium to be able to deploy a tank that looked like a truck until you got too close, or vice versa.
The US military loves calling things M4: tanks, guns and even a big old artillery tractor.
Another Anyscale miniature, this model is a simple as the original vehicle. Large, with heaps of towing power, it pretty much does what it says on the tin.
Probably not much more than scenery in most Bolt Action games. But in Konflikt 47, many scenarios have the opportunity to gain victory points for recovering tanks and walkers.
A fun little dimension that my US force will now be able to participate in. And that feels good.
The creators of Konflikt 47, Clockwork Goblin, have released a selection of their weird war designs in 15mm resin. I posted my tesla turrets late last year. And now it is time for the German walkers.
I picked up a Thor heavy panzermech. They are a beast. A king tiger on legs.
And a zug of light walker, panzer spinne.
I have one of these in my 28mm Turkish army. While I’m unlikely to get more in the larger scale, I can see these four in a supporting role for the Thor similar to the Panzer III accompanied early production Tigers.
I used a paint scheme inspired by Normandy in 1944, which will match a much older 15mm German force that I have.
The models are great. Crisp, clean molding and good fun to paint. I suspect that Clockwork Goblin will add to their range over coming months. And that could prove to be very tempting.
Thinking about a different project – a topic for another day – I was looking in one of the older Bolt Action campaign books, Ostfront: Barbarossa to Berlin. In the pages I found another take on the Belski Brothers.
The Warlord Games version is for a partisan squad. The key twist is gaining the fanatic rule when opposed by SS units. Officially for the Soviet lists, I see no reason why these squads could not be included in a partisan force. Combined with my special character rules for the Belski brothers it could make a fun eastern front themed Partisan force.
So, there you go. Read those books, you never know what you might find.
Back in 2018 I wondered what sort of army Turkey would have in the weird-science, alternate history world of Konflikt 47. And, here is my answer.
Staying neutral as long as possible, Turkey enters the war late, signing as part of the Axis with Germany. With the real and fictional history only diverging in 1943, I felt this was a great opportunity to field a wide range of armour and other units, representing an under-prepared Turkey scrambling to respond to the seeming unavoidable Soviet invasion from the east and north-east.
I have chosen to restrict the number of units with weird technology. This reflects the junior partner nature, and likely German skepticism of just how committed their new ally is to the cause. In particular, I have no horror causing units which are such a distinct feature of German lists.
I swapped the heads of the Italian heavy infantry. I ended up with this set accidentally when I grabbed the Italian instead of the German box. Always take your reading glasses to the hobby shop. There is little chance for confusion, as this is a distinct looking unit in the force. Tougher than ordinary infantry they are still susceptible to anything that have armour piercing capability. If you can get them into cover near an objective they will be hard to dislodge.
The core of most armies are ordinary, regular infantry squads. With a few fezzes added, they are armed as late-war Germans. One squad has an LMG, but under my home brew they don’t get the Hitler’s Buzz Saw special rule, so no extra shot, leaving them with the same number of shots as other armies.
The second compulsory infantry choice has assault rifles and a panzerfaust.
Not all units are first-line. I will use these WWI Ottoman Turks from Woodbine Design as inexperienced troops.
Germany have deployed observers. Their role is to train and advise their new allies in battle spaces impacted by weird technology. Veteran observers have the special rule, Weird Tech is Expensive, which allows Turkey to field (selected) units with weird technology. These miniatures are Gebirgsjäger from Black Tree Design.
By keeping the colour palette restricted I have helped to give a more cohesive look to what is otherwise an intentionally disparate model selection.
A Panzer IV in Turkish livery. The decals are 1:48 modern Turkish air force and have come out great.
The Panzer IV-X is funky science version of the Panzer IV. The turret is a simple swap with the ordinary Panzer IV. So, while I can’t field both, I have the choice to field either in a game.
The Allied nations had hoped Turkey would join the war on their side. Part of this process was access to the Lend Lease program, where Turkey took delivery of a wide range of different tanks, all in small numbers. This included Valentines. This model is from Rubicon.
Every army needs officers. These figures are all from the Woodbine Design first world war range. They are lovely minis, full of character.
A German Liaison officer and his interpreter. As long as the interpreter is alive, the officer gets to use his German national rule to add an extra unit to the number he can Snap To. Liaison officers also have the Weird Tech is Expensive rue, so are an alternative to an Observer squad. Next project might need to include some practice with faces.
Support squads include a Pak 38.
Which has a Kettenkrad as a tow. This is another Rubicon kit.
A sniper and his spotter.
A medium Mortar.
A medium machine gun, another set from the Woodbine Design Ottoman range.
An anti-tank gun. By the late war these were mostly useless against most of the common armour. However, these heavy caliber rifles have found a role on the Konflikt 47 battlefield as a specialised sniper targetting heavy infantry and lightly armoured walkers.
Perhaps my favourite model is this Spinne Light Panzermech. Silly and wonderful in equal measure. In game they are reliable reconnaissance vehicles, suitable for rough terrain.
A feature of the Independence War in the early 1920s were irregular fighters that fought both for and against the emerging Republic (and sometimes both). I have included a unit of irregular cavalry, reflecting local resistance to the invasion of their homeland in 1947.
In addition to the painting and modelling, I have written a home brew army list. A draft version is posted here.
There are heaps more pictures in other posts. You can find them by using tags, especially the tag Turkish Army. My next goal will be to get them onto the table.
Back in 2018 I had an idea to build a Turkish force for Konflikt 47. I accumulated most of the models I wanted, and there it sat until May last year when I picked up it once more.
One of the first units I started was a cavalry squad of irregulars. Which then sat on my desk until it was the last unit left unpainted. Well, I picked up my courage. Picked up my brush, and now, I have finished! Seventy-odd fighters, several tanks, and support units. Phew!
Kit-based, based on the Perry’s US Civil War cavalry
In my home brew army list, irregulars have the special rule, The Hills Have Eyes. This means the local area knowledge of the irregular units prevents opponents from outflanking. This rule is one of the Bulgarian national traits re-named, and I think brings some nice flavour (and options) to the list.
I will do better pictures, and get a beauty parade together. But I’m a little bit excited at reaching this point and wanted to share this with y’all.
In the summer of 1944, German and fascist forces conducted many operations across Northern Italy. The sweeps and armed security-patrols into the rugged mountains were designed to break up the growing partisan companies and restrict their ability to operate.
Many of the rule book missions could be used to re-fight aspects of a security operation. But I want to create a mission where partisans are making a desperate bid to break through a security cordon to escape. With this in mind I played a couple of solo games to get a feel for how squads might interact on wooded table, with one side attempting to exit and the other to stop them.
I went with infantry heavy forces with around 450 to 500 points. A bit smaller than even a small game, but large enough to try out some ideas. For the partisans I tried one game with a small number of squads and another with the same number of fighters, but split into groups of 3 to 5.
I opposed the partisans with a more structured German force: several 5 man squads with rifles, a medium mortar, a 3 man LMG squad, and an officer. Thematically, I think matching the partisans against an inexperienced or green security force could be a lot of fun, but for this experiment I went with regular squads.
In the first game I deployed the partisans randomly, using the paratroop drop rules from Market Garden. Then the Germans entered the board from random board edges. The double randomness was too much and would likely lead to very swingy games- even more swingy than BA is usually!
For the second game I dialed back the random deployment. The Germans deployed up to half of their units on the board, but their reserves came on randomly in from turn 2. The partisans started off board, with at least half coming on as first wave.
The dynamic of using squads of 3 to 5 was interesting. It gave the partisans plenty of dice, but limited fire power, and forced moral checks more frequently. Another idea might be forcing the fleeing partisans to start with 0 to 2 pins on each squad.
I need to sort out scoring yet, and I think the points need to be balanced a bit. A higher number of points for the partisans, perhaps 50% more might even the sides up a bit, given the partisans need to advance into the Axis deployment zone and move off the board in order to win.
Also victory points need to be worked out. I think something like 2 victory points per exited unit for the partisans and 1 victory point per partisan squad eliminated by the Axis force.
Members of the resistance faced many dangers: discovery, betrayal, and the direct danger of violence while carrying out their duty. Many resistance fighters were not even armed. For most it was a significant risk to just obtain weapons and ammunition, even before other acts of resistance could be contemplated.
As the Allied army approached Paris in August 1944 the population of Paris, led by the French Forces of the Interior, rose up in rebellion. One of them was Georges Loiseleur, an ex-soldier and active member of the army of the interior. Like many, he went out onto the streets to find a weapon.
A German truck was attacked with a grenade as it drove along Quai des Grands-Augustins, which runs along the left bank of the Seine. Scrambling through the wreckage to salvage a weapon, not all the Germans were dead. Instead of finding a rifle to join the liberation, George was shot dead by a German armed with a pistol.
Georges Loiseleur died August 1944, age 28, and is commemorated by a small plaque near the spot where it happened.
To capture some of this in Bolt Action I propose being able to add unarmed fighters to late war partisan squads. The unarmed fighters have the special rule Rise Up! that provides a chance to obtain a rifle during the game. This rule reflects the risks taken by people like George during those frantic days of liberation in the final months of the war.
Special Rule: Rise Up! A regular Partisan Squad (Late War) or an inexperienced Partisan Squad can add 0 to 3 unarmed fighters for +5 points (inexperienced) or +8 points (regular) per unarmed fighter. The quality of the unarmed fighters must be the same as the rest of the squad.
If an enemy infantry or artillery unit takes at least one casualty within 12” of a unit with an unarmed fighter, roll a d6 for each unarmed model up to the number of casualties:
4-6: weapon acquired. Replace the unarmed model with a model armed with a rifle. 2-3: no weapon found. The unarmed fighter may try again if the opportunity arises. 1: tragedy strikes. The unarmed model is killed or wounded attempting to find a weapon and is removed from play (this doesn’t cause a pin).
While unarmed, models cannot shoot or attack in close combat, but can be removed as casualties.
The sort of early war actions of obtaining war material is a story outside the scope of Bolt Action.
These unarmed fighters cost on point more than unarmed fighters in Soviet penal squads. This reflects the chance that some will survive long enough to obtain a weapon.
Tuvia Belski was a Polish Army veteran and a charismatic leader who led a group of men, women and children, which grew to over 1,200 people by the end of the war.
Belski and his brothers led their partisan band through the terrors of the nazi occupation, often hiding deep in the forests of Belarus. Check them out, the story is amazing.
The base Partisan list has access to first and second lieutenants, who can be either inexperienced or regular quality, but not veteran. This makes sense for the core list and reflects the lack of organisation and structure of most partisan organisations.
However, every partisan movement included extraordinary people, men and women, of outstanding courage, skills and charisma. It would be nice to be able to bring some of these elite personalities into Bolt Action, expanding selection choice and range of Partisan armies that can be deployed.
The Warsaw Uprising theatre list in the Road to Berlin campaign book includes officers of higher ranks and the option for taking veteran offices. This makes sense for the AK. This same entry could be used for a late war Yugoslav National Liberation force, or even a Soviet Partisan force.
Special characters are another way of rounding out some of the holes in the Partisan list. Assigning points for new or additional rules without distortion is a delicate thing. However, re-skinning existing rules, or tweaking so modestly it may as well be re-skinning, is a safer route.
The home brew special character mashes together four things: history, and the existing rules for captains, intelligence officers, and Hungarian officers.
Tuvia Belski, partisan hero, is a regular captain (110 points). You may add up to two additional partisans from the following list: Asael Belski (+10 points); Zus Belski (+30 points); Partisan fighter (+10 points). Named characters may only be selected once per force. Weapons: pistol, SMG, or rifle as depicted on the model. Special rules: Asael: as long as Asael is alive, Tuvia and his unit gain the fanatic special rule Zus: has the intelligence officer special rule (see Italy: Soft Underbelly). Once per game Zus may act on intelligence he has gathered; before the first die is drawn, on a 4+ he may choose a die from the bag for the first activation.
Clearly, these rules are not official and will need your opponents permission to try out. The fanatic rule for Asael has no additional cost. It is based on the national rule for Hungary. Just as in Hungarian list, it appears for some flavour that will have little effect on the game. Unless some crazy cinematic moment occurs. Very Bolt Action.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. On Tuvia, special characters in Bolt Action. or other ideas to extend the partisan list.
Faith&Steel 