Green as Grass

 Club night and Bolt Action, time to get some of those Lockdown painted troops on the table. I dug out an early war Eastern Front scenario from the Ostfront Campaign book where the Russians were defending a bridge and the Germans had to take it, sounded good, I also liked the idea that the Germans were forced to take transports, the spearhead of a motorised division perhaps. My first mistake was I had not read the notes properly and instead of one Russian unit being dug in near the bridge they all were, this meant that with Bolt Action all these units were almost invulnerable and not the speed bump they were in reality. 

I had chosen my forces to blitzkrieg the bridge and gain an early advantage, I had a halftrack, truck, armoured car and for back up a Panzerjager 1 to counter the inevitable Soviet big tank, I also had one veteran squad and two regulars, oh, and an MMG. I wanted to rush forward with the first wave and have the second to counter a Russian flank attack which they were allowed, sounded good to me. It was now I found they were all dug in. The game settled into both sides hugging the ground with the odd casualty on the German veteran squad who were ensconced in a farm near the bridge. I got fed up and brought on my little tank with the intention of firing heavy explosives into the Russian fortress, I had forgotten the Soviet 45mm anti-tank gun, the first shot stunned my crew and put two pin markers on them, oops.

 After some failed morale tests the Soviet flank attacks turned up, an infantry squad on my left and a T-28 on my right. My armoured car and halftrack soon cut the infantry down to a few men as they had been caught in the open, but just as I was about to wipe them out my guys ran out of ammo, or at least that was the excuse for the rubbish shots. Meanwhile I tried to get the Panzerjager to move on the T-28 which was failing to make an impact on the Down veterans in the farmyard but the crew had been so traumatised by the hit earlier they refused to move. Lady Luck had deserted the Jerries. As the bell was about to chime and we had only completed half the moves, we had two new players who had joined us and were introducing the game to, I called a halt as they way things were going our Veterans would eventually succumb to either pins or death and a last minute jog forward would give the Soviets the game.

 Not having played in almost eighteen months showed and getting the notes on the scenario wrong didn't help, but I think Jimi and Edward at least got an inkling of how Bolt Action played. I don't mind playing Bolt Action but they have some really annoying traits, why would an inexperienced squad suddenly turn to regulars when shot at, where did that come from, aaaagh! Anyway, we have another Bolt Action game next week, a bit larger and another 'training' game.

I finished off my French LMG teams this week so the only think left for these guys is a couple of trucks, which I am in no hurry to get. I also finished my two new tanks, the StuH 42 simply because it is there and a Panzer II because I cannot wait for the Rubicon model to turn up. The 42 was OK, the resin part was fine but the metal hatches were too big and didn't fit, also Blitzkrieg show you the CAD file or whatever it is on their site, not an actual resin cast, so the cupola doesn't look as good on the model, I now realise I should have got the Rubicon model. The little Panzer II (Warlord) by contrast is lovely and very nicely cast. I decided on the normal three pattern camo for the StuH as they turned up in numbers just as the new scheme came in in February '43, I also added some foliage that I had lying around and a spare commander.

 Now that my French are ready I needed to sort out a couple of things for Chain of Command games, I could not find division signs for 1940 so went for the Tricolour and used the tactical signs for armoured units. 

 The Tomorrow War, a new movie on Netflix starring Chris Pratt, one of the dumbest sci-fi movies ever, yes some of the special effects are nice but the plot is so ridiculous right from the start the questions start to queue up in your brain. Let's put it this way, our hero, the only white male on the planet just about, needs some info on volcanic ash, does he email a renowned volcanologist, no, he remembers a kid in primary seven who liked volcanoes, he is a teacher. Oh yes, and in 2022 or whenever it starts all positions of authority are taken by, yep, you guessed it, size 6 women.