Guns of
August Bolt Action AAR
At the Guns of August gaming
convention at Williamsburg, VA, I ran a Bolt
Action game called “Bustin’ the Bocage: On the Road to St.Lo.” The scenario involved an American platoon
with some armor support having to take a crucial crossroads from dug-in
Germans, who
were determined to prevent the American objective.
Forces
The American
forces involved were regular American infantry and armor led by a captain and
second lieutenant. These forces included
three squads of GIs of ten men each.
Each squad included two SMGs, one BAR, and seven rifles. Each squad had a three man MMG attached. The American force also included two mortar
sections with one spotter. The force
also had an artillery spotter and radioman for a barrage attempt. Attached to this platoon were a Sherman 75
and a Sherman 76 tank.
The German
force consisted of veteran Fallschirmjagers led by a captain. The main part of this force consisted of a
12 man squad broken down into two sections.
These two sections had mixed weaponry of rifles, SMGs, an assault rifle,
an LMG team, and two men with two panzerfausts.
The force also included three MMG teams and two medium mortar teams with
a spotter. Also included in the force
were an entrenched PAK 40 and a hidden Marder III.
Map:
Looking from
the German side of the board. Notice the
entrenched PAK 40 at the crossroads.
Special Rules: The
Germans, except the PAK 40, were in ambush under hidden deployment and could
show up anywhere within or hidden by a terrain feature. One field was mined. These were house rules, because as of right
now there are no rules for mines in Bolt Action. The house rules for the mines are they are
hidden and if the field was moved into by a unit, the unit takes a d2 HE hit.
After Action Report
The
game began with the Germans allowing the Americans to advance upon the board in
the first turn, without revealing an ambush.
The Americans separated their three squads into the left, center, and
right of the table. The tanks and
mortars came in through the center of the board.
On
turn two, as the Americans were advancing upon the woods in the center the
Germans revealed an ambush of one of their infantry squads and a MMG crew. The Germans rolled poorly but pinned down the
center group of American infantry and the Sherman 76, which was hit by a
panzerfausts but only pinned.
After
about three turns of fighting in front of the woods, the Americans finally
overwhelmed the Germans in the woods with the assistance of the Americans on
the left. In the meantime, the American
squad on the right kept advancing slowly but surely through the bocage and the
fields to advance without being seen by the PAK 40.
Once
the American squad on the right crossed into the field just above the bocaged
orchard, it struck the minefield and became pinned down. To make matters worse for them, the Germans
revealed a MMG in the bocage ahead of this squad and with accurate mortar fire
and MMG firepower tore the American squad up.
After
eliminating the threat in the woods, the American left and center continued
on. The left ran into opposition at the
orchard and the blown up farmhouse. This
battle generally ran tit-for-tat with the Sherman 75 eventually being
immobilized by a panzerfausts and the Germans being wiped out to a man by small
arms, cannon, and MMG fire.
The
turning point of the battle was when the PAK 40 was spotted at the crossroads and
was wiped out by a well die-rolled (rolled a 6 on the barrage table) barrage. Once this happened, the only thing that stood
in the way of the Americans taking the crossroads was the German command
contingent, which was eventually assaulted by the Americans coming down the
center. It was at this point the Germans
decided to give up the ghost, even though they never revealed the Marder III.
My thoughts
The
game lasted about three hours; it’s easy to run, as the players picked up the
rules real quick. The one mistake I made
is I forgot if that if a pinned unit makes a command roll, it loses one pin
marker.
I
do believe the players had a good time and they seemed to have enjoyed the
game. I’m planning on running this again
for my club, as it is a scenario that can be run again and again.
