Normandy 1944 - A Bolt Action Campaign Day Report

On the 1st December 2013 a group of intrepid individuals, gamers one and all descended on the Belgrave Social Club in Halifax, West Yorkshire to rewind the clock 36,551,520 minutes and attempt to invade German occupied France, breach the Atlantic Wall and free Paris, and in doing so open up the road to Berlin! 

Ok, now that I’ve done the dramatic bit I’d better describe the event, which should prove tricky as I only attended for 2 hours (family commitments!). However I have been able to pull together the views of both TO’s, Geraint and Chris to give you all a flavour of the event. Unfortunately it turns out that you’re supposed to charge your camera before taking pictures so I apologise for the very poor camera phone images.

Anyway, on to the action.

The forces were gathered together and asked to assign a CiC for the day, whose responsibility it would be to allocate the available forces to each game.

Round 1: The Allies assaulted 3 beaches (doubles games) in an attempt to create a beachhead and link up with the air dropped troops who were furiously trying to capture Pegasus Bridge and a section of trenches just behind the lines. The Germans held one beach, fighting the assaulting allies to a bloody standstill. However in a reversal of history it would seem the CiC of the Axis forces rightly understood the value of Pegasus Bridge, assigning an elite unit to protect from any airborne assault and thus the British Para’s were unable to dislodge them. 

The beachhead

The Stuka Zu Fuss burns after demolishing the
assaulting allies!

The Commando's objective, the trenchline beyond the beach

And off they go to capture the bunker - tense stuff

Pegasus Bridge. That river looks choppy!

Result - The beachhead is made and an inland territory captured.

Round 2: With the allies unable to capture Pegasus bridge and only capturing two of the three beaches the options for the Allied CiC were limited. However they were able to take the initiative and thus the next games were played in countryside heavy with Bocage. However the Axis forces conducted an excellent defence and the Allies were unable to capitalise on their gains in the first round. 

Beyond the beaches - the Normandy countryside
turns out to be a tough nut to crack!

The Commando's attempt to capture a Norman hotel!

But what's this, the Germans sneak round the corner!

The 4Ground Hotel Complex is rather nice isn't it

And while the Commando's dally at the Hotel, an urgent
 rescue mission is launched to stop the Germans capturing
 a senior office stranded after a botched glider landing
 (it doesn't look that botched though does it!)

I wouldn't want to march across that field without cover.
But where else would a glider land!

And the fight in the bocage continues

Result - The Allies failed to expand the beachhead however they held their ground.

Round 3: With the Allies unable to push through the Axis forces in round 2 the Germans were able to make a counter-push. We swiftly discovered that Germans on the attack are not as strong as Germans on the defence as they attempted to bar the way to Paris and came a cropper. The Allies won a series of victories and as a result the Germans lost a whole handful of territories, opening the route to Paris for the Allies if they could win the initiative for the final round.

Under cover of darkness the Brits conduct a stealthy assault

And the Germans use those magical things called ears
 to hear them approach (how stealthy is a Jeep
full of troops?)

Armoured car controls one of the roads to Paris.

"ere Sarge, do ya reckon I can hit that squirrel"?
"t'aint a squirrel lad, thats Lieutenant Hughes"

GI's advance through burned out villages

Round 4: Things were now balanced on a knife edge. If the Allied General Rob could win the roll-off for initiative he would be able to assault Paris and potentially win the day. Axis General Tim, however, had been able to roll sixes for fun all day, so couldn’t possibly lose this one. Tim’s lucky pink dice was removed, the collective breaths of the room were held, and Rob won the roll-off, allowing the Allies to direct all their forces to attack Paris. 

The outskirts of Paris. Who wants to peer round the corner first?

And finally the Panzers arrive. This was the only vaguely heavy tank of the day.

Results from the last game, though, were exactly even. Both sides won four victories, meaning that again Rob and Chris would have to roll off to decide which of the two sides would lose their nerve and withdraw from the city. Again Tim’s lucky pink dice was removed and again Rob won the roll-off, granting the Allies victory. Cue victory parades, pretty French girls kissing the winners, and Tim returning to Berlin to face Hitler’s wrath.

All-in-all it was a really fun day. The games were played in a great spirit, the tables - thanks to the people who brought scenery - looked fantastic, and the armies were painted to a really high standard. Things didn't work quite as set out in the event pack - Geraint had to adapt on the fly to keep things moving (sort of a GM role) and learnt quite a lot from doing so.

Honourable mention goes to Warlord games for the collection of prizes, Rich for the donation of a lovely scratch built landing craft as a prize and finally Geraint’s family for the pie and peas, the staple of any wargamers diet!

Note: investigations are ongoing as to the make up of Tim’s dice which rolled a disproportionate number of 6’s, mainly whenever his Stuka Zu Fuss opened fire!