My Bolt Action Army played well in the VBAL last weekend, it however could of been better, I did sink a lot of points in to two anti-tank guns that could have been better used. The season 3 dot net changes also meant that some weapons are not as effective as they once were.
So onto the grades for my Army.
Regular 2nd Lieutenant (Highest Ranked officer) A+
This guy did what half an army could not, he killed trucks took care of entire units, and didn’t die once, even when standing in the open. Held the army together, like an officer should.
Regular Kradschutzen Squad B
This squad didn’t really do much for the weekend until the last game, where it did it’s job and really put the hurt into some marines. Givne that this unit is 131 points, I would still take it, the motorcycles being recon, but still being infantry makes them fantastic.
Veteran Grenadier Squad B
Solid performer, as to be expected, engaged at long range with LMG time and time again, did it’s job well.
Regular Pak 40. D
The idea to take both a Pak and the 88 was to create crossing fields of fire, which denies area. That worked well expect in the last game where I had to place it out of the game. It never hit any Armour that it fired at, and really only killed some Infantry, I would have been better with a smaller gun.
Regular Panzer IIID F
This guy didn’t do a thing all weekend, he fired and set stuff on fire that was it, The new dot net rules make the bigger guns better (Heavy AT), now they fire the same D6 HE, but they can also hurt Armour, this can fire indirect and is a bit cheaper, but has sort of been made redundant. I know the points is an extra 60 but that is not really that much, especially at 1250 point levels.
Reg SdKFz 251/1 C+
The good old half track did it’s job, now that it can fire empty it did, a lot. It lived though a lot of fire, was solid all round. However I should have dropped this guy and taken more field cars so I can tow my guns.
Reg 2nd Lieutenant B
Held parts of the army together when he showed up, taking two platoons I could have doubled down on tanks or ATG which I did.
2 x Regular Grenadier Squads C+
They both did there job, but were not as solid as some of the multiple LMG squads out there.
Reg MMG Team A-
7 Dice of love, the Dot net changes make multiple MMG’s sort of necessary with 7 dice on German MMG’s for 50 points. It is gold.
Reg 88mm Flak 36 Dual purpose AA/AT gun +spotter B+
Talk about area denial this is it. However it did fail to kill any target it fired at. so could have been better especially a close range Sherman, the 88 was built to destroy them, however this one did not. At 195 points, again I think I would have been better off using something smaller and getting more mobile assets. This thing needs some thing big to tow it as well, so it is a double point sink.
Reg Panzer IIc A+
this little tank took out it’s fair share of Armour, so many nice things to say about this tank, it also took out Snipers and inf teams, it distracted more than triple it’s points in Armour, and killed well over double it’s points value.
Over all I had a great time, my Bolt Action army got a good work out, the changes make the game a little different. I will go about things differently next time. I am hopeful I can make the next VBAL. I did have 3 great games, there were some really cool ideas for armies out there.
There will be loads of pic’s coming up on WWPD For the Bolt Action Alliance, loads of pic’s on facebook as well.
I got away with a Hetzer from the day from Rubicon Models I will be doing a review on that soon, and then planning an army around it. Also my club is planning a Bolt Action tournament in July, so loads more to do, and plenty of time to do it… maybe..
