Miniature Wargames

Bolt Action – Marines Land Again

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a Bolt Action game. This was a similar scenario to the previous Bolt Action game. US Marines landed on a beach defended by the Imperial Japanese Army. Six LVTs, each carrying an infantry squad and several small support units attempted to land in the first wave. Several grounded on a reef for a turn, but by the second turn all troops were safely ashore. Two LVTs were destroyed on the beach by a Japanese tank. The marines and the remaining LVTs moved inland against hidden or dug in defenders. When the game ended the Japanese still held 2 of the 3 objective strong-points.

After the initial naval bombardment, the Japanese wait for the landing.

… and land the troops.

The left flank LVT is destroyed by the Japanese tank while the Marines use cover to advance.

An LVT survives damage to close with the central Japanese bunker.

The second wave includes an engineer squad.

The second LVT is destroyed by the Japanese tank.

LVTs and a Sherman advance in the center.

Sudan – The Sword and the Flame

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a Sudan game using The Sword and the Flame colonial rules (20th Anniversary Edition) and the Gunboats and Dhows rules. British forces were tasked with recovering captives, a river steamer and supplies taken by the Ansar. Ansar units were hidden on the table and more arrived on turns 3 and 6. The boats used were made by Last Stand Dan.

The captured river steamer and supplies are in the foreground. The captives are in the fort.

The British advance by land and water.

British infantry moving fast in open order.

Ansar infantry reinforcements arrive and clash with British cavalry.

The remains of a British platoon forms square and protects the wounded. The British gunboat safely passes the fort and shoot down many of the Ansar defenders.

Infantry lands from the British gunboat.

The small square survives against great odds.

The gunboat and its infantry shoot up the Ansar attempting to move the supplies.

After about four hours of play we needed to quit so the hobby shop could close for the Memorial Day weekend. The British recaptured their river steamer (2VP) and some of the supplies (1VP) but did not get into the fort to rescue the captives (2VP for the Ansar). A hard-fought British victory.

Tsushima – Russo-Japanese War Naval AAR

This weekend the local HMGS-South group played a Russo-Japanese War naval battle based on the Battle of Tsushima. In order to make the game more balanced, the Russian ships were not handicapped to reflect their historical performance.

Visibility 14,000 yards. Wind SW at 14 knots. Seastate 3

Status at the end of the game: tsus2 io

Damage output file: tsus2 out

Plot of ship movements:
0 to 30 minutes tsus2 plot 0-30
30 to 60 minutes tsus2 plot 30-60
60 to 90 minutes tsus2 plot 60-90

Computer code (described here)

Japanese fleet

We called the game after about 4.5 hours of play (90 minutes of game time). The damage was fairly even at that point. The Russian battleships were low on main gun ammunition and several were completely out, so their ability to continue the fight was limited.