Norway 1940 : Bolt Action

Another jolly week visiting relatives and squeezing hobby time in around other stuff. Jonathan was visiting from over in Canada and we were looking for a fun game so time to roll out my Norwegian collection. Not a historical encounter but a basic Bolt Action breakthrough scenario.

The Norwegians will be advancing from the left supported by two Polish Infantry squads. The Germans are dug in on the high ground on the right and around the small building where the road heads of the table

The Germans have half their small force dug in on the hill, the Norwegians fail to call in a preliminary barrage so the Germans hold their position in ambush

They also have a 75mm gun as support

The Norwegian commander pushes the Polish infantry to the right and sets up their mortar in the cover of the small wooded hill

A wider shot of the German start position

The Norwegians have two units of elite ski mounted troops who advance across the road and fields, the Germans having moved up into the copse come under heavy fire and are pinned down

On the left the Poles are hit really hard as they cross the road and as soon as they break cover

The Norwegians start to advance knowing they need to break through in six turns

They are supported by a single French R35

After several failed attempts German reserves arrive and head towards the second wooded hill

The first unit of ski troops have been nearly wiped out but the second now sweeps up the hill to combat the defenders, who are cut to pieces

The ski troops then cleverly pull back down the hill awaiting the next turn before sweeping into the victory zone

The German machine gun is knocked out by mortar fire

We are now at six turns and the Norwegians have broken through for a pretty clear win, the Germans just couldn’t stop the tide, although they put up a pretty good fight. Almost all the Poles have been wiped out as have the leading ski troops. A fun game and great to get something different on the table.

Painting this week, after the game last week I realised we didn’t have enough wound markers and I had six more in the box

That should be enough ?

I’ve also finished my Tallarn Captain

Recently I also picked up a couple of rather poorly painted but cheap Spanish units off eBay. I was hoping these would need fairly limited work to get them table ready, here is the first unit. A new flag and a general reworking. They don’t look too bad and certainly good enough, my plan isn’t to create a whole Spanish army rather collection enough for a single Brigade to support the British. So perhaps 3 or 4 units plus some cavalry and an artillery piece ?

Finally Martin was having a clear out and gifted me some 28mm trucks, these are really cheap plastic models but actually look pretty good. He originally thought they were Opal Blitz but after me spending loads of time on the internet, I think I have them identified as Russian Zis-150 trucks. They look very close to American dodge trucks though so some will be painted for Sicily and some generic.

Here is one with some Germans in the back

Finally we’ve been out and about again, a trip to the very interesting Jodrel Bank in Cheshire

…and Appleby Castle where the Norman Keep was renovated about 3 years ago

It has a really interesting history, and a good collection of helmets to try on 

It took me ages to try them all on 😂

Phew busy at the moment, thanks as always for checking in.

A couple of days in London at the end of this week then hopefully some more gaming 

Matt😀