Bolt Action: Battle of Mutanchiang 1945 AAR

For our latest game of Bolt Action, Art and I decided to fight the Battle of Mutanchiang from 1945. The Soviet Union had declared war against Imperial Japan and launched an overpowering night assault against the city of Mutanchiang, which was being used by the  Kwantung Army as a base of operations. The Japanese army decided to fight a rearguard action, leaving a skeleton force to slow the Soviet advance while the majority of the army evacuated to Tunghua.

For this scenario, The Soviets had to get at least half their units across the table and through the three available exit routes before time ran out. The Japanese were dug into the ruins, with additional fortifications of barbed wire, minefields, anti-tank ditches, and a roadblock. We also used the "Flare!" night fighting rules, so visibility varied from round to round.

Round 1: 

Flare were sent up by the Soviets, illuminating the city ruins. However, the Japanese chose to remain hidden.

The Soviets launched a preparatory bombardment of the city prior to advancing. Many of the Japanese units were stunned and received pin markers, but all survived. However, the roadblock and a section of barbed wire were destroyed.

Round 2:

As the flares faded, the Soviets began advancing in earnest. 

The darkness prevented any accurate exchange of gunfire, with the exception of the Soviets' Katyusha rocket launcher, which attacked the large ruins seen the previous round. A flamethrower team was killed by the explosions, but the rest of the entrenched Japanese survived the attack.

The Japanese used the rest of the round to rally troops and shed pin markers.

Round 3:

Another round began in darkness. The Katyusha launched a second rocket barrage against the ruins, this time killing the Japanese Major in charge of this sector.

A Soviet Sherman tank and the entrenched Japanese Chi-Ha tank exchanged fire in the dark. The fortifications deflected the Soviet shell, and the Chi-Ha's round was too weak to penetrate the Sherman's armor.

A second Soviet Sherman approached the Japanese defenses, wary of a patch of freshly dug earth in front of the barbed wire. It opened fire on the shadows moving behind the barricades, but was ineffective.

A Japanese machine gun team spotted arriving Soviet transports, opening fire on one.  They managed to hit a fuel tank, destroying the truck and killing some of the infantrymen.  The survivors scurried into the underbrush, their morale shaken.  

Round 4:

More flares went up from the Soviets, A Japanese sniper team worked to pick off the survivors of the burning truck.

A third Soviet Sherman arrived and quickly decimated a squad of Japanese infantrymen.  The lone survivor quickly fled into the dark. To patch the gap in the defenses, another infantry squad arrived, along with a suicide anti-tank hunter.

Soviet infantry arrived at another Japanese barricade and were quickly run across the disturbed earth by their commanders.  The lack of explosions showed there were no anti-personal mines, but likely anti-vehicle mines. With the support of  the Sherman's machine gun, a firefight broken out with the Japanese infantry.

Another unit of Japanese in the adjacent building prevented a second Soviet squad from completing a flanking attack. 

Round 5:

Under the continued light of the flares, intense fighting raged on in the roadway, while a Soviet tank destroyer also arrived on the scene. 

Hand to hand combat broke out between the second Soviet and Japanese squads, with the Soviets eventually taking the upper hand and entering the building.

With the clock ticking, the first Soviet Sherman chose to bypass the ineffective Chi-Ha and brave the anti-tank ditch.  In their haste, the Japanese had not dug deep enough, and the Sherman successfully crossed it.  The tank also spotted the suicide anti-tank hunter hiding on the other side, and gunned him down before he could run in for the kill.

Defeating the Japanese on the street, the Soviet infantrymen made a run for their exit point while dodging shots from the ruins.

The second Soviet squad eliminated another suicide anti-tank hunter lurking behind a truck.

As the Soviet tanks prepared to exit through the breached Japanese defenses, another Japanese infantry squad and suicide anti-tank hunter exited the ruins to launch a flank attack.

Round 6:

Before the Soviets could react to the new threat, the tank hunter launched himself against the rear of the third Sherman, blowing the tank and himself to pieces. 

The surviving Sherman quickly dashed down the road before the other Japanese infantry could catch it. 

The Japanese infantry pivoted in their target, and instead went after the Soviet tank destroyer. Despite their banzai passion, the attack was ineffective against the tank destroyer's armor.  However, the tank destroyer chose to beat a hasty retreat.

With time almost out, the Katyusha tried to find an exit that would keep it away from the main battle.

The surviving Soviet infantry units quickly ran past the last of the Japanese defenses to their exit point.

At this stage, not enough Soviets had made it past the Japanese defenses for a victory, so Art's only hope was for the dice to give him an extension and get one more unit off the table. Would there be a ...

Round 7:

Yes.

The last of the Soviet Shermans was unwilling to risk crossing the minefield, so opened fire on the Japanese machine gun team.

With the tank destroyer too far away for a second attack, the Japanese launched an unsuccessful attack on the Sherman. The Soviet survivors of the burning truck managed to launch a counter attack on the Japanese infantry. 

Additional Japanese reinforcements arrived, but could nothing more than man the barricades again.

The tank destroyer and Katyusha were unsuccessful in exiting the battlefield.

And with that, the battle was over. Despite inflicting heavy casualties on the Japanese and moving several units past their defenses, the Soviets were still one unit short to declare victory.  The Japanese rearguard had held on long enough to get the bulk of their forces out of the city, and the war would continue.

Sahel Conflicts: Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie

JJG Print 3D expanded their modern French offerings with a new series of armored vehicles designed by Guaro3d. I took the opportunity to up-gun my Foreign Legion with some support vehicles. First up was the Panhard ERC-90 Sagaie, which was a light wheeled tank/armored reconnaissance vehicle that was used by the FFL from the 1980s through the 2010s. The model can be purchased in 1/56 or 1/50 scale for 28mm gaming, and I went with the larger version. This came out as 10.4cm (not including the gun barrel) x 5.0cm x 4.9cm.

For my vehicle, I based it on the appearance of these ERC-90s seen in western Africa as part Operations Serval and Barkhane, though I didn't have any of the seen stowage to add.

Source: Twitter

Source: Twitter

The kit didn't have all the surface detailing of an injection mold  scale model, but as a wargaming model, the detail was quite respectable. The only missing item that I wish was present on the kit was the machine gun for the turret railing. I didn't have an appropriate machine gun available in the bits box, so had to go without. To create an antenna, I went with some black airplane rigging rather than wire, as I figured the latter was more prone to damage during transport.

For the camo netting, I couldn't find anything in 1/48 scale, so was forced to use 1/35. It looked less refined than I wanted, but for an issue I'll mention shortly, I felt I needed to still use it.

The kit came in three pieces: the turret and two halves of the body, with the wheels printed in place. There were no registration pins to help with positioning and a bit of a gap in some spots, so filling and sanding were needed to get a reasonable seam. 

While the print quality was good overall, there were some issues with the turret that had to be addressed. First up was a missing set of smoke launchers; the green ones were present, but the brown ones only had the mounts and no tubes. I'm not sure if they broke off somewhere or there was an uncaught printing error, but they needed to be recreated. Luckily I was able to do that fairly easily with some plastic rod and paper strips. It wasn't a perfect match, but were close enough that I think  they wouldn't be noticed on the table.

The major issue with the turret was a pronounced upward curve of the gun barrel. I tried reshaping it multiple times using heat and weights, and while I made improvements, I could never get it to remain straight long term. After eventually breaking it with my efforts, I gave up and opted to fill the dip with camouflage netting.  While you can still spot the issue when you get down to tabletop level,  I felt it was much less noticeable from the usual players' vantage. 

 Overall, I'm happy with the final results and am looking forward to seeing how it performs on the table. 

Bolt Action WW2: Chinese and Soviet Border Town Battle

It was time for another game of WW2 Bolt Action.  In this 1930's scenario, Art's Soviets were battling my Chinese warlord for control of Chinese border town. At the start of the game, the Soviets had a sniper and forward observer in the town, while I had a sniper and two teams of guerillas lurking about. 

Round 1:

From the southwest, the Chinese warlord's retinue arrived, along with some cavalry, a big sword squad, and a T-26 tank. 

They were countered by a large amount of Soviet infantry, mostly inexperienced.

In the north, Soviet infantry arrived by truck, with a supporting armored car and flamethrower T-26. Chinese cavalry rode to meet them, with infantry, an SDKF 222, and a junior command team not far behind. The Soviet armored car inflicted casualties on the cavalry, but did not break their resolve. 

Round 2:

The Chinese warlord activated the majority of the troops in his sector, with the tank firing down the roadway at the Soviet tank, and the big sword squad moving through the rubble.

The Chinese cavalry circled around the buildings and destroyed a Soviet truck carrying NKVD, with the surviving troops stumbling into the street. 

Additional Soviet troops headed north trying to rescue them.

At the southern edge of town, a Soviet flamethrower team disembarked from a transport and attempted to burn out one of the Chinese guerilla cells, but failed to hit its target. 

The guerillas counterattacked, killing the flamethrower team and destroying their truck.

In the center of town, another guerilla cell ambushed a second NKVD transport and burned it to the ground. 

At the home next door, a Soviet transport pulled up to the garden wall, and troops climbed over into the courtyard.

Across the main street, Chinese levies took up a position in the local restaurant. 

In the north, Chinese infantry and the SDKF 222 tried to take pressure off the cavalry, but the Soviet's refused to switch targets.  The Chinese cavalry was shot down before they could engage. 

Round 3:

The Soviet forward observer called in an artillery bombardment on the warlord and the surrounding squads. However, luck was with the Chinese and there were no deaths.

On the other side of the building, the Chinese cavalry eliminated the NKVD, but at significant cost. They turned south in preparation for two squads of advancing Soviet infantry.  

The Chinese big sword squad exited the rubble onto the main street and provided covering fire for the cavalry. 

However, a lucky shot by a Soviet mortar team managed to eliminate the squad in one strike. 

The Chinese cavalry were now on their own.

In the center of town, the surviving NKVD engaged in hand to hand combat with the guerillas, killing all but two of the them.  The guerillas were forced to retreat. 

From the safety of the ruined warehouse, a Soviet anti-tank team fired on the Chinese T-26, but did no damage.

Up north, the flamethrower tank failed in its attack on the Chinese infantry. They attempted a counter attack with anti-tank grenades, but were also unsuccessful. The SDKF was immobilized by the Soviet armored car, and its counterfire was ineffective. 

Soviet infantry drove the Chinese away from the tank with a significant number of kills.

Round 4:

The southern Chinese guerilla cell opened fire on the Soviet infantry, hoping to protect the isolated cavalry. 

The warlord's retinue also joined the fray, but did not perform well.  All except the warlord were killed off, and he abandoned the battlefield and his troops.

The other southern squad of Soviet infantry FUBARed their attempted attack on the cavalry and fled, but the the forward observer team hidden in the building managed to kill all but one of the Chinese.

Back at the warehouse, the Soviet anti-tank team scored a successful hit and jammed the turret of the Chinese tank.

The NKVD then rushed in and finished the job with anti-tank grenades.

The Soviet sniper and the Chinese levies engaged in a gun battle, with the sniper picking off the Chinese NCO.

Back in the north, the Chinese infantry launched a punishing attack on the Soviets, but were eventually burned to death by the flamethrower tank.

Soviet troops also finished off the immobilized 222. 

Round 5:

Soviet infantry stormed the ruins hiding the Chinese guerillas and eliminated them.

In the center of town, a vicious melee broke out between the Chinese levies and a squad of inexperienced Soviets. The Chinese were victorious, but most every combatant was dead at the end.

After destroying the Chinese tank last round, the NKVD located the Chinese sniper team and finished them off.

Soviet infantry charged the building holding the remaining Chinese command team, and though initially successful, the remaining guerillas pushed them back. 

The Soviets then sent the flamethrower tank against the guerillas and killed one of them. 

Knowing the town was lost, the remaining guerilla commandeered a car and fled. The surviving levies hit the road as well, and the town was fully under Soviet control.

Despite a relatively promising start, luck was not with the Chinese and the Soviets tore them apart through the second half of the game. I was really hoping that troop quality would win over quantity, but it was not the case.  And though I love the visual appeal of cavalry on the table, they have proven to be be mostly ineffective during my WW2 games, which I guess is to be expected (or a sign of my poor battleplans).  That said, it was still a fun game and I enjoyed the opportunity to finally use my Chinese terrain.