Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome to the Jungle - PTO

I am preparing to run, “Welcome to the Jungle - PTO” an escalation league, with a tentative start date of June 4, 2017.  The league will last for 6 months, concluding in November 2017.

Goal – The goal is to build and paint a 1,000-point Bolt Action army of your choice for the Pacific Theater of Operations. Ideally, this will be an entirely new army for you. However, it is okay to participate in the gaming portion of the league with an existing army that you have. Either way, this is a great way to get into Bolt Action or get an all-new army on the table!

Each month, you will paint a minimum of 100-300 points of units. Of course, you can do more than the minimum.

The first Sunday of each month, your miniatures will be on display for everyone to see and your efforts will be scored. You will also earn points for games played and won during the month.

To join the league, you need submit a 1,000-point list that you will attempt to build out over the course of the league. This list is a blueprint for your army and of course, you can modify it as you go along. It is just a good way to plan what you will do.

In Bolt Action, a 1,000-point army is the “standard” comprising anywhere from 8 to 12 units depending on unit quality and the number of supporting units and teams you have. It generally gives you a platoon sized force with about 3 - 5 infantry squads, a tank or other transport or fighting vehicle, and a handful of specialist teams (like machine gun or mortar teams).

For those of you with an ambitious streak, you can submit a 1,500-point list! This will allow you to get more specialized teams and vehicles into your army, or simply play bigger games.

The league will focus on the Pacific theater.  You may use any theater selector from Empire in Flames or the standard Reinforced Platoon selector from your army book, which will create an army you can use in most circumstances.

Here is the schedule:

May/June – Core Units, build and paint 2 infantry squads and an officer.

July – Add 100 – 300 points + one objective marker.

August – Add 100 – 300 points

September – Add 100 – 300 points + one objective marker.

October – Add 100 – 300 points

November – Add 100 – 300 points + one objective marker.

To create your list, I highly recommend the Easy Army online list creation web page. http://boltaction.easyarmy.com/

Submit your 1,000 point list to Tim by May 26.  First game day is June 4.

Progress Tracking

Each game day we will award points for milestones and activities.  You can score points in both hobby and gaming areas.

 Hobby Points

• Unit(s) assembled but not painted: +1 point.
• Unit(s) fully painted and based by game day: +5 points (If base(s) are unpainted/unfinished: -1 point)
• Painters Choice Award (on game day, voted by all present): +3 points
• Judges Choice Award (on game day): +3 points

Fully painted means at least three colors laid down and the base finished. Primed does not count as painted. For a base to be considered finished it must at least have one type of basing material applied.

Hobby points will be awarded for your overall finished work submitted, not per unit painted, as long as you hit the 100-point minimum for the month.

Whether you painted a couple of bazooka teams or a 10-man squad or a single vehicle (or combination of units) for a given month, you will be awarded 5 points. Likewise, if you have unfinished bases, it is just -1 point overall, not -1 point for each unfinished base!

If you have a painting service (or anyone else) paint your miniatures, you’ll only get +1 point instead of +5, but they will still be eligible for the Painters and Judges Choice awards.

The Judges Choice Award is awarded to the judge’s favorite in a given month, and may not always be awarded! To get this a model/unit needs to go a little beyond just a standard paint job. Conversions and particularly scenic bases can help you win this award.

Gaming Points

• Play a game: +1 point
• Win a game: +2 points
• Tie a game: +1 point

Some game days may have a historical theme or specific focus. We may have special scenarios and rules or do team games. Whatever we do, you’ll get to play against the other players in the league and get some fun games in.

Points will be tracked per player and per alliance (Axis & Allied).

Monthly game days are TBA but will generally be the first Sunday of each month.

FAQ

• Can I use a painted army I already have?
• Yes, but you obviously won’t earn any points for painting.
• Can I use unpainted models that I already have?
• Yes.
• Can I use figures that I’ve already partially painted?
• If you are bringing them to completion yes, but let me know.
• I have some units already done (painted) and some unpainted. Can I use these?
• Yes, but you won’t get points for the units you have already painted prior to the league starting.
• Can I only earn game points on the monthly game days?
• Any game of Bolt Action that you play against someone else participating in the league will count (assuming you report it).
• Do I have to only play against my army’s historical opponents?
•  No, you can play against the same army as yours (or its allies). Consider it a training exercise.
• Can I bring late war Germans?
• Sort of.  If you are determined to bring an out of theater list there are two ways to do it.  The first is to use your German troops and proxy them using an in theater list (Chinese?).  The other way is to let me “proofread” and edit it the day before each game.  

Awards

·         At the end of the league, we will hand out the following awards:

·         Best Painted (based on hobby points earned)

·         Best Single Model (voted for by all present)

·         Best Unit (voted for by all present)

·         Best General (based on gaming points earned)

·         Commanding General (based on combined hobby and gaming)

Contact Information

For questions please email tim@stugiii.com

Bolt Action II Duel in the Sun Escalation Campaign – Round #6

Bolt Action II Duel in the Sun Escalation Campaign – Round #6
 

The Long Retreat
 After the decisive battle of El Alamein, the retreating Axis forces were pursued by the winning British. Montgomery’s cautious and methodical approach meant that most of the retreating enemies made it back to their bases in Lybia, but they left behind most of their heavy equipment. Some units, particularly Italian ones, had to retreat for days on foot across barren desert terrain. These columns, though consisting of a large number of troops, were very low on ammunition, fuel, water, food and of course morale. They were very vulnerable to air attacks and at continuous risk of being caught and surrounded by fast enemy advance guards and heavy recon patrols.
  
Setup
The Axis must deploy his force on the road itself, more than 24" from the West table edge and more than 12" from the East table edge.  No units can be held in reserve.

No Allied units are set up on the table at the start of the game.  The Allied player declares which units he is leaving in reserve, then any units not left in reserve form the player's first wave.

Terrain
This scenario is played along the length of a six by four feet gaming surface.
A 6”-wide road stretches from the ‘east’ short table edge to the ‘west’ short table edge, roughly bisecting the table into two equal halves.

The rest of the table should be covered by a low density of broken terrain, representing the desert and rough going surrounding the road.  Read “Italian” as “Axis” in the map below.

Opposing Forces
This scenario is played between an Allied attacking force and an Axis defending force. The attacking force should consist of half the points of the defending force (for example 500pts of attackers and 1000pts of defenders).

ALLIED REINFORCED PLATOON 
1 Lieutenant – First or Second 
2 Veteran Infantry sections (early/mid-war)   

plus:   
Headquarters 
0–1 Captain or Major 
0–1 Medic team 
0–1 Forward Observer (either Artillery or Air)   

Infantry 
0–3 Infantry sections: Regular Infantry sections (mid-/late-war), Veteran Infantry  sections (early/mid-war) 
0–1 Machine gun team 
0–1 Anti-tank team: Boys anti-tank rifle team 
0–1 Sniper team

Armored Cars 
0–3 Armored Car or Recce vehicles (LRDG Armed trucks, SAS Jeep, etc)   

Transports And Tows
0–1 Transport vehicle per infantry unit in the Reinforced Platoon from: Wheeled vehicles (Trucks and Jeeps), no tracked or half-tracked vehicles. 

Special Rules 
 Must Be Mobile: There must be enough transport vehicles for every soldier to ride 

AXIS REINFORCED PLATOON 
Use your regular platoon selector, but you may only take HQ and INFANTRY.  No ARTILLERY or VEHICLES!

First Turn
Let the battle begin! During turn 1 the Allied player must bring his first wave onto the table. These units can enter the table from any point on the long table edges or the Eastern short table edge, and must be given either a run or advance order. Note that no Order test is required to move units onto the table as part of the first wave.

Objective
The Axis player must try to move as many of his units off the West table edge. The Allied player must try to stop him, and inflict maximum damage. Note that in this scenario, Axis units are allowed to deliberately move off the table from the West table edge.

Game Duration
Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed.  At the end of turn 7, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3 the game ends, on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn. At the end of the further turn, roll again, and keep rolling every turn until the game ends!

Victory!

At the end of the game, calculate which side has won by adding up victory points as follows. If one side scores at least two more victory points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and honors are shared – a draw!

The Axis player scores one victory point for every enemy unit destroyed. He also scores two victory points for each of his own unit that has moved off the West table edge before the end of the game.

The Allied player scores two victory points for every enemy unit destroyed. If the unit is destroyed by number of pin markers exceeding the unit’s Morale value, the unit surrenders and in that case the Allied player scores and additional two victory points for that unit (a total of four!)..

SPECIAL RULES

RAF and Royal Navy support
Instead of the usual free artillery observer, the British force gets a free air observer. Any artillery observers purchased normally represent Navy liaison officer calling in naval bombardments from ships off the coast to the North.

Low morale
After set-up, but before the start of turn 1, place one pin marker on every Axis unit.
In addition, the Axis column is then struck by a preliminary bombardment (and remember the British ‘bombardment’ rule!), which represents the battered conditions of the retreating units.

In this scenario, Italian units cannot use their Defensive Strategy special rule. 
Axis units can never be ordered to Rally.

Out of ammo
Every time an Axis unit opens fire, before rolling to hit, roll a dice for each model firing, on a 4+ that model can proceed to fire, on a 3 or less, that model cannot fire this turn as he scrambles around his pack looking for ammo.

BA 2nd - Duel in the Sun – Round #5 - Score

      Round ends April 1st, 2017!

Attackers - Allies

Phil – Americans           6

Mark – SAS                    9

Mike – British                7

Jim – French                 4

John H. – Americans      2 

 
Defenders - Axis

Larry – Italians            3

Tim – DAK                   6

Art – Germans             3

Frank - Germans          9

Hunter – Germans        8



 


Score
Allies -   4
Axis   -   2

Bolt Action II Duel in the Sun Escalation Campaign – Round #5

Bolt Action II Duel in the Sun Escalation Campaign – Round #5

Round 5 – 850 points (choose for options below)

Reinforced Platoon

•  Lieutenant – First or Second
• Infantry squads

Plus

• Captain or Major
• Medic
• Forward Observer (either Artillery or Air)
• Flamethrower team
•  Machine gun teams
• Mortar teams
•  Additional Infantry squads
• Transport vehicle or tow (soft-skins or armored) 1 per infantry unit in the reinforced platoon.
• Anti-tank teams
• Field Artillery, Anti-aircraft or Anti-tank gun
• Armored Car
• Tank, Tank Destroyer, Anti-aircraft vehicle or Self-propelled Artillery

** Only team weapons listed under the "Plus" above can be selected with the "Additional Infantry squads".**

Round #5 will start 3/5/17 and must be completed by 4/1/17.

Before his relief arrived, Stone decided to take his tank and the other on outpost duty with him. They motored a little way south before creeping up the gently sloping ridge in front of them, using for cover a shallow valley or re-entrant that ran up towards the crest of the ridge at right angles. As they neared their objective, expecting the crack of an enemy shot at any moment, the tanks slowed to a crawl to keep their noise and dust down.

“Suddenly, not two hundred yards away was a 50mm anti-tank gun pointing straight at him.  Fifteen yards away from it were the crew, frolicking over their breakfast in their slit trenches.  Stone looked to the left of this little party of Germans, spotting a couple of machine-gun nests. Then turning to the right of the gun, further along the ridge, he saw something else – perhaps some piece of artillery equipment. Stone was amazed that he had made it so close without being detected.  These anti-tank guns had driven him mad at times during the proceeding weeks, but now he had the opportunity for revenge. . .” – The Tank War, Mark Urban

The following scenario allows you to recreate one of the many confusing skirmishes that took place in the North African desert, where a patrol has a sudden, unexpected close encounter with the enemy. Fighting in the desert could be a disorientating experience, and despite the apparent bleakness of the environment, hidden gullies, low ridges or the subtle undulation of sand hills could hide enemy units from each other until they were almost nose-to-nose.

FORCES

This scenario is designed to be played with equal points values on both sides.  It should be a two player game (one Axis and one Allied player).

Any of the reinforced platoons mentioned here can represent the forces involved.

Axis

Larry – Italians

Tim – Germans

Jim - French

Art – Germans

Frank – Germans

Hunter - Germans

Allies

Phil – Americans

Mark – SAS

Mike – British

Jim – French

John – Americans

Hunter – Americans

SET-UP

TERRAIN

The scenario takes place somewhere in the Libyan or Egyptian desert (see Desert Warfare). However, terrain is not set up before the battle as usual. It’s put down as part of the deployment phase, as explained next.

DEPLOYMENT

Each player will need a small scrap of identical paper for each unit, and must briefly but clearly write down on one side the unit’s name or description. Each scrap needs to be folded over to conceal the writing. An identical number of blank scraps, likewise folded over, are also required.

All scraps from both sides, plus the blanks, are then placed in a cup, bag or other container and mixed up.

Then divide the table into a number of sections of equal dimensions. The number of sections is equal the length of your table in feet. So for example, a 6’ x 4’ table must be divided into six equal-sized sections (six 2’ x 2’ sections).

Starting with the defender, each player now takes it in turn to place a piece of desert terrain on the table – the terrain must be placed at least 6” from another terrain piece already placed. When a player places a terrain piece, he must also draw a scrap from the container and place it still folded (no peeking!) anywhere on top of or adjacent to that terrain.

Continue placing terrain (and scraps) until you either run out of terrain or scraps. Alternatively, a player can announce that he is passing as long as each section of the table has got terrain in it (even partially). The opposing player can then, if he wishes, place one more terrain piece (and scrap) before moving onto the next step.  After terrain placement, all scraps remaining in the container are discarded without looking at them.

Then, starting with the defender, each player takes it in turn to reveal one scrap of paper. It’s unfolded, and the associated unit, if any, is placed by its controller in or adjacent to the terrain piece.

After all scraps on the table have been revealed, each player rolls a D6, re-rolling ties. The player who scores highest chooses one long table edge as his edge. His opponent has the opposite side as his edge.

The set-up phase then ends. All units that have not been placed on the table are in reserve.

SPECIAL RULES

FIRST TURN

The battle begins.

DESERT WARFARE

Use the rules for Desert Warfare for this scenario (see here).

OBJECTIVE

Both sides must attempt to destroy the other whilst preserving their own forces.

GAME DURATION

Keep a count of how many turns have elapsed as the game is played. At the end of turn 6, roll a die. On a result of 1, 2 or 3 the game ends, on a roll of 4, 5 or 6 play one further turn.

VICTORY!

At the end of the game, calculate which side has won by adding up victory points as follows. If one side scores at least 2 more victory points than the other then that side has won a clear victory. Otherwise the result is deemed too close to call and honors are shared – a draw!

Players score 1 victory point for every enemy unit destroyed.