Maginot Line December 1944

A little probe from the first Germans

It's that time of year and we are getting ready for a new Bolt Action Boot Camp at Cancon 2017 over the Australia Day weekend Fri 27 and Sat 28 January.
This year we are trying a few new ideas.
Firstly the key to a good game with enough variety in the time available is not just the points, but more the dice count.
Secondly in the past we have kept the multiple player matches aligned so that each pair of players share a dice bag but wait for the other player's to finish before the next turn starts. We are trying some flexibility by having 2 games on the same 8 x 4 board which is really two 4 x 4 boards joined together. This way we can start a game as soon as we rest after the previous one.

A little counter probe from the US

This side

And that side

Background:

In December 1944 the Maginot Line near the border of France and Germany was basically a shell of it's former "glory". Having been bypassed in 1940 and forced to surrender when race surrendered it had never been tested. By 1944 it had been stripped of most of it's guns but still formed a formidable fortress.
The Germans did not like a static defence and so used the fortress as storage rather than a place to hold and preferred the areas around the fortress so they could stage their favourite tactic of counter attacking and fluid defence.
(More information can be found at Military History Online - a fascinating read.)
We also first heard about this series of battles in the amazing book Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck.

The Game:

We have two armies for each of the Germans and the US. One a lighter force of 750 points and the other tougher with some armour of 1,100 points. To simplify the game each half of the board has two objectives and both sides start from the edges.

Germany - 750 points:

85 - First Lt + Minion (Regular)
2 x 127 - Volks Grenadier (9 men: NCO Assault Rifle, 1 LMG, 4 Assault Rifles, 3 Rifles, 2 PzFaust)
30 - Medic (Veteran)
2 x 120 - Heer Regular (10 Men: NCO Rifle, 1 LMG, 8 Rifles)
50 - MMG Team (Regular)
95 - Sdkfz 222 (Regular)
754 Points - 8 Dice

US - 750 Points:

85 - First Lt + Minion (Regular)

4 x 120 - US Regular (11 Men: NCO Rifle, 2 x BAR, 8 x Rifle)

50 - MMG Team (Regular)

135 - M8 Armoured Car (Regular - With Pintle HMG)

750 Points - 7 Dice

Germany - 1,100 points:

95 - First Lt + 2 Minions (Regular)
2 x 185 - Heer Veterans (10 men: NCO Assault Rifle, 2 x LMG, 7 x Rifle, 2 x PzFaust)
30 - Medic (Veteran)
2 x 135 - Heer Grenadier (Regular) (10 Men: NCO Assault Rifle, 1 LMG, 8 Rifle, 2 x zFaust)
245 - PzIVH with Schurzen (Regular)
89 - Sdkfz 251 Hanomag (Regular)
1099 points - 8 Dice

US - 1,100 points

85 - First Lt + Minion (Regular)
2 x 208 - Paratrooper Veteran (12 men: NCO Rifle, 2 x LMG, 9 x Rifle)
2 x 110 - Regular Infantry (10 Men: NCO Rifle, 2 x BAR, 7 x Rifle)
60 - Bazooka Team (Regular)
230 - M4A1 Sherman with Pintle HMG (Regular)
99 - M3 Half Track with Pintle HMG (Regular)
1,110 points - 8 Dice

Now for the play-testing tomorrow!