All,

So it's been about a month since our last game; it wasn't painting, it was 'real life,' too much nonsense going on.  In any case, I've had the table set up for a bit but just hadn't had time for us to play anything.  As a matter of fact, even this one didn't go as planned!  I wanted to do something different, so I set up a fight between the US Army and Imperial Japanese Army.  Here we have doggies of the 24th Infantry Division closing in on the city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte, attempting to secure a foothold over one of the tributaries of the Palo River.


The table, north is down, Americans attacking from left (west) to right (east).  The Americans can set up in the far left quarter, the Japanese can set up all the way up to the river.  The table is pretty open, actually; in the center, I really opened it up with some bombed out terrain, figuring naval gunfire and Army Air Corps would have given the area a good plastering (without actually hitting the enemy defenses), otherwise it's pretty much flat, perhaps other than the little knoll at right top where the 'z' trench is.  There's lots of stands of trees and bamboo, but mostly it's thin enough so as to obscure a target but not actually block line of sight.  The river is fordable (bad going) by infantry but not the tanks, and there's some marshy area on the left side of the table that is also no-go for vehicles.  There's a small village at bottom center; again, some concealment but not much in terms of cover.


The US Army force consists of the following:
-Three-man command team
-Three-man 81mm mortar team
-Two-man Forward Observer team (for the 81mm mortar)
-Three-man MG team
-Three-man bazooka team
-Three-man flamethrower team
-Six eight-man rifle squads
-One M-3 Stuart
-Two M4 Shermans


The Japanese force consists of:
-Three-man command team
-Three-man 70mm mountain gun
-Three-man 81mm mortar
-Two three-man 50mm mortar teams
-Two three-man MG teams
-Two three-man Anti-Tank teams with magnetic mines and 'lung' mines
-Two two-man Forward Observer teams (one for the Mountain Gun and one for the 81mm mortar)
-A Type 97 Tank with 47mm gun
-Three eight-man rifle squads


Doggies peering through the wasteland dug up by the swabbies and fly-boys at the Japanese z-trench (just visible at top center).


The US main effort reaches the river...


It's brutal, bloody, and up close!

To see how the fight turned out, please check the blog at:
https://hakunamatatawars.blogspot.com/2025/08/bolt-action-test-game-3.html

We had a great time and are looking forward to more, so stay tuned, more on the way, though not sure if we're going have another go with Bolt Action or kick it up in echelon (I'm dying to give some rules mods by Mr. Martin Rapier for brigade/division-level fights a shot).

V/R,
Jack

Great report, poor Danny! 

Cracking game there and I too would be tired and hungry after some 4 hours of gaming!!!

Great looking game Jack, your table really looks the part 

Looks like your 3rd Squad was pretty lucky against the flame attack...I can sympathise with your son having rolled equally bad dice during a critical turn of our BBDBA game last night   

Thanks for posting your batrep, they always make good reading.

        

Great looking game

Really good looking table Jack, I do like the soldier's eye shots. 

Interesting observation that the game seemed to flow well, yet you only got through 6 turns in 4hrs. I suspect this means you were both very much involved in and enjoying the game - and only realised how much time had passed, when too much had passed! I'm pretty sure I'd be tired and hungry after 4hrs of solid gaming - snack breaks are important 

I don't know enough about BA to really comment on the pace of the game (only played BA once, found it really weird from the short weapon ranges, vs huge footprint of units).

Knowledge of position of units (which haven't moved or shot) is a general problem in most WWII games. Hidden deployment for the defender - either on a map or using counters can help. Long line of sight can be a problem too - I think given how much terrain was on your table, and that a bombardment had happen there would be loads of smoke and dust as well as the many trees - that seeing through much stuff would be hard. The Battlefront rules handle this pretty well with spotting rolls needed before shooting at anything - and infantry are way harder to see than vehicles. 

The US force with 2 medium and 1 light tank vs 1 light tank always feels it has the option to sit off and shoot up the defender. 

Lemmey - Thanks man, and yeah, some horrific die-rolling at a most inopportune time.

Steve - I appreciate it, and yeah, I was hungry too

Pierre - You're too kind!  But what's BBDBA?

Paul - Thanks a bunch!

Fred - Much appreciated!  I'm becoming a fan of the super-zoomed in shots, as well as the eye-level ones, too.  Yes, we were operating like a well-oiled machine, no messing around, and then I noticed he just started flagging and looked at my watch.  We had a lot of units on the table (16 for me, 15 for him).... Great points about hidden units and spotting, but the game mechanics for those slow things down even more (at least the ones I've used previously).

V/R,
Jack

Big Battle DBA,,,

Quote from: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 04 August 2025, 05:27:47 AMBig Battle DBA,,,

Expanding a little further

De Bellis Antiquitatis (Wars of Antiquity) Phil Barker's Ancient/Medieval rules with 12 element armies

BBDBA uses 3x 12 element armies on each side

Ahh, gotcha, thanks!

Jack