STALINGRAD Bolt Action Mega Battle!

This Battle Report is dedicated to Gerry from OTT who has been suggesting it for a L-O-N-G–T-I-M-E, knows at least 3 of the players from events at OTT(please can we have more Weekend BoOtcamps, they were all GREAT!) and the pub afterwards!

This video was the first from ‘The Ministry of Miniatures’, please support Justin (not OTT Justin) (every gaming group needs a “Justin”)and his channel on youtube:

Thanks for coming Helena, Stewart and Rick, it was a really great way to spend an afternoon!

Yes, yes yes and Y-E-S! I have finally got this Monster of a Gun and all it’s crew assembled and painted.

Th mighty Flak 88 was rightly feared by infantry, aircraft and tankers alike being deadly to all, including the heaviest tanks on the battlefield. The power of the ’88’ is very much expressed vigorously through the stats and impact in Games of Bolt Action.

Few weapons in Bolt Action are treated with as much fear and respect as a ‘Super Heavy Anti Tank Gun’. With a direct fire Anti Tank round it has a whopping range of 84 inches (frankly I think they missed a trick in it not being ’88’ inches!). This is enough to reach any corner of most table-top battlefields. Understandably this allows it to effect the enemies choice of movement and acts as a real deterrent and area denial piece.

I used it once in my first ‘Stalingrad Mega Battle Game of Bolt Action’ (ably filmed by ‘Ministry of Miniatures:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6P8qrAAzoI&t=892s )  and it wreaked havoc, taking out a KV1, damaging another and knackering a T34 before the crew were taken out. The dual factors of placing it in a building giving it ‘Heavy Cover’ and it’s ‘Gun Shield’ kept the crew alive and fighting for a lot longer than I though possible.

The model has a clearly distinct look and with some great crew miniatures it really stands out on the table-top.

It has the option to include a spotter and can fire as a ‘Medium Howitzer’, so it can can be hidden and still fire, as well as hit units visible to the spotter, but not the gun, which is a crucial advantage in the skeletal city of Stalingrad.

This model is available from Warlord Games: https://store.warlordgames.com/products/flak-37-8-8cm?aff=42

Scenery based on kits from Thyme Again: https://www.tymeagain.co.uk/store/wargames-terrain-and-accessories/28mm-model-kits/28mm-north-eastern-europe-at-war

It was so effective in the game that I have decided to get another one, and the ‘Alarmmeinheiten Platoon’ list in the Stalingrad Campaign book allows me to field 2 in 1 platoon!

Stalingrad Campaign book: https://store.warlordgames.com/products/flak-37-8-8cm?aff=42

I was so fired up to get this model up and running so that I could use it in my first Stalingrad Mega Battle with my gaming mates, that I made a bit of an oversite.

Annoyingly there are s areas above and below the main gun that have not been filled in properly. As soon as I noticed this, this was all I could see when looking at the model.

Luckily the solution was an easy application of ‘no-nonsense-fine-surface-filler’:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-fine-surface-filler-white-600g/71551

which dried quickly with a few blasts from an hair dryer and takes acrylic paint wonderfully.

This model is available from Warlord Games: https://store.warlordgames.com/products/flak-37-8-8cm?aff=42

Scenery based on kits from Thyme Again: https://www.tymeagain.co.uk/store/wargames-terrain-and-accessories/28mm-model-kits/28mm-north-eastern-europe-at-war

Further Hiwis to add to my Axis forces in my Stalingrad Mega Battle. Soon I hope to have a full squad up an running.

Using the ‘Osttruppen’ rules for these chaps is 4 points a man. Having the ‘inexperienced’ and the ‘shirkers’ special rule, they are very cheap. Resultantly I don’t expect great things of them but, at that low points cost I can field a platoon of them to act as screen for an artillery piece, sit on an objective, or if the worst comes to it’s often inevitable worst, get more German dice in the bag!

A 5 man squad of these guys with an LMG is only 40 points! That is a lot of fire power (though inaccurate fire power) for its cost, and a few of these units will help you at least slow down the enemy with pins and the odd kill. They are also ideal for sitting on an home turf objective, where they are not required to move (let alone assault), allowing you to have a minute amount of your armies point cost tied up in guard duty, maximising what you can throw at the enemy elsewhere.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Armies of Germany 2nd Edition

Soviet Winter Infantry plastic box set

Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic boxed set

Bolt Action Campaign: Battle of the Bulge

Research Material Osprey Books:

https://ospreypublishing.com/uk/german-army-193945-3-9781782002192/

Scenery by Tymeagain:

https://www.tymeagain.co.uk/store/index.php?route=product/search&search=urban%20ruins

A great little addition to my ‘Stalingrad Armoured Kampfgruppe’ plastoon (see page 146 ‘Campaign Stalingrad’) is this 2 man Flame Thrower Team.

It has been kit-Bashed with a metal German Soldier head from Warlords ‘Germans in plain steel helmets’ metal sprue, and Africa Corps Plastic sprue. Both heads have been chosen because they are wearing goggles, to add to feel of being mounted mech infantry, like  many of their platoon compatriots.

I would recommend Flame Thrower teams to any player looking to take out enemies entrenched in cover, which these guys will find by the bucket load facing them in Stalingrad. The weapon has the great ability to ignore cover to hit roll penalties! If it hits, it has D6 serious chances of killing enemy infantrymen with a +3 to the dice roll., and then what’s left has to take a morale check to stay on the table with a killer D3 + 1 pins.

This small but very effective unit will be used aggressively as a spearhead unit to break a whole in the enemy line, after being moved up in an Hanomag transport, and will pave the way for an Panzergrenadier (Stalingrad) infantry squad to capture a building etc.

he application of some Vallejo ‘Gloss Varnish’ and some ProPigments ‘Black’ add two vastly contrasting finishes to the models, which adds a further level of verisimilitude and immersion on the tabletop.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Afrika Korps

Sometimes accidents will happen! Yesterday I was completely chuffed with this characterful new addition to my Stalingrad Mega Project, and today I found him partially disarmed, in a quite literal manner on the floor having half an arm with his SMG broken off.

I have had as some of you know a somewhat colourful life, and I try to look for the win in a bad situation, as many of us who play Soviets are bound to do. One highly improbable but actual blessing in disguise was that the MP40’s magazine had broken off in an absolutely clean line, exactly where the port ends in the weapon. This enabled me to re -glue the arm in a different position, sculpt some green stuff into the gaps and give the figure a new pose.

The new pose looks like he has shot his load (O0owh Er Missus!) and is in the process of having to quickly reload. I like the new element of desperation and reality that the model now has!

A fun quick little project, to get a squad leader for my Hiwi’s painted and in the cabinet.

I used a German Ushanka from Warlord’s Plastic ‘German Infantry (Winter)’ box set, but cut of one of the ear flaps and re glued it in a more dynamic looking position. It looks like he is desperately letting rip with his MP40, with a stance to suggest poise and action, which the direction of the hat flaps in motion further suggest.

I actually quite like this miniature as he is pretty unique, and I enjoyed getting him painted in an evening.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Armies of Germany 2nd Edition

Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic boxed set

German Grenadiers plastic box set

Germans Infantry (Winter)

Research Material Osprey Books:

https://ospreypublishing.com/uk/german-army-193945-3-9781782002192/

Scenery by Tymeagain:

https://www.tymeagain.co.uk/store/index.php?route=product/search&search=urban%20ruins

I have started an Heer Veteran squad to be the core of my 3 squad Heer platoon. I originally planned to try a single test piece, but got carried away.

I have finished 4 German infantrymen (soon to be of a larger squad.) and wanted them to stand out clearly from their compatriots in the other 2 Regular Heer squads which were assembled using purely the components from Warlord’s Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic box set. The intention to make them stand out as Veterans on the table top in a non over the top manner. The first thing I did was give them heads from the German Infantry (Winter) box set. This gives them a very much separate look from their ‘Regular’ mates.

The cherry on the cake which firmly anchors them as ‘Veteran’, was to add a plastic Iron Cross to each model. This looks great across the group as an whole without being over the top. Each Iron Cross suggest bravery on a personal level, and is a relatively discrete detail at 28mm, but one that will clear upon close inspection.

All I need to do is finish the LMG trooper and I will have a new squad to add to my German forces.

Miniatures by Warlord Games:

Armies of Germany 2nd Edition

Blitzkrieg German Infantry plastic boxed set

German Grenadiers plastic box set

Germans Infantry (Winter)

Research Material Osprey Books:

https://ospreypublishing.com/uk/german-army-193945-3-9781782002192/

Scenery by Tymeagain:

https://www.tymeagain.co.uk/store/index.php?route=product/search&search=urban%20ruins