With a lot of
Bolt Action being played recently, I've decided it's about time I sat down and actually painted a force. The models (a platoon of Early War Germans, being used to represent Hungarian Motor Rifles) were purchased a while ago, but have been sitting around awaiting a burst of enthusiasm. Having taken a few days off work, now seemed a perfect time to make a start on them. Currently I have two squads and a MG team painted, with the third squad and officer still to go.
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| My Hungarian Infantry Platoon |
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| The unpainted officer and his bodyguard |
Once the painting is done the next question will be how to field them. I'm using the German army list in the main rulebook, but I haven't decided yet how to organise and equip them. Open questions;
- Is it better to field lots of smaller units, or fewer large ones? Specifically should I have three squads of 10, or six squads of 5. The points costs are linear, so I'm inclined towards more small units.
- Are bolt-action rifles competitive? My flatmate Nathan is firmly convinced assault rifles are better. But I've run the numbers and I think the humble rifle is just as good for it's cost.
- How good is Veteran status? I'm going to try the army out as Regular first, but I may also try Veteran at some point.
- What rank should the officer be?
For my first few games I'm going to try the following list;
- First Lieutenant (Fohadnagy) accompanied by 2 SMGs
- Infantry Squad with 5 rifles and AT grenades
- Infantry Squad with 2 LMG and 1 rifle
- Infantry Squad with 5 rifles and AT grenades
- Infantry Squad with 2 LMG and 1 rifle
- Infantry Squad with 5 rifles and AT grenades
- Infantry Squad with 2 LMG and 1 rifle
- MMG Team
... all Regular, and coming to a total of 595 points. Expanding this towards 1000 points, I'd look at adding a medium mortar and/or a 75mm infantry gun. I'd like to avoid taking a tank if I can, which may mean having to grab a couple more squads of infantry.
Hi John:
ReplyDelete1. It's an activation based game and each activation moves a unit and each unit gives an activation. No point in having a massive activation advantage if your units are too small to achieve anything once they activate. On the other hand, a unit shooting at another unit puts down only one pin marker - no matter how large the shooting unit. So I imagine this is exactly like Epic, which you are very familiar with, in terms of pros and cons.
2. Yes I think so. But...
3... IMO Rifles need numbers and I'd be inclined to go Regulars for that reason. Good to have the odd decent sized Vet unit to use later in the turn though.
4. Related to the above. I actually skate though with the lowest ranked officer but my key units are Vets.
Personally, I prefer guns over Mortars (since one hit can't negate the whole unit) and think that you may want to consider one gun that can threaten tanks.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteAre you play Wierd World War 2, with those Hungarians, or Historical?
Hi Janos,
ReplyDeleteThe rules we are using (Bolt Action, published by Warlord Games) only have stats/points for historical units in their army lists.
I am interested in trying out some Weird War stuff (I have a Heinrich light walker from the Dust Warfare range painted in Hungarian colours) but haven’t had a chance yet.
Hi Than!
ReplyDeleteIf You play historical, the German list is not fit for the Hungarians. The WW2 Hungarian army had much less firepower. No assault rifles at all, no 2LMG for a squad. If you have 4 SMG for a platoon, that is a well equipped platoon. 1 LMG per squad. The veteran status is also very rare.
Sorry, but the Hungarians historically was much weaker, than the Germans. So it not just Germans painted in different colors. The army list is on the way, around 20th November and we will see. :)
I play Bolt Action as well, I think squads with less than 8 figures are too weak. I use too have 2 half platoons, 1 officer, 1 medic, 2 squads with 8 figures each.