September 23rd - Bolt Action - Italian Front

[Primarch]

Generals, Generalobersts and Generales, you are invited to take part in a day of Bolt Action gaming aimed at refighting some of the key moments during the Allied invasion of Italy.

The final details are still to be decided, but we will have two large tables set up to represent the battles for Monte Cassino on the Gustav line and the Anzio beachhead where the Allies tried to outflank the line.

A surprisingly large number of nations took part in the operations to break through Cassino including, American, British, New Zealanders, Africans, French, Australians, Poles, Canadians, Indians and Italians from the Italian Royalist Army. The Germans holding the lines were supported by Italian troops from the Italian Social Republic.

We should have space for up to 6 Allied players and 6 Axis players.

I don't have a lot of terrain for the Italian campaigns, so if players would like to contribute something, I suggest looking at some photos from the period. The Italian landscape, especially around Cassino was pretty rugged and mountainous.

[komura]

I’ll join this game.

[job]

I'll do my best to man the line with my Germans. I'll try kitting out my units like Herman Goring Division.

[Primarch]

Good morning (or whatever time of day it may be when you read this post).

I'm off back to the UK next week until the end of July, so I'd just like to remind everyone that this event is coming up in less than three months. So now is the time to call in reinforcements, paint up those last few units and, more importantly, get some terrain assembled for the tables. I have terrain for Normandy, I have stuff in boxes for Russia, I have a full table for the far east, but I have next to nothing for Italy and the Mediterranean. Since the Italian campaign was the one voted for by the majority of players, it would be great if people could chip in with a few buildings, some large hills, walls, vineyards and the like. I'm going to do what I can, but cannot stress enough that I have neither the time, nor the materials, to fill up one large table by myself, let alone two. (Plus, I'd kind of like to get my own army painted).

Army wise, we are open to a lot of possibilities and I can loan out some forces if anyone would like to join but lacks troops of their own. Bolt Action veterans and fresh-faced rookies are welcome to come along and join in the fun.
Ideally we have space for 6 Axis Players and 6 Allied, but those numbers can be adjusted if need be.

As mentioned above, the goal is to have 2 large tables covering the Gustav Line/Monte Cassino and the Anzio beachhead.

The Gustav Line table has space for Italian, German Heer and Fallschirmjager forces, being faced by Commonwealth and American troops as well as the potential for Airborne.

Anzio is suitable for German Heer troops against US and British regulars, US Rangers and British Commandos.

Other forces such as Free French and Brazilians are also fine.

Once people know their schedules, please let me know about attendance so I can start planning and balancing forces.

@Komura-san - Please pass this information on to the other Japanese players and let me know who is planning to come. Thanks!

@All - Seriously, I am not joking about terrain. Everyone needs to help out or we're playing on barren fields.

[Primarch]

Well, it's been a month since my last post and I see there have been no responses.

Right, well, assuming the silent masses are actually reading this thread, time for some mission/rule updates I guess.

We'll do a similar thing to the Normandy game last year. Each player will bring along their own list of units to deploy, a group of reserve units and there will be a pool of extra toys for players to bring on as they see fit. Each player will get 10 dice, and turn order will be done as teams rather than player by player.

Everyone will need their own order dice, D6's, tape measure, rules and models. As I have said before, I can help out with some of those if people aren't able to provide everything themselves.

Players will need a 750 point platoon chosen from their "Armies of..." book, preferably from one of the Italian selectors or from the generic selector. Where possible, all units should be of the same quality, unless you are taking a mixed force of Regulars and Veterans (e.g. US Infantry and US rangers).
All players will also need a 750 point list of reserves. This does not have to fit any platoon restrictions, so you can bring along a mix of whatever you would like to use. Again, choose from one of the Italian selectors if possible. And again, try to be consistent with your troop quality.
For those of you with a more historical view, you can ignore the selectors if you think they aren't totally appropriate for your force. E.g. The British Monte Cassino Selector requires Inexperienced infantry, which doesn't really represent some of the actual forces that took part.

Finally, just to reiterate, because the event is getting closer and nobody has responded to the last post:

Please try to bring along some suitable terrain.

Thank you

[komura]

@Primarch

I told this event to Mr. Sugiura and got positive feedback.
He is going to join German side at this event.
Let me know about platoon restriction.
The reinforce platoon has no restriction. But main platoon apply the restriction described in rule book.
Is my understanding right?

[Primarch]

The reinforce platoon has no restriction. But main platoon apply the restriction described in rule book.
Is my understanding right?

Yes. the main platoon uses either the restriction in the main rulebook, or an Italy restriction from the Armies of... book you are using.
For example pages 64 and 65 of the Armies of the USA book.

[komura]

Thanks!

[YellowStreak]

My current (subject to change) business trip plans have me leaving Japan on the 23rd. I might see what I can do to at least pop by and say 'hi'.
Will confirm once my plans are more concrete...

[Primarch]

My current (subject to change) business trip plans have me leaving Japan on the 23rd. I might see what I can do to at least pop by and say 'hi'.
Will confirm once my plans are more concrete...

If you can stay till the 24th, I can loan you an army.