Bolt Action on a Budget

Last year I wanted to see if it was possible to play the commercial wargame 'Bolt Action' by Warlords on a budget. Even if I managed to play a very basic game of 'Bolt Action' for free, I concluded the Battle Report with that I was really going to consider to use $$ to buy the rulebook.

After Bolt Action 3rd edition was published this autumn, I've been looking around for 2nd edition rulebooks 'on sale' to keep it within my 'budget approach' on wargaming. Here the other day I coincidentally visited the website to Moss TabletopBattle, which is located close to where I live, which had 'Bolt Action 2nd edition' on a 90% discount, and on sale for only £ 3,50/ $4,4/ € 4,25 (!) 
I don't think I will find a brand new copy for anything less than that, so this was a no brainer.

So after work I went to the store to pick up my copy. It's actually located less than a kilometer from where I live.

The Store-owner was very friendly and told me that he wanted to give me a little surprise as well, and gave me a 28mm scale miniature of an Italian WW2 Officer. He invited me into their gaming rooms and studios where they make their YouTube videos. I was very surprised to this kind gestures and we had a really good  and long conversation, resulting in that I was invited to join them in a Bolt Action 'demo game' some time later this winter.

So, this is my very first 28mm scale miniature I got in my collection, but he might not be the last perhaps...

New acquisitions added to the collection

From a Norwegian online second hand market I recently bought a lot of 46 toy soldiers for only about £8/$10/€9. -That's pretty cheap in Norway. They're mostly Airfix knock-offs in 'the lower end of the 54mm-ish scale'. Except for some odd figures, all of them seems to be about the same size, so perhaps they're from the same set or something?

I actually bought this lot for the Australian Infantry, as I would like to convert them into mercenaries for my Congo Crisis wargames. I know they're 'small' but I don't mind as my UN-troops and Katangan Gendarmerie is too (being around 50mm)

Some Africa Corps figures, which can be converted into regular Wehrmacht, or perhaps one or two of them into mercenaries for my Congo wargames.

A couple of the 8th Army can also be converted into mercenaries from the Congo crisis. I've seen photos that some of them were wearing shorts.

It seems like you can't buy a second-hand lot without getting some occasional Americans along with it. -It seems like there is a kind of 'Murphy's Law of Wargaming'

...And finally some odd pieces and figures. The broken Germans seems to be Airfix and Matchbox originals.The 2 blue service men I don't know the origin of. -Perhaps any of you do?

The price I paid for these knock-offs are quite acceptable in Norway, and lots like these are not that common either. The figures are 'small' but I plan to use them along my UN and Congolese figures which are small too, so I actually don't mind. So within 2025 it seems like I can make some mercenaries to add to my Congo crisis wargames.

Chain Reaction 2023

The review of these rules actually started while searching about information some other rules. I've played and reviewed several free easy to play wargame rules that can be found on internet on this blog, and when I've been doing all this wargame reviews and battle reports some comments that they are fine but commercial rules like 'Bolt Action' and 'Chain of Command' are better. So I've been looking for ways to play these games on a budget. Last year I managed to play Bolt Action practically for free, and recently I was browsing to see what information I could find about 'Chain of Command'.

The rules

I'm not sure if I typed the wrong phrase, or if Google just searched for similar phrases, but I got several hits on 'Chain Reaction'. I checked it out and found that Chain Reaction (2023 edition) by 2Hour Wargames is a wargame rules you can download for free from THW's website. Since it's within the scope of this blog regarding 'Budget Wargaming' I decided to give them a try.

The scenario

Chain Reaction is a man-to-man combat rules based upon characters rather than several, larger units. Therefore I just couldn't play this game with the same scenario as I've used for the previous game reviews (for comparison). Your character can recruit a smaller warband, so I needed to 'think smaller' to find a suitable and convincing scenario for this game. To find some inspiration I asked ChatGPT if it could create a scenario for a skirmish with about only 5 miniatures each side during the Congo Crisis. The ChatGPT's suggestion was surprisingly matching one of the tasks for the Army Military Police, and something I was familiar with, so I based this scenario upon the ChatGPT's suggestion:

So again I've placed this skirmish to the United Nations largest mission in both scale and operational scope during the Congo Crisis 1960-65, when UN troops 'peacekeeping' was more offensive 'peace enforcement' with force.

Situation:
To secure the main supply route (MSR) between the UN-bases in Kamina and Albertville, The United Nations temporary deploy several traffic control  posts (TCP) at critical points along the MSR a head of convoys and other priority transports, to avoid and handle 'disruptions'. This service are conducted by the Military Police, and each TCP are usually manned by a single Military Police patrol with few members.

Place:
A head of several planned supply convoys from Kamina to Albertville at the 7th of May 1961, several TCPs are established by UN Military Police along the route. One of these Military Police patrols are securing the junction between Manono and Kitotolo located in the self proclaimed state of Katanga.

Forces:

This is actually one of the interesing features of these rules. Your character is 'the star' and you can recruit up to 4 other band-members or members for your unit. -And you can choose to leave the most inexperienced of them behind back in the camp, as they might endanger your mission or your ability to solve it. So I needed to roll dice and determine my TCP/unit for this mission. Obviously there has recently been a rotation of UN personell and 2 new corporals only had 'Rep' of 3, so one of them was left behind for 'staion-duty'.

• UN:
• 1 MP Patrol/ Traffic Control Post of:
• 1st. Sgt. Hicks (the star, and the main character) with SMG (Rep 5)
• Sgt. Wayne with pistol (Rep 4)
• Cpl. Dreyer with M1 Garand (Rep 4)
• Cpl. Cord with SMG (Rep 3)

• Katangese
• This is one of the pros for this game. You don't automatically create your opposing enemy-force at the beginning of the game, as these rules takes advantage of 'fog of war' and your enemies will appear only when visible. So I'd need to do more dice-rolling to determine who, how many and how they are armed when or if my MP-patrol encounters any enemy units. So this section will eventually follow in the following battle-report when creating enemy units on the go. Now I can finally use some of those 'Fog of War tokens' I made a long time ago.
  
• Dice rolled showed to deploy 2 possible enemy force (PEF)/units on the table. What they actually are will be resolved later.

Mission:

• Katangese: To interrupt the UN presence and possible capture some of that UN equipment or weapons. I think they'd really like that Jeep too.
• UN: To hold and secure the junction so the UN convoy don't get lost on the wrong way and ends up in areas controlled by Katangese forces.

AAR

Time:    45 minutes

Turns:   6

Result:  Partially a Katangese victory as they managed to disrupt the UN mission, but they did not manage to capture any UN equipment of importance.

When arriving to the junction Sgt. Wayne suggest that they take a closer look at the courtyard across the junction, as if it's safe it can eventually be used as a hold-and-turn area for those UN convoys passing later if it's needed to hold some of the convoys back, place to do maintenance on them or if needed turn them:

1. Sgt Hicks agrees. As they have plenty of time before the first convoy are expected, they decides to have a closer look at the courtyard. The buildings looks empty:

-But are they really empty?

Cpl. Cord shouts: "I think I saw someone in the window to the right". The group of MPs comes to a halt and they makes ready. But even if their really studying that building they can't see anything that reveals that there are actually someone there. Sgt. Wayne tells Cpl. Cord that he's probably a little jumpy as he is new to this area and the mission.

The dice rolling reveals that Sgt. Wayne is right and there was no one there:

They decides to take a closer look at the building just to be sure that there is no one there:

But at the same time a second PEF (possible enemy force) rounds the corner of that second building:

Now further dice must be rolled to se what, how many and how they are armed this PEF represents:

It turns out that this PEF is actually a local detachment of the Katangese Gendarmerie out on patrol. It has 5 members and are lead by "Crazy Gali"; A corporal who has as high Rep as a Star (!). They are pretty well armed as well with automatic M1 rifles and one private with a SMG.

When they spots the UN MPs thy don't hestate and opens fire immediately and gets "the first shot": 

Being taken by surprise and fired upon by higher target rated weapons the firepower is overwhelming, so this did not go well for the lighter armed UN MPs, and Sgt. Wayne and Cpl. Cord are down. 1.Sgt Hicks immediately responds and returns fire, but with no great success: 

1.Sgt Hicks picks up Sgt. Wayne and orders Cpl. Dreyer to pick up Cpl. Cord and retreat to the Jeep and leave the fight:

Too bad Sgt. Wayne and Cpl. Cord didn't make it after all, and the Katangese patrol picked up the pursue:

1.Sgt Hicks and Cpl. Dreyer made a run for the jeep, but Dreyer got hit:

Outnumbered and outgunned 1.Sgt. Hicks had no other options to decide to leve the fight:

If he hurried he could still have time to warn the UN Headquarters and the coming Convoys so no one of them drove into this possible ambush. This was now a job for the infantry to clear this area for Katangese armed units.

Pros

• You can play this game using army men, toy soldiers or any figures available. You can even play it with any kind of tokens.
• This game has mechanics for SOLO-playing, which suits me well as I usually games alone.
• This game have rules for concealed movements, and you don't know what those opposing forces are before you actually can see them.
• These rules covers a lot of different genres and periods, and you can probably use the for any skirmish for any period based on historical or fantasy.

Cons

• The rules suggest some kind of grided battleground to deploy your PEFs, but that is not actually needed as you can do an 'imaginary grid' for this.
• This is a game for small skirmishes, so if actual squad level or platoon or higher level games are your thing, I don't think these rules would be ultimate. While writing this review it's come to my knowledge that earlier versions of Chain Reaction may be better for squad level games? Can anyone familiar with these rules confirm or debunk that?
• The variety of weapons often found on squad level are very limited in these rules. There are no 'heavy weapons'.
• There are no rules for vehicles.
• It would be even faster to play if the firing ranges and movement ranges were added to the quick reference sheet (at the end of the rules).

Conclusion

The rules are 21 pages, and just within my patience to read as I actually prefer very short rules. So even though I'm still looking for a way to play 'Chain of Command' on a budget though, that might be a bit of a stretch regarding my patience to read a whole book to play a game.

I think these rules probably would work great for an 'Old West game' too with small bands searching and fighting other small gangs and all characters are armed with same target rated weapons, so perhaps I should try these rules out with my Cowboys in another game?

The Portable Wargame: Modern

It's been a while since I've been playing and reviewing any new free wargame rules that can be used with Army Men and Toy Soldiers now. Often when searching the internet for free wargaming rules for miniatures, I often find suggestions for The Portable Wargame by Bob Cordery when someone is asking  for free simple rule to use for their army men. 

When searching for these rules I found printed booklets for sale, but I also found the rules for free. I don't know if there is any difference between the two, but as I'm focusing on budget wargaming I'll go for and play the free version. The Portable Wargame covers different scenarios, periods and wargames, but to have something to compare it to I'm choosing an earlier used and tried scenario for my wargame reviews and therefore using The Portable Wargame: Modern rules.

I've never played any grided or hex wargames before as it's not been appealing to me earlier. So I don't have any grided  battle mat so I just used thread to divide my (ungrided) 'Battle mat' into 8" squares grids, which seems suitable for my 54mm-ish miniatures.

The scenario

I've placed this skirmish to the United Nations largest mission in both scale and operational scope during the Congo Crisis 1960-65, when UN troops 'peacekeeping' was more offensive 'peace enforcement'.

Situation:

Two UN vehicles from the UN base at Kamina were performing a reconnaissance mission on the roads  between Kamina and the city of Kolwezi. Outside Kambezi they came under heavy mortar shelling from Katangese forces and they were probably both hit as the UN HQ at Kamina cannot reach them by radio anymore. 

The UN HQ sends out search and rescue patrols to find the missing reconnaissance-unit, and it's expected that the roads in the area have taken damage and are impassable for other vehicles, and it's only reachable at foot.

The Katangese forces in the area are aware of the possible UN-wrecks and sends out patrols to find them, and to seize anything of value such as documents like the UN SOPs and codes for radio-communications.

Some houserules to this scenario seems to be required though; It takes 1 man 1 turn to search a vehicle, and it takes 1 man 1 turn to examine  a casualty. To check a casualty's condition, roll a D6, and if the roll is the same value or higher than the turn number for that turn, the casualty is alive and can be medivaced. Casualties can be medivaced at half speed. 

Forces:

To keep it simple all the units are Average units according to the rules.

• Katangese:
• A Platoon of 3 rifle-squads divided into to following units:
• 3 rifle-teams with 5 members each, armed with Infantry small arms
• 3 Machinegun teams with 3 members each and a LMG

• UN:
• A Platoon of 3 rifle-squads divided into following units:
• 3 rifle-teams with 5 members each, armed with Infantry small arms
• 3 Machinegun teams with 3 members each and a LMG

Mission:

• Katangese: To find the immobilized UN vehicles and search them for valuable things such as secret UN documents, orders, maps, SOPs and radio-codes 
• UN: To find the missing reconnaissance-patrol and save the members of the unit, and make sure no graded documents in the vehicles fall into the hands of the enemy.

AAR

Time:    1 hour and 45 minutes 

Turns:  10

Result:  UN Victory 

When the Katangese Gendarmerie spotted the 2 wrecked UN vehicles, they immediately took the initiative and an offensive role trying to secure them.

The UN forces were arriving the scene from the opposite direction and were so close to to the rearmost Jeep, that one of the squads decided to rush for it and not waiting for the other squads to secure their advance.

The Katangese Gendarmerie had reached the first vehicle by now, but the sudden UN push put them under fire so they had to seek cover behind it instead of start searching it.

The UN squad by the Jeep found that the driver was still alive and started to prepare medivac him, and they were starting to remove graded documents from the wreck...

Too bad his co-driver didn't make it. A second UN squad secured the other squads searching and medivac, and was preparing to make a push for the UN pickup. 

While bringing the wounded driver to safety the rest of the squad started an advance towards the pickup from the other side.

But they didn't quite manage to advance far enough before coming under heavy fire from the Katangese Gendarmerie. The UN advancement halted and they needed to seek cover and return the fire.

The exchange of fire made it possible for the Katangese squad which had to seek cover behind the UN Pickup to finally start searching it (under fire)

The UN fire was very effective at this point of battle as they managed to make the Katangese squad searching the vehicle to reach their exhaustion point and making the other Katangese units to slowly retreat.

The Katangese closest to the objective got pinned by the first vehicle. Searching it for graded documents were no important for them anymore as they were holding their ground and fighting for their lives.

The firefight resulted in that the Katangese squad at the vehicle was eventually completely destroyed. The Katangese squad securing their flank got pinned and were desperately fighting on...

The first evacuated wounded UN soldier was brought to safety on the UN point of deployment. The 'stretchers' returned to battle.

By this time the UN forces destroyed the second Katangese squad pinned by the vehicle, and could advance so they could start to examine one of it's casualties and start searching the vehicle. They found that this vehicle's co-driver was still alive and started to prepare to medivac him.

The retreated Katangese units manage to cause so much damage on the UN forces that they decided to try one final push. Was the tide of war changing?

By this time a UN squad had secured every important paper of the second vehicle. The Katangese fire was too heavy to start examine the driver. Besides the unit had reached their exhaustion point. Under cover they started to prepare to retreat.

The second wounded almost safe

The final Katangese push forced the ever decreasing UN forces to retreat...

But the UN forces manage to save 2 of the vehicle crew and secure all confedential documents from both vehicles.

When the UN entered the jungle they were out of sight for the Katangese Gendarmerie, and the distance were too far to succeed. The Katangese was outnumbered anyway and decided to break off, stand down and call it a day.

Pros

• It's very simple and versatile and can easily be played with any available, cheap army men, toy soldiers or any form of tokens from a lot of different periods.
• You doesn't need many dice, nor any tape-measure.

Cons

• You do need som kind of grided battleground.
• The grids makes it too simple to calculate maximum firing ranges, instead of getting any penalties when declaring targets on far or almost out of range.
• Since units of similar type or character have same number of Strength Points regardless of  the unit's actual size, it's necessary to divide larger units into smaller sub-units matching the size of the opposing units when a larger force meets a smaller one in battle. An Infantry platoon can't have the same Strength Point as a Infantry squad; The Platoon need to be divided into several squads if its facing a squad.
• Since most infantry weapons just fall into the generic category 'Infantry Small Arms' there are no difference between them regarding rate of fire and how much damage some of them can cause over another. Because of this I don't think these rules are optimal for small skirmishes of infantry units armed with various infantry weapons.

Conclusion

Initially, prior to this game, I didn't think grided wargaming was for me as I  hadn't tried it before. This game changed my mind though, and I will definitely play grided games again. -If you have a grided battle mat it's quite easy to move your units around.

The Portable Wargame is a very versatile ruleset and is not only made for a lot of different periods and scenarios but also for different type of wargames, for instance naval wargaming. 

The Portable Wargame will work for skirmishes with your army men, but I think The Portable Wargame rules would work even better for larger battles with larger units (in smaller scales)

The Portable Wargame also has it's own website if you want to know more about it or wants to download any of the free rules there. Be aware that the Modern rules on this site is slightly different than those I played found on Bobs Cordery's own blog. The Portable Wargame also have an own Facebook Group.

I'm really tempted to 3D-print some smaller scale units/tokens and do more gaming with these rules and perhaps even ships to try out The Portable Naval Wargame in the future.

Please follow this blog and find out.