Friday afternoon Bolt Action at good Games

Jim's Australians v. Chris' Japanese
1,000 pts Domination scenario.
Chris' newJaps get their first run.

The objective are the 4 hills and the village.  The Japs are on the left. The troops have been deployed in a Deployment Turn where the units are deployed, as drawn from the bag, in their deployment zone 12" back from the centreline but not moved or fired.

Both sides made their main thrust down their left flank but also both had strong centres.   The Oz's called an artillery barrage down on the Japanese left centre.  The barrage dice was a 1 so a miscalculation (this clearly wasn't the front where my Dad was a FOO).  One of the house rules we have adopted is to randomise the miscalculation rather than allow the enemy to move the aiming point up to 24" in any direction (making friendly fire happen an absurd 25% of the time).  In this case the offset was 2x2D6" = 2x11 = 22" and the direction indicated by an arrow dice landed it right on the Oz unit in the central rubber patch.  So the rule didn't save the Oz from friendly fire, but it also didn't seem unfair.  Definitely a better way to it.   

The Japanese attack on the far flank was stopped dead by ambushes as it charged out of the patch of jungle.  The light tanks exchanged ineffective fire in the centre until the Japs decided they had to use their tank to support their right.  The gamble didn't pay off.  The tank severely mauled the infantry on the far side of the house & the Honey missed again, but it copped a PIAT round up its exhaust pipe.  That's 2 weeks in a row my PIAT man popped a tank).

With the Jap tank out of the way the Honey helped clean up the Jap centre & the main Oz attack on the near flank swept forward to take the hill objective as well as the village.  With the Japs reduced to 3 men the mercy rule was pulled at the end of turn 6.

The other house rule that got a run was Defensive Fire always being allowed.  It changed nothing as in every case the attackers had done the right thing and got the defenders so pinned down that their fire was ineffective.  So the house rule doesn't prevent attacking, just makes you do it properly.