The Battle of Chantilly - Bolt Action British Commandos

Last week I met with a  friend in Oslo and we played a smallish (1000pts) game of Bolt Action in Outland in Oslo. We'd chatted plenty in advance and decided on our armies and mission as well as a narrative around the events. So we set up a nice looking wooded board and got to it.

In early August 1944 a small force of well equipped British Commandos from No. 4 supported by a Matilda infantry tank infiltrated the forest of Chantilly in Northern France and began an aggressive scheme of disruption from behind the German lines. at 14:00 on August 11th the Germans launched their raid on the British camp with an elite Waffen SS force.

Chantilly Forest

The light green order dice marked the objectives.

The Germans came in hard and fast over the rough terrain, they quickly won the battle of the snipers although the STuG III never managed to get a bearing on the Matilda as it quickly found some light cover behind a tree. The Pioneer's rode their Hanomag into the centre of the British, scattering them for cover, and unleashed a torrent of flame that killed many men, although a heavy retribution was laid upon them afterwards.

Heavy casualties caused by the Pioneer's and the ADKFZ 250/9's autocannon during the middle of the battle left few Commandos to retaliate, soon it was just a few men left trying to hold off the horde. The officers were amongst the last to fall, the SS officers even ordering that the medic was a valid target.

The Germans took the forest before 15:00, although they paid a cost in lives for the victory.

We had a great game as we always do, it made for a change to not be spearheading an attack against German held lines with my Commandos. I'm not sure when we'll play again, but I'll try and get myself a heavier mortar next time to lay down some more pain, perhaps even a bigger tank. The Matilda survived the game through thanks to some poor roles by the STuG, but it wasn't very effective either.