Bounding Fire Productions is proud to announce that BFP3: Blood and Jungle is now available for pre-orders.  Head to our website, www.boundingfire.com

BFP3: Blood and Jungle is our first Battlepack based in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The unprecedented size of this product makes it unique in our industry, and follows in our tradition of high quality, exciting scenarios.

General content includes:

47 scenarios. They range from early 1930s Japanese vs. Chinese Action to 1947 KNIL (Dutch) vs. Indonesians. The scenarios range from tourny to monster, all infantry to combined arms, etc. A good chunk of the action does not necessarily have PTO Terrain in effect. Basically there is something in here for everyone scenario wise.

A large magazine with a variety of articles all with a PTO theme.

4 countersheets. Japanese Partially Armed Paratroopers, 5/8″ counters for a variety of nationalities either rare/not in the system/captured: Thai, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese, KNIL, US, Aussie…. and maybe some surprises.

Essentially 3 mapboards. One is our ‘double wide’ concept. The boards fit together for a large urban battlefield, and are geomorphic on all of the other sides.

…..and more.

We will be providing some pics, more information, etc.

Without a doubt this is a monster product, which I like to call ‘the OtO of the PTO’. YMMV on this but I am fully confident if you like PTO you will love this product. If you are new and not necessarily interested in PTO, you will still really like this product.

J.R.V. vs. Jim Brackin

My opponent, Jim Brackin, wanted to play this new scenario out of Operation Cobra. The Americans bring a high-firepower force to the map edge, with 21 squads, 4 MMGs and 8 M4A1 tanks. Their mission is a tough one, though. They have to clear German MMC/AFV from on/adjacent to a north-south road net while avoiding a 56 CVP cap. The key for the Germans to overcome that much firepower was the stiffening of three Panthers.

Rules Questions

Per SBR 3, “After all setup but prior to game start, the American must place 10 shellholes counters …”. The shellholes are then moved randomly and they blow up things where they land. The problem with the SBR is that “setup” might mean setup during the pregame sequence [ASOP], in which case it is after the Germans put down their units, but before the Americans put down their first turn reinforcements [ASOP 1.11A]. The use of the word “all” sounds like the shellhole placement might have been meant to occur right after ASOP 1.11A, but the SBR also clearly states that this is “prior to game start,” which happens with the first turn Rph. We played the SBR as follows: German sets up, American places shellholes, Germans roll their SBR 4 TC (which immediately follows the shellhole placement, Americans set up first turn reinforcements. That the Americans can see the results of shellholes and the SBR 4 TC before setting up their reinforcements is an advantage for them , but because they have a turn’s distance to go before hitting the German MLR, it isn’t that much of a gain.

The shellholes SBR had another rules gap: there was no mention of what happens when the shellholes ended up in woods, where the rulebook does not allow them [B2.1]. We played such result as eliminating the unit/fortification, but not affecting the terrain.

Note that the SBR 4 TC is not a NMC. Because of this, results like HOB, ELR reduction, and Casualty MC are N/A. If the unit passes the the TC, it is unbroken. If it fails, it is broken but nothing more.

German Setup

Despite the special at-start TC, which breaks any German MMC that fails it, I set up a strong front line force. I put leaders in/near the front so that I could use their leadership DRM against the TC and so the leaders could move quickly to units that broke. Most of the broken units were recovered or with leaders by the beginning of turn 2. I set up one Panther on each flank and one covering the open area from E-J10. I was hoping to convince Jim that the best way to attack was through the bocage around E-Q8. This wasn’t too hard, as it probably is the best way to attack. My goal was to delay the attacking Amis in the center. (I was also looking for an opportunity to slide around into the American rear for the sleaze win, but that proved impossible.) I was planning to fall back slowly to a redoubt built in the 24V6 area, guarding the 24V2 road.

I expected the American turn 4 reinforcements to enter from the west because that is the shortest route to the last bit of road. AP Mines in 24U9 and wire in 24W8-24V8 covered the approaches to foxholes in 24V7-24X6. I couldn’t seal the keep completely because I wanted the Panthers to fall back into the fort. I put a fair amount of my fortifications near the 24AA column, including the roadblock. I also added mines in/near 24J7 in case Jim decided to enter that way.

The Americans did indeed slog through the bocage in the center, with a small holding force on the west edge. The American attack was meticulous. They lost only one Sherman in the first 4 turns, and but two squad equivalents. The Germans also lost very little in the first 4 turns, 1.5 squad equivalents. The Germans fell back to the main fort by American turn four, with squads and Panthers on the flanks of board 24 to cover the American reinforcement entrance. The Americans entered on the west, and the Germans fell back into the 24Q5 village area, the buildings near 24S7 and the woods near 24V6.

On German turn 4 a Panther lunged at a Sherman parked by itself in 24FF6. It missed the bounding fire attempt and went back into Motion in 24EE6, awaiting the inevitable rush of Shermans. That did not happen. Jim feels that swarming attacks are overrated. He attempted to drive his Sherman over the Bocage into 24EE6 but Bogged, then put two Shermans in 24CC5 and 24BB6 to fire on the Panther. Relieved, and having no compunction about driving through my opponent’s hex, I drove the Panther through to 24GG6, flamed the Sherman in FF6, and stopped to await developments. Jim Smoked my Panther from 24CC6, but that left him stopped there, and I killed that tank a turn later. Another Sherman was killed by mines on German turn 5 (the only one of four two factor AT mine attacks; all AT mines were at 2 factors). The Americans were starting to run out of time, and they hadn’t really pushed the Germans back out of the 24V7 woods. Some squads were attacking from the 24N8 area too, but they were stymied by a squad in 24M6 and the HMG in 24Q6.

Two more Shermans died on turn German 6, and with that we called the game. The Americans were at 52 CVP, four points shy of the cap. It was unlikely that he could clear the rest of the road without losing the remaining CVP.

For excitement, I have to rate this scenario fairly highly from the German perspective. I was continually trying to cover too much with too little, with units dashing about to fill in gaps and plug leaks. Jim feels that the scenario is unbalanced. I have a hard time commenting on that because I was too focused on the defense. On the face of it it looks like a tough job trying to clear the 24Q5 block and the 24V2 stretch of road. On the other hand the scneario is 7.5 turns, which seems long enough. The key may be in the Panthers. If the Americans can contrive to eliminate one or two (without losing too many Shermans), they have a decent chance. If they can’t, they are probably going to hit the CVP cap.

JR

Craig Houliston vs. Jim Taylor

Finished up this on VASL last evening as the defending Germans against Jim Taylor’s stout Americans. We agreed this was a fun scenario that, in our case, could have gone either way by a pip or two on the dice.

As a high level overview the Americans get six Shermans and 11.5 666s with only marginal leadership (for the Americans anyway 8-1, 2×8-0) Germans get two Panthers and 8 squad equivalents — all but one were 447s and two leaders, a HMG and 2xschreks. There are two VCs — attacker’s choice control all the buildings within 5 hexes of the crossroad overlay on board 6 OR exit 20 or more VP off hex Y10.

Notable setups: roadblock: h2/i2, Panthers: i2 and L8, shrecks: H3, o9

Early stages

Defense was mixed with both some upfront D and layered backwards. The troops up front were looking to cause some casualties on the American entry, but Jim wisely avoided any missed LOSs. As a result, by design, the forward guys pulled back. In the first couple turns, My sniper recalls one CE Sherman and whacks his 9-1. His troops are now on in force and perhaps my only real screw up of the game — I HIPped a 447/8-1 in hex J4….J4 open ground behind a bocage?! What the…? I saw that after we started and thought, huh? Well, they and the schreck toting guy HS I think in H3 all miss their shots and are subsequently pummeled into oblivion by the American firepower. Meanwhile, the Panther in i2 redeploys to o5.

Mid-game

Here’s where it gets bad for the Germans. My L8 Panther redeployed to N8. Jim gets a bit aggressive and moves up to swarm him with a couple Shermans. The Panther (with WA) fires and misses (5,5) the Sherman enters the Panther’s hex. I think he fires again and misses. I then reveal my HIP 237/schreck on o9. Surprise! Silence on the other end of the Skype transmission…I gain the hit. TK = 6,6. It ricochets of a box of C rations. Drat! Now another Sherman ambles up and takes the BFF shot and rolls a 4,4 (normally a miss since the Pather was hulldown), but HD was lost when the other Sherman entered the hex. Jim rolls what he needs and destroys it (crew survives). The next turn my Panther in o5 BFFs before moving on an exposed motion Sherman – misses. Freaking gyro shot from Sherman…hit…kill. At this point, I feel it is all over but for crushing the dice in the vice…

End game

The last 1 1/2 turns are wild. Jim is still assessing whether to go for the buildings or exit. I still have a HS/HMG that has not revealed. I know — why HIP a HMG? He was located in P4. My hope was to lay a nasty trap bag some significant infantry with rate in the village. However, as the game progressed this guy may have unnerved Jim just enough to forgo the exit VP which I thought might have been a lock for him as he thought it might located in z10. I had repositioned a 447 in Y10 in a foxhole there (so a potential for three PFs). As a result, I kept him HIPed as long as possible. In the end, Jim went for the buildings. It came down to P4 with the 237/HMG and P6. P6 held a broken squad, 447, 127. A K result killed the crew on the ground floor — nuts! And I believe the final shot — a 30+2 or something(?) resulted in a 2mc which he failed. Over in P4 a subsequent spray fire shot by the HMG at an adjacent 666 and concealed 666 for a 2 and 1 flat, respectively. I missed on the result and 15 FP of American infantry enter after they pin me on his AdvFire shot. I actually ambush him (pinned) and miss on my attack on one 666. He’s 15-2 and needs anything but a 10, 11 or 12 for the win. He rolls something like a seven for the win. Game over!

Post Game thoughts

Well, this was a fun scenario and we both agreed this is something we would both heartily recommend. After the second Panther went down, I was figuring this game was over. Nothing really to stop the American armor from exiting (though I knew there was just the one 447 on the exit hex). However, just enough doubt on what PF-ready Huns might be awaiting Jim at Y10 (a 447 AND 237/HMG???) made Jim switch to the building VC.

A little tough to say without more data, but the edge seems to be with the Americans. Lots of firepower and six tanks all sporting 10FP in MGs (CE) is really potent. Frankly, Jim didn’t even miss the recalled tank from turn 1 or 2. Of course, the equalizer is the cheesy 6ML. A few of us were talking and the 228 crew as German balance might help. Nevertheless, an extremely fun scenario that should play fast and be a tournament staple in the years to come. Kudos to Jim for a well-played game and for many laughs along the way. A special call out to Chas and the BFP crew for yet another fine scenario.

***One note, we played this incorrectly for a few turns. The THICK hedges on the overlay are…light bocage. We played them as regular since they were so much thicker. So, all bocage in this scenario are LIGHT BOCAGE. BTW, nice to see the use of the small village overlay to reinvent what was a pretty one-dimensional board.

Craig Houliston

Jeff Ital vs. Jeff Waldon

I paired up Friday night with Jeff, who came all the way in from SC. we decided on a smaller job from BFP’s ‘Beyond the Beachhead 2′, which had the Germies defending the board BFP E village against the Americans. We both bid for the Americans, and I wound up with the Germans and the balance (an extra 2-3-7). The dice were about even, overall, but I managed to pull some rolls out of my ying yang when it *really* mattered. I killed two of his three Shermans on turn 1, I think, one from a PF shot (rolled a 3) and another from a low odds shot from the PzJg III/IV (the afforementioned Hornet). Turn 4-ish, when he was really starting a heavy push into the village, I rolled a 2 on a key CC, creating a leader and smoking the squad he had sent in, and then on turn 5, that same leader and HS grabbed a PF off their back and smoked the last Shermie, at which point Jeff conceded.

This was a fantastic little tourney scenario, and I got to use some (now, at least) cool bocage rules. Jeff was a fantastic opponent, as usual, and even put up with my off-color humor.

Jeff Ital

For my first game in 10-12 weeks, my opponent Jim suggested this one from the new Bounding Pack.

My Americans would have to push through the bocage (both light & regular) of the new board BFP-D, and as the title suggests clear the Germans from an intersection amongst the familiar low hills of board 18.

The U.S. gets 15 squads of mixed quality to make the initial push. On turn five the cavalry arrives in the form of 2 M10s and 5 Shermans, two of which are equipped with Culin devices.

The most important pieces of the German defense are 2 HMGs and two dug-in panthers. Jim put one panther on level two hill hex 18Y7. It was covered by an HMG team in a foxhole 18X5. The other panther was in the victory area on 18Q3, looking straight up the main road. The remaining HMG team took up a position in 18O4 in a shellhole conveniently put there by the United States Air Force in a pre-game quasi-bombardment.

I pushed hard up the right with the bulk of my force, making good progress in that area, which was mostly blind to the big German weapons.

A smaller group started up the center to try to clear German troops from the road so the AFVs could get through safely. That attack got bogged down quickly as Jim shuffled 3-4 squads around in the bocage proving elusive targets. I was making no progress there for 3 turns.

I was considering abandoning the area and shifting those troops up the right, when I got a break. A squad went berzerk and survived his charge, tying up one of the key German squads. I was able to break that squad with adv. fire and Jim began to fall back.

Turn five and the tanks arrive. I sent the M10s left with one culin equipped sherman. Ther were no German units on that side. One sherman headed up the center road, another crashed through the bocage and headed for the near hill, the remaining shermans came in on the center but took a hard right to support the infantry on that side.

On the following turn, I experienced quite possibly the high point of my ASL career: On the left, I breached a hedgerow with a culin device. Let’s all take a moment to contemplate the profound significance.

……

Ok, we’re back.

The German HMG on the level two hill was broken by a lucky 10-hex shot from a MMG, and my infantry was climbing the hill to deal with them and the panther.

An M10 sailed through the breach and took up a position on a hill to fire on the panther and infantry in the rear. The near sherman got into a good spot on the hill to fire some smoke around. Things were nip and tuck. And then.

The sherman who was going to lay smoke did not get the chance, as he quickly became smoke himself on a shot from the rear panther. Not content, Jim announced an intensive fire shot, including a turret turn on my M10. Whatever. Good luck with that shot! Ha!

Snake eyes. Armor leader goes up in flames. You. Have. Got. To. Be. Freaking. Kidding. Me.

Now in the end game, 4 or so German squads that had pulled back successfully ducked down into the gully which runs through the victory area. Getting them out of good order down was going to be very difficult. I would likely have to drive vehicles down there and expose them to faust possibilities.

Fortunately, Jim saved me trouble by flaming another sherman with the panther from hell and ending the game by pushing me over the CVP cap.

It was a tense scenario. Lots of choices for both sides. If I had a chance to play it again, I would be (as Jim suggested) more aggressive early. It’s feels better to err on the side of caution with 6ML Americans, but if the Germans manage to hold you up for a while and still have four or five squads to hide in the gully and under the bridge, rooting them out seems like a pretty daunting task. Let alone doing it without hitting the CVP cap.

Always dug the Normandy bocage scenarios. Looking forward to playing more from these packs soon.

John Haughey

Played an awesome scenario with Joe Chadwick. We played BtB6, “Men Against Tanks” from BFP’s “Beyond the Beachhead” product. The is a tight little 5 turner with a company of 6-6-6′s and 6-6-7′s attacking seven 4-4-7′s and two dug in Pz-IVH’s on about a third of a board. The board is one of the two beautiful maps that come with BtB2 (BFP D).

The Germans can set up anywhere on the playing area (roughly 1/3 of one map board, hex rows V-GG are playable). They start with 3 Wire, 3 Trenches and 4S Foxholes. The German OB consists of 7×447, mmg, 2xlmg, 8-1, 2x 8-0 and the two IVH’s (dug in though = immobile). The Victory conditions have the Americans win if they can get 8 (of a possible 12) VP’s. The American scores VP’s like this, 2 for each PzIV knocked out, 2 each for the two sunken road hexes and 4 for a cross road hex (near the cent of the map).

Joe set up with one of the tanks covering my right, which was a large open field; the other tank was dug-in in front of the 4-VP crossroad hex (Y6). On my left Joe placed 4 of his 447′s and in the center he put his trench line (which CAN run THROUGH a bocage hexside, i.e. you can move IN the trench between the hexes, very handy), near the tank and also covering the large empty field and the two sunken road hexes.

Examining the set up and the terrain, I decided to enter most of the company (7.5 squads) in my center (that is along the board end) where I could use the terrain to move full speed on turn one without coming under fire. I was hoping Joe wouldn’t place wire on this important road that he’d left uncovered. I took the remaining platoon and a 7-0 and approached on the left near a wheat field, hoping to pin his forces in that area and force them to stay, not being able to reinforce his trench line and tank in the middle.

Turn one went very well for me. The flanking platoon entered concealed and adjacent to Joe’s position, I ran another squad and HS through the wheat to get shots off in advance, he shot but didn’t get any results. I advanced with two HS’s (I had deployed 2 full 666 prior to play) into CC with his two 447s. While the remaining platoon moved in to support and cover this melee.

The main attack also went very well, I moved all my force on, coming under only sporadic fire, doing little damage. In the advance phase I moved adjacent to his trench line, putting his two squads there in danger of being cut of and unable to rout if they broke. I was very happy at the end of the USA player turn 1, even placing infantry smoke in one instance.

Joe’s turn one went very well for him. The close combat on my left was inconclusive and turned into a full-fledged melee, drawing mmc’s like bugs to a light on a dark night. Joe’s trench troops fired into their adjacent Americans and broke the whole crew (2 squads I think), thus giving his two squads some breathing room. He then pulled back a hex or two in the Trench line. At the end of the turn, the melee cost us both a HS but still raged on.

The next two turns are kind of a blur. The trench line turned into a terrific firefight, with his two squads and tank breaking US squads left and right. Joe’s tank crew squeezed of several impressive ROF shots with his 75L, happily though the first three hits he followed up with a `10′ on the IFT/effect roll, I happily took those PTC’s, but on the amazing fourth and last ROF shot, he rolled a `7′ and I promptly failed both morale checks. His mmg also dealt out rof madness, breaking countless American mmc’s. I was able to stay in it though, having several American Rally skyscrapers, my leader working overtime to keep rallying the mmcs. The route phase turned into the American Route `stampede’ phase several time.

Eventually the Americans did clear out the trench line and were able to take out the dug in Pz IV with a well-placed turret hit (whew) from a BAZ44. The melee on my left turned ugly after I managed to reinforce it, but was unable to kill off his two remaining 2nd line HS’s, I had two 666′s in there by now. Joe wisely shot into the melee and both my squads broke, one of his 237′s passing the 1MC and killing both the MMCs while they tried to withdraw from the melee. This left the 7-0 without a platoon, so he spied a lonely German 8-0 in the woods adjacent and charged in after him, alone. Those two were still in melee when I left for work this morning.

The end game proved very exciting as I closed in on Joe’s remaining tank and the important VP hexes (sunken road hexes and the crossroad). I knew I had some small chance but it was going to be a long shot. Having knocked out one of the tanks, I had 2 of the needed 8 VP. I would have to score most of these on the last turn, only then able to watch as Joe would take his final turn (bottom of the fifth).

I was able to move a couple of squads over and take control of the sunken road hexes, thus getting 4 more VPs. Joe’s last squad on that side broke under withering US firepower and wasn’t going to be able to get me out of the sunken road. So now I had 6 of the needed 8, if I could kill the last mark IV I could steel a win from Joe. I also managed to rally some units and get three BAZ44′s two hexes away from the PzIV and behind a bocage (and concealed), setting up a dramatic last turn for the Germans.

On Joe’s last turn he prepped and broke two of my BAZ toting squads with his tank and the rest of his infantry (2 squads GO at this point). I thus had one chance, one shot to take at the Pz IV needing a turret hit to boot. Well the dice Gods smiled as I rolled a `6′ (colored dr = 1) TH and got the hit. The tank blew up and so did Joe’s hopes for victory. With the tank I know had 8 VP, enough for the win.

That was one exciting scenario. There was a lot of shooting and rallying and melee fighting, some atrocities as Joe’s evil little 237 took out my two broken squads trying flee the melee <sniff> and some crazy rof action from Joe’s mmg and tank. Joe’s only been playing ASL now for a few months now and has come a long way, this is the 2nd scenario we’ve played together where the game was determined on the last DR of the last turn. Look out for Joe at the St. Louis Tournament next week; he’s hardly a n00b now. And I must mention that he wouldn’t be playing now with out MMP’s excellent Starter kit and Dave Angrisani’s tutelage.

The scenarios in BFP’s BtB2 pack are great; I’ve played five of them now and have really enjoyed each one. I love the maps as well. You’ll certainly be an expert on wall advantage and bocage after one or two of these scenarios

Stephen Brasseur

It’s here at last – the next installment from Bounding Fire Productions after the outstanding Into the Rubble pack is now winging its way across the country to the waiting masses and another excellent product it is too. BtB 2 and BFP 2 can be bought from Bounding Fire in a combined package of $75 or individually at $50 and $44 each respectively. Note this is a first impressions review and I have not tried any of the scenarios or nit-picked them for obvious errors – at first glance, can’t seem to find any.

First up is Beyond the Beachhead 2 which is composed of all of the original BtB components plus extra boards and extra scenarios. Chas Smith apparently retained the rights to use the components of that pack when he went from HOB (back) to BFP. The main difference this time is that the original BtB boards (which were mounted hardboard works of art) have been re-issued as ASLSK-style cardboard boards to make them compliant with all the new board issued from MMP. Something has been lost in the translation as the old versions were some of the best quality components in the entire hobby, but this is the price of progress I guess, and at least lugging the whole kit to tournaments has got that much easier.

The super shiny, super glossy 2/3 board overlays have also been replaced with a matte version now. The pack itself has two loose leaf fly covers with a coloured cartoon-style picture of Stug rumbling between two high hedges somewhere in France on the front – the back cover is a summary of the components included, some summary notes from some of the scenarios and a list of the extra items needed to play the pack. The whole pack is stiffened by a cardboard sheet to help it survive the rigours of the US postal service – sadly mine didn’t and the corners of the pack took a crunch, but no lasting damage done.

Components:

Note that all these boards have bocage marked on them as hedges with a brown perimeter rim and this is a different feature from a regular hedge (which is also marked on some of these boards). Also, these boards and overlays often include many examples of slopes so even the apparently flattest looking terrain has some subtle LOS changes going on – cool!

Boards:

BFP C*: one third grainfield bocage, one third scattered stone village including a small church and a two hex graveyard and a two hex, level one hill; final third of the board is more bocage.

BFP D*: The road-bocage one. One bocage-lined road running the long-axis of the board, orchard-lined. Small level one hill and small sunken road.

BFP E: One half is bocage-lined grain fields and medium sized level-one hills with sunken lanes, the other half consists of a small stone building hamlet and hill / grain gulley. A ‘split’ board – think Normandy version of Board 10.

BFP F: A transition board for bocage. Mainly open ground with two bocage-lined grainfields at each end, each with an associated level one hill. (Like Board 49, but designed to transition to denser bocage). Get out the smoke / SMOKE!

Overlays:

BFP V-1*: A great addition to either the BFP boards – an orchard-rich, linear style French stone building village with bocage-lined fields and woods – narrow roads are in effect. This board is designed to be placed on the BFP boards and would cover approximately two thirds of them – the Q hexrow road is the linking feature between the overlay and the board beneath.

BFP V-2: A small 14 hex stone village overlay with single hex buildings. One oddity are depictions of small buildings that straddle hexlines to prevent snap shots and bypass – rules for this are included (see below).

BFP V-3: Another 2/3 board overlay linked by the Q hexrow road. This is the antithesis of BFB V-1 being a dispersed stone building village sited around a small one-hex chapel. A couple of large bocage fields are added to the overlay edges, but this is all in pretty open terrain.

BFP H-1*: A 2/3 board overlay dominated by a level 2 hill covered by an intricate network of choking bocage and orchards and a snaky orchard and bocage-lined road. Slow progress going over this particular hill.

BFP H-2: A 22 hex two-level hill overlay with a couple of small bocage hedges included. Fairly simple in its design.

Rules:

Rules addition: One page of the BtB 1 rules is reproduced here including rules for light bocage and hexside buildings. On the reverse of this page are the known errata and Q&A for the ITR packs and the old Hell on Wheels pack.

Scenarios:

Scenarios 1-8 are from the BFP 1 (HOB) version. These are described elsewhere on the web, so I’ll breeze over them.

• Btb 1: Taking Tailleville
• Btb 2: Merely Hanging On
• Btb 3: Kraut Corner
• Btb 4: Firestorm in St.Manvieu
• Btb 5: Martinville Ridge
• Btb 6: Men Against Tanks
• Btb 7: Blood on Hill 192
• Btb 8: Steel Inferno

New Scenarios:

Btb 9: Norman “D”:6.5 turns. 5.5 SS squads on BFP Board E (bocage, grain and hills) defending against 11 Elite and 1st line US squads. A very simple, all infantry building control scenario, probably good for tourneys.

BtB 10: Unplanned Attack:5.5 turns. Played on overlay BFP V3 only (the dispersed village in open terrain one). 6 squad equivalents of all HIP German paras have to deny 13 1st and 2nd line US squads from controlling the majority of the village buildings. Another all-infantry tournament sized special.

Btb 11: Bosq Barbecue:6.5 turns. A bit meatier this one. Two good and four bad (447) SS squads with copious AA Gun support and 4 self-propelled guns have to deny 15 British first line units from taken a chunk of the BFP-D village. They have a tough approach over the wide-open spaces of BFP F, but they are given a ton of British smoke generators to do it – 5 basic flavours of Churchills and two Crocodiles!! This one looks super-cool.

BtB 12: Going against the Grain:6.5 turns of BIG scenario. The Brits are on the defense and they have to prevent the Germans from exiting units and taking stone buildings in the BFP F village – the SS can also try and sneak units off by using the lomg snakey bocage-lined lane of BFB D that just screams ‘ambush’! The SS receive 15 of their main guys plus a couple of engineer squads and receive a couple of Flak panzers, a couple of Bisons and 5 (yep, that was five) Panthers. The Brits have to split their 15 1st line squads, but they also receive two 17 pounders, two 6 pounders a Mortar and three bog-standard Churchills. This one looks challenging but a lot of fun.

BtB 13: By Chance: 6.5 turns. A very weak German force of 6 conscript and second line squads lock horns with an American recce force on trucks with half-tracks. An immediate CVP cap will keep the US honest as they try to control buildings on Board 17 attacking across the BFB F board. The biggest thing in this is the US 100mm OBA.

BtB 14: Swatting a Hornet: 6 turns set on one-half of BFP E with some stone rubble thrown in for good measure. This is BFP’s version of the SP scenario “The Hornet of Cloville” where nine 1st and 2nd line US squads with three shermans have to remove all good order German MMC and AFV’s from a critical hex. As well as the eponymous Hornet, the Germans get a MkIV and 6.5 para and second line squads.

BtB 15: Becker’s Battery:6 turns for an all armour British force to accumulate 66 VP from either exiting vehicles off the south edge of Board 33 and half of BFB D, attacking across Boards 44 and BFP F. The Germans can also exit units after Turn 4 and in this case, the twist is that the Germans recieve 10 of the funky 75L and 105 SP guns that came with Pegasus Bridge I think). This is a mighty force of British steel including 15 Sherman V, three Fireflies, and a couple of Crusader AA tanks. The Germans get the option to utilise HIP if behind Bocage hedges, but a lot of this fight will take place on open terrain and grain fields. Looks a bit different this.

BtB 16: Battlegroup Nor-Mons:6.5 turns and another chunky scenario. Brits vs SS in this set on BFP E, F and D. The SS need to control a central level two hill and have more VP than the Brits for building rubble control – Brits receive VP for any units on any hills at Game end. To carry this task out, nineteen 1st and 2nd line squads with 80mm AND 120mm OBA, 5 Shermans and a Firefly need to hold off 21 mixed quality SS squads with Mortar OBA plus two Tigers, 5 Mk IVs and a couple of Stugs. The balance is interesting in the form of FB, but maybe is a mistake as only the US are listed with their details (unless I have misunderstood something here).

A great set of scenarios, and apart from the issue of conquering the problems posed by Bocage defense and attack, are all very straightforward. Almost all are moderate with no wind (a couple have mild breezes for spreading smoke) but there is no night, rain etc and no scenario is larger than 6.5 turns, though some are quite sizeable in terms of numbers of units. Once people are happy with the Bocage (both normal and light) and slopes and narrow streets, then there should be something for everyone in here. The scenario cards are of excellent quality being printed on a nice quality paper with the counters and boards represented in colour – great effort.

Summary:

A really good effort overall – those who own BtB 1 may have an issue with the price of $50 for something they have about 40% of already, but if you’re new to it, that’s fairly good value for 4 boards, 5 overlays and 16 scenarios. It would have been brilliant if BFP had issued an upgrade pack for those who already had BtB1, but I understand the problems of small company economics and the re-issue of the boards in the new format is definitely a useful thing so I am really happy with these. A- for those new to the BtB packs and a B++ for those who already have them.

Nick Drinkwater

Houlie vs Jim Bishop - ITR6: The Ceramic Factory

Thanks for the great AAR!

Chas posted a short blurb on the GameSquad ASL Forum yesterday as a hint that we were on the comeback trail. doesn’t take much for the ASL bloodhound network to catch the scent, and soon this site had been discovered, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Messages jumped back and forth about the vague post, so Chas quickly issued another official announcement that Bounding Fire is back in business and Into the Rubble is available to be ordered.

I was in the process of getting all the ordering information in place, so it was a mad scramble to get it finished. The first order came bouncing into my mailbox minutes later. 12 hours later, things are looking very promising, especially as the European guys are waking up to the smell of a new ASL product and ordering away.