Bolt Action Battle Report Stalingrad Scenario 1

[@mainHERO88]

I love that you guys are using the Tide of Iron markers here! I LOOOVE Tide of Iron. It’s the game that got me into complex tabletop games.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Awesome! Yes Tide of Iron got me back into board games and miniature games after a lengthy hiatus. I'm hoping to get a game in soon of TOI in Stalingrad. I have two copies of each box lol. Thanks for watching!

[@jacksonmosqueda8898]

I could be wrong about this but I dont think you can order units off of a truck if the truck ran

[@overthetopgaming8498]

No you're absolutely right i played that incorrectly. Can't disembark after a run order.

[@jacksonmosqueda8898]

I also play chain of command so I could be mixing rules up

[@overthetopgaming8498]

No you're right on that. Wouldn't have had much of an impact thankfully! That was our second game I love the rules as they're quite intuitive. Looking forward to getting the second scenario in next week.

[@jacksonmosqueda8898]

@@overthetopgaming8498 Yeah I enjoyed the video and I'm looking forward to the rest of the stalingrad campaign

[@Psychotic6]

btw i also think you cannot give orders with liutenant when you are in truck

[@barrycarter9289]

Very pleased to find your channel ... Stalingrad is a particular interest of mine and as someone who is getting into Bolt Action with some of my friends I look forward to following your games and learning with you guys Especially looking forward to the city fight , as a very keen terrain builder and seeing how the terrain affects the game...... The production standards are great .. Keep it up

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! We have scenario 3 done and should be posted shortly!

[@neilbayly351]

Just one further for the truck, 1. You can't order units off if the transport ran also. Officer cannot use his bonus order dice when he is on the truck nor may he use it if he wasn't but wanted to order all units up to his max bonus dice to order them off.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! You're right on those points we've got that all straight now lol

[@neilbayly351]

@@overthetopgaming8498 love the report, looking forward to watching the rest. Part way through my solo campaign vids of the Fall of France mini campaign.

[@neilbayly351]

@@overthetopgaming8498 what do you use for the coloured rings around the bases?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

They are 3d printed rings via stl file. Quite handy still working on them.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks again. That sound really cool. We're hoping to get some single battle reports going too in different theatres, once we get going again.

[@jonreyes587]

Fantastic table and game, would like to see y'all do the rest of the Stalingrad scenarios!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks much appreciated! Our lockdown just got extended so we're looking at beginning of June. We have everything lined up for several though. All this time has allowed some extra terrain work to get done!

[@roderickrobertson8223]

A very enjoyable scenario and video report. I am always impressed by other miniature gamers' miniatures, terrain, efforts and gamesmanship. Bolt Action often yields fun games so it was no surprise that the two players seemed to have such a good time. Thank you for posting this video and I shall watch the next two in the series soon. Well done gents!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for taking the time! It's great when the hobby portion and gameplay can marry up well to provide a fun time.

[@harveygerndt1874]

Splendid terrain and table! Thanks for sharing.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for taking the time to watch! We're hoping to be back at it soon.

[@Andrew-yl7lm]

Hi guys, this was very enjoyable to watch. Nice and chill, so many batreps are so OTT. Good work

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! This was the first one and we got a few things wrong but they have steadily improved. Hope you like the series!

[@WeirdWolfGames]

Such a great looking table man, great stuff!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks much appreciated. We'll be back to posting more Bolt action in September!!

[@e-4airman124]

nice job beautful table

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks! We're getting a better handle on everything as we go on. It's a lot of fun doing these.

[@arcticcirclepit2008]

That was a fun watch. Would love to see more STalingrad.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! We're filming the second scenario this week!

[@MiniatureRealms]

Loved this, really great game and good quality production.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Much appreciated - thanks for taking the time to watch. Making our way through this campaign has been fun. Both playing and modelling for each battle.

[@Morozov78]

Nice game, I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to the rest of the campaign.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! We're looking forward to the next scenario which includes a river crossing. Got some rules mistakes squared away. Really enjoying the system so far!

[@loganoldon8924]

I wish there were more distributors for the artist supplies that people use. Even the paints these guys use is hard just to find

[@marctitley7020]

What a great game. I have played this scenario myself. I was the Germans. The Germans in your game did much better than me. Look forward to seeing some more games. Still not able to meet up in GB so waiting eagerly for some more Bolt action. Thanks.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching much appreciated! We were set to resume this week but everything is back on hold until the end of the month as we are back on lockdown until then. More time to work on terrain I guess lol. The next two scenarios look really fun.

[@fredericurvoy8928]

Good job, fellows : beautiful armies, awesome battlefield, a pleasure watching the video. I hope you will do more of them in a close futur. Just a point : you cannot put several units at the same floor in a building. Enjoy the game !

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching taking the time to comment. Yes that is one of the few rules that in our opinion require some common sense house ruling. We have it that a single building/floor (in the case of the larger built up buildings to come in Stalingrad), can hold up to a 12 man un it or combination thereof, where the 1" gap occupies a single slot. So for example if a 3 man MG team and a 3 man officer team occupy the same building/floor - they would use up 7 slots out of 12. For assaulting if we cannot quickly make sense of stairs and proximity a simple roll off will suffice. Also the units would need to occupy the correct aperture for firing purposes. Until this gets us into big trouble we're going to try this. We should have the second one ready to go next week and really looking forward to it. River crossing!

[@Immorticus]

@@overthetopgaming8498 greetings! Great Battle Report. The table, armies and clear description during the game was great. You can transport multiple infantry units in 2nd Edition (pg. 115). Look forward to more reports!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

@@Immorticus Thanks for watching. We're really looking forward to continuing once we are able to in May. The whole province is shut down now so we have time to catch up on painting etc..

[@bringbattlewargaming8720]

Subcribed. Looking forward to these battles. Board and armies look great. Just finished the 1st battle. 👍

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Awesome thanks!

[@bringbattlewargaming8720]

@@overthetopgaming8498 just about to start scenario 2

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Good stuff! We got a few rules incorrect more so in the early ones but have since limited screw ups lol. We've really enjoyed the scenarios in this book. The next one looks to be intense. Please enjoy them!

[@bringbattlewargaming8720]

@@overthetopgaming8498 I will, we still get rules wrong so no worries there

[@zachnar0125]

Really like this scenario

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnphillips3939]

23:18 turrets moving on tanks counts as movement and trench is hard cover so kv1 firing would be a 6 for movement n hard cover

[@loganoldon8924]

They should add wild animal scenarios. That’d be cool

[@marcellocolombarini1653]

Nice game ! Great work👏🏻👏🏻

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching!

[@vincnetjones3037]

At 24 minutes - KV-1 tank can't fire main gun and rear turret MG at the same time ... sorry guys there's only so many crew in that turret.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching. I thought the rear facing gun could be fired at the same time as the main gun as the turret is quite large. Thanks for the clarification!

[@rstainsbury]

Doesn’t say anywhere that you can’t. I think you’re thinking of Co-axial MMG, which is either/or with the main gun.

[@loganoldon8924]

I got caught up looking at how the sergents were detached or not. Or how the leutants envoy worked. For the actual ww2 battles and stuff. Found out most of the boxes were not packaged right. Tho I get the spru arguement.

[@xSkeletalxGaming]

Saved this to watch later. Also just wanted to throw out a suggestion for Konflikt ‘47 if you’re not strictly historical only; Bolt Action spinoff that includes zombies, mechs, flying troops etc.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks I hope you enjoy it! That game looks interesting and is on the radar. I really like the system and if it is similar it would definitely be worth looking into.

[@xSkeletalxGaming]

@@overthetopgaming8498 I have never played Bolt Action, only K47, but have been told it’s like BA 1.5. No templates, for example.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

This was our second game and i like how quickly it moves and the action pull mechanic.

[@xSkeletalxGaming]

@@overthetopgaming8498 the core mechanics are effectively the same in K47 as far as I know, just a couple changes to existing special rules, and a bunch of new rules and units.

[@loganoldon8924]

The Russian tank thing bothered me. Not just the lack of knowledge of units that were specifically driven. But the commonly relied upon like the defense commandos and tank assult units should be better mentioned right

[@HawkwardPause]

Bit late to the party on this one - great BatRep! Quick question: what are the grey rings around the German NCO and HQ models? It's a nice way to mark them

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! Yes those things are 3d printed to mark the NCO's and HQ sections.

[@cobruh836]

you can not run a truck and then disembark. also your HQ can not use his "snap to" while in a truck, all he does while mounted is increase the morale for the vehicle and other mounted units in the same vehicle

[@RR-le4gm]

Great battle report! You made me buy the Stalingrad campaign book and we started to play the missions. We played the first mission and enjoyed it big time! It was a really fun game and we got very inspired by your battlereport. There was a little issue though that we didn’t know how to figure out. The Soviet player rushed two trucks loaded with infantry to the bridge and, blocking it for other units vehicles. The German player then destroyed both trucks. We didn’t know what to do after because we didn’t know if the destroyed trucks stay in the game as impassable terrain, or should be removed from the tabletop. We moved the trucks out as we assumed that by the high speed they would crash in the river but what are the exact rules? Do you benefit from speed with the risk of blocking the bridge? What are your thoughts?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching and that's great that we're able to inspire you to start this campaign -awesome! From my understanding of the rules is that transports are removed when destroyed or end up closer to enemy troops than friendly's (removed and count as destroyed). We would play that as non blocking. Certainly a tank could push the wrecks out of the way and troops could go around them. I believe the rules as written (pg. 114) are to indicate that a wrecked truck or transport is insignificant in terms of blocking. and that is why they are removed. Let me know how the rest of the scenarios are turning out and please watch to others we've done. Thanks again!

[@kitchenwargamers4141]

Great game guys 😁👍

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks!

[@Citizen577]

Like others have said, I'm stoked to have stumbled across your channel, these battle reports look amazing and I can't wait to watch through the full Stalingrad campaign. Your terrain is incredible - do you have any videos where you discuss it in more detail? We are gearing up to play the Stalingrad book as well, and I'd love to have a similar river and the wadi or creekbed pieces you have.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

That's awesome thanks! I've thought about putting together some straight hobbying videos but just cant find the time right now. We just had a delay in filming the next scenario and as we both have work and families full time it's like a 2-3 week delay lol. Thanks again for the nice comments. The interwebs have a wealth of hobbying videos and you're going to have a lot of fun with this book for sure!

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

Just subbed. How have I not heard about your channel before?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks much appreciated! Relatively new channel. Covid has slowed us down here and there but we're getting more regular soon hopefully. Should have the next scenario up soon. Thanks again!

[@SuScRiBeDz]

Quick question I was rereading the rules. Curious if you are in ambush like that german machine gun team was at 31:00, dont you have to take a test to see if the ambush passes? Or if they fail the ambush?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Only if they have pin markers, otherwise a unit can follow through with orders without the order test.

[@GD-jt6ws]

Nice to watch the game guys

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching!

[@danielmoody5867]

Awesome game but you can't get of a vehicle after it ran

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching and yes you're correct. We had that gaffe pointed out early on!

[@zachnar0125]

That KV-1 is confusing lol

[@overthetopgaming8498]

The rear facing MMG is great

[@samreds6808]

How about soviet scouts or mortar spotters? Can I deploy them with their special rule, so at half of the table?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

I don't see anything in the scenario rules preventing that for either side. We didn't think to use them though. Forward Observers are a staple now! Don't leave home without one - especially for the Soviets.

[@samreds6808]

@@overthetopgaming8498 thank you!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching. Working on the next one soon!

[@loganoldon8924]

Long story short the special forces defense commandos and the tank assult crews, and tank riders, with nkvd were very important. Just want clarification on the game rules. Are tournaments the game rules or actual brigades

[@rstainsbury]

@16.34 re-roll that 6 to see if you get exceptional damage.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks! We missed more in the early scenarios.

[@rstainsbury]

@@overthetopgaming8498 well, can’t be that bad; I’ve liked, subscribed and added the whole lot to my ‘watch later’ list! Great stuff!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Awesome thanks! Next one coming soon!

[@rstainsbury]

@@overthetopgaming8498 what a great series! Thanks so much for uploading.

[@ShipWreck68]

Not to be too picky but the army list say soviet squads can only have 1 LMG per squad. You're LMG team had two...(but you needed it) ;)

[@overthetopgaming8498]

You're right! Ive made that mistake a couple of times using a list builder.

[@Psychotic6]

Great game guys! At around 1:57 you shot AT gun without order test for pins (also it should have two pins, not one) Btw, one question, couldn't the germans deploy east of the don river from north or south and in effect flank forces on that side?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks!

[@Barre76]

Some tactical decisions are questionable, why would you move up that Russian squad on the side where the Germans enter the board ?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Panic lol

[@Jezza_One]

Are you sure the river Don is to scale?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

It had better be! Good thing for us it is the same scale as the Volga, the Rhine and the Gari!

[@williamrthompsonjr556]

When the infantry squad was at the end of the bridge, it should have assaulted the KV 1. At that point, it was the best chance to win. It was too bad the panzer only got one shot at the KV 1. After that, it was almost impossible for the Germans to win. The Germans needed more AT, and in 42 that was more panzers, AT guns, or AT grenades, because panzerfausts and panzerschrekts were not available, yet. Pretty well played, otherwise.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

You're right that would have been a good move to try and shift the KV-1. I don't think the troops had any additional anti tank grenades. It would have been tough but definitely an option to explore moving forward. Infantry absolutely need as much AT as they can carry in this game as the interplay between what is almost always going to be one tank on either side, can tip the scale once one goes down. Thanks for watching were really looking forward to the next scenarios!

[@williamrthompsonjr556]

@@overthetopgaming8498 Even if the troops have no AT grenades, they still have a chance of doing damage (see Close Quarters on pg 113). They may even be able to destroy the vehicle with a D6 on the superficial damage table. I look forward to the next scenario.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Oh yeah that's what I meant by additional. Several of my Soviet squads had extra anti tank grenades for that reason but i might have forgotten to use them as well lol. It will be important to remember that even regular squads can assault tanks through the next scenarios!

[@Psychotic6]

@@williamrthompsonjr556 don't forget they need to pass tank fear to attack a tank (with minus 3 if without anti tank grendades) and that a tank has reaction with his rear mounted mmg

[@williamrthompsonjr556]

@@Psychotic6 Unless the assaulting unit is 6" or less away.

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

What kind of camera and editing program do you use?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

A DSLR along with camcorders and action cameras. I use Premiere for editing

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

@@overthetopgaming8498 geez, that’s awesome.

[@mike80555]

Well the board looks good but better familiarity with the rules and consistency when playing is something that needs to be worked on. If you include indivisible mistakes that were made more than once, there were probably about 50 mistakes made during the game I’m guessing.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks. This was our second game and plenty of the mistakes have been pointed out so hopefully we have most of them ironed out for the next scenario. Unfortunately this pandemic and the lockdowns have really slowed down any possibility of getting regular games in for practice. Good news is the game is a lot of fun and we're enjoying it quite a bit!

[@metadeth5613]

Nice game! Where did the houses come from?

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching! 3D printed log cabins but I reshingled the roofs with cardboard from a cereal box lol.

[@metadeth5613]

@@overthetopgaming8498 They look awesome!

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks a lot I appreciate it! We're busy working on more terrain to completely flesh out the campaign. We're really looking forward to playing more once it is safe to do so again.

[@FrostRare]

This doesn’t look like a competitive and compelling game. It looks like a series of movements and dice rolls according to an elaborate catalog of statistics that no one would ever be able to memorize. Without any chance to memorize the litany of various modifiers, handicaps, bonuses, and whatnot, it revokes any real opportunity for tactics. How can two players actually compete when they’re constantly referring to the rulebook? That being said, highly impressive battlefield and models. I really appreciate the aesthetics of this game. The play dynamics? Not a fan.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching. This being our second game did lend itself to missteps and looking up rules but the system is quite intuitive when it comes to miniature wargames. Certainly not as complex as a hex and counter wargame such as ASL but not as simplistic as Memoir '44. Curious to know what is your frame of reference as a comparison? It certainly isn't chess but as you have correctly ascertained Bolt Action isn't really a competitive game (although there are tournaments but that is another topic!) and the hobbying/narrative aspect of the game is a major draw. Be sure to check out the next scenario (once our lockdown is over in a few weeks) as it involves a river crossing which is guaranteed to be tense! Edge of your seat kind of stuff lol.

[@FrostRare]

Over The Top Gaming thanks for your reply in spite of my cras tone, My background is mainly in loving these models yet feeling more than remiss to start playing the game. I also play command and colors, dune, root, scythe and otherwise quite tactics heavy board games. I grow disturbed when trying to make the tabletop switch only to discover that I lose interest fast. I love wH40k, yet similarly am disillusioned to the game’s allure. Your commentary makes sense here and you both seem to be men with more patience than myself. Probably because your attention spans aren’t fried by video games like mine is... lucky you.

[@FrostRare]

I recently have heard of ASL and am going to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.

[@FrostRare]

I’ll watch your next match, for sure

[@FrostRare]

I’ll also say that your ornately detailed skirmish grounds here seems to promote more realistic playings out of the mechanics than I otherwise notice being afforded in broadcasts from other channels. Way to be!

[@McBurnside6380]

I had to stop watching at the ten minute mark. The first two moves of the game you made two critical errors. First, squads cannot disembark from a vehicle that has taken a RUN order. And second, the officers "snap to" ability will not work on a vehicle in which he is embarked. Only his morale bonus will take effect. Both of these rules can be found on page 116. These errors gave an unfair scenario advantage to the soviets. If I could make a suggestion, play about a dozen games with different opponents if you can and reread the rules before your first few games. Then go ahead and film your battle reports.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

This has already been pointed out in the comments and we'd love to get more games in however the pandemic lockdowns have prevented us from doing so. I appreciate the time you took to repeat this. You may want to pass on the next one although we had a lot of fun putting it together. Thanks again for watching!

[@McBurnside6380]

@@overthetopgaming8498 whoops, I just skimmed through the comments and indeed someone had already pointed out those errors. I totally understand the pandemic has put a halt to a lot of our gaming aspirations. I meant it would probably be better to hold off until you've gotten a better handle on the rules. Poor tactical choices and bad dice roles are part of the game. But from a viewer standpoint it can be frustrating when a battle report is going well and then the game is tossed because of a critical rules error.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks for watching just the same

[@WARdROBEPlaysWWII]

As a producer of my own vids, I would vote for play and film. As long as rules are mentioned in the comments and you get better with every video, you’re good to go. I would never make a video if I waited to get the rules 100%. Now, if it’s an instructional video, that’s different. Keep ‘em coming.

[@overthetopgaming8498]

Thanks! We've straightened most of the rules out.