This week, we’re looking at a particularly unorthodox method of air defence for Cruel Seas – enter the humble barrage balloon! As airpower grew in strength as the war progressed, the world’s navies used any and all devices to keep strike aircraft away from their shipping, whether large or small, naval or merchantmen. The humble…
This week, we’ve got another article from Bolt Action maths whiz Rob Cook – he’s been taking a look at playing the odds with anti-tank weapons! The last game I played featured little in the way of substantial anti-tank assets. No big cats for my Germans, no super heavy 17 pounder for my British opponent….
A wave of new aircraft joined RAF squadrons last year, including the magnificent night fighter and maritime strike aircraft – the Bristol Beaufighter. With its armament of four 20mm cannons and six .303 machine guns, delivering 780lbs of ordnance per minute, the Beaufighter was one of the most heavily armed aircraft in the world. Designed…
Adapted from the Nebelwerfer artillery weapon, the Werfer-Granate 21 was used extensively against Allied bomber formations. The tactics used by US Army Airforce bomber formations proved to be particularly effective against interceptors, maximising the firepower of each aircraft by making sure the defensive machine guns have mutually supporting arcs of fire. This evolved into the…
At Budapest, the Danube river swells to a formidable 560m at its widest point, a mighty obstacle for the rampaging Russians. While several bridges spanned the Danube in multiple places, Soviet forces often found themselves needing to rapidly ford the river. Budapest was once two cities, divided by the mighty Danube river. Pest, on the…
The battle for Budapest was characterised by a period of brutal urban warfare. Campaign: Fortress Budapest contains rules to recreate this desperate street fighting. The Eastern Front was marked by some of the most vicious city battles of the war. The Eastern Front was marked by some of the most vicious city battles of the…
As the Soviet noose closed on Budapest, the Hungarian Air Force fought a desperate battle for survival, one that would play a pivotal role in the siege. Following the Treaty of Trianon in the bitter aftermath of the First World War, Hungary found itself on the brink of collapse – while it retained a solid…
Big cats stalk the streets of Budapest. The German Panther is a formidable foe for the more numerous, up-gunned T-34-85. Vital Statistics Panther Ausf A, D and G T-34-85 Cost: 284pts (Inexperienced), 355pts (Regular), 426pts (Veteran) 188pts (Inexperienced), 235pts (Regular), 282pts (Veteran) Weapons: 1 turret-mounted super heavy anti-tank gun with co-axial MMG and 1…
We’ve sat down this week with the author of Fortress Budapest to bring you a snapshot of Bryan Cook’s thinking behind the latest Bolt Actions Campaign book… Bryan; The latest Campaign book for Bolt Action focuses on the Soviet offensives that swept through the Carpathian Basin into Hungary and toward the southern flank of the…
The exploits of Combeforce are straight out of a Commando comic. A hell-for-leather drive across the desert, to block the retreat of a whole Italian army! Following their disastrous invasion of Egypt in December 1940, the Italian army was in full flight. Their fortified camps at Nibewa and Sidi Barrani had been overrun by courageous…