Anything but a roll of a 1!

Last week, I played one of the most amusing games of Bolt Action I have played in a while. Usually, good tactics will see you in good stead with most games, but sometimes the dice are just against you. Now I understand luck is an illusion; the chances of you rolling a one on a D6 are always one in six no matter how many times you roll it. However, sometimes luck - or bad luck - can seem real.

Sneaky Germans come from behind!

I was playing with my friend Malcolm. He had brought his late war British and I had borrowed my friend James' army (he was intending to join us but was delayed by work).  The scenario we rolled was Manhunt - the objective is for the attacker to capture the enemy officer.  Half the units start on the table and half are in reserve. In the second turn, reinforcements can come on any table edge which enemy units haven't used to come on that turn.

Mal rolls a FUBAR and shoots his own flamethrower team!

We started the game and I rolled for preliminary bombardment. Guess what I rolled? A one! Mal had set up his defensive position but had his anti-tank weapons pointing towards one table edge, so naturally, I came in on the opposite edge. I had chosen a mechanised German force, which luckily was ideal for this scenario. Despite some shaky luck at the start on my part, my opponent's luck was about to change for the worse...

Reinforcements? Not this turn!

There are times I feel sorry for my opponent, as time and again Mal tried to bring on reserves and spectacularly failed. Likewise, both of our shooting rolls were below average. For example, my mortar hit his machinegun team and rolled three ones 'to wound', but my run of bad luck was still not as bad as Mal's.

Where did that PIAT team come from? But they roll a 1!!!

Mal's officer rolled a FUBAR and shot at his own flamethrower team. His reinforcements (which included a nasty VC Sherman) failed to materialise in the second turn. When they did turn up, like his PIAT team, they couldn't hit a barn door (or my Stug!!). All in all, it was not looking good for him.

Where did that VC Sherman Firefly come from? Goodbye Stug!

The game still had a few surprises. My Stug was surprised and 'cooked' by the Sherman VC who in turn was destroyed by the late arrival of my Panzershrek team. The game turned into a Benny Hill chase scene, with my Germans chasing his remaining forces. I eventually won and captured his officer with a reckless charge which was just in range!

Revenge is best served by a 'shrek!

Still, despite the poor luck on both sides, we had fun and that is the most important thing. I'm sure Mal will have his revenge when we play next. A good game is fun to play, win, lose or draw.