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Saturday, May 2, 2015, was the 70th anniversary of the surrender of Berlin to the Soviet Union, signalling the total defeat of the Third Reich and an end to Nazi Germany. To commemorate the event, Dragons Den Games let me host a Battle of Berlin event for Bolt Action, which is a World War 2 miniatures wargame.

Over the course of the last several weeks I assembled and painted everything in these pictures (except the IS-2) to simulate the final days of a desperate Germany and the ruin that it's once proud capital had fallen into. It was a lot of work but everything seemed to have come together!

The scenario involved a never ending tide of Soviet forces (destroyed units came back into the game on the following turn) - hundreds of infantry and T-34 and IS-2 tanks - fighting their way through a rag-tag mix of German defenders (including a mix of Waffen-SS, Grenadiers, Kriegsmarine, Volkssturm, Hitler Youth, Pantherturms, armored vehicles including a Borgward Wanze and a Panther tank rushed to the front lines - so no paint, only factory primer!)

The game began shortly after 1PM and ended after 7PM. Players cycled in throughout the day, taking part in the push to get into the financial district, or, near the end, the brutal building to building and street to street combat that occurred as the Soviet forces pushed their way to capture the NSDAP headquarters.

There are more photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10206457699309723.1073741832.1486507703&type=1&l=eef33b1b30

Thanks to everyone that came out and played, thanks to Dragons Den Games for hosting the event, and thanks to Warlord Games for making Bolt Action!

I never thought we (USSR forces) would get across the first table. Once we got into the thick of it where the tables met, however, the fun really began. The Germans tried their best to hold us back but with practically infinite troops to throw into the grinder, the Soviet tide proved irresistible. My only regret is that we were far too cautious for the first half of the game. We should have been charging in heedless of any casualties. The building-to-building combat in city proper (second table) during the latter half was truly gruesome and some of the best BA infantry combat I have played. Moderate to heavy terrain is really the key. (If you're playing Tank War, moderate is ideal.) Having not done any of the tremendous amount of work to get this event ready, it's easy for me to say "it was worth it" but I truly, truly had a great time.

Really cool!

Did anyone play SS 33 Charlemagne? Looks totally awesome, by the way.

 Khornholio wrote:
Did anyone play SS 33 Charlemagne? Looks totally awesome, by the way.

No Everything (except the IS-2) is mine - I had assembled and painted it all in the 4 weeks leading up to the event, so I simply ran out of time, haha.

 judgedoug wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
Did anyone play SS 33 Charlemagne? Looks totally awesome, by the way.

No Everything (except the IS-2) is mine - I had assembled and painted it all in the 4 weeks leading up to the event, so I simply ran out of time, haha.

4 weeks?!! You are modeling Iron Man! Well done, dude!

 Khornholio wrote:

 judgedoug wrote:

 Khornholio wrote:
Did anyone play SS 33 Charlemagne? Looks totally awesome, by the way.

No Everything (except the IS-2) is mine - I had assembled and painted it all in the 4 weeks leading up to the event, so I simply ran out of time, haha.

4 weeks?!! You are modeling Iron Man! Well done, dude!

I'm currently freaking out about Pegasus Bridge which I am running on June 6 and still have a ton of stuff to do!