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 So, what is Bolt Action? Bolt Action is a World War II tabletop wargame in 28mm scale. It's usually played at a platoon-scale with a 500pt starter game representing roughly three squads of infantry and a support weapon or two. The game is produced by Warlord Games and the ruleset was written by veteran game designers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley. The game scales up or down and can include off-table artillery, on- or off-table aircraft, transports, tanks, mortars, flamethrowers and pretty much anything else that people killed each other with from 1939-1945. So how do I start? Warlord produces a core rulebook that includes all the rules you need to start with an American, German, British or Soviet army. In addition to the rules, you will need a measuring device to check ranges, standard D6 dice, and some method of determining the order of play. More about the order of play later. You will also need a board upon which to play and miniatures to represent your chosen force. Warlord produces a wide array of miniatures to use with Bolt Action, but any 28mm scale model will do. Model kits from Airfix, Tamiya and the like will all work fine with Bolt Action, as well as similarly scaled toy vehicles or infantry. To simplify matters, Warlord makes an excellent starter bundle with a small American versus German Starter Set that includes the core rulebook, forty infantry models, dice and even a terrain piece for just over $100 USD.  How does the game play? Bolt Action has a simple and refined system of play. Each unit you place on the table, be it an infantry squad, HMG team, tank or plane gets one order, and in a single game turn every unit gets to use that order to move, fire, take cover, set an ambush, rally or some combination of the above. What is unique is that there is no you-go turn order, instead you use a set of identically shaped but differently coloured markers to randomly determine which player plays an order next. For instance, Joe has an American Army that has four units: two infantry squads, a mortar team and a sniper team, while Fritz has a German army with three units: two infantry squads and a Halftrack. To determine which player goes first, Joe places four green poker chips in a classy velvet Royal Crown bag, and Fritz adds three grey ones. The bag is shaken up, and one player draw the first chip. If it's green, Joe may give one of his units an order. If the chip is blue, Fritz does the same. They continue drawing chips until the bag is empty and that is the end of the turn. Each unit can only ever receive one order per turn however! It is entirely possible that Joe will draw all of his chips before Fritz gets to play his turn, but the randomness of the turn means that he has to take into account that Fritz might draw two or three in a row as well. Careful movement, target priority and the order in which units are used are all important tactical decisions! To simplify the selection and marking of orders, Warlord has sets of Order Dice which are extremely convenient.  What other forces can I play and how do they differ? Warlord has released more in-depth books for the American, British, Russian and German forces, as well as supplemental books and army lists for Japan, Partisan forces, Italy, Poland, Canada, France, Greece, Belgium, Norway, Holland, Hungary, Finland, Bulgaria and Romania. Each army has small army-wide tweaks that modify how they play. Americans value movement and firepower so they don't take the penalty that others do for moving and shooting, for instance. Soviets follow the doctrine that quantity has a quality all it's own. German troops are well equipped and trained. Japanese units are fanatical in their devotion. Additionally there are several ways within each book to create modified list structures. Americans can field a standard reinforced platoon, an Airborne platoon with glider troops and Rangers advancing ahead, or a USMC list with extra BARs in each infantry squad.  So how is the ruleset? The ruleset is simple, but deep. All weapons, regardless of nation, belong to one of a few dozen types. An SMG is an SMG whether you are playing Soviets or Brits. A Soviet KV-1 or an American Pershing are both simply 'Heavy Tanks' in the ruleset. This helps to keep the factions balanced and the rules on the table simplified. On the flip side, most units can be purchased as inexperienced, regular or veterans allowing you to sacrifice morale and resilience for points cost. Want to play an onrushing horde of Soviet conscripts against elite cadre of German Waffen-SS veterans? Go right ahead. The system balances the two nicely through a set of pinning and morale rules that ensures that your expensive veterans will both stick around longer and respond to orders better. Those conscripts? Lay into them with an MG42 and watch them cower for a turn or two while they attempt to rally.  Anything else interesting? The books include rules for lots of interesting options like forward artillery spotters, close air support spotters, tank warfare, and there are is even a set of free rules to add planes and dogfighting on the website. The publishers are very good about supporting the community and regularly release tournament packs, FAQs, new scenarios, new units and even expansions. A new set of Mass Battle rules was released in early June free of charge. There is quite a bit to read in the gaming and collecting section of the website, as well as in the painting and modelling section. You should also check out the Facebook group and Official Forums for further details. Both communities are quite active. TKIY fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Jul 4, 2014 |
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Jul 3, 2014 20:13
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