The Battle for Sainte Mere Eglise

Click for more detail

UPDATE: Now happening on Saturday 13 December at  The Combat Company.

We are preparing for our next Bolt Action Boot Camp at the warehouse of The Combat Company on 15 November.
This time we plan on having a scenario game, based on the battle over Sainte Mere Eglise in Northern France during the opening hours of D-Day when about 30 paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division mistakenly dropped directly on the town rather than 10 km outside of town.
We have modified it a bit to make it more game worthy but it should be fun.

Here is the Scenario we developed.  Please have a read and let us know what we can do to improve it during our play testing before the Boot Camp.

How to run a Bolt Action Boot Camp Public Participation Game

We enjoy playing Bolt Action wargames and want to share that fun with others.
So how does one do this?
Running a Public Participation game is different to running a game with your friends.  You will be playing with someone who has never played this game or maybe even any wargame before, has no figures or equipment and may not have even seen wargaming before.  Also, today's potential gamer has probably played computer wargames and may not realise the benefits of a figure based wargame verses the instant gratification of a computer based game.
I will be structuring this article into a number of sections to explain the why and how and various situations you need to consider.

Why even bother running a public participation game?

Looking at all the work involved in preparing a game for strangers you may be asking yourself, "Why bother?"  Here are some good reasons:

This board is just asking for players to join in

• A fixed date gives you a target for which to aim.  Rather than a more flexible timetable where procrastination can take hold, planning a public participation event means you need to be ready by the advertised date. 
• New players mean new gaming friends.  Often we fall into complacency and have a nice little group of gaming friends.  Then over time some move away or their situations change and suddenly you find it is just the two of you. This happens to all groups, so you need to actively look outwards to keep your group active.  Also, new players bring new ideas and fresh challenges. Everyone plays with different styles so more players mean more interesting games.
• When playing in your own group, sometimes you can fall into doing the same thing and not try to expand what you are doing.  With a public mindset, you now enjoy the challenge of doing different types of games.  We have created a huge 8 x 4 city board for example. This is way more than a small group would normally do, but when you want to garner interest from passers-by you need something special.  So by reaching out to others you have done yourself a favour too.
• Often sharing the game with new players and sharing their enjoyment can increase your enjoyment of the game as well.  We get a great kick out of seeing the brightness in the eyes of new players as their imaginations are engaged.
• You learn new aspects of the game with a wider variety of opponents.

These reasons all apply even if the new players you create do not join your group but play elsewhere.

How do you go about organising a public participation game?

Venue:

Once you have decided to run a game for the public, you first need to find a venue.  This may be at your local games store, or a local games convention.  When I was running a gaming club we even ran demonstration games at school fetes, libraries and shopping centres.  The aim is to have a place where people can see what wargaming is and be drawn in by the action on and around the table. At a games convention, the area near the traders and canteen is the premium placement.  This helps both the traders and the canteen with extra customers and provides a lot of excitement and action for visitors.  It is also the place all visitors go and gives them something to do besides just looking and moving on.

Players:
You need to have enough of your own people involved to fulfil the following roles:

General/Organiser: This person liaises with the venue, gathers new players from the crowd, answers queries from potential players, parents and spectators. It is important you have one person doing this role as they look outwards, towards the people milling around.
Sergeants/Minions: At least one of your people should act as a guide for at most two new players.  This ensures adequate attention is given to the new players demonstrating how the game works.  They need to be able to concentrate on their part of the game without worrying about the outer area.
Uniform: Try to have consistency in what everyone is wearing. We have each person wearing the same colour T-shirt each day.  A different one each day as that smells much better! Also, name badges are great.  In this way it is obvious who is running the game so spectators and players are encouraged to ask the correct person questions about what is happening.

Table and Game Accessories:

The table you use has to serve a number of functions.  You need to consider the following factors:

• Aesthetics:  It has to look good so anyone walking past is tempted to stop and have a closer look.  Then you need a number of "eye candy" pieces which make the onlooker examine the board even more closely.  On our boards you can find the TARDIS, various civilians, Winnie the Pooh, a soldier down a well, toilet paper and magazines in the outhouse and so on. All add extra interest to the table.
• Balance: The board has to provide a balanced battle.  The objective must be central and various terrain elements must be balanced.  It shouldn't be a mirror image, but it should be carefully planned so it isn't one sided.
• Size: A larger board that allows 4 to 6 players is best.  Smaller boards lose some of the attractiveness and too large a board makes any game too hard to guide.
• Toughness: The buildings and terrain have to be tough enough to be used by players and transported.  If it is too fragile to be touched don't use it.  One of the great benefits of miniature wargaming is its tactile nature.  You can move men and tanks, poke into buildings and around trees, use a periscope to get your men's eye view and feel the roll of the dice.  Don't forget to bring glue for on the spot repairs.
• No table clutter: No drinks or food should be left on the table. It detracts from the table and it must always be easy for people to take photos of your game. A half empty can of drink or a food wrapper really brings the photos down.
• Extra Bits: Don't forget plenty of tape measures and dice. Also, periscopes and laser pointers make for very cool gaming aids to help with both line of sight queries and also to give players and spectators a great figure's eye view of the battlefield.
  
• Ready References: You do not want to be flipping through a massive rule book.  This just discourages new players. We have the great Bolt Action Ready Reference sheet which contains most of the rules and then a special army sheet (as shown here --->). This has the army details on the front and the statistics for each of the weapons on the back.  So a player just needs his army sheet and ready reference and he has everything he needs to play.  We added a photo of the HQ squad on each sheet so the player knew which army was his.
• Pins and markers: The last bit you need are appropriate pin markers (we use red plastic tokens) and appropriate explosion and artillery markers so everyone knows where damage has happened or will happen.  We also have a flag on each objective which changes to the appropriate army when the objective is controlled.  It is fun to see the flag going from "Contested" to "Army A", then "Army B" and back to "Contested".
• Players Essential Tin: We created a tin containing all the order dice, other dice, dice bag and 2 army trays.  This kept all the bits together.  Each tray holds 600 points pretty well.  The Army Cards were placed at the back of the tray and each army was put on show for players and spectators to examine.

Models:
The actual models used in the game are extremely important.

• Painting: They need to be well painted to a good "tabletop" standard.  You don't need to paint the eyes and go into minute detail.  That is for your own special guys.  But you want the troops to look good. Remember the motto: "Painted men fight better".  
• The Right Stuff: You want balanced forces. There is no point bringing an overpowered unit to the game as this may win the game for one player but you want both players to enjoy the game.  Just to play is to win. We organise for a force of 600 points.  This is about 6 to 8 order dice per player which means a game should be over in 2 to 2.5 hours with 4 to 6 players.
• Bases: On the base of each figure we note down if the figure is special.  For example, we note LMG, NCO, SMG, Sniper, HQ, etc.  This is to help everyone know which guy is the special one.  It takes time to know which man has the sub machine gun, assault rifle or light machine gun.
  

Gameplay:
Now everything is ready, the game has to be fun to play.  That is why we use Bolt Action.  The dice mechanic of play ensures that each player is involved every step of the way.  It is not an "I Go You Go" system.  Every pull of the dice will impact on both players as either activator or receiver.

• Scenario: We have a very simple scenario - Capture the Objective.  The objective is always outside of buildings and in the centre between the two players.  To control an objective the player must have at least 3 men of the same unit within 3 inches of the objective.  If a unit is reduced to less than 3 men it cannot control it and another unit of 3 man can take over control of the flag.  If no-one gets close enough to change the ownership, the objective remains in the hands of the person who last had control.  If both players have at least 3 men within 3 inches it is contested. Easy.
• Teams: Each side of the table belongs to the same team.  We ensure that it is always Axis vs Allied. Also, each objective is fought over by two players who share the same dice bag.  So each pair of players has a dice bag and each pair go through their order dice until the bag is empty.  When all player pairs are complete, the turn then ends and the new one begins.  Players can fire and move across the table which adds some uncertainty and excitement as shots come from less expected quarters! 
• Action: The Sergeant controlling the player pair keeps the game moving.  He may be pulling the dice or he may encourage the players to do so.  Either way he gets the players to keep moving.
• Options: The Sergeant's job is to provide the players with the options, but defer decisions to the player. This is difficult when the game moves on as experienced players can see so many more options than beginners. But the aim is have the player take ownership of his forces.  Also, if the player rolls well or badly he can take all the blame!

The end:
The nature of all the above factors will lead to a scramble at the end for one or more of the objectives in 90% of the games.  Voices are raised in excitement and pulses are elevated as many last minute plans are made and scuttled with the grace of the dice gods. Then there is the chance for a turn 7 which may change the final result again.
Then there is the all important Coulda-Woulda-Shoulda review.  "If only..." and "It was lucky that... " and so on are important end of game traditions.

How do you know if it was a success?

We have a number of measures of success including:

• Number of participants
• Great memories
• New scenery and figures we now have made which probably would still be in the "to do" pile
• Enjoyable games

In fact, the last point is really the most important. Whether we are playing or guiding, Bolt Action games are very enjoyable in which to participate. The quality of terrain and figures combined with the fluidity of the rules combines to make a very cinematic experience.
We highly recommend you try some public participation games.
Everyone wins.

Bolt Action Index 1.4

Bolt Action Index 1.4 is released

Warlords have published the latest Bolt Action Errata/FAQ dated 2 October 2014.
So I have updated the index to include the latest changes.
I have numbered the Errata and then FAQ with pages E1 to E3 and F1 to F8 (excluding changes to army lists).

Changes include:

1. Routed Transport Vehicle and passengers (F4)
2. Pins for upgraded Green units (F8)
3. Flamethrowers and Panzerfausts vs Recce (F8)
4. British light howitzers (F8)
5. Long Range -1 for all Heavy Weapons AT fire (F8)
6. Slow Load clarification (F8)
7. Officer in HQ is killed (F8)

The latest Bolt Action Index v1.4 is here.

MOAB 2014 - A very successful weekend

MOAB Day 1 Click to enlarge

We have survived a busy two days at MOAB 2014. Our voices may be strained, our feet tired and some boxes to unpack, but these things are background to great memories.
Over the two days we ran 7 games for 26 players.  These players are 19 unique players (a number played 2 or even 3 times).
We showed six father and son teams how Bolt Action works and gave them a great introduction to wargaming.
Here are some of the written thanks we received last night and today:

Played at Moab and had a blast. Top notch terrain and models. Guys at demo gamers were super and could not be faulted. My son [] had a great time and thought it the best thing ever. Won't be our last game. Thank u demo gamers! 

Just a brief email to say thanks for a lovely game on Sunday. Hope the trip home was good. The boys were thrilled to enjoy such a high quality experience.

We knew from our discussions on the drive home that everyone had a good time but these emails just confirmed it.

MOAB Day 2 - Part 1 (Click to enlarge)

I have created comic style reviews of some highlights of the two days.

We were perfectly placed in the centre of the hall containing the traders and other public participation games.  This meant anyone visiting the convention did not have to ask if there were any games they could play - we were right there when they walked in.  We had a simple timetable - games began at 9:00, 12:00 and 3:00.  Easy.  Meanwhile everyone could watch a game in progress or examine the armies which were in use and peer into all the nooks and crannies of the tables.
These are the types of conversations we heard:
"Look at that, honey, they have a Tardis!"
"Dad, there is Winnie the Pooh."
"These guys are having fun, do you want to play, son?"
"Are you going to play, Dad?"
Then we step in and let them know they can both play.

MOAB Day 2 - part 2 (Click to enlarge)

How do we measure success?
We have a number of measures:

• How many players participate, 
• Reactions from visitors,
• Traders' responses,
• Number of memories and "Commando Comic Moments",
• Having a fun time with my boys, and
• The satisfaction of showing off our work to a larger audience.

There were at least six father-son teams with one or two sons involved in the games. Nothing gives more spice to a game than the opportunity of beating Dad. "I blew up your tank, Dad" is great to hear.

We were so busy doing our games we didn't get much of a chance to browse the traders or see what else was on at the convention.  We had even arranged to visit Wartime Miniatures to pick up some really nice Kokoda Trail Australians but forgot all about it in the excitement.

MOAB Day 2 Part 3 (Click to enlarge)

The Bolt Action tournament went very well with 17 players taking part. We had a brief look at the great armies being fought with and the terrain being fought over.  Congratulations to Patch and Bryan for all their work organising the competition.  Anyone interested in Bolt Action was sent between the two of us to help increase interest.

So now we are planning for our next event.
We will be doing some play testing at The Combat Company in November, the date is to be confirmed.
Meanwhile, enjoy the Comics!

Moab Jungle Board - The Deadly Test Game

Page 1 (Click to enlarge)

The important part of testing out a new board is to give it a good play test.
The Jungle Board we previewed last post was another very enjoyable board.
The armies (all 600 points or so) were:

Allies:

Australia:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x FAO(Free Artillery Observer )
1 x AT Rifle(2 men Veteran)
1 x MMG(3 men )
2 x Infantry Squad(NCO (SMG),LMG ,8 rifles )
1 x Infantry Squad(NCO (SMG),LMG ,8 rifles )
1 x PIAT(2 Men )

US Marines:

1 x Officer (2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x Medic( Regular)
1 x Sniper (2 men )
3 x Marines (NCO (SMG),1 BAR,6 rifles )
1 x M4A1 Sherman (Med AT, MMG, Coax MMG)

Page 2 (Click to Enlarge

Japanese:

Japan 1:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )

2 x Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles )

1 x Grenadiers(NCO (Rifle),9 rifles Light Mortars)

1 x Chi Ha(Lt Howitzer, turret rear MMG, hull MMG)

Japan 2:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )

1 x Med Mortar(Spotter Off Board)

1 x MMG(3 men )

3 x Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles )

1 x 70mm Type 92 Lt How(Light howitzer, 3 men)

The game was a bloodbath.

Page 3 (Click to enlarge)

On the Observation post side, the Japanese Chi-Ha tank died in turn 2 and by turn 5 the last Japanese soldier was gone. Although claiming their flank, the Marines were unable to help their Australian Allies.

The battle for the Brick and Pipe factory was definitely going in the Australians favour.  The Veteran squad beat off two Japanese squads and captured the objective.
But the remaining Japanese squad loitered just in reach for the turn 6 rush for the objective.  One Australian squad was wiped out racing to secure the objective in turn 5 and the other was pinned into inaction by mortar fire until turn 6 when it was too far away to affect the last turn scramble.

At the end of turn 6 the Japanese squad survived 2 close assaults and secured the flag but was wiped out.
The Japanese HQ ran to be just in range.
Turn 7 was rolled.
The Australian HQ made a last turn attack on the Japanese HQ but did not make a dent and was wiped out.
The Japanese owned the objective.
A Draw!

Page 4 (Click to enlarge)

 Once more Bolt Action happened, resulting in a very exciting game, down to the last roll.

MOAB Jungle Board

The Brick and Pipe Factory

We have our second MOAB board ready - the Brick and Pipe factory with Observation post in the Jungle.  That is a bit of a long name, so we cleverly call it the "Jungle Board" for short.
Once more we have considered a number of factors in this board.
1. It looks cool (A very important factor)
2. Two objectives
3. Open, closed and interesting lanes of fire and movement.

The Observation Post on the hill

Bamboo thicket with removable bits

Rice Paddies and jungle edges

Consider the following factors:

1. The Hill - the observation post is on a hill surrounded by some sandbag positions. There is no cover other than the slope of the hill and the sandbags which is actually more cover than it seems.
2. The Bamboo thickets - Although effective sight blockers, they are rough ground for infantry, no-go for wheeled vehicles but can be driven through by tanks.
3. The Brick and Pipe factory - Hard cover and buildings and walls.
4. The Rice Paddies - Rough ground but no cover.

There is also plenty of open ground, but often broken by hard or soft cover.  The test game (next post) was very interesting.
The objectives are the Observation post and the well at the centre of the Brick and Pipe factory.

This should prove to be a most enjoyable board.

MOAB City Board - Playtest 1 is a success

Click the comic for a larger version

Today we were able to play test our city board.  I needed 6 players with 600 point armies to get a feel of how this board would play. So 1800 points per side would be a good set of the board and our paired dice bag technique.
With 3 dice bags in play we still completed the game in 2.5 hours. And what an exciting game it was.

Germans:

Germany 1:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x Medic
1 x Heavy Mortar(Spotter Off Board)
2 x Heer Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles 2 x Panzerfaust each)
1 x Volks Grenadiers(NCO + 4 (Ass Rifles) + 3 rifles + 2 Panzerfausts)
1 x Sdkfz 222(Light Autocannon, Coax MMG Recce)

Germany 2:

1 x Officer(2nd Lt + 2men )
1 x Sniper(2 men )
1 x Heer Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles 1 x Panzerfaust)
1 x Heer Veteran Infantry(NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles 1 x Panzerfaust)
1 x Panzer III J

Click the comic for a larger version

Germany 3:

1 x Officer (2nd Lt + 2men)
1 x Heavy Mortar (Spotter) - Off Board
1 x MMG (3 men)
1 x Heer Regular Infantry (NCO (SMG),LMG,8 rifles)
2 x Volks Grenadiers (NCO + 4 (Ass Rifles) + 3 rifles)
1 x Sdkfz 234/2 Puma (Med AT, Coax MMG)

Allies:

US Marines (as seen in our post here)

HQ - 2nd Lieutenant with 2 henchman/assistants (70 pts)
3 x Regular Marines - NCO with SMG, BAR and 6 Riflemen (88 pts each)
1 x Regular Medic (23 pts)
1 x Regular Sniper team (52 pts)
1 x Sherman M4A1 (195 pts)
Total 604 pts (7 order dice)

Click the comic for a larger version

British:

1 x Officer (2nd Lt + 2men)
1 x Infantry Squad (NCO (SMG),LMG ,8 rifles)
1 x Airborne Squad (NCO (SMG),LMG ,8 rifles)- Veteran Stubborn
1 x PIAT (2 Men)
1 x Artillery Observer
1 x Cromwell (Med AT, Coax MMG, MMG)

US:

1 x Regular 2nd Lt with 2 guys
3 x Regular Squad x 3 - NCO (SMG), BAR, 8 Rifles
1 x Sniper
1 x M24 Chaffee

Summary:

This was a classic Bolt Action game.  The first few turns saw the German heavy mortars roll 6s for their first targeting hits, immobilising and then next turn destroying the Cromwell and Sherman. At this point the infantry count was definitely on the German side.

This is ours! Until turn 6 ...

The Marines were doing very well holding the centre while the US left flank was failing badly.
In Turn 4, the Marines captured the Bridge control box and in turn 5 their "Fire" order was to raise the bridge. Our house rule is that units on the lifting bridge have to firstly stay together and then every man rolls.  Any roll of a 1 or 2 means the figure is removed. No pins, this just reflects the fellow is out of the game via injury or separation.  The unit that is on the bridge has to run until it is on a level surface.  The bridge lifts 45 degrees per turn.
The German squad on the bridge lost 2 guys on turn 5 and none on turn 6. But the important thing was they couldn't fire for 2 turns.
At the end of turn 5 the Germans controlled all 3 objectives. They were not even contested.
Then on the British flank (in the photo above) the unit on the left rolled FUBAR and ran away. Then the HQ unit advanced next to the Puma and fired at the British in the building. And the Puma fired too.
At this point, being turn 6, the Airborne Veterans passed morale and charged the HQ unit, wiping it out and contesting the flag. Then the British HQ unit charged from the building and defeated the Volks Grenadiers lurking behind the Puma. They owned the flag!  The Puma couldn't control it as it was a vehicle.
At the central objective the Marines pulled an amazing charge and defeated a veteran unit and then died to a man defending against a very effective German HQ unit.  But they had captured the flag and no German unit of 3 or more men was within 3 inches so they were deemed to own the objective.
The anxiously watched roll for turn 7 was a 1.  The game was over.
Turn 7 would definitely have ended in a German victory, but that is Bolt Action!
It was great fun and classic Bolt Action with so many coulda woulda shoulda moments.
This board will be great to share at the MOAB Bolt Action Boot Camp.

MOAB - Bolt Action Boot Camp City Board

We are busily preparing for our next Bolt Action Boot Camp at the MOAB Games Convention on the weekend of October 4 to 6.  Our games will be running on the Saturday and Sunday only and there should be 2 tables with 3 games per day.
Our first board is the City Board.  We have had great fun with an expansion of our city heights project, creating a train culvert through the town, with the Pegasus Bridge crossing the gap as well as two pedestrian bridges.  The lower level is completely playable with stairs leading down on both sides.
The boot camp is free and open to all.  Everything required to play is provided by us.
We have created a idea run through of the board:

The board is an interesting one with multiple levels, plenty of fascinating angles, lots of cover AND open areas.

The view from the Hotel end

There is room on this board for 6 players - 3 sets of 2. Lots of opportunity to concentrate of your field of action and your neighbour's too!

View of the railway culvert and bridges

A US Marine advancing into danger

A German peeking out from one of the lower tunnels

The view from the Residential edge of the board

The view from the Church tower.

A group of Germans rushing across the railway line.

Speed Painting so you can play sooner

The best way to start - at the beginning

The first squad finished.

My 7 year old son was very excited to be given a box of US Marines and a Sherman tank for his birthday. Our first task was building the men.  The figures all start on a sprue with 6 bodies and lots of options for arms, heads and equipment.  With a clipper, knife, plastic glue and some imagination it isn't too hard to create a wide variety of figures.  The liquid plastic glue is better than super glue as it actually melts the parts together and you have time to move the bits into position.  Also, your fingers won't glue together!
An important part of building your first box of men is work out the forces you wish to assemble.
We wanted a 600 point army which had enough units and used the Sherman.  Because tanks are cool according to my son.

HQ - 2nd Lieutenant with 2 henchman/assistants (70 pts)
3 x Regular Marines - NCO with SMG, BAR and 6 Riflemen (88 pts each)
1 x Regular Medic (23 pts)
1 x Regular Sniper team (52 pts)
1 x Sherman M4A1 (195 pts)
Total 604 pts (7 order dice)

But - making the models is one thing.  We can't fight properly until they are painted.

The 15 year old brother is painting like an artist, but we wanted to get the army on the table quicker than that. We didn't want to do the multi layers and tons of colours.  That is too much work and I wanted to be able to paint the whole lot in one day. Here are all the colours we used.  And the red and white were only used for the medic's cross.

You don't need many colours

Step 1 was to spray the lot using an appropriate base coat.  This is the easiest way to start the whole army off.  We used Plastic Soldier Russian Uniform. The colour looked about right and once they are finished you will see it worked out fine.

Painting the tank tracks black.

We then started painting the colour on every man.  The first colour was black for the boots.
Then brown for the things that cover the top of the boots.
Then skin colour for each fellow.

Coming together.

Then we painted all the smooth helmets a lighter brown and painted dots of dark brown.  A simple camouflage style job.

The helmets are looking good.

Next is brown and gun metal on the guns.  A darker green for the straps and a variety of browns and greens for the equipment, back packs and so on. So far the result wasn't too bad. Then a quick round of touching up painting mistakes and ensuring everyone has all the bits covered and we're on the homeward road.

Not bad for a few hours work.

The last couple of steps are really easy but make a huge difference.  We applied Quick Wash Strong Tone.  That is basically a dark brown paint thinned out so much that it darkens the model and leaves highlights in all the cracks.

There. Dirty.  Happy now?

The last step which finishes off the guys is to put something on the base.  For the marines we wanted a beach base so stole from sand from the kids sand pit.

PVA glue applied.

Some PVA glue painted on the base and then dipped in the sand does the trick.  The sand covers up any missed painting on the base.  Then run your finger around the edge to keep the base edges smooth.  It looks better that way.

Get me out of this sand trap!

There you go.  We painted 32 figures and a tank in around 5 hours.  This is about the same time my 15 year old son paints 5 figures. (But his figures do look amazing!)

Right. When do we fight?

This is a great way to get your army up and running.  Painted figures fight better - even if your dice don't co-operate at least you care about them more. And they make the game look cool, which is a very important part of any wargame.

The Winter Bolt Action Boot Camp

It's Winter and we're still fighting for you

Adam and his boys were first in

We have just returned from another fun day running our Bolt Action Boot Camp at The Combat Company's Sydney warehouse. It was another very enjoyable day.
We set up two boards.

A Summer board using the buildings from the 4Ground Rorke's Drift set on either side of a railway crossing. We were ready to go at 10am and in walked a familiar fellow.  We had met Adam and his boys at Cancon and they took the opportunity to play with us again today.
After a hectic to and fro, especially in the last 2 turns, the result was a draw with lots of casualties and Bolt Action moments.

Alejandro and his boys were next

Anything but a 1 will hit!

Shortly afterwards, Alejandro and his boys arrived with their own 600 point armies to play on our Winter board. This board had the players needing to capture the two 4Ground Eastern front buildings and the railway culvert cutting the hill.  The hill made an interesting challenge.  At first glance the board looked very open, but players quickly realised when they dropped down to the model's eye level they couldn't see through the hill.
Once more this game ended being very close.  My son was playing and even though all his forces ending up being destroyed, he made enough of a difference to force the game to a draw as well.

We then had a little lunch break - and browse through the wide collection of hobby temptations - and played our last game.
Beckster introduced herself and when I saw her painting I immediately recognised the incredible work from the photos she had shared on the forums. It was great to meet fellow gamers we have conversed with online in person.

This game was played with Joe - a fellow that played at our last Boot Camp, Beckster, Spiro of the Combat Company and my son.
It was a game of what we call "Tank Tink".  All game the tanks fired at each other missing or just pinning each other. In turn 5 Spiro had enough of firing at the Panzer III behind the wall and applied a very direct solution.  A Run order demolishing the wall! All the Panzer III needed to hit was anything but a 1.  So Beckster rolled a 1!
Then it all depended on who pulled the first order die.  The Germans did, merely achieved an immobilisation, but the Cromwell failed morale.  That pretty much ended the game.

Thanks once again to The Combat Company for their support, War and Peace Games for their sponsorship and all the players.
Our next Bolt Action Boot Camp will be at MOAB in October 4th and 5th.

Next Boot Camps are coming

I looking at you, soldier!

Following the success of our first Bolt Action Boot Camp, we have the more planned.
Once more at the Combat Company's warehouse on 9th August.
Then for a two day game feats as part of the MOAB public participation games area on Saturday and Sunday 4 and 5 October.

We are quite enjoying the opportunity to play and run games with lots of new gaming buddies.  So come along and join in.

Soon we will be realising our beginners guide to Bolt Action to provide a primer for the new player.