Bolt Action Boot Camp July 2025 - After Action Report

It is great running our new format Boot camps - practical skills in the morning and a game with great models and scenery in the afternoon.

"Have you seen my pegs?"

The day began with some scenery building. We made simple hedges from scourers, Sandbags from modelling clay, and using cardboard and printed stone and brick paper we made a new monument (more details later) and more.

During construction, my wife popped in and asked "Have you seen the pegs ..." and then stopped as she saw they were all being used to hold the folded scourers together. Being an experienced gaming adjacent wife, she understood immediately their critical function and took the two she needed that hadn't been borrowed.

"Have fun," she said, glad that we had left a few of the pegs free. 

After a lovely lunch at the Wingello Village Store, the games began. Nothing teaches you how to play a game better than actually playing the game and encountering different situations. With the Demo Gamer Sergeants nearby, any rules questions could be sorted out together.

We don't just give the answer, we work through the rules with the players so everyone knows how it works when they experience that situation again.

Our current demo board Outer Cherbourg had more play-testing. The best way to see if a board is repayable is if players want to play it again. And again.

Some of the lads were staying overnight and had a game with two sides of 3 x 650 point armies each on the same table. Now that was a busy game! The game was played with 3 dice bags, one for each pair of players. But you could still fire at any of the opposing forces which made the game very intense.

The lad that went a bit far forward realised he was being hit from all sides. It was a great experience to be part of six enthusiastic players all doing their best to capture the objectives with two others supporting and against three opponents.

Once more we are very happy with the day. More enthusiastic gamers enjoying the excitement of great wargames.

Participants chose between a figure sprue from War & Peace Games or their created scenery. We also had some gift vouchers left over from the tournament to share from Eureka Miniatures and a couple of dice sets. Everyone had great value from their entry fee!

War and Peace - Prime Supporters of the Australian Gaming Community

Since we started The Demo Gamers back in 2013 we have been helping many new players experience the enjoyment and fulfilment of wargaming. The main system we have used to show newbies how to war-game has been Warlord's Bolt Action rules. They provide a fast, interesting, cinematic World War II war-game where both players are involved in all parts of each turn.

Once we began the demonstration games at Cancon, MOAB and other conventions, the clever fellows from War and Peace Games saw the impact we had with gathering receipts and were able to assist us with supplies to further our efforts. After all, new blood in the gaming community benefits everyone:

• More people to play with
• More clever and fresh ideas brought in to the hobby
• Increased support for hobby stores and suppliers, giving everyone greater choice
• The opportunity to see the bright eyes in players enjoying a fun and challenging game.

This is a win for everyone involved.

Following the success of our recent Boot Camp where we had 16 players of which the majority had never played any wargame previously, the War and Peace team have provided us with more gear with which to get these new recruits started!

Tomorrow we are running our July Boot Camp - where we start with making scenery followed by a game! This time we are in Wingello - home of The Best Hamburger in Australia - with 9 players joining us for a fun day. They'll each get a sprue of 6 figures as well as some scenery to take home.