After Action Report - November 2025 Boot Camp

In November we had another Boot Camp, but this time had a couple of themed boards for our recruits to experience a different game than just an encounter or two normal competition armies.

We had 8 recruits join us for the day starting at 10am and finishing at 4pm. A great day for gaming and learning new things. Night fighting is tricky!

Pegasus Bridge

The first game was a game in three parts. 

Part One had the British Airborne land in gliders at night and overwhelm the shirkers waking up to guard the bridge. The defenders aim was not so much to win, but to whittle down the attackers. Veterans vs Shirkers is not much of a challenge.

Part two was for the airborne to capture the rest of the bridge, with potential daylight after turn two. Also unbalanced in favour of the airborne.

Last part we had LOTS of German reinforcements. A regular army with a Marder III and on turn three we had veteran Panzer Grenadiers with Panzer IV from the other side of the river.

Ready to face the Western defenders.

It was interesting seeing the difference Bolt Action v3 made. When we ran the game using v1 (!!) over 11 years ago, the shirkers made a lot more impact. In this game they were rolled over as if they were hardly present.

Here is the original review.

Overall, despite the imbalance, just the concept of an unbalanced game was a fun experience, especially on such a nice board.

St Mere Eglise

Ready for action

Keeping with the theme of dawn on D-Day, we had US Paratroopers drop into the city of Mere Eglise. Using the time honoured tradition of squares of paper for each figure, dropped from a ruler 36" above the table, it was great seeing the fluttering paratroopers drop into the town. A couple landed in the burning buildings so they were counted as casualties. 

Very conveniently, a LMG and rifleman both landed in the church tower. Cool! After the chaos of the paratroopers trying to rally and stray paratroopers fighting the patrolling German squad, the Germans had to wake and get their act together. 

LMG landed first - where's my loader? Ah, There he is!

A lovely stage of confusion with night fighting and then reinforcements began arriving from another 600 pt army of US Airborne and Germans.

The end result was a draw - which was fitting considering the fighting chaos.

Our recruits were very surprised when we had some goodies to share provided by our very generous sponsors.

A sprue for every player was provided by Warlord Games and War & Peace Games.

A number of lucky door prizes of troop and support boxes as well as some crafting gear was provided by Wargames Atlantic and War & Peace Games. The lads were very excited to have a day of gaming and more troops to build later!

The 5 year old brother of some of the recruits came along and watched. He had brought some of his savings to buy "some Bolt Action" like his brothers. We had picked up a variety of well priced gear at the well run MOAB Bring and Buy in October. He had a huge grin as he tightly held his new King Tiger. What a way to start Bolt Action!

Some of our recruits have attended most of our events this year as well as a competition or two. They are sharing their Bolt Action rulebook and it is VERY well read, spine broken but taped up. It is good to see them enjoying wargaming together.

Bolt Action Staging Area - getting ready for Cancon 2026

No matter how long you have to prepare for a competition, it somehow always sneaks up on you.

What you need is a Staging Area.

So we are hosting a Demo Gamers Bolt Action Staging Area.

This is for new and old players, aimed at preparing for Cancon 2026 in January 2026. Bring your own troops so you can test them in battle before the competition. Now, that's a radical concept!

Try some crazy ideas when you can learn from the results. Remember, if it's crazy and it works, it's not crazy.

We will be in Wingello, NSW, on Thursday to Friday, 22-23 January 2025, playing from 10:00am to 4:00pm

You can join us for one or both days.

CONTACT US 
to book your place.

Limited spots available!

(All visitors are welcome)

FULL DETAILS click here

This two day event is a great introduction to Wargaming and Bolt Action:

9:00 to 9:30am: Arrive

10:00am to 12:30am: Game 1 - up to 6 tables of 2 to 4 players each

12:30am to 1:30pm: Lunch - BYO or enjoy the wonders of the famous Wingello Village Store.

1:30am to 4:00pm: Game 2 - up to 6 tables of 2 to 4 players each

 What:

January 2026 Bolt Action Staging Area 

When:

22-23 January 2026

Where:

57-59 Camden Street, Wingello, NSW, 2579

How Much:

$20.00 per person, covers one or both days. Bring cash on the day.

All participants get a free figure sprue, typically 6 men per sprue.

Why:

Because it’s great fun.

Who:

The Demo Gamers

https://thedemogamers.blogspot.com.au

Bolt Action Boot Camp - November 2025

It's time for more Bolt Action Boot Camp goodness.

Our graduates are testing their mettle in competitions and it's time to hone skills!

So we are hosting another Demo Gamers Bolt Action Boot Camp.

This is for new and old players, aimed at playing games and learning in with different boards. We will be playing two of our boards, updated for the Version 3 rules:

The Battle for St Mere Eglise (D-Day)

Pegasus Bridge (D-Day)

We will also have extra boards depending on the number of recruits joining us.

We will be in Wingello, NSW, on Saturday 22 November 2025 from 10:00am to 4:00pm

CONTACT US 
to book your place.

Only 16 spots available!

(All visitors are welcome)

FULL DETAILS click here

This one day event is a great introduction to Wargaming and Bolt Action:

10:00am to 12:30am 

Game 1 - each table has 4 players with 600 point armies

12:30am to 1:30pm

Lunch - BYO or enjoy the wonders of the famous Wingello Village Store.

1:30am to 4:00pm

Game 2 - each table has 4 players with 600 point armies

 What:

November 2025 Boot Camp 

When:

22 November 2025

Where:

57-59 Camden Street, Wingello, NSW, 2579

How Much:

$20.00. Bring cash on the day.

Why:

Because it’s great fun.

Who:

The Demo Gamers

https://thedemogamers.blogspot.com.au

Who are the Demo Gamers?

 

Our First demo game at Cancon 2014

It has been over 11 years since we started The Demo Gamers. Well due for a refresher of who we are!

We started the Demo Gamers in 2013 when Bolt Action was still in the first edition. I started wargaming when I was 12 (many years ago) and despite gaps due to work and family, continued to enjoy playing with my growing lads. 

Wargaming is a great hobby in which to invest time and effort. You meet other players, challenge yourself with tactics and strategy, overcome difficulties with mismatched forces and the luck of the dice rolls, improve hand-eye co-ordination with modelling and painting, and discover history when researching the forces with which you battle.

We used the Demo Gamers to bring other people into historical wargaming using the easy to play Bolt Action rules.

Our first demonstration game was at Cancon 2014 with 3 tables, including:

• Battle for the Beer Factory
• Stone Hotel, and
• Battle for Pegasus Bridge

This was a lot of work, but the results were great. Looking back, we count many of the current players of Bolt Action as our graduates, having had their first taste of Bolt Action at these demo games.

The 2025 generation of Demo Gamers

We continued doing demo games for the next few years building up our skills at introducing new players into the swing of things and understanding the rules and mechanics by the end of turn one, making good tactical decisions by end of turn two and running their own games from that point onwards.

The Demo Gamers have run our "Boot Camps" at Cancon, MOAB, and other conventions. With a gap of a few years as the lads had other interests, we have restarted the Demo Gamers with Sebastian and Peter.

We have run our impressive demo games at wargaming events, as well as our own one off events like a Boot Camp for beginners in Albury, A Bolt Action tournament in Albury, Scenery and Boot Camp in Wingello, and more.

Our latest Demo game was at Victorius 25.

Our aim is to encourage new historical wargamers and we are successful at this. 

It is an all volunteer effort, the only charge is for our Demo Gamer run events to cover costs. Everything else is self funded with marvellous support from the gaming industry traders which recognise the life time benefits of each new player we bring in to the hobby.

If you want to contact us, leave a comment on any of our posts or via Facebook.

 

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.

Demo Gamers Boot Camp - July 2025

We're back!

Our ANZAC Day 2025 Boot Camp was a huge success with 16 new recruits. Let's do it again! A Demo Gamers Bolt Action Boot Camp.

In Wingello, NSW on 12 July 2025 we will be running a Boot Camp for beginners.

CONTACT US 
to book your place.

Only 16 spots available!

(All visitors are welcome)

FULL DETAILS click here

This one day event is a great introduction to Wargaming and Bolt Action:

10:00am to 12:00pm 

Building a small squad or a variety of simple terrain. You get to take home a 6 man squad or the scenery you make!

12:00pm to 1:00pm

Pop over to the famous Wingello Village Store for Lunch

1:00pm to 4:00pm

4 games of 4 players each with 600 point armies.

 What:

Bolt Action Boot Camp

When:

Saturday 12 July 2025

Where:

57 - 59 Camden Street, Wingello, NSW, 2579 (mid way between Goulburn and Bowral)

How Much:

$20.00. Bring cash on the day.

Why:

Because it’s great fun.

Who:

The Demo Gamers

https://thedemogamers.blogspot.com.au

Scenery Boot Camp - June 2025

Does your wargaming army need something worth fighting over?

Of course it does!

Nothing improves a game as much as excellent scenery.

But the funding competition between more soldiers, vehicles and gear versus scenery is challenging.

Come to our Scenery Boot Camp.

We will make some really nifty scenery such as:

• Hedges
• Fences
• Roads - country and city
• Walls
• Sand Bags
• ... and more.

Join us and you can take some of the scenery you have made home, ready to make more and you'll still have funds for the next troops!

More details are here. Get in quick!

You can also see a lot of articles we have already created for creating cost effective - and great looking - scenery here.

After Action Report - 2025 ANZAC Day Bolt Action Boot Camp

 

Wow! What a day.

16 players, most of which had never even played a historical wargame, took part in the 2025 ANZAC Day Bolt Action Boot Camp.

The aim of the day was to give all those attending a good taste of what wargaming is all about. We arrived the night before and cleared the area and set up our  Four Demo tables. Each table would host two teams of two players, each with a 600 point army, using a dice bag for each opposing pair. There were three objectives on each board and all forces came in from the player's edge of the board. No deployment, quarters, infiltration or other cool game concepts. Just a simple advance on and capture the objectives with an infantry unit of at least 3 figures within 3 inches.

As our recruits turned up, they were all initially concerned they wouldn't know what to do, unsure of what this was all about and so on. But once we show them the boards, they got an inkling of what the aim of the day was. Using our periscopes they could see the board from a figure's point of view.

The first mission was to build their own 6 man squad from their choice of sprue. Warlord Games and War & Peace Games sponsored us with some boxes of miniatures and we provided some more for own supplies to provide a wider variety. 

Their $20 entry fee covered the cost of the sprue, while we covered the cost of glue, snippers and knives, the boards and armies and even provided the lunch! 

The sergeants were able to explain what each of the bits and pieces were, the best way to build the figures, how much glue to use and more. It's always tricky building your first few models, but once you have the initial guiding principles, you can forge on ahead. As each of our recruits did!

Then we had a well deserved lunch. 19 young boys and men certainly polished off the sandwiches very quickly!

Fed and ready to go, it was time to choose armies. We showed them the Easy Army lists and then explained how to work out which model represented which figures and how to arrange their forces of 5 to 8 units.

We explained the basics of how the dice pulling worked and what the game involved. As expected, everyone half listened so we were on hand to explain it all properly as they began playing.

Every recruit was provided with the excellent Quick Reference Sheet created by "The Bearded Swede". As it's almost impossible to find again based on the Facebook post, I have shared the Bolt Action V3 Quick Reference here. If the Bearded Swede sees this, let us know where he has stored it so I can properly link and attribute it!

 

It was very challenging for the three DemoGamer Sergeants to assist with all the tables and players. We were unable to get any photos so these are almost all from the sister of some of the players. We are very grateful she shared the photos!

Questions were simple, such as explaining that once an order dice has been allocated to a unit, it can't move until the next turn. A turn is over when every unit has received an order. This seems easy for all you experienced players, but for a new player this is revolutionary! It certainly was for me when I first played version 1 over ten years ago,

The father of some of the lads joined in too. He used the French army which included the Char 2C, a monster of a tank. This sounds like overkill, but the offset of a large tank is less infantry, and the tank could not hold an objective. So it was all a matter of keeping out of his way and trying to stay near the objectives

The boards were interesting, complying with our theory of board design. Plenty of open and closed terrain, allowing for all types of forces to have a go. Overall, we are very happy with the day.

It was very rewarding to see that light of excitement in the player's eyes, as they relived the highs and lows of battle, contemplated what they coulda/woulda/shoulda done, lamenting the unjust tribulations of the dice gods and generally reminiscing of the day's adventure.

Thank you to Inn Games for providing a generous deal for all the players wanting to start their Bolt Action adventure with Starter Armies.We expect to see many of the players attend their first tournament at the Kings Birthday Border Clash in Albury in June.

Anzac Day 2025 Boot Camp - The battle fields

The secret to a good battlefield for a Bolt Action game is the scenery has to look good and make sense from a terrain point of view. Why are the troops fighting over this bit of dirt? Where will objectives be?

The next step is considering the mix of cover - hard, soft, rough ground, distance from each side, and so on. Forces with different mixes of infantry, heavy weapons, vehicles, transports and guns need to be able to compete. Naturally, some boards are better for some force mixes than others. But with Bolt Action, there is always a chance. As players frequently confess, "The Dice Gods are fickle."

These are the four game boards on which we will be running the demonstration games. Four players per board, each with 600 point armies, in teams of two fighting side by side.

Board 1 - The Chateau

This popular country holiday retreat has lovely paved roads, county track and nearby woods and fields.

A small German Panzer Grenadier squad carefully approaches the Chateau, hiding behind the Hanomag and border hedge.

Board 2 - The Jungle Pipe Factory

The train tracks are the only civilised approach to the factory, with rice paddies and jungle surrounding this pipe factory.

A small squad of Japanese soldiers follow the Chi-Ha tank into the train platform at the factory.

Board 3 - Normandy Farm

This lovely farm is surrounded by bocage (Normandy hedges with stone bases), fields and long grass. Roads are blocked by down trees. A fine board for short range fighting!

Americans hug their large Sherman tank as they approach the farmhouse blocked by the large fallen tree.

Board 4 - Winter Normandy Church

A chilly Winter board centred on the large Church and nearby small village. Fields, tree lines and hedges block sight.

A Finnish sniper team watches ver the board from the Bell tower.

Demo Gamers Boot Camp - ANZAC Day 2025 in Albury

We're back!

There are so many new people wanting to play Bolt Action so we are stepping back in the ring to share the joy of wargaming. And the best way to start is with a Demo Gamers Bolt Action Boot Camp.

In Albury on ANZAC Day (25 April 2025) we will be running a Boot Camp for beginners.

CONTACT US 
to book your place.

Only 16 spots available!

(All visitors are welcome)

FULL DETAILS click here

This one day event is a great introduction to Wargaming and Bolt Action:

9:00am to 11:00am 

Building a small squad and knowing what all the bits are. You get to take home a 5 man squad!

11:00am to 11:30pm

Morning Tea - provided

11:30am to 2:00pm

4 games of 4 players each with 600 point armies.

 What:

ANZAC Day 2025 

Bolt Action Boot Camp

When:

ANZAC Day, 25 April 2025

Where:

8 Kensington Court, 
Thurgoona, NSW, 2640 (Near Albury)

How Much:

$20.00. Bring cash on the day.

Why:

Because it’s great fun.

Who:

The Demo Gamers

https://thedemogamers.blogspot.com.au

MOAB 2017 - Day Two

The Mighty Renault fit through the double doors.

Day two of MOAB 2017 is over and we are resting our feet and voices. Another 10 new players joined us today making a total of 26 players for the weekend. This is a great result for us and more young people, and Father-Son teams, may join in the fun of Bolt Action and historical wargaming in future.
Our plan to use both 500 and 900 point armies worked really well, combined with a board on which we can play two or three independent or combined games. This allowed us to get more players through than our previous method of fixed starting times of 9am, 12pm and 3pm.
For example, today we were able to fit in four players with 500 point armies in a combined battle on half of the board. Then after a few turns we started two other players using 900 point armies on the other side of the board.

The Russian Support goes Boom!

Not long later, once the 500 point players had a very close finish, two new players with 900 point armies took their place and had great games too. We highly recommend this more dynamic approach to running a public participation game. Everyone that visits has their own timetable and plans and the better we can fit in with them the more likely we get new players.

Sonja the Medic doing her job

It was really handy having use of a spare table next to the main board. We were able to set up each army with the accompanying Easy Army listing allowing prospective players with a line up of armies to choose. We didn't mind if some of the match-ups weren't fully historical as we were still able to have fun games and learn the rules and play style of Bolt Action. Russian vs Australian, Finnish vs German, German and Russians side by side against the British and French - they all worked great.
The spare table also allowed us a place to put all the upper levels of buildings once players entered into the city and Railway Station!

Yahtzee! But he wanted a 6

We realised that while our table may have been 4' x 8' it is actually a larger fighting area as most of the buildings had multiple levels, probably adding another few square feet of potential.
Enjoy the photos from today's games and we look forward to seeing you at our next event.
Thank you to the MOAB organisers for all their support and to Andrew and the Bolt Action competition for the great co-operation we were able to achieve.

Nice Walls. But they were in the way of the Cromwell.

The Russians assault the Cromwell

Today's fight over the U Boat

The Finnish troops getting ready to rush the U Boat

Winter Germans assaulting through the Railway Station

Nah Mate. We don't like 222's shootin' at us.

MOAB 2017 - Day One

German MG Team waiting for the oncoming enemy

The first day of MOAB was very busy for us. 16 new players learned how to play Bolt Action and enjoyed the scenery.

Forces gathering to capture the Station Main Hall

A young player fighting with the mighty Renault

Situated right next to the Bolt Action competition and the canteen was a prime location to capture the attention of any onlookers that expressed interest. As we expected, the presence of the U Boat and Railway station amongst three dimensional terrain gathered a lot of interest.
We ended up not using the concept of "spawning" forces from points on the board, but we did use a combination of 500 (5 dice) and 900 (8 dice) forces depending on the availability of players. That worked our very well.
Typically the smaller forces finished a game in 60 to 90 minutes and the larger in 120 to 150 minutes. So most of the time we had two games going at once that were not synchronised.
The last game was a synchronised game with 4 players using the larger forces with each team waiting until the whole turn was completed.
The game finished in 2.5 hours and players all had a good lesson in how Bolt Action works.
This post has a selection of shots taken throughout the day. Our sore feet and tired voices testify to the busy day and the smiles and thanks we received from the players was very rewarding. We had two Father-Son teams who had enjoyable games, ending in draws which mean both players won!
A couple of players came up to us pointing out the index in their books and saying "Thanks!"
(Here is the link to the index if you don't already have it)

Renault Assault!

Details of the board and some the armies we have used is here.

The Germans were not scared of the Renault

Tanks at knife fighting range

 Now for some rest on on to day two tomorrow.

It was a lazy little cafe - and everyone wants it!

We took a Cromwell along for protection!

Fighting under and around the U Boat

"All Aboard!"

A winning strategy - use the index!