Bolt Action 2nd Edition Index

We received the eagerly awaited Second Edition of the Bolt Action rules yesterday and our first mission was to create an index so we could find the rules when we needed them!
This time we have added two little notations to the index items:
* = Changed rule
+ = New rule

This should help to quickly find changes.
We may have missed some changed or new rules so please let us know.

Overall we are very excited with the changes and are looking forward to using them in action.

Here is the new Bolt Action Second Edition Index.

(You can also get the First Edition Bolt Action Index and
the Konflikt 47 Index too)

Bolt Action Index 1.5

Where are the rules for tanks racing onto a frozen river?

The latest Errata and FAQ has been released by Warlord Games dated 27 January 2016 (You can get it here).
There are lots of updates and clarifications so I have updated the Bolt Action Index. (version 1.5)
It is interesting to see how many items in the index have an E or F page indicating a ruling or clarification of the main rules.

The index has been downloaded over 6,000 times. I'm glad so many are finding this resource so handy.

Other handy resources that have been popular include:
Our Building Clarifications
Terrain tutorials
Turn Counters
Periscopes

Conveniently fits in the inside back or front covers

Bolt Action Index 1.3

Bolt Action Index 1.3 is released

Warlords have published the latest Bolt Action Errata/FAQ dated 30 May 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. Pinning against vehicles is made more sensible (no HMG pinning big tanks)
2. Snipers only roll normal hit chances against units in buildings.
3. The Mortar Shuffle is killed
4. Loader for LMGs rule is sort of clarified. You can change the loader each turn but you don't have to.

The latest Bolt Action Index v1.3 is here.

The Players Essentials Tin

The Players Essentials Tin

Our aim when running a demo game is to streamline the game play as much as possible so that the players can learn the rules quickly and enjoy the game.  That explains our Index,  Turn Counters, Periscopes and Unit Cards.
The next challenge was how to streamline the game start with armies as well as storing all the dice.  Also, with our boards we were sometimes finding it difficult to find a place to roll dice without having to re-roll cocked dice.
So we created the Demo Gamers Players Essential Tin.
Around 25 April (ANZAC day) Australian supermarkets start selling special ANZAC biscuit tins.  Other than containing quite tasty ANZAC biscuits (cookies) it is also a nice sized tin with ANZAC themed war photos on the outside.

Mmmm. ANZAC biscuits.

We have made 8 player tins so far.  Each tin is for two players, containing two colours of dice and two sets of order dice and an order dice bag.  There are also two trays on which can fit a 600 point army each.

Dice Rolling Base:

We added in a couple of dividers to allow 3 x 13mm dice on either side, leaving a suitable area in the middle in which to roll dice.
Then my lovely wife - being a crafty lady - lined the insides with felt she had left over from other projects.  This made a great dice rolling surface, provided a place to store dice in the sides and somewhere to store the dice bag and order dice between games.

When doing something more than once - make a jig.

Army Trays:

The next stage was to create our army trays. The issue we have at the start of a game is somewhere to place the figures before the game and somewhere to place casualties during the fighting.  The figures would be stored properly in our foam protection between games, but in preparation we will collate each army and place them in an army tray. The players choose their armies and then can quickly start playing.
Each tray was designed to fit in the tin with enough space for fingers on each side.  The height of the trays and the base dividers were just right so we could still put on the lid.

Now just awaiting 16 armies!

This time my father in law - who is also a very talented engineer and handyman - helped create the boxes.  His rule is always "Measure twice and cut once" and "If you need to do something more than once, make a jig."  As we needed 16 trays for the 8 boxes, he made a marvellous jig on which to place the sides.  The box was made from 3mm MDF sheet, all cut exactly using another jig he rigged up.  Once the sides were glued using 5 minute epoxy, he then glued the base with PVA and set aside to dry.  Then we put on our little logo and painted the trays with Varnish to protect them.

Why go to this trouble?

We learn more each time we run a demo game.  The Players Essential Tins allow us to quickly gather the essential tools for playing the game and get down to playing.  Each tin has the dice and bag and the trays have the army and unit cards. With a Player Reference Sheet in hand and a rule book with index nearby, the game can start promptly and the fun can begin!

(PS When deciding on the name for the Players Essentials Tin, my wife thought of "The Beautiful Tin I Spent So Much Time Making" but I figured TBTISSMTM was a lousy acronym.)

Transporting the War

All the stuff needed for our long weekend at Cancon

We decided to run a large public participation demo game at Cancon 12 months earlier and happily proceeded building up all the things we required - Buildings, scenery, boards, models, and so on.
Then, about two weeks before Cancon was due to start I looked at all this stuff we needed to bring and wondered, "How will we transport this safely?"
The trick is being able to pack, unpack and repack each item and have it survive the journey from home to vehicle to table and back again.  Although we have always built to "wargaming" standard which means tougher than modelling standard, there is still the risk of damage during transport and storage.

The figures were easy. These foam storage trays worked well.

I asked for advice on various forums and groups and someone chimed in with the clever answer of cardboard Archive Boxes.  All of our 4Ground buildings fit in very well, and did not need much padding around the sides.  I recorded each box's contents with a permanent marker so we could easily tell what was in each box.
Figures were easy as we already had a number of cut foam figure cases.  As our army grows, we will try making some new storage cases using foam-core sheeting which we saw some clever gamer use via the Bolt Action Facebook group.

Now we can find all the littler bits.

Zip lock bags were perfect for all the smaller scenery items such as walls, trenches, hedges, bushes, objective flags and so on.  You can pack them in and leave plenty of air for padding and then zip them sealed. Easy!
The Pegasus Bridge was an issue so we had to place it carefully on the back seat and hope for no really sudden stops during the 90 minute drive!
The Church was too tall (by about 5 cm) for the storage boxes so we found another cardboard box into which it fit very well.
All in all everything survived the trip extremely well.

This is what caused our issue. What a variety of sizes!

My last photo shows the boys behind a range of varying sized buildings, holding a 12 inch (30cm) ruler to show scale.
Thanks to all the online gamers for their advice and sharing.

Bolt Action Index 1.2

New! Improved! With added Errata and FAQ!

I have just updated the Bolt Action Index to include the official Errata and Frequently Asked Questions.
This means when looking up a topic, you can find the information on the page number Errata (E1 to E2) or FAQ (F1 to F7).

The index is here.

Updated Bolt Action Index

An index and a bookmark!

We have updated the Bolt Action Main Rulebook index after some intensive testing. It is now clearer and the right size to fit inside the book and serve as a bookmark.  Many of the rules are referenced under different headings so hopefully you will find the rule quickly.
It fits perfectly on two pages ask prints well double sided.  We trimmed ours and laminated it as we use it so often.

You can get a copy of the Bolt Action Index here.

Cancon Prep - The Hats

Officer and assistant

As part of our public participation game at Cancon we wanted to make it memorable for any young lads that wanted to play.  Part of that is getting into the spirit of the thing.  Nothing says that better than an appropriate hat while fighting on the tabletop.
So we tracked down some hats and they arrived in the mail today.
All the boys immediately road tested them.
We have a Royal Horse Guard cap and two British "soup bowl" helmets.
The other hat we have for use is a Russian Fur Hat which we name "Ike".  That is a name of an old Black Scotty dog we used to know who looked just like the hat.

Four boys ready to play!

Bolt Action Index

Now where is that rule?

I have found it frustrating trying to find things in the rulebook so created a 2 page index. I just printed it double-sided and slipped it into the book as a bookmark. Now I can quickly find the important rule I usually mis-remembered.

I have tried to include many items via a number of different ways - e.g. Buildings, entering buildings, Assaulting Buildings, and so on.

I did some play testing by playing a game. Each time I wanted to look up a rule, I wanted to find it first time. For example, the outflanking rule can be found under Flanking and Outflanking.

Let me know if I have missed anything.

Here is the Bolt Action Index PDF.

Turn Counters

You need to know.

In Bolt Action there are 6 or maybe 7 turns.  It is important to know where you are up to as this can greatly affect your tactics and gameplay.
Some use dice of varying types, hopefully distinct enough not to be confused with the dice with which you are playing.
For a demo game we needed something a little more obvious.  A promotional calendar was sacrificed and the turn pages were printed and stuck on to cut down pages with double sided tape.
Now as each turn is completed, the page are turned and the current turn is displayed on both sides.  In this way not only the players but also any spectators are kept informed.

Here is a copy of the turn pages as a PDF.
I have added the Outflanking distances on turns 3 to 5 and the turn 6 ending die roll too.

Order Dice vs Normal Dice

All in the right order

Bolt Action revolves around the order dice each unit needs to make a move.  There are six orders:
1. Fire
2. Advance (and can fire)
3. Run (No firing)
4. Ambush (Fire if someone comes into sight)
5. Rally (Attempt to recover from pins)
6. Down (Drop with hands over head)

Initially we used normal dice and we all knew which number matched the appropriate order.  Then we tested our methods with a new player. Matching numbers to orders was another thing to worry about rather than what the actual orders meant for his units.  Good Point.
I was discussing this with Ian from War and Peace Games.  As part of his sponsorship of our demo games at Cancon 2014 he provided us with some order dice.  Thanks, Ian.
In combination with the marvellous dice bags my wife made and this part of playing the game is greatly improved.

Bolt Action and Commando War Comics

Important Research Material

I recently realised that some of the young lads that we were teaching how to wargame were lacking in some important background information.
They had already passed the first test.  They could make proper gun and explosion sounds.  No "Bang Bang Pew Pew"s here thank you very much. But I was wondering why my boys seemed a step ahead in the story department until we asked the question, "Have you guys read any war comics?"
The blank looks told us all we needed to know. It was time for some education.
Bolt Action rules have the definite flavour of a Commando War Comic. With the combination of the randomised elements caused by bad dice rolling and style of play encouraged by he use of pins and unit activation dice, every game seemed to have many 'Commando Comic Moments".  These are those moments in a game crying out for word balloons to get the full effect.

A Commando Comic Moment

We promptly searched in our home library and gathered up our collection of war comics.  Now this is some homework the boys don't mind doing at all.

On a whim, I went online and discovered you can now subscribe to Command Comics online and for 4.99GBP a month (about $8.50 Australian) and get 8 comics a month.  These are readable online or on your iPhone or iPad.  That's pretty good value for just over $1 a comic. And they won't get destroyed by the younger children.
The only downside is that the software is not very efficient.  It works out at around 90mb a comic, which mean over 700mb downloads a month.

Being in a philosophical mind, I had a discussion with my wife about what makes the Commando Comics special. There used to be a number of companies that made war comics, but the Commando comics were always preferred.  The stories do not glorify war.  Sure, they are centred around war and have lots of explosions, dead guys and hardship.  But that is not the focus of the stories - it is more the background to the real story. The central plot to the stories tend to revolve around the benefits of truth, bravery, resolve, trustworthiness, honesty, friendship and good humour.

All in the family

Can you make a dice bag? With a smile!

The good thing about miniatures wargaming is that not only do you have the thrill of victory and agony of defeat in battle during a game, but you can also express your creative side with scenery, painting and resources.
For us this means there is enough interest to go around the family.
Each of us has differing levels of interest in the various aspects of the hobby. My lovely wife and daughter have been helping in building all the laser cut buildings we have been fortunate to obtain.
After visiting MOAB I realised that a dice bag worked better than a cup.  I had suspected that a cup was not optimum when our younger children help by pulling dice. In one game Peter had about 5 dice in a row.  Looking over at my 6 year old son, I realised he thought his intervention was helpful to Peter.  Now we have a couple of fantastic lined bags with pull strings to store the dice as well as use during games.

It takes two to paint a bridge and another to make a church.

The Pegasus Bridge model was so big it was a family affair building and painting it.  My wife and I spent a couple of evenings gluing it together, then James and I spent over a spray can's worth of paint undercoating it and the Peter and I painted the finishing touches.  In the background of the photo James is painting a marvellous laser cut church we have built.  Once we have put in all the fine touches we will have a new blog pot.
We will soon put up another post showing the magnificent Ground Hotel Complex by 4Ground.

And the other good thing about drawing in so much of the family?  We get to take over the kitchen table without too much fuss!

Line of sight solution - a Periscope!

Can I see the enemy?

On the tabletop there is always the challenge of "Line Of Sight".  Even though you, the player with such a height advantage, can see all the figures on the table, the little men doing your will (mostly) don't have the same view.
Often this is solved by dropping yourself down to table top level, squinting and saying, "Oh yeah.  I can see him." (which is mostly true)
But what happens if there is terrain in the way?
That is why we have created our own periscope.

Materials Required:
Two mirrors cut into rectangles 45mm x 75mm.
(We did this with a cheap mirror from the thrift store and a cheap glass cutter.)
Some thicker cardboard
(We went to a picture framing store and asked them what they did with all their used matt boards. Once we explained what we wanted them for - modelling and wargaming - they gave us a huge pile.)
PVA glue to keep it all together.

Yep. There he is behind the building. Fire!

The building plans we have created.

Steps:
1. Print out the plans on plain paper. Although the plans are for A4, they will also work fine on US Letter - just avoid scaling.
2. Trim down the print out and then glue the sheets to the cardboard.  let dry as it is easier to cut and trim when the PVA has dried and stiffened the paper and cardboard.
3. Cut out all the pieces - basically trim away the grey parts.
4. Score along the dotted lines.  You should use a knife to cut about half way through the cardboard, This allows an easier fold while providing the strength of the cardboard for the join.
5. Fold over the mirror supports (C). These glue right onto the back of their adjoining side.  Ensure the bottom sides are the same to make sure the angles remain at 45 degrees.
6. Glue mirror supports (D) to the bottom of the long sides, making the long edges of the triangles parallel.  Think about how light travels between mirrors and it will make sense.
7. Glue the tabs (A) and (B) to make the box.  Make sure the bottoms line up and the box is square.
8. On one end, glue the mirror onto the supports.  Then glue the base support tabs onto the outside of the box.  Do the rear and the sides.  This leave the opening right under the mirror.  The bases provide support for the box as well as protection for the mirror and questing fingers away from the mirror edges. Remember we want simulated blood on the battlefield, not the real stuff!
9. Do the top end the same way.
10. Check that the mirrors are parallel by testing the periscope. Look in the top bit and if the bottom view is horizontal and not on a lean, you have done it.
11. For additional strength we used some Duct Tape on the edges.

There you have it.  Not only will a periscope solve many line of sight issues, it also is pretty nifty seeing things from the same level as your fighting guys.  For demonstration games, spectators love going around using the periscope to get the soldier's eye view.

Bolt Action Unit Cards

A unit card for a standard German Infantry squad

In January 2013 at the Cancon convention in Canberra we discovered Bolt Action.
I first began my wargaming life many years ago when I was 12 years old after becoming hooked at a wargaming demonstration day.  Bolt Action looked like just the thing to do the same.
Over the years my wargaming collection has been mostly in storage until my sons were old enough and displayed enough interest.  Now they have. And unlike when I was 12, I now have some funds to get some really nice figures and scenery.
I consider a public participation game to be a success if a raw beginner can join in and tell their parents or friends, with a light in their eye, how the game went. “Dad!  My tank went and blew up his tank, but then it got immobilized and then blown up.  But my men shot his and captured the house!”  All with appropriate gun noises of course.
Bolt Action is perfect for this type of game for a number of reasons:

• The method of determining who moves means something is always happening.
• Six or seven turns fits perfectly in a 2 to 2.5 hour game.
• 28mm figures and scenery look great.

The only problem for beginners is the rulebook page flipping.
In a recent WWPD Bolt Action Forum article I saw Unit Cards in action.  “Perfect!” I thought and went about designing some that would look great in a public setting.  With Unit Cards and the new double sided Play Sheets, most players rarely have to look in the book to play the game.
The Unit Card tells the player ranges, shots, penetration and everything critical.
Here is a copy of the Bolt Action Unit Cards in Excel Format. There are sample cards for each unit in the Warlord Games Start Army sets.