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.

King's Border Clash 2025

 

It’s time to fight on the border between Victoria and New South Wales!

Bolt Action competitions are normally in the State capitals, but now we will fight on the border. In Albury. Oorah!

Come along to the King’s Border Clash 2025 Tournament run by the Demo Gamers in Albury.

This one day event is a great way to play Bolt Action in a competitive (yet friendly) environment.

What is provided?

We will have up to 10 beautiful game boards.

You will need to bring your army of 1,100 points (max 15 dice), and all the normal playing aids and your rule book.

We also have a limited number of armies for new players with pre-built lists. No need to delay because you’re a new player!

All you need to know is here.

If you are interested in playing, the full players pack containing army list and competiton details are here:

Full Player Pack

Huge Demo Board. Play for free.

If you just want to try Bolt Action we will have an amazing demo game organised. This is a Demo Gamers event after all!

3 games during the day for up to 6 players each session. Get your friend to try Bolt Action while you fight!

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!

The 2017 U-Boat Railway Station Board

Starting to play test the board

We have been planning a new board for this season's public participation games fr some time. The core idea was to have a board which provided the following features:

1. A certain "Wow!" factor which would attract visitors to investigate the game further.
2. Lots of tactical options
3. An excuse to show off some of our newer buildings and scenery
4. A fun board with plenty of tense moments.

This is in line with our article on How to Run A Public Participation Game.

Here is the link to a couple of short videos we put up about this board as it was too large to capture in one or two photos:

U-Boat Railway Station Board Overview

U-Boat Railway Station - a look inside

Our first play-test had the road down the middle with the Railway Station and Stone Hotel opposite each other along the long edge. While this worked in the game it had one major failing.

The Russians have the Cafe. The Germans really want their coffee.

It's a long way to reach over the Railway Station

No-one actually fought in the buildings other than the cafe. Now that is a waste of good playing real-estate!
So the board has been reconfigured.
Now the Railway Station bisects the board and there are reasons to go into lots of buildings. Now that should make for suitably deadly encounters all over the board!
The other innovation we are experimenting with this time around is to have differing size paired enemy forces with non-synchronised game turns. This means that we will have 8 dice armies (about 900 points) for those that can play longer (about 2 to 2.5 hrs) and smaller starter armies of 5 dice (500 pts) for those that can only play 1 to 1.5 hours.
The forces can still fire at the enemies and work with their allies, but they will find that one pair f players may be at turn 5 and another at turn 2. Other than a most enjoyable chaos and interesting situations, players pairs joining in on an already active board are treated as "reinforcements". We expect to see a longer game in progress and in the middle a shorter player pair starts and finishes before they have completed their game! We'll see how this all works in the real world, but it looks interesting enough to try.
The reason we want to attempt this is so that more people can experience the fun that is Bolt Action wargaming.

The Australians are rushing through the Station gardens

Often visitors to conventions or events only have a limited time to play. "Just give us an hour and you'll get a good taste of how this works," we'll say and once they are in we are sure they will get a taste for more.
As always we provide all the armies and everything required to play.
You will note we haven't added any of the free stuff like Artillery observers or free armies. This is because the games are for new players and the game results in this style of game can be really badly impacted by the apparent imbalances of the free stuff on smaller armies. When they play a proper 1,000 point or greater game then these are all put back into play.

Here are some of the armies we will be using:

Finally not afraid of the pseudo-Tiger, the Allies attack

1 Hour (5 Dice) Armies

500 point 1 Hour Germans

85 First Lieutenant and Buddy
123 Heer Grenadiers (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
123 Heer Grenadiers (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
125 Heer Veterans (SMG, LMG, 6 Rifles)
50 MMG Team
508 Total: 5 Dice

500 Point 1 Hour British

85 First Lieutenant and Buddy
123 Regular Infantry (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
123 Regular Infantry (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
125 Veteran Infantry (SMG, LMG, 6 Rifles)
50 MMG Team
508 Total: 5 Dice

500 point 1 Hour French

85 First Lieutenant and Buddy
120 Regular Infantry (LMG, 9 Rifles)
120 Regular Infantry (LMG, 9 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
42 Veteran Renault FT tank
507 Total: 6 Dice

Reworking of the board

A Dalek bringing Tea to the Railway Station

500 point 1 Hour French

85 First Lieutenant and Buddy
120 Regular Infantry (LMG, 9 Rifles)
120 Regular Infantry (LMG, 9 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
42 Veteran Renault FT tank
507 Total: 6 Dice

Pz IV and Cromwell facing it off down the road

An Aerial shot of the board

The FT17 "Tank of Fear" fits in the doors of the Railway Station.

500 point 1 Hour Russian

95 First Lieutenant and 2 Buddies
143 LMG Squad (SMG, 2 LMG, 7 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
70 Inexperienced Infantry (10 Rifles)
55 MMG Team with Gun Shield
503 Total: 6 Dice

The view from the U-Boat tower.

2 Hour (8 Dice) Armies

900 Point 2 Hour German

85 First Lieutenant and Buddy
123 Heer Grenadiers (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
123 Heer Grenadiers (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
119 Volks Grenadier (5 AssR, LMG, 2 Rifles, 2 PzFst)
119 Volks Grenadier (5 AssR, LMG, 2 Rifles, 2 PzFst)
50 MMG Team
50 Sniper Team
235 Panzer IV H
904 Total: 8 Dice

900 Point 2 Hour Australian

95 First Lieutenant and 2 Buddies
123 Regular Infantry (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
123 Regular Infantry (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
123 Regular Infantry (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
123 Regular Infantry (SMG,LMG, 8 Rifles)
50 MMG Team
60 Medium Mortar Team with Spotter
205 Cromwell Tank
902 Total: 8 Dice

900 Point 2 Hour USA

85 First Lieutenant and 2 Buddies
120 Regular Infantry (2 BAR, 9 Rifles)
120 Regular Infantry (2 BAR, 9 Rifles)
120 Regular Infantry (2 BAR, 9 Rifles)

120 Regular Infantry (2 BAR, 9 Rifles)

50 MMG Team
50 MMG Team
230 Sherman M4A1
905 Total: 8 Dice

Overall we are looking at having a very busy time!

The conventions we will be attending are:
MOAB - Mother Of All Battles 30 Sep and 1 Oct 2017
Little Wars Canberra 12 November 2017
Goulburn Library 4 November 2017
CanCon 2018 Australia Day 2018