This is the first time I've taken on the responsibility to do something like this and I am pretty excited for it. The game is very young so seeing the growth behind it will be great. Bolt Action pretty much sells itself; the models are great, the prices are much better than GW (about 1/3rd the price) and the size of the game is much smaller. You can get 1,000 points of models (all you'll ever need), the rule book, and order dice for about $150. You don't have to start at 1,000 points, of course. You could start smaller and get in slower.
These are pics from our second demo at Michigan Toy Soldier shop. Andrew ran up on me and destroyed my PZIV very quickly. They had some really sweet terrain (of course, at an amazing model shop they'd have that) for the one table they had.
It is harder to write a battle report for BA since it isn't just IGO UGO. You'd have to keep track of basically every activation, unless you just wanted general notes. I'll try some video battle reports once all my stuff is painted. I currently am collecting:
1,000 points of Germans (painted mostly in west Europe colors for 1944-45, but could be eastern front)
1,000 points of US Airborne (from Offensive Miniatures)
1,000 points of US Marines
1,000 points of Japanese Imperial Army
This is a pretty big start but again, the armies are pretty cheap, and the Marines and Airborne can share some items. At this point I don't really need any Skorne stuff, I don't need or want any GW stuff, so this stuff can makeup my hobby purchases.
I picked up an $8 front door mat and cut it up into strips using a box cutter. Then I spray painted them with various shades of green to make them look like hedges. I glued cork on bottom to hold them together. The fields are carpet samples from Home Depot spray painted various shades of green to look like farm fields. Roads can be pretty important and were always fought over, so I made some using foam board and spackle spray painted brown. They all turned out pretty well.
The buildings are sold pre-painted from 4ground terrain. They're about $30-40 for each house but they're pre-painted and look amazing. The pre-painted part is worth it alone.
I have started using Vallejo paints for my Bolt Action stuff. They have turned out nicely. I've been using various guides found online, but mostly Mick Farnworth's at Artizan. The bases are 'flat' - they're not beveled or lipped like GW or WMH bases. At first I thought that'd be lame, but it has actually just turned out fine. I picked up 100 flat bases from Litko for under $10 for any models that didn't come with a base.
One of the biggest things I like about playing Bolt Action is the ability to weather the models so they look like they're actually fighting and adding stowage and gear to troopers to make it look like they're campaigning. Unless you're an occupying force all the gear you need you have t carry or stow on a tank or truck. The stowage boxes come from Company B and the bags, tarps, and blankets come from Warlord. It is really easy to paint and I think they make your tanks pop so much - they don't look just like they're off the parade ground, they look realistic like they're actually out in the field.
So far I think the biggest thing I've missed when playing is to make sure to subtract from the to-hit roll when you have pins on yourself. I keep forgetting that. Other than that the rules are so simple that it makes it pretty easy to play.
I hope to have my US Airborne painted up next so I can provide demo games between germans and airborne. After that I'll work on Marines and Japanese to have that theater covered. I hope by Foodmachine / hammer to have two themed tables to setup with terrain - one France table and one Pacific island table. Keep watching the blog for more on this exciting new game!
very cool! still have to get some british troops going!
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