What with one thing or another we have been playing a lot of Bolt Action recently. Driven by our enthusiasm for this fun game we’ve also been podcasting to go along with it. Home Guard Radio (Ep.1 + Ep.2) is unleashed on the world and is hosted by 6s2Hit.
Bolt Action (Warlord Games) is an historically flavoured rule-set. It’s a tea & curry kind of game being that it is rules light, simple, and given the unit activation mechanism you have park your serious side for the duration. I have found that my favourite tactics can still be applied and this makes me happy.
In terms of painting & modelling I have decided to go with the Afrika Korps (Perry Miniatures) with tanks by Blitzkreig Miniatures because (1) I am a huge fan of the Perry twins’ work, and (2) It allowed me to do mixed colours on each model due to the nature of their uniforms and the effects of sun bleaching. To get them onto the table I have applied base colours to all the models. Further work will be the usual application of a shade and one or two highlights, then unit markings.
The following comes to 750 points on the nose. I used the online list builder for Bolt Action by EasyArmy.com to generate a pdf for game play.
Work in Progress
The minimum two squads and HQ for the Reinforced Platoon. These are fielded as Veterans in the game.
A third squad and the two MMG Teams made legal by using the Rommel’s Defeat list; also Veterans. You will notice that I have been having fun with the basing so far. The models went onto the base and gaps disguised with liberal application of wood putty (picked it up in a tube from a local DIY centre), add some slate for rocks, sand, and leave the occasional space for application of Games Workshop’s Agrellan Earth technical paint. (This cracks when drying!).
I undercoated the models with a liberal coat of German Dunkelgelb (Plastic Soldier Company) which gave me a great starting point.
An Anti-tank rifle team, 37mm PAK 36, and PIII Ausf G; all Regular.
The game has a counter-draw mechanic to activate units. The effect is that you can never be sure when your next unit will activate: real fog-of-war stuff. Caroline’s Classics makes embroidered dice bags and, through her partner Nick (a regular gaming buddy of ours, if you’ve read previous posts), has supplied some of us with terrific pieces of work. Here’s the surprise they presented me with:
Game On!
Andy
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