This was mentioned in the latest edition of Miniature Wargames so I just had to go and have a look, apparently Bolt Action is the new WH40K ;D
http://www.warlordgames.com/guide-to-bolt-action-for-40k-players/
We've noticed quite a few 40k players at the club coming through to historical games via BA so i wont knock it.
It's not great but it is perfectly playable with some tweaks.
The one down side is that most of the 40k players trying historical games are still fond of their power play. To be fair there are a fair few power players in historical games that have to win at all costs.
I find the pointy stick rule or telling them to go away in jerky movements is quite effective
I'm just embarking on Bolt Action.
It is basically WWII 40k.
Accept it for what it is, a fun game and not a historical simulation, and its perfectly playable.
With Rick Priestley and Alessio Calvatore at the helm what did you expect?!?!
Liked it so much I sold it back to Amazon after 1 game.
IanS
QuoteWith Rick Priestley and Alessio Calvatore at the helm what did you expect?!?!
Having never played WH40K or Bolt Action I don't know what to expect, I was just amused by the concept of selling WW2 as the natural successor to a Sci-Fi game.
In actual fact the article is quite interesting.
Having played WW2 Warhammer 40K and WW2 Necromunda it works pretty well if your emphasis is on the Game part of Wargames rather than the War.
The Stalingrad Necromunda campaign was particularly fun with the campaign rules tweaked to allow gangs ... err sections .... to acquire a variety of hardware supposedly either supplied by "HQ" or scavenged from corpses of friend or foe.
Battlefleet Gothic provided the rules for a fun WW2 Pacific campaign too.
It's a similar sort of rules structure to W40k ish, quite old school or at least GW style 80's d6 based roll to hit/wound/save sort of thing. Only without the power creep and over-cheese and ridiculous overblown EVERYTHING IS SPIKIER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE nature of W40k. It plasy nicely, and in 15mm or similar it looks quite good and feels like a decent game. In the "official" 28mm it looks and feels daft, just due to the size of the models.
As other shave said, as a game it plays well. Not convinced it's a great simulation of platoon level WW2 actions, but it is a cracking game. Assuming you like the 80's GW ish approach to rules :)
No experience with these rules, i always use bkc II or USE ME ww2 , but i must say i'm glad they exist. Seems like they succeed in drawing players into ww2 gaming wich is good. They also make some stunning models (not all mind you) with decently priced plastic sets.
Won't say anything about how the game plays, as i haven't tried it, but i guess, as with all games, everything depends on your personal taste . I tend to enjoy both kinds, be it "historically correct" or just fun games anyway so i think i would probably like it (i liked 40k too, i still play using 5th edition rules).
Not my cup of tea a tall, but as with FoW, I'm all in favour of bringing gamers to the historical aspects of the hobby.
In Starbuck's a tall is a coffee!
Channelling FK there DP? ;D ;D ;D
I was looking at the Normandy starter set... 30 infantry, 1 APC a building etc....
20 paratroopers and 10 Germans... seems a bit one sided methinks... now if they had a MKIV instead of the Hanomag I could understand it... will stick to 15mm as I have loads and Savage Worlds works really well for what we want.
I did some 28mm's for BA, played it with them, decided in that scale it looked & felt awful and then they sat there unloved. I then decided I might use them with Savage Worlds for an RPG-skirmish game. Did a bit of prep work then they all went on eBay :D
I guess WWII in 28mm "could" be good in extreme skirmish : Two Hour wargames games.
I have exactly 6 germans and 6 russians in 28mm. ;)
But, now, with the numbers of vehicles I have in 10mm, I just should base some minis individually to try BA.
I just can't get over the fact that the rules will cost me more than the armies.
Quote from: barbarian on 25 September 2014, 07:37:02 AM
I guess WWII in 28mm "could" be good in extreme skirmish : Two Hour wargames games.
I have exactly 6 germans and 6 russians in 28mm. ;)
But, now, with the numbers of vehicles I have in 10mm, I just should base some minis individually to try BA.
I just can't get over the fact that the rules will cost me more than the armies.
I did the same thing, they are on the painting table now.
They look good based on eurocents!I use 2ct for figures lying down , 1 cent for figures standing up and 5 cents for a weapon team. . (sorry about the picture, those are pithead models, but i can't find the ones showing the pendraken chaps)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02838_zps937a6e2e.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02838_zps937a6e2e.jpg.html)
(http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/petercooman123/DSC02837_zpsf065702f.jpg) (http://s1236.photobucket.com/user/petercooman123/media/DSC02837_zpsf065702f.jpg.html)
I for my sins are one of the ex WH40K mob. Although I got back into historical by first flaying FoW, which I didn't enjoy then started using Rapid Fire rules with 15mm and they work well. Have played quite a few of the scenario games from the Arnhem suppliment which can be quite tactically challenging but fun. I also now dabble with Bolt Action and I love how it plays, but I do agree you can still get a lot of power gamers who max out on uber killing units/vehicles instead of being more historically accurate but thats life :).
So to sum up for large scale battles using lots of tanks/infantry/support elements Rapid Fire ticks all the boxes and for smaller skirmish games Bolt Action is great 8)
Bolt Action is an excellent game - it has some interesting mechanisms and works well for multi-player games
At the Berkeley club we have used it for 15mm Sci-Fi including a wonderful District 9 game with Prawns, MNU, Mercs and Nigerians.
We have also used it for NWF in 28mm and the Wild West with 1 order dice per figure
We are lined up to give Plains Wars and Vietnam a try out with it
I have no idea whether it works for WW2
Alan
Quote from: Shedman on 25 September 2014, 01:58:10 PM
Bolt Action is an excellent game - it has some interesting mechanisms and works well for multi-player games
At the Berkeley club we have used it for 15mm Sci-Fi including a wonderful District 9 game with Prawns, MNU, Mercs and Nigerians.
We have also used it for NWF in 28mm and the Wild West with 1 order dice per figure
We are lined up to give Plains Wars and Vietnam a try out with it
I have no idea whether it works for WW2
Alan
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
We wargamers love to tinker with our stuff eh 8)
Interestingly....http://www.warlordgames.com/guide-to-bolt-action-for-40k-players/ (http://www.warlordgames.com/guide-to-bolt-action-for-40k-players/) :D
That's the link from the OP :d :d :d :d