Call to Arms Bolt Action Tournament – 11 October 2025

By Kreighton Long

On 11 October, sixteen players gathered at the Call to Arms Convention in Williamsburg, VA for a 1250 point Bolt Action tournament hosted by Kalissa Skibicki.  This is Kalissa’s fifth time running the Bolt Action tournament for Southeastern Tabletop Gaming Organization (SETGO)’s autumn convention.

This continuity has allowed relationships to grow between the repeat attendees even if it is limited to a once-a -year interaction over a tournament involving toy soldiers and measuring tape.  The camaraderie is ever-present throughout the weekend especially as players arrive to the event and are heartily greeted by their soon-to-be competitors.

As with all of Kalissa’s tournaments, the tables were put together by David Skibicki.  It’s truly a privilege to play on the same tables that cause random passerby’s to stop and gawk at throughout the day.  Enjoy the scenery for the game photos throughout this article.  If you haven’t had a chance to play on David’s tables I can not recommend attending one of their tournaments enough.

Throughout the day, the players competed in three rounds.  The first round was Hold Until Relieved deployed along the long edge and using the Prepared Positions deployment rules.

The second was Top Secret deployed using Quarters and the Meeting Engagement deployment rules.  The third and final round was Seek and Destroy using the long edge and Meeting Engagement deployment rules.

The first and second games featured a single objective starting in the center of the table.  Armies that had the ability to rapidly move onto the objective had a distinct advantage in both these games.  In addition, with only one objective to fight over, most games appeared to devolve into a rush into the center with both sides trying to bring maximum firepower to bear in an attempt to gain an advantage in securing the one, single objective.

It wasn’t until the third game, Seek and Destroy, that players began to open up their tabletop mobility in an attempt to outmaneuver their opponents.  I, for one, found the first two games slightly repetitive in tactics as the missions were similar and would have appreciated a more unique mission for the second game.

Perhaps a round of Key Position or Breakthrough to allow an opportunity for different play styles and army lists to stand out.  Playing a similar objective on a different table against a different player did help to shake things up somewhat.

The tournament champion was Jacob Kovel with his Polish army.  He overcame open ground tables against larger gunned late war armies as well as tables of dense terrain to earn his top finish. Overall, Jacob pointed to his TKS vehicles as his most valuable units as they distracted enemy bigger tanks while beating up on infantry units.

The combination of being fully tracked with recce was put to good use as well.  In addition to the TKS vehicles, Jacob highlighted his cavalry for doing good work but really thrived in their role as a distraction.

Jacob’s Polish army benefited from their speed (fieldcraft) to reach the objective quickly in the first two games.  Jacob’s highlights of the tournament was when he successfully rammed another vehicle with one of his tanks and when his TKS destroyed enemy tanks on back to back turns earning him a draw in the third round.  Congrats Jacob!

Finishing in Second Place was yours truly. I brought my North Africa Italian army for their final hurrah of the year and they closed out their competitive season on a high note. 

My most valuable unit was my trio of M15/42s who excelled in clearing out infantry units with each firing 12 shots per round of shooting.  In addition to eliminating infantry units, they managed to score a pair of vehicle kills during the day. 

I feel obliged to recognize my indirect fire options, two light and two medium mortars, who zeroed far more often than they mathematically had any right to especially at pivotal moments in the games.

A tactic that worked well with me was saving my three tanks as the last units to deploy and then running them 18″ into a position to start doing real damage at the beginning of Turn Two.  This worked wonders the first two games when all efforts were focused on the center objective and my tanks could get there first and start slowing down my opponent.

The highlight of the day for me was seeing the other two players on my team, Brandon and Roosevelt, walk away with their own prizes (see below).

Finishing in Third Place was John Birdwell with his Germans.  John’s most valuable units were his Panzers — one Panzer 4F and two Panzer 3Gs.  This armored platoon destroyed the most enemy units, took the most ground, and turned the enemy flank in two games.  John used the firepower from his Panzers and anti-tank rifles to take out Veteran infantry and light armored vehicles.

The highlight of the tournament was when his opponent, Brandon, rolled two ones in a row in an attempt to destroy one of John’s tanks.  That luck, among other things, allowed John to secure a win. 

This win against his opponent was memorable as this was the first time one of the two players earned a victory over the other as all their previous games ended in draws.  

After the tournament John shared that he felt that Warlord Games could have done more to provide prize support for a tournament of sixteen participants.  Fortunately, this did not take away from the overall atmosphere of the event with John and the other players having a fun day of gaming.  Congrats John!

Wally Johns earned the award for Best Painted Army with his winter Germans.  In addition to winning Best Painted, Wally’s highlights of the event were playing games with the regular Bolt Action crowd who frequent the Call to Arms tournament.  Wally has spent two years working on his army between collecting, painting, and tweaking units after lessons learned on the gaming table.

Wally was drawn to this German army by the quality and quantity of armored selections.  Wally has a full hobby table ahead of him as he’s currently working on Australians for the upcoming Commonwealth release in mid-2026.  In addition he is working on French and Vietminh for the Indo-China War and an Arab-Israeli War army for use with modified Bolt Action rules.  Congrats Wally!

 

 

The Best Sportsman award went to Brandon Jackson who just can’t help but be a social butterfly.  While his four PIAT teams failed miserably on the table (soooooo many ones), he managed to keep a smile on his face and to enjoy rolling dice with a great crowd.  Brandon expressed gratitude to the TO and all the friendly players.  Congrats Brandon!

Earning the unique prize of Most Niche Army was Roosevelt Samuel Jr. with his Ethiopians.  This came as no surprise as I personally overheard people pointing out and praising the army behind Roosevelt’s back.

This army is the culmination of six months of work — most of which was spent looking for appropriate models.  The manufacturers which were the most helpful in building this army were Askari Miniatures and Empress Miniatures.

He was inspired to build an army that represents one that has gone largely unnoticed and to build an army that he could relate to with his African heritage and to recognize the Ethiopians who fought in World War Two.  Next steps for Roosevelt are to decorate his camel cavalry and imperial guard units to honor their efforts during the event.  Congrats Roosevelt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to Warlord Games and Silver Eagle Wargaming Company for providing the prize support!

You can find Kalissa and David at the following events: Siege of Augusta in Augusta, Georgia from 16-18 January; Williamsburg Muster in Williamsburg, VA from 20-23 February; Richmond Open in Doswell Virginia from 1-3 May; and next year’s Call to Arms in Williamsburg, VA from 9-11 October.  See you there!

Happy gaming!