Operation Amherst Bolt Action Tournament - 18 April 2026

By Kreighton Long

A few weekends ago I had the privilege to attend the Operation Amherst Bolt Action tournament at Bazooka Games in Westminster, Maryland. This tournament is the spring tournament run by Mike Kehs and the event reflected his veteran TO status. Rounds began in a timely manner, questions from players were quickly addressed, the atmosphere was friendly and constructive, and the tables were gorgeous and thematic. From a players perspective the event was well worth the drive and I left with some swag, a raffle prize, and some new friends.

The tournament was well attended with 33 players competing. A mark of Mike’s success in building his tournaments was from where the top three finishers came. One from Pennsylvania, one from West Virginia, and one from Maryland. The fact that players are willing to make the trip for a day of gaming speaks highly of Mike’s success in building his tournaments.

Looking back, Mike reflected that this event was his smoothest one yet. “The more I do, the more wrinkles get ironed out.” As a player I can verify that the event went smoothly from a participants perspective. If there were any hiccups, I didn’t see or hear about them. The highlight of the tournament for Mike was introducing nine new players to the community.

Unfortunately, a group of attendees from Connecticut, as well as some other regulars, could not make it. If they had, Mike would have had a tournament of over 40 players! Maybe next time Mike! Special shoutout to Mike’s Assistant Tournament Organizers: Rob and Justin. Both Rob and Justin helped provided terrain in addition to settling rules disputes throughout the day.

The tournament was comprised of three rounds. The first round was Heartbreak Ridge played on Quarters using Prepared Positions. The second round was Timely Objectives, Long Table Edge, and Prepared Positions. The third round was Seek and Destroy, Long Table Edge, and Prepared Positions. The first and second scenarios saw armies clash on or around the center of the table while the third round allowed more freedom in how players accomplished their goals.

Mike incorporated a secondary objective for each round — announced at the beginning of that round. The secondary objective of the first round was to kill the enemies highest point Headquarters unit. For the second round it was to get an infantry unit off the opponents long table edge. For the third round it was to capture and hold a timely objective in the center of the table. For this one, the objective randomly became active in the game. At the end of the first turn, if a player held the objective, they rolled 1D6. On a roll of 6, the objective was active for the remainder of the game. If the roll failed, then the player who controlled it at the end of each subsequent turn rolled 1D6 looking for a 5+. Each turn, the chance of success improved in the same manner as zeroes indirect weapons.

The champion of the day was Joe Lint with his Soviet army. Soviets in Bolt Action stand out as one of the top factions with excellent army rules and benefit from having access to all the best features in the game: panzerfausts, body armor, lend-lease, full SMG loadouts, great armor options, the cheapest transports, scout squads, and even a super heavy mortar. Joe’s Most Valuable Units were his Soviet Scouts as he was able to use their Scouts Lead the Way ability to snag objectives quickly.

Joe shared that something he’s seeing at various games is that players need to close the gap and engaged at point-blank range to eliminate Veteran units and prevent them from going Down. “If you fail to close the distance, I can simply opt to go down in hard cover, risking the loss of a veteran only on a single dice roll of a 1.” If you do have an opponent opting to go Down, therefore staying in one place, having medium to heavy mortars can shine as they zero in on their stationary prey.

Additionally, Joe recommends players bring weapons specifically designed to eliminate Veterans. Mortars, autocannons, heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, AT rifles, template weapons, and even massed point blank fire need to be options in your list if you want to counter Veterans. Without those, lists will struggle.

Congrats Joe!

A few of Joe’s Soviets enroute to victory. Photo by Joe Lint.

Finishing in Second Place was Joshua Rogers with his US army. Joshua’s Most Valuable Units were his Inexperienced Heavy Mortars and his Veteran Ranger Bazooka. The mortars provided 3″ templates which offered excellent coverage on targets unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end. The Rangers Lead the Way rule allowed the bazooka team to make a 12″ run before the game started. Pairing that with the 24″ range of the weapon helped Joshua to get his bazooka into point blank range or an angle for a side shot quickly.

A highlight for Joshua’s day was his six man Veteran Officer Squad killing seven men of a ten man Veteran Jungle Fighter Squad allowing another unit to clean up the survivors. The command squad’s sacrifice saved his backline from being overrun and put him in a dominant position to win the game.

Congrats Joshua!

Finishing in Third Place was DJ Skovira with his Japanese army. DJ’s MVUs were his Veteran Jungle Fighters (yes, the same that Joshua had to fight off above). With Fieldcraft, no minus one for outflanking or coming from Reserve, Fanatic, and the ability to go on Ambush during deployment provided DJ with a ton of ways to play them. Combine these deadly units with an aggressive play style, and “a healthy dose of luck,” and you have a recipe for success.

Supporting DJ’s Jungle Fighters were a pair of humble lunge mines. These pesky units can block off parts of the board and make your opponents think twice before getting too close with their vehicles.

Congrats DJ!

DJ’s Japanese army and thematic prop. Photo by DJ.

Earning the Best Painted Army award was David Tyre and his British airborne. David began painting miniatures in 1991 with the original HeroQuest then mostly focused his practice on Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K armies.

When asked about tips for painters David stressed paint control. David shared, “I think paint control is very important, learn how your paints behave and use that knowledge to better get them to do what you need them to do. This includes how they flow, how their coverage is, and how long to dry.” A great craftsman knows their tools.

David has already started his next Bolt Action Project — the British & Canadian Starter Army. I’m looking forward to seeing what David does with those kits!

Congrats David!

David’s army in all it’s glory. Photo by David Tyre.

A close up of some of David’s Red Devils. Photo by David Tyre. The winner of the coveted Wooden Spoon award was Kevin Simpson. This was Kevin’s second Bolt Action tournament and Kevin took away a few important lessons in addition to the new friends made during the day.

Kevin’s first big take away was the impact mortars and indirect fire can have on the battlefield. He lost a halftrack full of troops twice during the day and had no real way to respond. A second lesson was to think twice about maxing unit sizes. He reflected on how splitting up those units for additional order dice would have given him more tactical flexibility.