Call to Arms Bolt Action Tournament – 7 October 2023

By Kreighton Long

On October 7 I had the opportunity to compete in the Bolt Action tournament at the Call to Arms convention in Williamsburg, Virginia put together by veteran Tournament Organizer Kalissa Skibicki. Eight players competed throughout the day in three rounds of games using the Heartbreak Ridge, No Man’s Land, and Key Positions scenarios.

As always, the tables were a true treat to play on, drawing in many passersby, and creating gorgeous photo opportunities. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly. Kalissa’s tournament highlights echoed this remarking on the friendly and good nature of all players, an overall feeling of relaxation, and overhearing several suggestions between players giving opponents better cover advantages and better placement of objectives.

“It appeared more like the players showed up for a few casual games rather than a tournament,” she said. A splendid day of Bolt Action indeed! When I covered last year’s Call to Arms Bolt Action tournament there were twenty players in total. This year there were eight competitors — from a total of ten who signed up. The convention organizers capped this year’s tournament at a maximum of twelve players because of other tournaments held at the same time. If you’re interested in joining us next year be sure to sign up early in case the tournament caps participants again.

A Volkstrum squad advances towards the enemy’s lines. Photograph by Jeffrey Whitlock.

After many laughs and a few cries of “FUBAR!”, the tournament came to an end and awards were presented. I finished in First Place with my Italians and captured Best Painted Army as well. Ryan Pennock, who also brought Italians, finished in Second. Blake Waldbauer finished Third with his Germans while Rich Hulvey and his Soviets finished Fourth. Jeffrey Whitlock earned Best Sportsman playing his Last Levy German list. The Axis players really had a field day come awards time and the Italian armies earned their day in the sun with the top two finishes.

Reflecting on the day’s games, I have to give my Most Valuable Unit nod to my Guastatori. This eight-man Veteran squad hit hard with two flamethrowers where a bold strike was needed to break the enemy lines or clear enemy infantry off an objective.

Paying for the second flamethrower ended up being a worthwhile investment to build in redundancy to help ensure the unit hit when it was needed.

In the first game, the Guastatori routed an enemy Paracadutisti squad off the table when one of the two flamethrowers landed a hit, creating an opening for follow-on units to contest the objective. The Guastatori eliminated a Veteran German Grenadier squad scoring a badly needed Order Die to secure the win in the second game.

In the final game, the Guastatori’s flamethrowers remained silent, but their Veteran rating, combined with Down orders, kept them alive on one of the three objectives helping to secure a win. While all my units performed their duty honorably, no other unit did more heavy lifting to see an Italian army on the top of the podium than my Guastatori squad.

My Guastatori route an enemy Paracadutisti squad allowing follow-on forces to contest the objective.

Finishing in second place, Ryan Pennock attributed his success to his L-6/40 flame tank. In the first game, this tiny fire-breather helped force a Draw by clearing a unit off an objective before being destroyed. In the second game, it rammed a truck eliminating three Order Dice to secure a victory in the No Man’s Land mission.

Then, in the final game, the L-6/40 destroyed a Sherman and tipped the scales in favor of Ryan’s Italians. This efficient and effective vehicle, taken with the Armored Car slot, helped drive Ryan up the podium to a second-place finish.

Ryan’s Super Heavy Anti-Tank Gun and Medium Mortar provide overwatch on a fatal funnel in the third round of the tournament. Photograph by Ryan Pennock.

With a third-place finish, Blake Waldbauer cited his Panzer IV as his most valuable unit. In the first round, Blake’s Panzer IV eliminated a British player’s M4 and provided infantry support with its machine guns and “Tiger Fear” special rule allowing his Jäger squad to advance and take the enemy objective. The Panzer IV spearheaded the German assault into Soviet lines dealing out damage with its cannon and machine guns in the second round.

During the assault, the Panzer IV took a hit from a flamethrower but the crew successfully controlled the fire, rallied, and survived the game. In the final game of the day, the Panzer IV rushed down the road in the center of the table to blunt an attack that ultimately did not materialize. From that anti-climatic start, the Panzer IV pivoted to the German right flank and interrupted the Italian advance on the objective. Unfortunately, that move was too little too late and the Italians made it onto the objective to secure an Italian victory.

Blake’s Panzer IV covers a road in the third round.

The tournament was a hard-fought affair with a minimal margin of error for the top finishers. A pair of ties after the second round forced Kalissa to crunch some additional numbers to determine who earned a spot at which table. She pulled the number of Order Dice lost as a percentage of their total as a tiebreaker to the tiebreaker. The same math had to be applied to determine the fourth-place finisher.

Axis forces dominated the tournament with 75% of the total entries.

Germany led the Axis armies with three participants followed by Italy.

The vast majority of platoons were Generic Reinforced Platoons with only one Theater Selector chosen.

Of the six lists I had the opportunity to analyze after the tournament, there was plenty of variety ranging from the quality-focused 10 to the quantity-focused 19 with the 1250 point maximum. Two lists brought a happy medium of 15 Order Die.

The average vehicles had an armor rating of 7+ and 8+. Including anti-tank weapons in your list was a must.

Between the six lists I viewed after the tournament, there were a total of seven transports included.

The Best Painted Army award went to my Italians. I’m attributing my success to the camouflage of my Paracadutisti and to the extra effort that went into the bases of my infantry. I won’t elaborate on how long the camouflage took to complete but taking home an award for my paint job made the time investment well worth it.

Thank you to Warlord Games and Waterloo Games for sponsoring the tournament with prize support. You can find Kalissa’s future Bolt Action tournaments at the Siege of Augusta in Augusta, GA from 12-14 January 2024; Williamsburg Muster in Williamsburg, VA on 17 February 2024; and the Richmond Open in Doswell, VA on 4 May 2024.

Happy gaming!