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.
After completing my North African Italians I committed to building a set of desert terrain for them to fight in. In addition to the standard dwellings and walls I wanted to build palm groves to add some soft cover and greenery to the table. While wandering around a Michaels store I came across bags of palm trees on sale and decided the time to start the palm groves was now.
As many a tabletop war gamer has learned, the winter holiday season is a wonderful time for terrain builders. This past winter I stocked up on the three styles of Lemax mats in stock at Michaels with the idea of using them to build European style cobblestone roads for my urban tables.
I wanted to build 6 x 12″ sections of road that will allow me to easily stack and store the road sections as well as drop them down on the table as needed. I found a pack of 20 basswood sheets measuring 6 x 12 x 1/8 inches on Amazon and added them to my cart.
Nearly a decade since the release of Warlord Games’ first edition of Konflikt ’47, we are on the precipice of a new edition set to be released this September. Since it’s release in 2016, I must sheepishly admit that I have not taken a stab at this science-fiction, alternate history, cousin of Bolt Action.
I am hopeful that that will change soon as I have become more and more invested in the aesthetics and gaming of a competing science-fiction universe as well as having an advance copy of the new rulebook in front of me. As a veteran Bolt Action player, I have a familiarity with the foundational rules and an abundance of 28mm WWII miniatures and terrain. With this head start, it looks like a fairly simple leap to add Konflikt ’47 to my wargaming repertoire.
When I found out I’d be attending Historicon 2025 for work again this year (as I am Head of Comms at the videogame company Slitherine), I went straight to check the list of wargaming tournaments. To my surprise, there were no Flames of War or DBMM events—the two games I play the most, WWII and ancients/medievals respectively.
However, I was happy to discover tournaments for both Art de la Guerre (which I’ll write about in another article) and Bolt Action. Since I had a British army sitting in my garage waiting to be painted, it seemed like the perfect chance to finally learn the game and get some 28mm figures painted—usually, I paint in 15mm.
Last autumn I wrapped up my capstone Bolt Action tournament of the year and began dreaming of my next army project. This transition coincided with the release of Bolt Action Third Edition, and I drafted my new army knowing that my experiences with the new edition would likely evolve how I built and played my list. You can find the first two articles in this series where I share my original ideas and how I painted my work.
On 24 May, 25 players assembled at Bazooka Games Westminster for a 1000 point Bolt Action tournament. The tournament was organized and executed by Mike Kehs who had to move the tournament to a new location due to unforeseen circumstances. The new location featured a separate room with sufficient space for all the players and tables and was mostly-set aside for the event.
A few tables of various other games occupied the tables in the back. A variety of quick dining options in the area appeared to appease the players as everyone came back after lunch refueled and ready to roll more die and move toy soldiers around well dressed tables.
Mike’s tournaments continue to draw larger crowds each time. Being a TO has made Mike more familiar with the rules as he is often responding to calls of “TO!” from across the room to clarify or settle rules disputes. There were a lot of repeat players which is a reflection of the well-earned expected quality of Mike’s tournaments.
As competitive as his events are, veteran players are welcoming to new players and Mike often sees veteran players taking the opportunity to mentor new players. In addition to all these highlights, Mike loves to see the reactions of players when crazy stuff happens on the table such as a FUBAR at the worst possible time or a lucky 6 from a mortar that takes out a key unit.
I recently had the pleasure of attending a 1000 point Bolt Action tournament at Your Hobby Place in Fredericksburg, VA. The tournament was hosted by Josiah Nehrke and we began the day with six players. The participants played through three rounds: Key Positions, Seek and Destroy, and Breakthrough. The lower than expected turnout was likely due to the tournament falling on Mothers Day weekend and that the previous weekend was another local tournament at the Richmond Open. The event progressed smoothly with all parties respecting the prescribed schedule and the whole event had a friendly atmosphere with players joking and helping each other with rules throughout the day.
Josiah’s highlight of the tournament was the high standard for how the players’ armies were painted. He considers it rare to have such effort and care put into every players’ armies at events and the paint jobs, paired with the tables, made the event a special one. Special shout out to Wayne W. for his excellent terrain. Wayne provided nearly 100% of everything on the tables and multiple players took the time to praise the tables we had the opportunity to play on.
Brandon’s Centaur has a most unfortunate first round.
After finishing the day with two wins and a loss, I took home first place. My Italians pleasantly surprised me with how well they played following a disappointing few months before replacing three L6/40s with two M15/41s. The M15/41s worked well as they put out up to four pins per turn, if they divided their fire and had targets to engage, and even succeeded in knocking out three vehicles during the day. Fingers crossed that I can replicate this success at my next tournament at the end of May. The highlight of the tournament for me was having the opportunity to see so many well-painted armies on great looking tables. I’m a sucker for the aesthetics of this hobby and when players put effort and pride into armies that go on tables similarly decorated, I can’t help but have a great day.
My Italian infantry advance under the cover of an M15 and a light mortar.
The second place finisher was Tom Slook, who also finished with two wins and a loss. Tom’s highlight from the tournament was his Hellcat advancing out of cover, hitting and knocking out his opponents Centaur with the first order die of the first turn of the first game. That gave Tom a notable morale boost early which carried him through the remainder of the tournament. His most valuable unit was the M5 Stuart with hedgerow cutters. The 5+ upgrade allowed the Stuart to open holes in the bocage in his second game which gave him a distinct advantage over his opponent. Tom also took home the award for Best Sportsman. Congrats Tom!
Tom’s Hellcat, laying in wait on Ambush, moments before knocking out an Italian M15. Photo by Tom Slook.
Tom’s Stuart, upgraded with hedgerow cutters, hunts down my Italians on the bocage table.
Joe Dent took home third place with a record of 1-1-1. Joe’s highlights from the tournament featured the paint jobs of the armies present. The tables themselves were also a treat for the players. The tables were well designed and decorated and each presented a unique challenge for players. Joe remarked how when seeing the tables he didn’t think, “oh god I hope I’m not on that one.” Joe’s most valuable units were his Regular German Grenadiers and his Veteran Panzer IV G with Panzer Ace. Joe brought five identical Grenadier squads and used the one LMG per squad to reach out and put pins on units to force his opponents to take Order Checks. Working together, the squads stacked pins on units even pinning out an enemy squad in the third round. Joe’s Panzer Ace Panzer IV was a real menace. As a Veteran tank, it ignored pins that could not penetrate it’s armor which kept it active throughout the game and it’s murderous Pen 6+1+D6 make quick work of any target it landed it hit on. It knocked out enemy armor in and survived all three rounds. After eliminating the enemy’s armor, the Panzer IV became a mobile machine gun bunker reliably putting pins on two enemy units per round of firing. Congrats Joe!
The Best Painted Army award went to my North African Italians. Josiah emphasized how the judge had to make several laps around the armies during the lunch break due to the caliber of submissions. This was my first foray into desert themed armies and I ended up enjoying the change of color schemes. The tan and ochre colors help my units stand out compared to the more common European themed armies which I believe will help them stand out during future painting competitions.
My North Africa Italians. The desert scheme certainly helped them stand out compared to the European themed armies.Of the five lists shared, there was a near even split between Axis and Allies with the Allies taking a slight advantage.
Of the five lists shared, there was an even distributions of different factions. This created a pleasantly diverse crowd at the event.
The most common order die amount at 1000 points was 13.
All five companies featured an armored platoon and almost all of them saw their infantry supported by a heavy weapons platoon.
Every list shared featured an armored platoon with the most common armor value 8+. Armies without anti-tank capabilities would have struggled.
Of the five lists shared, there was only one vehicle that was not an armored fighting vehicle. That one was a soft skin gun platform. No transports were present which made the last mission, Breakthrough, more difficult as infantry had to slog their way across the table on foot.
Your Hobby Place, Fredericksburg, is planning on hosting another tournament in July. Keep an eye out for advertising for that tournament. Josiah is taking a break and will not run that tournament but plans on being back in his TO chair in November.
Thank you to the sponsors — Warlord Games and Your Hobby Place. Warlord Games provided a prize support package and Your Hobby Place the entry costs into store credit for the first and second place finishers.
The second ‘Armies of….‘ book is now out, Armies of the Unites States and let’s see if it lets you Be All You Can Be:
Now first of all, do I have a US force for Bolt Action? No. Am I planning one? Also no… Am I tempted to use this book to represent the 2eme Div. Blindee Free French liberating Paris? Mais Oui! …Possibly yes!
Well all right, this is something I’ve been waiting for, the first non-Army book for Bolt Action, the v3 Compendium articles written by the Community. One thing I loved about Bolt Action v2 was the many campaign books and the extra flavour they brought to the game. I wasn’t a huge fan of the many one-off vehicles that became staples of all competitive lists from the old Campaign books, but I mean, that’s what’s expected when they aren’t really playtested?
So far, in v3, the focus has been the main rulebook, the minor nations PDFs and Armies of Germany. It’s nice to finally have something for the history buffs and not just competitive play. Speaking of, right off the bat, they do mention that the lists, units and missions in the book have NOT been playtested and shouldn’t be used for competitive play, this to me is the right direction, keep it fun and historical.
So what do we get in this book? (Note the above FSJ miniature for Op. Rosselsprung is included as of time of writing)
