My first article for WWPD was about the British Airborne. And unfortunately thanks to the changing hosting rules of Photobucket. My pictures there are lost for all time. But to be frank, there wasn’t much to see. It was a lot of blisters sitting atop a British Flag. Which my wife kept asking me if I was selling. The answer was always and still is, no. Especially now that this is all done.
We are live from Huzzah Hobbies in Ashburn VA
In this episode, I am joined by Glenn Goddard and our new NDNG contributor Turhan Buckley. We just played Turhan’s first game of Blood and Plunder, and it was our first game using the forces in No Peace Beyond the Line. We talk about the game and Turhan’s impressions of playing with Pirates.
Not too long ago I covered a bunch of fun games that I considered games, which are fun games that are quick, fun and not too hard on the wallet. A while ago I saw a for a game called from a company from sunny Italy. A lot of games hit Kickstarter and some of them actually get delivered to you, so when this came two weeks ago (it was 6 months behind schedule which is on early delivery for Kickstarter projects) I wanted to paint it and see what this game is all about. One disclaimer here, I used a game board with hexagons as a backdrop for my pictures, the game does not use hexagons within its mechanics.
By Benny Christiansen
When you get your hands on not one, but two new books; and you have a chance to get a game squeezed in during the weekend, you have to make a priority list. What is the first thing you want to look at and test!?
For me, and my friends, it was the infantry. I am a big fan of infantry, and I love the way it can move and no longer just lie down and take punishment. They are, to me, a real asset now.
The German DAK book had left the Germans with a somewhat less than optimal infantry. I don’t play the Germans, but if the lists are less than optimal, fewer people will play them in tournaments, nor even in pick up games. So the new German book, Iron Cross, has been expected with great anticipation by players who field German Infantry. I find that the book has provided these players with a good source for good infantry choices.
For those who have read my previous on my (BA) journey, I have just completed my first few BA games in a tourney at the NOVA open. This article will focus on my overall experience in learning Bolt Action and my impressions of the game in general.
With typical beginner luck, I lost my first game 0-4, tied the next game 4-4 and got wiped out in my last game. After a long day of thinking on my feet, playing an unfamiliar ruleset, I walked away from my last game tired. But I loved every minute of play.
Bolt Action has been out since the early Twenty-teens (German 1st Edition Book published in 2012). I have no clue as to how I missed it for so long.
The game uses dice to activate your units. Each unit provides one order die. Each player throws a set of uniquely colored order dice into a bag. One per unit in your force. A die is blindly drawn, and the player to whom the die belongs gets to activate a unit. This mechanic is at the heart of the game, and the random simulation of the “vagaries of the battlefield” effect it provides is one reason, I believe, why the game is so good.
Huge episode live from the NOVA Open… We talk to Jon Russell right after my first event. Jon gives us a bunch of spoilers on what is coming out over the next few months for Warlord Games such as the naval game Cruel Seas.
Jon and I talk about a new game he showed me called “”. We are then joined by Steve Smith and we talk about Bolt Action Korea, you will not get better details on this new release anywhere else! During the second act we are joined by Ed Nelson and talk all about Beyond the Gates of Antares.
By Dennis Campbell AKA Matt Varnish
Photos by the Author and Chris Fretts
Honest Ahmed (foreground) “Ah yes, come here GI Joe, have best price on allied 6pdr, trade-in on 37mm AT guns, very good, you get Masters shirt fast!”
Hey guys, This will mostly be a big picture dump from Canadian Nationals, and perhaps I will leave the analysis for others. Firstly, shots of armies before they got deployed, then gaming pics, with Day 1 and Final standing snapshots by Chris Fretts.
By Benny Christiansen
The Italian book introduced a new kind of formation for me. The Bergsalieri Weapons Company was a formation, that I found very interesting.
At first glance, I could not see myself fielding a whole formation, but having read a few pages, the potentially fun and efficient lists became apparent to me. I’m not the best of the best, but I win more games than I lose, and so these suggestions would be for players who are mediocre or similar
In general, I am a big fan of Italian infantry formations. I find it easy to keep them alive. They are hit on 4+ and capable of a 30 cm cross-country dash. Combined with the Follow Me, they are up and in the face of an enemy, within a turn. In missions where there is more than 40 cm between the lines, I recommend using the L6/40 or AB41 platoons to make sure the distance is only 40 cm.
I hope many of you checked out my first article about learning how to play . It covered the initial steps I took to collect, paint, and read the rules which culminated in signing up for a major Bolt Action event. This article will detail the list I plan to use for the event and will cover about how list making plays a part in Bolt Action and other games we play.
Make a List and Check it Twice
It has always been my opinion that list building is the game behind the game. It keeps us thinking about the game when we are not painting or actually playing it. The vendors probably see list building as the unseen hand that forces us to purchase more models and to keep the buzz going 24/7.
Why does list building take up so much of our time? I think the answer is simple, it is an extension of the game we can “play” at any time. It also represents the analytical side of the game where we try to find the perfect combination. I am guilty of spending a lot of time list building, I really enjoy it and I am attracted to games that have list building in it.
While this may not be popular with some, I think other than assuring you have a rules legal list there is no “Perfect” list or any list that will assure you success. A lot of factors in games are not covered by lists, terrain, your opponent’s forces, and missions. Nor can you predict how your dice rolls will come out. On top of this, during a game, we run into so many possible unique situations and we analyze these quickly in order to make decisions on what moves to make, as this is happening your list makes little difference, however knowing what the units can do makes a lot of difference.
