Rumble in the Fort: Bolt Action tourney

By Troy Hill

After two years of miss or hit, mostly miss gaming, we’ve finally had our first Bolt Action tourney in North-East Indiana. Power Nine Gaming in Fort Wayne Indiana hosted our Rumble in the Fort, Bolt Action tourney. I was the humble Tourney Organizer (TO), and we hoped to have five tables. Going into the week, it looked like we might make that.

But, cold-like symptoms, such as sore throats, kept two players home. We ended up with seven players, and I jumped into the roster as the “ringer.”

In addition to prize support in the form of order dice, challenge coins for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, I 3D-printed some trophies. The entry fee was $10 per player, which came back in the form of three gift certificates. We awarded those, with other prize support from our bin O’prizes, via a random ticket draw at the end of the three rounds.

The forces were heavily tilted toward Allied forces, so one player flipped from his British force to Germans with a hastily thrown-together list and borrowed models. In order to sink some points and stick with available and painted models, Andy used a Tiger tank. Answering the question: What experienced player EVER brings a Tiger to a tourney? Now we know.

We did have one player drop after the second round, so I retired as Ringer. That gave me more time to organize the prize pool, get more photos, and keep a running tally of scores as we finished.

In addition to three rounds of scenarios from the Bolt Action Organized Play packet, we also included Bolt Action Bingo. I set up a BINGO card with various positive or negative occurrences (like rolling a FUBAR) and distributed one per player. By the end of the second round, only one player had earned a reward (candy or cookies). A second Bingo occurred in round three.

I pre-selected three scenarios for the event: Meeting Engagement, Heartbreak Ridge, and Envelopment. Since I knew that Envelopment wasn’t a favorite of players, I decided to alter the scenario slightly. Attacker’s transports were reduced by a Victory point for being in the enemy’s deployment zone or off the table.

However, player consensus following the round was that the scenario was still lopsided. Attacker won on all four tables. Suggestions to re-balance this mission include: Eliminate preparatory bombardment and/or allowing the defender to begin all on the table. Instead of changing points for what the attacker can earn, players suggested awarding 1 VP for each Attacking unit reduced by 50% or more, and 2 VP if a unit is outright destroyed/flees. I’ll suggest that we playtest this in our club and make recommendations to the organized play folks for revision.

As Ringer, I never play to win. Instead, I play to challenge the opponent. If that nets a victory for me, it was at least a close, well-fought game. I had fun with both games that I played but lost both.

In overall points, we had one player with a perfect three-win day. Three other players tied with two wins, and we had to go to tie-break for order dice captured to decide their order.

Winners for the day were:

• First (Best General): Eric Morrow (Soviet)
• Second: Mark Bishop (American)
• Third: Nick Leach (German)
• Favorite Opponent: Mark Bishop
• Best Painted Unit: Eric’s Soviet Tank

Having one player drop, and a Ringer playing meant no one wanted the Better Luck Next Time trophy. So it sits on the mantle above my faux fireplace.