List Building

Avast ye mateys, once again Talk Like a Pirate Day is upon us; this buccaneer is going to tell you how to take the first steps in playing the game which commemorates this day every day, Blood and Plunder. I was shanghaied onto the B&P sloop for well over a year now, and I have shared some grog with the swashbucklers at .

Many of you have read about the game and some of you have even played it. I know a lot of folks are like scurvy dogs who see the names like Sea Dogs, Les Enfants Perdue, and Freebooter and get confused on how to actually buy a force for this game. To be honest is easier than walking the plank. With this article, you will learn the ropes of this game and be able to tell a mizzen mast from the poop deck.

When I first started playing this game I was able to use to build my force, however, the folks from Firelock starter their own that includes all of the new forces, including those from No Peace Beyond the Line. I will take you through this excellent force builder and talk a bit on how to build a list.

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.