Bolt Action: Armoured Platoon list released early!

Bolt Action: Things up next! Soviet Nation & Armored Formations!

Bolt Action: Rules Summary in French

Bolt Action: Night Fighting Rules

Unboxing and assembling Plastic Bolt Action BRITS!

Hi all,

Today I am going to go throught the unboxing and assembly of the Bolt Action Plastic British Figures.

British Plastic Boxed Set

The box comes with 25 plastic soldiers on 5 Sprue, and Weapons on 3 Sprue.  As an added bonus you also get shoulder markings of waterslide decals!  This of course creates a problem for me, for now I have to research the rank structure of Brits in WWII to make sure I have the proper chevrons on the rightful shoulder!

Each sprue comes with 8 heads, for 5 bodies.  Good variety there.  The only thing that I noticed was that there wasn't an obvious "Officer" head like in the German Box set.  I am of the opinion that purchasing the British command section will be vital for anyone starting a Standard British Force.

Additionally you get 3 sprue of weapons that offer a good number of weapon options to build a well rounded force.

This is the list I am assembling for 1000 points and the products I am using to assemble it!

138 (V) Captain +1 Man

030 (V) Medic

065 (V) Sniper

075 (R) 6Pdr Gun

187 (V) M5A1 Stuart + HMG

084 (V) Universal Carrier

084 (V) Universal Carrier 

086 (R) Infantry x8 +SMGx2
073 (R) Infantry x5 +BREN+SMG
086 (R) Infantry x8 +SMGx2
070 (R) Infantry x5 +BREN
020 (R) FAO+2

I am using the Brit Command Blister to supply the miniatures for the Captain +1, the Medic, and one of the FAO men.  10.00 USD

I am using the Bitish Boxed Set to build my two BREN sections, plus my two Rifle Sections.
                  36.00 USD

I am using the UC Boxed Set for my two UCs
                  38.00

I am using the  M5A1 Stuart for the tank.
                  29.00

I am using the British Sprue for the Sniper team, the FAO +1, and one man for one of my rifle sections.  (There are enough weapons left over from the 25 man box that I do not need to buy a weapons sprue also.)
                    8.00

Finally I am also using the 6pdr model.
                 19.25

This is a full, well rounded 1000 point army for the British with plenty of vehicles for that WOW factor all for 140.25 USD!

If you wanted to save even more money, just cut out the vehicles and add more infantry.  There is 67.00 USD in vehicle, yet only 355 points tied up in them.  You could take two more full sections of infantry and another officer or some PIATS if you wanted to (included in the sprue boxed set) for just 36.00 USD for a second plastic infantry boxed set!

That would be 1000 points for 109.25 USD and with free shipping worldwide (for being over 75.00 USD) from the Warlord Games website, your price doesn't go up!

Now for assembly, this is my way.

TOOLS
Nippers (the little baby wire cutters.  I use these to cut the plastics free from the sprue, because twisting them free can damage or break the little bits.)
Xacto knife (to trim up the components before assembly)
Loctite Super Glue because other stuff is not as good!
Tweezers (some parts not even suart little could put in place!)
Patience - unless you like gluing yourself to....yourself
Foam-  I use this to wipe off the excess glue if I get a little to liberal with it.  As I often do!  All of my foam pieces are saved from Flames of War Blisters, just so you know what I am using exactly!

I first cut away whatever section I am going to create from the sprue.  Every torso and base to start with.

Bolt Action Demo Battle Reports

Hello all,

I played a couple of 500 point games last night to demo and recruit new players.

The lists were

Game 1

Americans

75   7 Man Regular Section +BAR
78   7 Man Regular Section +BAR + SMG
78   7 Man Regular Section +BAR + SMG
100 Forward Artillery Observer 1 Man
138 Captain Veteran + 1 Man
30   Medic
499 Total

Germans

108 6 Man Veteran Section + 6 A/Rs
78   6 Man Veteran Section
162 Veteran M5A1 Stuart (Captured) + Pintle HMG
151 Veteran Captain + 2 Men
499 Total

Unboxing Bolt Action's "Wittman's Tiger"

Hello all,

Today I am unboxing and assembling Bolt Actions Wittman's Tiger.  I must say from the second I saw the package on my doorstep I was leaping with excitement.  I just finished assembling the M5 Stuarts for my Americans the other night, and I was desperate to see how the Tiger Compared.  

From the very beginning I must start with the detail is amazing.  The packaging is amazing.  It is December 15th, but Christmas just arrived for me today!  When you pick up the package the first thing you say to yourself is, Oh Man is this heavy!

The art on the box is nice to look at and the story on the back about Michael Wittman is a nice short read.  

This is the front of the package.

Bolt Action Index

Hi All,

Welcome to the Index, here it is free for download!

Bolt Action Axis Phonetic Index Link

Bolt Action Allied Phonetic Link

Bolt Action Modern NATO Phonetic Index link





I saw this as a need, I hope it comes in handy!

-PPS

Ahh the Holidays...

Hello again,

I know it has been some time since I posted an update, but as we all are this time of year I have been BUSY!

I am posting a quick update on painting progress for both Americans and Germans.

More pictures than words!

Americans First.  This is my base coat stage.  They need to have touch ups done, then it is on to be dipped.

Americans Assembled!

Back at it again,

Last night I finished assembling the last section of American rifles for my Bolt Action demo army.  I am happy with the list and look forward to facing off against the Germans in close quarters fighting. 

With a wrap up to assembly I will now go through the pros and cons of Bolt Action American Figures.

Pros

These miniatures are highly detailed, well sculpted, and for the most part fit together perfectly in many different poses.

The ability to customize each figure, even while duplicating exact parts across multiple figurines, simply by changing the position of the figures components is really cool.

The ability to select each weapon for each infantryman and accurately depict your exact force is great, and will come in very handy to enable differently armed figures to wage their own unique forms of war on the battlefield.

Cons

With the ability to customize each figure comes the inherent issue of time consumption.  I am a father of two young children and work full time in a job outside of the gaming industry.  I do not have the luxury of spending all day playing games and calling it my "work" like some other fellows in the world. 

With this in mind, if you have similiar circumstances to myself I would recommend looking into the boxed sets that are single molds and not customizable, such as the British Airborne, Italian Paratroopers, German Elite boxed sets, etc.. so that all you have to do is glue to base, prime and paint. (Just remember the solid cast pieces are white metal, a concern on a different level for your children.)

I spent at least 4 hours trimming and assembling these 25 infantry.

There is one of the body poses that has either bad casting, or bad sculpting on the right foot, but with a little trimming you can shape it up quite easily.

One thing that stands out with all of these figurines is that they have been scuplted in such a way that they all seem to be hunched over.  While this would be quite natural on the battlefield, it is a shame that I will not be able to see the detail on the figurines faces while they are deployed on the board.


All in all I am extremely pleased with this set and look forward to getting some paint on them.

-PPS

Bolt Action Americans Part 1

Welcome back!

Today I am going to unbox and begin assembling the American forces for my bolt action 500 point list.

UNBOXING

These two pictures show the very helpful guide to the contents of this Bolt Action boxed set.

The first side of the insert in the picture below states all of the details of the weapons sprue.  This includes exact descriptions of every item in the sprue, helping you ensure that you are putting the weapon you intend to on each figure.  (This helps those of us who are not altogether experts on the various ground weapons used in WWII!)

The picture below shows the second side of this guide goes through and details the purpose of every part on the infantry sprue.  It details which hands and arms are defined to fit which weapons, and what components work well with each other.

Below is a picture of the weapons sprue itself.  In the American box set you get 3 of these.

Bolt Action Begins.....

Hello again-

How and why I decided to begin playing Bolt Action responsibly.

I decided to take a new approach to entering this game system than what my previous motivations have been with other systems.  My ventures into table top gaming began with Flames of War.  I decided with a few friends to start playing that game, and we collectively dove in headfirst....without looking. 

I was guilty of snatching up boxed sets and blisters as they became available at "bargain" prices on ebay before I had the vaguest notion of how to build an army list.  Needless to say, some of my first purchases remain un-played and unpainted.  They did seem cool at the time.....

Bolt Action Jitters....

Today was another day of sadness.

I know you all have shared the same kind of day as what I endured today.

Initial pricing of terrain for 28mm battles

Well it is official,

I have 2 bolt action beginner armies on the way.  This of course will lead to my initial blog WITH PHOTOS for the unboxing!  In preparation of receiving the armies, and with nothing to work on yet I began looking towards what would be needed and could be used for terrain last night.

Hallelujah!  28mm miniatures have an entire, well established miniture railroad scale that matches up with them! 

Bolt Action The Red Army

I too am digging in with Bolt Action, a Infantry minitures game, I am not a tanker.  I along with a few friends at our local game shop have been looking at this game for awhile, we even had a copy of the new rules set.  I initially bought the Bolt Action Warlord Games German Infantry set, and found that assembling these figures in any form of realilistic poses was difficult withour heating and molding the arms and legs to 'fit' the weapons and gear. Being 28mm figures yes were easy to paint and the 'plastic' moldings were excellant, but assembly and the price were negatives in my book.

Exploring further I found The Plastic Soldier Company who I bought my new 15mm Flames of War Russian Red Army at 1/3rd the price of Battlefront minitures

Man oh Man Bolt Action, where to begin?

Hi again,

Tonight I am going start my journey into "Bolt Action" a Warlord Games creation.  I received my rulebook today with my nifty FREE British Red Devil