"First Impressions of Bolt Action" Topic

I put together some first impressions after reading through the recently released Bolt Action rules. They were published over at GrogHeads.

link

Thanks, Dan

Played my first game last Thursday. Had a good time. The mechanics are easy to learn, fast and fun.

Thanks! I am buying this at Fall-In based on your review.

Rules seem to be getting more verbose and glossy picture heavy. Where are you LWS ?

unique?

activation and pinning?

looks a bit like IABSM command 'diluted' and PBI pinning 'diluted'….

This is a PDF of the core of the rules. You can make your own judgments from it.
PDF link

My thoughts:
simplistic
generic
Could play fast
quick to learn
Good Beer and Pretzels game

Looks good actually. When do you need to take an order test?

When you go to activate a squad which has pin markers on it. It's -1 to your Morale for each pin marker the squad has on it. Success means you complete the order and one pin marker comes off the squad. A successful Rally order takes ALL pin markers off the squad. But that's all it can do.

Good point Nazrat:

"Pin" does not really mean pinned. It is impaired action. You still can do things, but you need to pass a test roll to do so. If you fail, you go "Down" (Order option #6, which I do not see anyone choosing, but only being forced into.) These "Pin" impairments can pile up and that really impairs your unit (You then need a Rally [order #5] to recover). Several "Pin" markers equal what one would normally called pinned or suppressed.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

@DyeHard thanks for the PDF link.

Had my first read through the rules yesterday. I tend to agree with DyeHard's conclusions. Could be fun and fairly easy to get into.

My only gripe is the ranges which seem more suited to playing these at a 20mm scale rather than 25/28mm.

The Colonel

I all ways like making weapon ranges line of sight myself for games in 28mm. Its the only thing that makes any since for a scale of about 5'8" = 25/28mm on a 4'x8'table = about a 90 x 180yard battle field :) and easy to do for all rules sets.

Im thinking of using 6mm

In any WWII game, ground scale is going to be a problem.
In Bolt-Action, the max rifle range is 24" (for all nations!).

The move is 12" for inf. These are clearly numbers based on game play and having little to do with simulation. Remember this game is also going to have tanks and even art.

In a skirmish game, it makes most sense to allow shots out to LOS. But unless you are always planning on intense terrain, it does not always make for a good game. So they imposed a gameable limit.

I think the rules would work just fine in 6mm. You could also mount multiple figure on a base to save on fiddly moving time of single mounted figures. (The Brits seem to love this mount the figures as individuals but they need to stay withing X inches of each other.)

I say, play with what you got and use inches or centimeters for the distances as you please. The game should play about the same.

I think I remember seeing the rules that you can shot beyond the noted range for weapons but you do so at a penalty for your 'to hit' roll.

If you're looking for some more early takes on Bolt Action come check us out at:

boltaction.net

We wouldn't be covering it if we didn't like it so much!

I note there are 'codex' style army books out – does the basic rulebook deliver a fair amount of Order of Battle informnation or are the army books essential?

The main rule book has U.S., German, British, and Russian lists for late war. The "codexes" will have other theaters, eras, and forces such as paratroops. Plus special rules. Ugh.

Thanks

By the way-- the codexes are not out yet. Amazon has the German one released next month on the 20th, and the US one in January. The Brit and Soviet ones are some time after that.