"Rarity in Bolt Action" Topic

I really have no beef about the point cost system. Its a good way to keep the forces roughly equal, and allow the players skill to make the difference. What I would like would be a rarity point assigned to each unit with a maximum allowance for units not found in the theater or time period. There could also be restrictions for using units that were not in service in the assigned period.

I think that would be a nice addition as well. we tend to do more historical scenarios so that ends up being built into our games but it would be nice to have just the same.

What if you're using Konflikt 47 units?

Obviously they would have a fictional list that at least would put some limits that were plausible given the assumptions of the genre.

I do get tired of seeing king tigers in every game.

Excellent idea.

For scenario games, and even most pick-up games, historical compositions are easy enough to manage.

For tournament, I think it's more a matter of the tournament organisers developing frameworks that support historical themes. A couple of other small-force games that I have long enjoyed for both general and tournament play have developed ways of doing this.

I think I've played in 1 15mm DBA tournament in the last 25 years or so that didn't require historically themed armies for the time period and geographical area. Bolt Action armies are about the same figure count as DBA, so a culture of historical theme competitions could be developed.

One option for helping to build up that culture is to have a recommended theme. Prizes for Overall Winner, In-Theme Winner, and In-Theme Best Painted. Folks with only one army aren't shut out, but history is encouraged. A good lead time on the tournament announcement also encourages players to build towards the theme. This sort of system has worked very well with Blood Bowl tournaments run on various themes.

I believe that in Advanced Squad Leader at least the vehicles have rarity factors. If you know an ASL player in your area you might ask them.

It has been sometime since I have looked at the Bolt Action books. But didn't the Army Books have theater lists that guided a player's choice in what is both required and what is not allowed?

Yes, the Theatre lists are a great help for players who aren't into research.

To be fair, some of us don't have time to do all the research we would like to do. So those lists were good for people who couldn't do the research too.
If I have to choose between reading about Punic Wars or WWII, I will always pick Punic Wars first.
While I enjoy playing games set in WWII, it is not my main gaming focus, not even 2nd or 3rd.

Yup: gaming, painting, and research are 3 different hobbies. Don't always have time to do all 3 for every project. The research bug certainly keeps cutting into my painting time!