Bolt Action in 15mm

[Northern Monkey]

Im thinking of starting a Bolt Action force in 15mm, the game itself is quick and easy – perfect for club nights, and 15mm is both cheaper and faster to paint, does anyone have any suggestions for playing it in 15mm, the two games I have had so far seemed Ok with leaving the ranges/movement as is. Also can anyone tell me how compatible with each other the various 15mm ranges are, im looking at Forged in Battle, Battlefront & Peter Pig. Finally are the Bolt action dice necessary, as I have used different coloured dice and counters so far without any noticeable drawbacks?

My attempt at a Blog: http://ablogofwar.blogspot.co.uk/

[Just Jack]

For what it’s worth:

1.  I would leave the distances/ranges the same, or play on a 3′ x 3′ and have all weapons but pistols, SMGs, and bazookas/PIATs able to fire across the entire table.

2.  Don’t know about Forged in Battle, but Battlefront is noticeably bigger than Peter Pig.  Just a hair taller, but much bulkier.

3.  You don’t need special dice.  You can use cards to determine who’s turn for activation, and really the only order status I recall needing to mark was overwatch.

Hope that helps.

V/R,
Jack

[Rod Robertson]

Northern Monkey:

Bolt Action lends itself to club games because it is so straight forward and easy to learn. However the game rewards aggression and penalises defending a position. Thus even in defence the game forces aggressive manoeuvring and firing on all sides. So meeting engagements are the best way to go for BA games. There is no need to tinker with the ranges and movement rates for 15mm mini’s unless you need to use a smaller playing area. The game produces some strange results and I read somewhere that rather than being “the game of the battle”, it’s better likened to “the game of the movie of the battle”. But there is no denying it’s a lot of fun and easy to learn and master. I hope you and your gaming mates enjoy yourselves.

Forged in Battle and Battlefront infantry minis will be a bit bigger/bulkier than the PP minis but I mix them quite happily, so it should be little trouble.

The BA dice are not necessary at all. You can use regular dice of two different colours and let the numbers represent the actions options. For pin markers we use tiny red dice with the number representing the number of pins accumulated.

What types of forces are you considering? Early war, mid war or late war? Western Europe, Eastern Europe, The Meditterranian/Africa or the Pacific. I have found that the game works best with Early war troops and vehicles.

Cheers and good gaming.

Rod Robertson.

 

[Northern Monkey]

Thanks for the replies, Im probably going to get a British Airborne platoon, simply cos Arnhem is my favourite battle and I have painted up (20mm) British paras before so know how to paint them up quickly, for opponents I want something different than standard Heer and don’t want SS so Im thinking of Fallschirmjagers, I am not planning on adding any armour as I’m of the opinion these can ruin a skirmish game, though I am planning on a couple of airborne jeeps and maybe a 251/1.

My attempt at a Blog: http://ablogofwar.blogspot.co.uk/

[kyoteblue]

I played Bolt Action in 20mm   but didn’t care for it.  The scale size was fine but the rules meh….

[Northern Monkey]

I know what you mean KB, I personally prefer Rules of Engagement by Great Escape Games, however we have never managed to finish a game of that at a club night, Bolt Action for all its faults does lead to a quick and fun game, which are the main requirements for club nights

My attempt at a Blog: http://ablogofwar.blogspot.co.uk/

[Thuseld]

I had a couple of games in 20mm and the scale was okay. The rules are are so okay but I don’t really have space for that size anymore.

My only useful input is that I made my own dice. Someone made a blog post somewhere where they had the faces of the dice you could print. I bought really cheap blank dice for like 20p each and then glued the faces on. Simples.

Experiments here: http://inexperiencedmodelmaker.blogspot.co.uk/

Tranquil Stars updates: https://tranquilstars.wordpress.com

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