Sunday, August 26, 2012

Reworking the Queue!

2012-08-25 16.24.26
2012-08-25 16.24.26, a photo by The Gonk on Flickr.
Well, that didn't last long! Warlord Games' Bolt Action is on a lot of people's horizons lately. Our local Hobbytown USA ran a bunch of demos today. I wasn't really expecting much from the place, honestly. They run a fair amount of 40k and some Flames of War, but I never get down there for a couple of reasons. I already have plenty of gaming with pleasant people I already know in the comfort of our beer-filled domiciles, and their hours of operations don't really jibe with my own need for late night gaming. Nevertheless, I was curious to take a look at the rules, and had the time today, so Number One Son and I headed over there.
I won't bother with a real review, since I only played a quick demo game. (More info on Bolt Action here) More were offered, but I didn't have that much time. They looked like a slick, professionally produced set of rules, as I would expect. My initial impression was that the rules were quick play targeting large forces. There was random side activation-- chits were pulled from a cup, and if your chip was selected, you could move a squad. Shooting was buckets of d6s against a target number. A rifle gave you one die, and the highest I saw on the chart was a 3 for full auto weapons. Count up your squad and roll against the target number, which was a 3 for troops in the open. The target number increased by one for various factors-- having cover, shooters having moved that turn, beyond half range for the weapon, etc... Hits were then confirmed, based on the quality of the target (I think; regulars seemed to have a 50/50 chance of dying). Pistols had 12" range; rifles, 24". Nothing really bowled me over mechanically, but there was nothing objectionable, either.

The big surprise to me was how well the demo was run. It was themed around Operation Market Garden. They had four tables set up, one of which was the end of the Arnhem bridge defended by Paras against the German attack. It was fairly well done, and they had a wide selection of vehicles around. This table was a full fledged game instead of the demos, but I didn't watch much of it. They also had A Bridge Too Far playing quietly on their display table, which also held a tri-fold display board full of historical information on Market Garden. All in all, it was much more than I expected from a Hobbytown.

I had hoped to be able to pick the rules up there, but I guess they haven't been released yet. Hobbytown didn't even get the one they were promised to give away. However, the highlight was the prize drawing. They gave away a fair number of prizes, and Number One Son won a Warlord Sd.Kfz. 251/1D. That's pretty cool-- I already have about 30 101st and 30 German paras painted from many years ago, so it can slot reasonable well right into that. And honestly, the rules seemed quite uncomplicated and, not meant insultingly, probably something an eleven year could really get into. And, I mean, I already have the figures, I might as well use them for something!

2012-08-25 15.46.06

2012-08-25 15.53.23

2012-08-25 16.07.27

2012-08-25 16.24.26

Anyway, I suppose that puts Bolt Action onto the queue. Plus, I should really have added 40mm French and Indian War, as I have recently been painting those, and am near having enough for a reasonable game. Oh yeah, and cowboys. I bought Wargames Illustrated issued 283 on vacation, which included a Legends of the Old West scenario for the Cimarron county shootout in the Cimarron-Ingalls county seat fight. I don't have a courthouse, though...but I do have everything else.

The newly updated QUEUE:

  1. Infinity: Paint four figures.
  2. D-Day: Paint bunkers. Touch up beach. Run game. Paint Rangers, LCAs.
  3. Napoleonics: TBD, probably paint cavalry, run game, paint for Russians.
  4. Lord of the Rings/SAGA: Save cash. Buy Anglo-Saxons, determine what else.
  5. Prehistorics: Base Neanderthals. Make fire, burned out counters. Snow cloth. Run Tusk. Run dino hunting.
  6. Cowboys: Build courthouse. Run Cimarron counthouse game.
  7. Bolt Action: Buy rules. Finish bases on 101st. Run game.
  8. French and Indian War: Paint 20 militia. Paint 20 Indians.

The reason I need to save my shekels is that I broke down and went in on the Reaper kickstarter. It was just too ridiculous a deal to pass by. I will trade the motorcycle Sophie in for some of the extras, and threw a little extra money in for more.

10 comments:

  1. I must remember to trade that Sophie.. I really hate it. Everybody's bolt action and Open fire talk has me riled up for Weird ww2 action now. Curses!

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  2. I just managed to keep away from the Reaper Kickstarter, it was a close call though. Boltaction Rules do not interest me even though the company is just down the road from me

    Ian

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    1. I have a twinge of buyer's remorse on Reaper. I really didn't need the figures. At least, not right now-- but I do end up buying a fair amount of Reaper figures, so I think long term, it's going to be a great deal for me. And there are a few figures in there that I've specifically wanted for a while-- the $10 add on giant Earth Elemental, which is regularly $40, and the extra skeletons.

      Bolt Action, well, we'll see about that. It's a mild curiosity, and a chance to play with some old figures. I don't see myself buying a lot of 28mm WW2. We'll see if Son Number One takes a shine to it.

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  3. Too bad the guys at Hobbytown never made that sort of concentrated effort for FOW games or any other historicals. Even when I went there with my full terrain set up and a nice historical scenario, I had to fight for space with the 40K crowd (with almost no terrain on their tables, each of which was wall to wall with unpainted minis).

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    1. Yeah, we'll see. They were collecting names of people who visited, and best times to play-- but only phone numbers, no e-mail addresses, so it didn't look so much like they were going to use it to try and corral people in, just prize win notifications. Looked like a wasted opportunity to me. The guy kept mentioning they played every Friday at 2:00 PM; really, not that useful to most people, I think.

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    2. That was the same experience I had there 5 years ago. No email contact, no forum, no dedicated historical time. So why do I want to drag myself 30 minutes across town to maybe run into another historical guy and maybe get some table space from the 40K guys. And as an added bonus, they frequently booted the gamers from their room back there to host birthday parties or the Hot Wheels swap meet.

      Selling games was obviously not high on the priority list.

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  4. Got any extra 40mm FIW? Cash money.

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    Replies
    1. I don't think so-- I'm going to paint up what I have, then look at another order.

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    2. Let me know before you order.

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