I remember growing up and staying with my Aunt and Uncle and my Uncle having this great collection of World War Two books and magazines that I would spend hours pouring over. I think this was when I became fascinated with the war and in particular tanks, to the extent that I was planning on joining the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards after I finished university had I not wrecked my knee in a mountain bike accident. I have always been interested in starting a WWII miniature game but I was reluctant due to having living relatives that fought in the conflict, it didn’t seem right for some reason. Age being what it is those relatives are no longer with us and with the recent release of Bolt Action by Warlord games I was able to get into WWII war gaming at a scale that I enjoy.
I have been a fan of Band of Brothers for a very long time so my choice in forces was going to come down to a choice between American Airborne and German Wehrmacht, at the time their were no plastic models available for the Airborne and I would prefer a plastic force as I would be lugging around resin vehicles and metal guns. For a number of months I thought it over and was on the verge of ordering some models when Warlord made me do it with a tremendous offer on their boxed armies. 1000 points for £65.00 including free postage, the box included: 40 plastic infantry, Hetzer Tank Destroyer, Pak40 75mm anti tank gun, MG42 medium machine gun team, Medium mortar team and enough plastics left over for a command element.
This boxed army gave me a great starting point with the added purchase of the rule book and the forces of Germany book. Shaz that owns the Games Hub decided to get the Soviet box at the same time and Steven a regular Hordes opponent chose the British force. We have played a few games of Bolt Action now and the random activation mechanic may be one of my favorite aspects of the system as it can represent the risk element of the fog of war. It also encourages the player to think on their feet rather than pre battle. Currently there are only 3 players in Edinburgh that are playing Bolt Action but the number is growing with Jason ordering some Japanese troops and Tim looking at the Americans.
My initial plan had been to only purchase the army box and then once I had a few games under my belt and had painted it to expand with a few purchases, however as with all war games this did not happen. It started with reading the recce rule I had a plan for a fast reconnaissance element in my force, so I bought something. Sdkfz 222 Armoured car, a great little kit easy to assemble and fun to paint.
Then Steven picked up some pre owned Bolt Action stuff in a trade and he sold me a Tiger 1 for a very good price and seeing as im a huge fan of Kelly’s Heroes I had to get it.
So far I have managed to paint the Tiger, Hetzer, Pak 40, MMG, Morter, 222 and 10 infantry armed with assault rifles.
The end result is that I have a large force for Bolt Action that will only continue to grow as Warlord bring out more and more lovely kits for me buy. We have a thread running over on 6s2hit where progress and game shots are being posted with some interesting chat as well. Expect more expansion and progress of the Panzer Lehr Division.
