Bolt Action at the Crossroads

Last week Ian, Matt and I played two 500 point games of Bolt Action in an evening. It was fun to be back with these rules after a short interlude in the 3rd century BC.


The aim in both games was to control a crossroads surrounded by buildings and hedgerows. The terrain was adjusted between the two games but the cobbled road stayed the same. It was a chance to use my recently finished ruined houses from Charlie Foxtrot Models.


In the first game Ian's US Airborne faced my German grenadiers. With the terrain so compact and the bocage rule (can't be seen through except by troops adjacent), we engaged at very close ranges. Both Ian and I both did better on our left flank. On his left, Ian caught a section of grenadiers before it reached cover and it spent the rest of the game down and sustaining casualties. On my left, a lucky first salvo by my medium mortar, followed by close range firing from another grenadier section, wiped out an Airborne squad. I thought the game was mine but Ian brought up his victorious left wing squads in turn 6 to contest the crossroads. With the game ending after this turn, we called it a draw.

For the second game, my grenadiers faced Matt's US infantry. Ian shifted the terrain around a bit after the first game, inadvertently making Matt's approach route quite difficult by removing a couple of gaps in hedgerows and fences. Again, we each did better on one flank (this time on the right) and Matt took out both my MMG and my mortar's spotter. But on my right, two sections got up close to a US squad that had stopped short of cover and destroyed it. I got overconfident, sent my lieutenant into the open to shoot up a mortar team and instead he was taken out. The game lasted for a seventh turn and at the end, I took the game with two squads on the crossroads. It was expensive however: had we been playing on points lost, I think Matt would have taken the game.


To be honest, I don't think a 1000 (or bigger) point game adds that much to the enjoyment of Bolt Action, except in one respect. Namely, with a 500 point game, a lot can hang on whose die is drawn first each turn. With more points, forces are more resilient so there is perhaps less at stake. Nevertheless I do like the excitement of that first draw each turn.

So back to our running total of BA games, we now have:
Matt: played 3. Won 2. Lost 1. 4 points
Ian: played 4. Lost 2, Drew 2. 2 points
Tim: played 5. Won 2, Lost 1, Drew 2. 6 points.
I need to sit out the next couple of rounds. My score won't look so healthy by the time the others catch up with number of games played.