New Player Tips - Bolt Action Tactics

[@jasonrobert8098]

Loving the Bolt Action content you and Mordian Glory do.

[@darioscomicschool1111]

Thank you so much for this Video. I started Germans in November and Got a Ton of Games against a Good Friend. Against Russians I learned that I dont have enough Bullets, Against the Americans I learned I need some Flak, Against the Japanese I learned that I Fanatics and Close Combat is really Strong... Your Channel helped me so much. Have you seen yet, Bo Mortensens Channel? 16:24 How do you get your Veterans with Tough Fighter into Close Combat? Truck? Like Your Brother with Morale 10? Are the Brits a Bit broken? Or just super Strong? 19:26 Thank you for this Second Tipp! 24:11 Thank you for this One! Invaluable Tipp! 27:14 I am reading the Rulebook.. and Played a couple of Game vs my Friends which have tons of games under their belt... BUT...today I read that a Pinned Tank, can Fall Back 4 1/2 Inches if he Fails the Order Check AND there are Enemy Models in front of him(line of sight?). In the Last Game against a Friend and his Japanese put 6 Pins on my Panzer 4 with his Mortar and Howitzer. I couldn't get out of that Situation and a Suicide Japanese Killed my Tank. But now I know I could have fallen Back, with the Pins, out of the Dialed in Mortars. Or a Veteran Unit got Hit by his Heavy Mortar, I went down... but I, and He didn't know, that would half the Hits. So the 4 Inch template from his heavy Mortar Covered all the Unit and Killed em all.

[@scholaprogenium7276]

Hey mate good to hear from you as always! Love to hear that, all great points, every new faction you face teaches you a valuable lesson, it's one reason why I encourage people to try out an event or two, just to see how much you learn! I will be running those partisans I'm building in regular trucks, Tim has just been stung too many times on reserve rolls, which is fair! Brits are really strong, arguably the best, but I'd not say broken, the soviets can pull some crazy stunts! Also I strongly believe almost any faction can be unlocked, sadly some lack certain essential tools to take on the big boys though! Ah yes, those are perfect examples of what I mean by read the rules, the mortar one in particular, I've been there, cursing, when you could have backed up all along 😅

[@darioscomicschool1111]

@@scholaprogenium7276 would love to hear about which Armies are Lacking the necessary tools. I am running my Tiger tank today in a 1000p Game. And man do I now recognize the strength of green Grenadiers, Osttruppen, Shirkers, Horse Drawn Limbers with Nebelwerfer and really cheap troops. Or barebone Riffelman and Inexperienced 2nd Lieutenant.

[@darioscomicschool1111]

@@scholaprogenium7276Today I lost very Close vs Italian Paratropers. Stubborn and Veteran is better than I thought. And my 16 Order Dice Germans with a Tiger was fun. Regular Strafbattalion Shirkers were better than I would have thought. And Everything had at least one FAUST! (My Whole Army was Rifles Only!)

[@warrenshiels462]

Long time 40K player, very new BA player (watched lots of reports, have 3 armies, and played exactly 0 games…) the main rules I have a handle on, but things like staying down, or staying in ambush eludes me

[@arkenhemnall6224]

Yeah staying down at the end of the turn let's you take D3 pins off your unit provided you stay down for the next turn (and so your order dice is already used up for next turn in effect). It may be an idea to 'not' have them stay down and have their order dice placed in the bag for next turn. You won't get the D3 pins removal but if it's a squad that your wanting to get shot at by your opponent's units to ensure the heat is off other key units of yours elsewhere then having them as targets may be prudent as you can always choose to go down if they are shot at anyway (provided they haven't used their activation dice yet, obvs) Staying on Ambush for the next turn is allowed too, just keep the order dice on the table next to the squad to show it (and so one less dice in the bag of yours to be pulled). Or alternatively if at the end of your turn you wosh to shoot then roll a D6 and on a 4+ you can fire. Once the shooting has been resolved the dice is placed back in the bag for next turn. Remember that a unit in ambush can only shoot if they see any movement (whether an enemy advances, runs, disembark from a transport, does a follow up move due to winning combat etc). If the target simply stays still and shoots then they can't be targeted until the end of the turn as described above. Good luck, once you get the hang of it all its starts yo come together, took me a good 6ish+ months to feel like I kind of knew what I was doing, and about a year to really feel comfortable, and I'm still learning the game after 2.5 years of play ...

[@ralphiemay8933]

My tip for new players would be to make sure you build plenty of riflemen. Having a small elite force of well equipped guys isn't always the best way to play. Having a lot of bodies to hold objectives and take shots at your enemies from a decent range is almost always useful so you'll want alot more basic riflemen than most new players think they'll need.

[@russellwright6190]

Number one tip from me is be willing to go down. New players seem to want to stay up but if you get shot at and you can reduce opponents to hitting on a double six, do it! Also no such thing as a Maori Gurkha unless you can bring the correct model

[@arkenhemnall6224]

Well, as a moderately experienced player, I think the following...... 1. Survey the table and with the mission in mind. Try to see which side of the table you can hold more lightly with a couple of units to let rgecrest of your army overload the other side (with the aim to 'destroy in detail) 2. Bait and switch. Set up units as if they are carrying left or right, but then move them right or left to weight one side of the board 3. In an objective game, with say 3 objectives, capture one, fight for the second and try to deny or capture the 3rd if you can, don't go all put for 3 of them unless you're rolling your opponent 4. Pins wins. Try to get 2 or 3 pins on units. 1 pin isn't usually enough to ensure they are hampered. If they pass their activation test and remove one pin you want them to still have at least one pin on them so they shoot with the -1. If they fail and go down, ignore them unless you're close enough to shoot them more or then use your other units to focus their foie on another unit. I have pinned out units in an all veteran army this way before. 5. Try to make sure everything has offensive capability, so buying an MMG for trucks means they're still a useable unit once they have their passengers disembark. 2. I always take the +2 3xtra guys who the Officer. That's 3 x free SMGs and so with 6 shots that suffer no penalty for moving and firing that's another small combat unit. 6. Trucks man!! With an MMG. For 54pts Regular you have a mobile machine gun that can carry squads. What's not to live. I had 3 or 4 in my 750pts list last weekend (and with the German Hitler's Buzzsaw rule it make them even more viable) 7. Try to avoid LMGs on your squads unless they are back line fore support. Once you're mid table after the first turn your rifles are in range anyways, I'd rather take 2 extra guys than the 2 extra shots. 8. This is not 40K or other games. Big 'Deathstar'type units can struggle to bully their way round the board unless properly used. Pins will make them useless if facing enough smaller units (two 10 man vet squads with LMGs at 300pts total) will usually lose to six, 5 man Regular squads with just rifles (as the vets pump out 2 pins on their side vs the 6 from the other) 9. Rule of 6. Make sure your units typically have 6 shots each minimum so that if modifiers mean a 6 to hit statistically you'll get one hit and the pin marker. 10. If 6s are needed to hit, don't bother 9/10 times, either select another target or get a better positon (obviously work out what's needed to hit before nominatif which unit you're using) 11. Try to assault if you are 2 to 1 or better in numbers (I got humped yesterday when I charged 5 vets in the open with 7 regulars..... 😢 usually I only shoot and pin out a unit, but didn't have the units to do this, hey ho... 11. Try to have 2 or 3 units on one of your opponent's to ensure it's not a fair fight. One unit facing off against one unit is just trading off chances with the dice most of the time. 12. I view Regulars as cheap Veterans, so they dish out the same damage but have to use Down, terrain and numbers to stay alive. 13. I barely take tanks even in late war games, but that's personal preference.... 14. I played a 750ots game there and had 15 order dice, all units were combat viable and Regulars apart form the inexperienced mortar. 15. Auto-includes for me (using Germans) are.. - 3 man officer unit - Every main infantry choice (5, 6 or 7 men) - 3 man LMG team (35pts regular) - Inexperienced mortar #1 - Kubelwagon Regular (36pts) - Flak 36 (or the later war Zwilling version) heavy autocannon - Trucks, Regular wih MMG. At least 2 per list. 16. Remember the rulebook is a bit hard to follow as well there's lots of quirky bits to rules that are buried in the text and no index. Help each other and have fun. Hope that helps, really loving the game, our campaign is raging!

[@scholaprogenium7276]

Wow mate really appreciate the input, I'll be using and discussing lots of these points in the next video! o7

[@arkenhemnall6224]

@@scholaprogenium7276 well, I am honoured. May the dice gods forever be in your favour..... 🤣 I have my way to play, and a few points above really suit my play style (basically skirmishing my way forward and dropping pins everywhere) but in kill point games, if facing or needing HE or having to take-on tanks I'm a bit light in ability, but much of that is applicable to many/any list types I think. Good luck, great vids. Such a great game.....

[@lj3605]

I like to keep the officer as a 2 man team so they retain the "small team" modifier to hit. I'm primarily running infantry heavy Italians and using the officer's 'snap to' so survivability on him is a must Can I ask why the inex mortar though? Inex can't use spotters so you'd need direct los?

[@arkenhemnall6224]

@@lj3605 hey bud. Yeah, well if you position the mortar right you can see enough of the table to fire it, and if they need a better LOS then just move them. Their 60" range hits most of the table and with the rest of your army in your opponent's face I've found that it gets left alone. Just have to keep it clear of enemy snipers maybe, but even then I've found if range is good the mortar out ranges the sniper and can kill it. Remember infantry on either side don't block LOS so throwing your guys forward once you've got the mortar in place doesn't hamper you. Also, if you go Regular medium mortar and spotter that's 60pts, whereas I'd much rather take 35pts inexperienced and the 35pts Regular German LMG team. Chuck in a Kubelwagon Regular with MMG for 36pts and you're looking at 3 decent units for just over 100pts (medium mortar and 11 shots...) As for the HQ, yeah the appeal of the small teams is understandable, but with the officer tax to make him a combat viable unit (and to get the most out of 'Snap to') his unit needs all the guys he can get. There's no point using Snap to' if the officer unit isn't big enough to do anything himself. You might as well just use the main unit I feel. But with 3 guys that's 6 shots from the unit out of your free 3 x SMGs and so they are usually enough to get a pin plus a kill or two. 2 guys you can use the same abilities but obviously 4 shots instead of 6 isn't as good. Also, if facing only 2 guys in a HQ I'd simply just ignore until I was close enough and then go for them. One casualty on them and it's a morale test, but with three guys they're just that bit more resilient I think. Personal preference of course, but works for me... cheers 👍🏻

[@busterbrown3099]

Gurkhas are great, but a big part of them being great is that they are significantly undercosted… 1 point gets you tough fighters AND the ability to halve opponent attacks. Everyone else pays 1 point for tough fighters alone. Contrast that with another great unit that you are familiar with: Kaukopartio. Very good, but not for 23 points per man.

[@scholaprogenium7276]

Oh man I could not agree more, I pay 15 points a man for Sissi with tough fighter and master of the hunt, Gurkhas are such a bargain! That being said being able to take rifles and be tough fighters (or rather not have to pay for smgs) in itself is absolutely brilliant, it makes Finns great and Greeks playable haha! Jokes aside that makes 7 man ghurkas so cheap and scary blighters means they can beat any vet unit twice their value!

[@SPD3DPrinting]

#1 tip: play the game! Don’t wait until you have “perfect” list, don’t worry if your paint job is not showroom quality ( play without paint ), don’t wait to table of terrain/buildings. Jump in with what you have & roll the dice. The fun and learning comes from playing. Do not hesitate & have fun.

[@scholaprogenium7276]

100%! All the terrain etc comes with time, get those dice rolled and everything else falls into place!

[@boltactiontutorialsbybomor3846]

Think I might just do a reaction video for this one😂 Regards Bo

[@scholaprogenium7276]

Hi Bo, great to hear from you, I'll keep an eye out for it!

[@alexwhite2265]

as long-time bolt-action player at my first state tourment in 2023. in my first game took out the guy enemy officer and gave him costly victory. my friend keeps saying i have devils' luck when comes to mortars and amount of damage I do with them. to be honest Gurhas can be driven off the board i had meduim machice gun a tank some regulars and took them out comptely and call fire order down on the building and other thing all objectives landed on my side of board hard to luck my friend but he has beaten 3 times i have beaten in once and lets keep bolt action grudges match to keep going until we are old and grey and besides bolt action not all about winning i have made lot of live long friends along the way

[@patrickhill8494]

I'm going to my first tournament at the end of the month, and am getting a few practice games in with someone else who is going. Pretty important, since I have played exactly two games of Bolt Action 😅😂.

[@dreadknot69]

Could you redo this for v3 please? I'm new and looking for tips. Not sure what parts have changed though.

[@scholaprogenium7276]

@@dreadknot69 Sure, leave it with me

[@gamingborger]

multiple reinforced platoons- don't see much on that, and i know i'm gonna do it

[@scholaprogenium7276]

We are right on the brink of filming some batreps in double platoon format, it's going to be hectic that's for sure!

[@dakotah7683]

A bit off but o well.

[@scottusher3712]

As an experienced player which does not make an authority on the game and list building however some of the points made in the video and the comments are utter nonsense. 1. Close combat is not the be and end all of killing units, units can be shot off the table. Shooting adds pins and kills units. 2. Even if you need 6s to hit still shoot even if you dont cause casualties hitting will add pins. 3. Your demo of close combat was skewed as there was cover involved, not a true demo of how things work. Also the brits are within 12 inches they could charge anyway.

[@scholaprogenium7276]

Thanks for your comment. These are "big ideas", concepts to keep in mind as a new player if you will. For example, in no way am I saying shooting doesn't kill units over time, I'm encouraging new players to open their eyes to the speed of resolution that combat brings. If you want to clear a unit, in cover, from an objective and you find your opponent is prioritising holding that objective over using the unit holding it to fight back directly, then no amount of pins is going to help you. Edit: I honestly don't know how to respond to point 3 as it isn't clear.

[@scottusher3712]

@@scholaprogenium7276 My comments were more aimed at other comments made. The "big ideas" are a great idea as many people don't look at how things work they just want the fancy toys. My 3rd point I was trying to make was that the British unit didn't need to shoot at the Italians as they were clearly within 12 inches, they could have charged unless the wall pushed them out it by an inch or 2. They could have just advanced to the objective and it would have served the same purpose. With right national characteristic that British unit can't be defended against so not reaction fire.

[@scholaprogenium7276]

@@scottusher3712 cheers for the clarification mate! The distance for both Italians and Brits was 3" to the objective and 6" to each other so both could contested it, I should have had the trusty tapemeasure on screen for clarity!

[@FinnishWolfBrigade]

Nothing to add here, really. Basic tips for new players. And as @arkenhemnall6224 has listed, there are endless things to consider (and debate) of.