Bolt Action Basics - Combat

[@mattcappelli5822]

Really enjoying the series. I just ordered my first squad of models, rule book, and tools needed to play and these videos are really handy on getting the basics down. Can’t wait to get started!

[@OnPointHQ]

Hey Matt, good to hear from you buddy and welcome to Bolt Action! I'm really glad that you are enjoying the series of videos, that's awesome. I remember when I first got into Bolt Action, I really couldn't for my bits and pieces to arrive. Mind you, I'm still like that when I'm waiting for anything Bolt Action to arrive! You'll have to let me know how you get on with your first squad dude :)

[@andraslibal]

Love it. I won my very first Bolt Action game in a close quarters combat with 5 German grenadiers attacking my lonely Iroquis NCO (Band of Brothers starting set) and they rolled an unlucky no damage ... and I rolled one. They all fell by my chief's machete and that was game.

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Andras! That sounds like a pretty heroic round of close quarters combat! I regularly play against my friend's IJA and I have learned to avoid their banzai charges at all costs! :)

[@mainHERO88]

Fantastic! This is the best tutorial video on BA that I’ve seen yet! Thanks!

[@OnPointHQ]

That's awesome! Thank you for the kind feedback and apologies to the delay in responding. I'm really glad that you found the video helpful. One of the things that I like about the combat mechanics in Bolt Action is that they are relatively simple. I taught a few people to play Firefight at an event a fortnight ago and they were able to understand how the combat worked really quickly. Thanks for taking the time to watch the video 🙂

[@simon2234]

At first I wasn't sure I would enjoy the format of the presentation, but actually it really makes things very clear. Thank you for your work!

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Simon, much appreciated! I'm not exactly a whizz when it comes to graphic design or anything of that nature but I'm glad you found the video helpful. Thanks for the kind feedback 🙂👍

[@basement1908]

I'm totally kicking myself for not knowing you did this series. Great refresher! Thanks again for making this Brother 👍

[@OnPointHQ]

Thanks Steve, hope you find the videos helpful! When I first started playing Bolt Action there was nothing really like this out there so I thought I'd make videos that would be useful for people either new to the game and wanted to see how the mechanics work and for those players looking for a rules refresher or reference 😃👍

[@vicsminiatures7949]

Great work describing the mechanics of the system

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Victor! I think with combat being a central mechanic in pretty much all wargames, hopefully seeing how it works in Bolt Action will help new players 😊

[@stephenmackey4571]

Such a brilliant explanation, thanks very much.

[@OnPointHQ]

Hey Stephen, that's awesome, really glad you found the video helpful. When we start being able to play Bolt Action properly again, I'm planning on doing a video where we'll have a battle report with explanations of the core mechanics included ☺

[@guylawrance2216]

Wow........Superb stuff......you have improved unbelievably in less that a year........ Great production and narration and painting of minis improved immeasurably, very impressed 👍

[@OnPointHQ]

Thank you guy, that is really very kind of you! I think since starting the channel, I've always looked for ways to improve presentation and generally make it look a bit better. I am very happy with both the quality and quantity of painting that I have completed over the past year or so. Now if only things could return to normal so that I could start throwing some dice round again :)

[@7thson726]

Excellent video mate, nice and clear presentation 👍

[@OnPointHQ]

Thanks dude, much appreciated! I think picking out and focusing on the real core mechanics and outlining these in a fairly basic way will go some way in helping new or aspiring players or answering any questions that they may have :)

[@andersschmich8600]

This was insanely helpful for me as someone just trying to get into Bolt Action, thank you!

[@OnPointHQ]

Hey Anders, that's awesome. I'm really glad that you found the video helpful. I decided to put the Bolt Action Basics series together to help people that were new to the game or had just started playing. The idea was to provide a very basic overview of the game mechanics. Welcome to the world of Bolt Action 🙂

[@BrushQuill]

Great video. Nice and informative in an accessible manner.

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Cal! I think the combat mechanics are something that most people always look for before starting a new game so I wanted to explain the core aspects in a very simple way 😊

[@IronDuke1815]

Subbed as your videos have basically taught me how to play bolt action! Thank you! :)

[@OnPointHQ]

Hey Matthew, that's awesome! I'm really glad the video series has helped, this was one of the reasons that I decided to put the video series together. While it wasn't 'this is how you play Bolt Action' I hoped that by breaking the core mechanics down it would help people understand the rules more easily. That's made my day that comment cheers and thanks for the sub, really really appreciated buddy 😃👍

[@tanksniper380]

One thing I can't find here in the comments, if say in your CQB example, the German unit won the engagement, would they get to make a d6 consolidation move also?

[@WhatsUpGazpacho]

these videos are a good overview, thanks

[@OnPointHQ]

Thank you, much appreciated! I'm glad that you're finding the videos helpful 🙂👍

[@Alpharius-or-am-I-Omegon]

Another great intro, just got sealion and gigant.

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Richard, glad you found it helpful dude! Sealion is a great book and one that I've had plans for since I got it. I really want to put together a Home Guard/villagers platoon to go up against my mate's Blitzkreig Germans. I think I need to finish my early war French before I start anything new for this period though :)

[@kenc9236]

Awesome video helps me out a lot. Cheers.

[@OnPointHQ]

Hey Ken, that's brilliant, glad you found the video helpful! The combat mechanic of Bolt Action is really quite intuitive and means that there's not much overly consulting the rulebook once you've started playing 🙂👍

[@belltower_animations992]

This has been so helpful!!

[@OnPointHQ]

That's awesome thank you! Really glad you found the video useful. Once you get used to the combat system in Bolt Action, it becomes second nature. Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, much appreciated 😃👍

[@theenigmaticgamer]

Another useful video Ste. Thanks again.

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Keith! I'm really pleased that people are finding the videos useful. It can be quite daunting starting a new game but hopefully these will prove helpful 😊

[@coltonbutton4291]

Awesome video mate!

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Colton, much appreciated mate! Combat really is probably the main thing that people look at in their tabletop games so thought I would try and include as much as a I could. It is still a bit basic but hopefully it will show new players the simple way that combat works in Bolt Action :)

[@Aelfgaard]

Ste is it? another really useful video Ste, thanks again.

[@OnPointHQ]

Its Ste yes, only my family call me Steven! That's awesome, glad you found it useful dude. Its been a lot of fun putting these videos together so hopefully people new to Bolt Action or thinking of getting into the game will find them helpful :)

[@MrMikef350]

Great channel now subbed,when taking casualties with team weapons let’s say eg a medium mortar team,if they fail there 5+ save (vets) is the whole unit destroyed or does the unit have 3 wounds due to there being 3 men as part of the team ?

[@OnPointHQ]

That's awesome, thanks mate! So let's go with your example - a veteran medium mortar team with a crew of three is hit three times. The opposition rolls a 3, 4 and a 5 when rolling to wound. That means one crew member would be removed as a casualty. If they had rolled 5, 5, 6 a roll would be required for possible exceptional damage with the 6 being rolled. This could potentially destroy the mortar and see the whole team wiped out. It is possible for team weapons to lose crew and still fight on but if it is reduced to just one team member left, it will be firing at a -1 modifier. Hope that helps 😊

[@62seano]

Enjoying the series Ste

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Sean, glad you are you are enjoying them mate! I think the combat mechanics are pretty central to any table top and probably the part that most gamers look at first to decide if they want to play it or not :)

[@smoothbrush4722]

Nice learning series.

[@OnPointHQ]

Thanks Lucian, I'm glad that you are finding the series useful! I remember beign new to the game and couldn't really find any videos outside of battle reports that would outline the basics of the game. Hopefully people will take something from the videos as they start to get into Bolt Action :)

[@zioalecpov1815]

I'm just starting playing Bolt Action and in CQB something is not clear for me. You roll one dice for each man regardless of the weapon he is carring ? If i attack with an lmg i have to roll 1 die or 4 ?

[@OnPointHQ]

Hey Alex, close quarters in Bolt Action is often short and brutal. Essentially every model involved in the close combat fight rolls one dice. There are some abilities like Tough Fighter that can grant an additional attack but for the most part it's one dice per model. This represents the use of close quarter weapons, rifle butts, fists etc Hope that helps 🙂👍

[@zioalecpov1815]

@@OnPointHQ Thank you very much !

[@TheYorkshireTankie]

Another excellent resource mate :) won't lie though the shooting did make me jump as I peacefully paint away some more soviets!

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Joshua, really glad you found it useful dude! Yeah, apologies for any volume issues with the videos, still getting to grips with the programme so that may have sounded like a full scale invasion for a couple of seconds! Hopefully it didn't interrupt your Soviets for too long mate :D

[@TheYorkshireTankie]

Let's just say they passed their green check and are full on regulars now after that taste of combat aha! Nah the sound is fine I just didn't expect it

[@OnPointHQ]

Ahh sweet, nothing like their first taste of combat....even if it was just the sound of gunfire. Onward comrades! 😀

[@youtubevanced4900]

Seems crazy that an entire unit is lost if you score less damage than the opponent in combat. say two 10 man squads hit each other. First one only did 2 kills, then the other side inflicts 1 wound back. The squad with 8 guys would just run away.

[@OnPointHQ]

Yup, close combat is absolutely brutal in Bolt Action. The way we see it is that close combat is a short brutal encounter with hand to hand combat, grenades and small arms and that initial shock of losing a handful of comrades can often be enough to make you flee. There are certain units/traits that excel in close combat but yes it is a brutally effective part of playing Bolt Action 🙂

[@Andrew-yl7lm]

Unless you're Japanese :)

[@pbeccas]

Great use of computer magic to demonstrate shooting.

[@OnPointHQ]

Cheers Paul, it certainly did push the limits of my technological to its breaking point! I'm not blessed with great technical skills when it comes to things like this, I definitely know my limitations :D