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Cold Wars Photo Action

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After a long weekend with all my fellow BARbarians in Lauchlan's favorite Amish town, Lancaster, I've finally come back to the (mostly) real world. Care to check out what you missed? Or, for those that were there, what you might not have noticed?


Bolt Action, ho!


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Bolt Action – A Game To Play!

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David Bruggerman is back again with more fried gold:

I have been playing wargames for almost forty years – with a large gap waiting for my boys to get old enough to play – and most of this has been WWII historical gaming. Over that time I have tried many different rules, and even published my own rules back in the early 1990’s which seemed to work alright.
The biggest challenge of any wargaming rules is the balancing act between historical accuracy and gameplay;  and there must be sacrifices for gameplay.  For example, consider ground scale.  When using 28mm figures, the ground scale should be around 1km = 14 metres.  This would prove to be very difficult to recreate on a table top.  Add in time scales, movement speeds, and before we even come to weapons, armour and battle damage and effects, we have made a ton of compromises.


That is a good thing. Some rules lean towards a more infantry-style, or more armour, or larger or smaller scales.  This variety is what makes the hobby so interesting.

 



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New Bolt Action Scenario: Frontal Assault

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Frontal Assault
By Craig Baxter 

You and your opponent face off across no man’s land

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Do Tank Armies have a Place in an Open Tournament?

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This is a question I have been pondering for a while.  Not just in tournament settings, but also in open gaming. Can armored platoons and infantry platoons fairly face off against each other?  Likely most people’s gut tells them that an armored platoon is too powerful for an infantry platoon to handle.  I have to admit this was my initial thought as well.  However, after playing in two armored tournaments, I have begun to second guess that assumptions.  Certainly this move would upset the Meta of the game.  Introducing armored platoons would require all of us to completely rethink how we build our armies and play Bolt Action.

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Painting Guide: Australian Pacific Theatre Infantry

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Welcome back to the jungle BARbarians! Bryan here and this time around I have a guide for how I painted the infantry in my army showcased in a previous article. 



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Armies of Ethiopia

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by Cbax


One thing that makes Bolt Action so accessible is the universality of its core rules.  While Bolt Action, in its current form, is a World War Two miniature war game, it can easily be adapted to other periods and genres.  We have already seen people play Bolt Action Vietnam games, and my own group has ever dabbled in some Bolt Action sci-fi games.  While it's not a stretch to lump The Abyssinia Campaign into the conflict we now call World War Two,  it was just one of the many small conflicts where new tactics and machines of war were tested before the War began. (And if you check out the article, you can play it yourself! - Judson)
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Speakeasy 21 & 1/2

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In episode 21 & 1/2 of Speakeasy, CBax and Judson begin the long, post-convention, re-humanization process, while Dano grills them for information. The recent elevation of the Japanese Army to major Bolt Action player status is discussed, as well as game play revelations that occurred during Cold Wars. List discussions! Powerful units! New armies sweeping the scene! This is a big ep, BARbarians!


(For those that don't know, subscriptions provide access to all WWPD premium content, and Speakeasy represents just a fraction of the whole. - Judson)

http://wwpd.libsyn.com/the-speakeasy-episode-21-12

A Closer Look At The Eureka Gas Mask Germans

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Old Friend of the LRDG, Marky Mark, takes a proper closer look at the Eureka German gas mask troops as part of his preparation for the Conquest tournament over Easter weekend.

"Don't leave me hangin' bro!"
I was recently asked by “Old Man" Morin from Team LRDG to do a bit of a write about painting some Germans from Eureka Miniatures as seen in his article a few weeks back.  I jumped at the chance as I plan to complete an army's worth for the LRDG’s Bolt Action tourney at Conquest in Melbourne.
As this range of miniatures is set in an alternate “Pulpitations” WW2, I thought I would paint my miniatures in a darker “comic book” style.  Overall the range of poses is great, as well as the casting being very crisp with few mould lines and flash.

Some of the poses in the range are strange and seem to be casts of other miniatures like the unit leader with SMG shown throwing the fist bump out to the troops.
Hans is ready to rock and roll!

Overall however the range is very nicely detailed, and the miniatures that I have 

completed so far were a pleasure to paint.  Hopefully Eurkea will  expand this range to make it a more viable range for Bolt Action, as there are key unit entries that are missing; but I would recommend this range of miniature to anyone who wants an alternative to the regular historically accurate ranges out there.


These seem to measure up well in scale to Warlord’s range of plastic Germans, and you could easily use some of these miniatures with rifles to represent Pioneer squads.  As for cost, individual miniature are $2.95AU each, so a squad of 10 men comes in at around $30.00AU; so in my mind, quite affordable.

There we have it! I will be working away at getting this army complete before Conquest, and hopefully be invited back to show off some pictures of it once it gets closer to completion.  
(Oh, we definitely will!)

For those wondering how Mark painted his Germans, here is a quick and dirty guide:


Painting 

I followed a easy process to get these boys painted up.

I started by undercoating them white, I use Games Workshop Skull White spray.  

I then base coat with Plastic Solider Warspray German Field Grey.

Pained the metal areas with Army Painter Plate Mail.

Painted the helmet Vallejo 979 German Camo Dark Green.

Painted rifle stocks and entrenching tool handles with Citadel Mournfang Brown.

Water Bottle was painted Vallejo 984 Flat brown.

Wash the whole model with a 20/80 water - Army Painter Dark Tone.

Layer the uniform  Vallejo 830 German Field Grey then highlight with Vallejo 886 Grey Green.

Highlight metal areas with Army Painter Plate Mail then edge highlight Citadel Runefang Steel.

Layer helmet German Camo Dark Green then highlight with Vallejo 920 German Uniform then do chipping damage with Citadel Runefang Steel.

Highlight rifle stocks and entrenching tool with Citadel Mournfang Brown.

Highlight Water bottle Vallejo 984 Flat Brown.

Paint boots, gas mask and webbing Citadel Abaddon Black then highlight Citadel Stormvermin Fur

Paint Gas mask tubes Vallejo 921 English Uniform

Wash Gas mask tubes Army Painter Strong Tone

Drybrush/Edge gas mask tubes Vallejo 873 US Field Drab

Highlight gas mask tubes  Vallejo 837US Field Drab mixed with a dab of Citadel Terminatus Stone.

Paint mask lenses Army Painter Crystal Blue

Paint flesh Citadel Cadian Flesh

Wash flesh Army Painter Soft Tone

Layer flesh Citadel Cadian Flesh


Miniature Base

Base with Citadel Armageddon Dust

Wash base with 40/60 Water - Army Painter Soft Tone

Drybrush Citadel Terminatus Stone

Paint Rim Vallejo 984 Flat Brown

Stick on turf clomps to suit.

Varnish model with Testors Dullcoat

 

New Bolt Action Mission: Domination

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During Cold Wars, both Judson and Captain TO came up with new missions for us to play.  Many of us were glad to see the new missions, and many more have been wondering what these new missions were all about.  Over the next few weeks we will be publishing these missions on Boltaction.net and eventually will be making them available in the downloads section.
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Warlord Tobu Paints a BIG Cat!

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Some of you might recognise this from the ol LRDG site.  We thought it was too good a tutorial to not bring back now that we have moved over to BA.Net.  What do you think?  Let us know on the forums!
   

Hey Guys, Tobie (Tobu) here,
So, today we’re going to paint a Panther! This particular Panther is a very pretty one courtesy of JTFM Enterprises or Die Waffenkammer (http://www.diewaffenkammer.com). The model was fantastic to work with and I highly recommend the JTFM wares.
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Lightly-Armored Vehicles and High Explosives

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Recently, in the US mid-Atlantic scene, there has been a noticeable shift towards favoring lighter vehicles on the table tops.


Why avoid heavier armor? What exactly is the draw for the lighter armored fighting vehicles compared to the heavies, or the soft-skinned transports versus their armored cousins? Why not take a Tiger tank?

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Inexperienced Troops

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(Trying a little something new here, BARbarians - Patch speaks in bold and Lachlan in normal text, as the two discuss the strengths and weaknesses of an inexperienced force in Bolt Action. - Judson)



Lachlan, you and I have both run inexperienced troops as the bulk of an army before, but many people would have avoided this in favour of more reliable regular or veteran troops. What were your reasons for running these inexperienced armies?
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AAR: Attack on Christmas Hill

Smoke Screen: Listen to No One!

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Everyone, everywhere - or on the internet, at least - wants to tell you what units you should use in Bolt Action. If not, they want to tell you which units not to use.


It's all so much smoke, though BARbarians. Just let it slide past your eyeballs without more than a quick consideration. Chances are, you have a better idea of what works for your than anyone else does!


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Movin' On Up!


Painting Commonwealth Forces in the Desert

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Howdy gang! The past couple of months have seen me locked in a bitter painting war with my brand new army: An Australian desert force from the famous 9th Division. The army was initially themed around the defence of Tobruk but has since subtly sprawled and now could now happily take part in most of the major battles in which the Australians fought in Africa. The aim is for this army to be done by Easter weekend – aka Conquest! The models are from the Desert Rats box by Perry Miniatures. Nemesis A did a great review on these a little while back – well worth checking out.



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An Open Letter to Some Local Game Shops

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After a fairly long running series of problems with my mobile phone provider I was struck how, as hobbyists, we put up with rubbish that we would never deal with reasonably outside of the toy soldier world. If “normal” companies that we deal with regularly tried the tactics often employed by businesses in our hobby, we would be voting with our feet and either going elsewhere or rage quitting. Let me give you a few examples.

My personal bane: Low stock levels. If you walked into your local grocery store and they were out of milk, eggs, and all meats except for a small section of beef and pigs feet, you would probably not go shopping there again. Why? Because it is a waste of your time. We expect businesses to sell what they advertise. If I had a dollar for every game/hobby shop I have been in that has a minimal stock of EVERYTHING (not just GW or Warlord products) I would be a rich dude. It is a worldwide phenomenon. I'd like to think that I am fairly well travelled and from Boston to Bermuda to Tokyo to Paris to… you name it… I have found poorly stocked shops everywhere. What is also universal is that they all tell me that, if I don’t mind waiting two weeks, they can get me what I need. What? Video game shops (similar market) don’t make people wait to buy hot sellers.

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Terrain Trouble

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Different game systems require different terrain conventions, and our favorite Bolt Action system welcomes the use of "true" terrain.


This is an idea we should embrace, and here's why:

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Bolt Action Radio Episode 22

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Welcome back, BARbarians, for episode twenty-two of Bolt Action Radio. Cbax, the good Captain TO, and the newly-crowned, Dark Lord of Hate and Evil, Chris Hecht join Judson for a round at The BAR. Starting things off is a quick rundown of the tournaments at Cold Wars. (Those of you with premium access heard different coverage last week.) Next up, the guys talk about their initial reactions to the optional air power rules recently released, before CBax delves deeply into his brand new, unofficial, and very popular, Ethiopian army list. Captain TO mentions that Lieutenant TO bought a Lamborghini with the money he made at Cold Wars, as well!



Download the BAR here! 






LRDG Episode 13

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Episode 13: Lucky 13

This time around the boys decide to try something novel: Sobriety!  

Join Dave'O'War, The Mouth of Madness and Old Man Morin as they break down the highlights of Bradcon 2014 in all the musical details.  Italians get more discussion and the boys look at the uses of howitzers VS mortars.  The lads also take a long, hard look at Bob Emmerson's resin vehicle range, and do a little compare and contrast with the newest and best from Warlord and Company B.   Come aboard mates and see what the LRDG are like...  without booze!?!


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