Bolt Action and 40K

[andre61 403xp 1]

I hear all the time that Bolt Action is 40K in ww2, I never played 40K so I don’t know if that is true. Can someone help me out and tell if that is true, and I don’t want to play 40K to find out.

[cazboab 2397xp 1]

It’s not true, but it’s a good enough lie to give the right impression of bolt action.

Bolt action is a unit based D6 game with mostly plastic minis from a company in Nottingham(staffed by more than a few ex gw people) and the similarities pretty much end there.

Y’know how in Infinity each trooper gives you an order? Same with bolt action, only you have units not troopers, and both players orders (represented by dice) go in a bag, and whoever’s dice comes out gets to pick any of their units to use it, rice and repeat until all the dice are out of the bag, then they go back in the bag for turn 2.

[torros 23816xp 1]

I would say  Bolt action is a cinematic/commando comic version of WW2 gaming. It gives a different flavour of the period compared to some other WW2 games at the same sort of command level

[moonunitParticipant 4505xp 1]

I always figured that people meant it’s not quite historical gaming, it’s whoever has the most competitive list wins, like 40k. I would agree that it’s more of a 70s war movie version of WWII, but can be historical if you want it to be.

[phaidknott 7023xp 2]

We’ve been playing Gates of Antaries converted over to BA equipment and tables (it’s not that hard to do), BtGA gives a bit more fidelity and has some mechanisms that BA really needs (at least our group thinks so).

BA is very good for a quick game on a club night, it’s not rivet counting WW2. It’s easier to pick up than trying to play 40K (and the endless special rules for different units), and a LOT cheaper to buy in.

Take the game for what it is, fun and quick to play and you shouldn’t have any complaints.

40K on the other hand I’ve not been able to get into past about the third edition, too many bitty rules, dice rolls etc. But it has a fabulous background (that can drive the creative muse and keep you painting/collecting). I do feel that these days the game is won/lost depending on the army list you bring to the table more than any other deciding factor.

 

 

 

[limburger 21711xp 1]

I think the historical accuracy (or lack thereof) is down to how you approach the game.
Add in an approach to list building from a ‘game-ist’ perspective instead of a pure historical and you will get something that’s closer to an action movie.

@andre61 :  popular & easy to learn systems often get compared to the big ones in their field, especially by the few people out there who feel the need to prove how superior their system of choice is.

BA tries to make it fun first and accurate second. There is no denying that.
The source materials have plenty of information on building accurate forces if you want to.
The community may be a bit more ‘game’ oriented compared to traditional historical games, which means that tournaments invariably lean towards optimized tournament lists as opposed to historical accurate.

The fact is that it is relatively easy to learn when compared to the more simulation heavy rules out there.
That doesn’t make it ‘bad’. It merely makes it different.
And it can be an excellent first contact with historical gaming in general.

The good thing about historicals is that you can always switch to a different rule set (like ‘Chain of Command’ or ‘Battlegroup’)  while keeping the same army you’ve collected.

Every rule set has its pros and cons.
All you need to do is discover what works for you and what is played most in your area.

I’d suggest you join the upcoming Bolt-action bootcamp here on Beasts of War if you are able to (backstagers get first chance at tickets), because it is the ultimate chance to learn a system straight from the source.

//

8th edition 40k is a lot easier to get into … but as it is made by company focused on selling miniatures it will always have a lot of extras that you may need to learn. OTOH … Killteam may just be the ticket to learn the game/universe without having to build&paint an entire army.

[andre61 403xp 0]

Thanks you! everybody, for in put. It helped me a lot.

[limburger 21711xp 1]

That’s what we’re here for 🙂

So don’t hesitate to ask more questions or show us your hobby stuff.

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