You’ve picked up a copy of the Bolt Action Rule Book – now how do you go about expanding your army?
As a new player it may seem daunting as to where to go next.
Follow this simple guide and see how easy it is to start collecting your chosen army;
Starter box sets
The starter box sets are the perfect way into the Bolt Action hobby, containing infantry, vehicles and terrain to fight over.
Using the elements from these starter sets is a fantastic way to build up your forces quickly.
Another great way is to encourage others to play – perhaps buying a set together and splitting the contents. That way you are both starting on an even footing and can build up your chosen force together, perhaps by purchasing two sets and simply swapping the contents over.
Select an Army:
Whatever army you have chosen getting the book is ideal – inside you’ll find loads of background on the army, where and when it fought, troop and vehicle types, any special rules, painting inspiration and more importantly for now your points listings and stats.
Have a look through the lists and follow the Reinforced Platoon Selector – essentially the same for each army – Select a command, add a minimum of 2 infantry units, then 1 or 2 of each of the accompanying support inits. Once done simply go to our ‘Build an Army‘ selector and get a great deal on your full army!
Infantry
The question may still remain as to what direction to go in? There are a plethora of individual plastic infantry kits that enable you to build a decent size force very quickly. Nearly all the Infantry boxes will allow you to build the core force needed of an officer and 2 infantry units.
Remember, if budget is tight then do not panic, as you can make your army ‘Veteran’ (a level of experienced within Bolt Action), enabling a decent well equipped small force for very little cost to yourself.
You can even grab pre-planned armies at various point levels, this allows for a quicker way of getting the core of your army up and running.
Tanks
Who wouldn’t want a bit of heavy metal in their army! Adding a tank next is the best way to build your army and you’ll easily reach a great 500 points level (a good starting sized force) by just adding a tank to a plastic infantry box set.
Build An Army
If however you love the idea of masses of tanks and infantry assaulting the enemy position then there are options to build a massive force
Making your units either Inexperienced or Regular enables you to build a vast army in very little time within a game value of around 1,000 to 2,000 points.
The best way to go about this is by using the ‘Build An Army‘ deal, Simply go to your choice of army and choose from the drop down menu the units you’d like, and collect a FREE tank to go with them – awesome, eh?
Terrain
Lastly your Battlefield will need a bit of attention and we’ve a great range to tempt you with. From plastic to MDF and even the gorgeous pre-painted ready to go terrain!
Remember
The key thing to remember is that most plastic box sets of infantry are going to provide the core of your army – that’s the Commander and at least 2 units – just from the one box, after that you generally get to add one of everything else in the collection. Check your selected ‘Armies of xxxxx’ book for the points costings, or just collect what you like the look of – it’s up to you!
Time to get painting and we’ll see you on the Battlefield real soon!
There’s also the purpose-built boltaction.com – which we designed to guide new players through the initial stages of getting started with Bolt Action – why not take a look?
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
Craig Nixon