Proudly Sponsored by Warlord Games
On Sunday 17th March 2013, Western Australia’s first 28mm WW2 Bolt Action tournament will be held at the Perth Miniatures Gaming Group, Rhine-Donau Club, 110 North Lake Road Melville.
Entry into the event is $20.00 payable in person, or by direct bank deposit to the event organiser. Your place at the event will be confirmed only when payment is received. For payment options please email Paul at achtungboltaction@yahoo.com
Free entry is available to three participants who are can each supply one 6×4 table worth of 28mm terrain.
There are 16 places in the event, 8 for Axis players, and 8 for Allied players, and during the day there will be 3 games played. For this tournament you will need to make a 1000pt army list. Your list must be sent by email to the tournament organiser by Monday 4th March 2013, and a 1 point penalty will be imposed for each week or part thereof if late.
For this tournament all games will be Axis v Allied forces and the results from each round will determine where you are placed on a leader-board.
There will be trophies and prizes for 1st, 2nd, last place, and best painted army. There may be other prizes on the day depending upon sponsorship.
Best painted army will be a peer vote. To be eligible the army must be 100% painted by you. If your army was painted by another participant in the tournament, he/she will be eligible for the award.
All players tournament scores will be added together to determine if the Axis or Allies won the day. All members of the winning faction will receive a victory plaque.
GAMES
All games will be played on a 6ft x 4ft table, and once the scenery has been placed it should not be moved whilst the game is being played. Scenery may be moved for subsequent rounds, but only by the tournament officials.
The first round games will be a random draw. Any player wishing to grudge match another will be happily catered for.
The second and third round games will be played against corresponding players as they are ranked between the Axis and Allied table, i.e. the Axis player ranked 1 will play the Allied player ranked 1, and so on down to players 8 v 8. This is to try and evenly match players of equal score and ability against each other and hopefully to produce a more interesting and intriguing event. This may also see greater movement within the ladder during each round, giving everyone a better chance to finish as high as possible.
All rounds will be set at 6 game turns or 2 hours, whichever comes first, unless of course an army is wiped out before one of these limits is reached, or a player concedes.
Where possible there will be announcements when there are both 30 and 10 minutes left to play. In the interest of fair play when game time is called, dice down and the game is to cease immediately.
At the start of each game both sides roll a dice with the highest choosing a table side, and they will also be the first to set up a unit on the board followed by the other side and then alternatively until all units that are to start on the board at the beginning of the game have been deployed.
As neither side will be classed as attacker or defender in these scenarios no-one can use preparatory bombardment in any of the games, and therefore if you wish to use any artillery / aerial bombardment then you must have the relevant observers in your army.
Don’t forget that on the day you need to bring your army, army lists, tape measure, Bolt Action dice (a second alternative colour would be handy to avoid clashes), pin markers, D6, dice bag or cup, objective marker or token, something to represent smoke if you use it, pen or pencil, calculator to add battle points, lunch or money for food (plenty of nearby fast food outlets including the Bunning’s sausage sizzle).
SCORING BATTLE POINTS IN GAMES
Battle points are scored by destroying / removing enemy units from the game, plus by completing objectives in the game when they apply.
You earn battle points when you remove your opponents units from the game. For example, you would score battle points if you removed all of a 5 man infantry squad, but would not get any points for the unit if one man was ‘alive’ at the end of the game. Objective battle points are added to your battle point total if you meet any relevant game objectives.
Battle points for killed units are worked out by the actual point cost of the unit. For example your opponent may field a King Tiger veteran tank at a cost of 666pts. When destroyed you are given 666pts. The 666pt total is then simply calculated as 6.66 battle points. The maximum number of battle points for destroying all units in a 1000 point game is 10.
Examples :
German player looses 870 points of units. That equals 8.7 battle points.
British player looses 565 points of units. That equals 5.65 battle points.
Soviet player looses 300 points of units. That equals 3 battle points.
Friendly units destroyed by a FUBAR friendly fire roll will give battle points to your opponent just as if they had destroyed them during the game.
Reserve units unable to enter the battlefield due to poor command rolls will give battle points to your opponent just as if they had destroyed them during the game.
If a player concedes all their units are counted as destroyed and the opposing player is awarded the maximum battle points available, including objectives.
Free units such as the bonus Soviet Infantry Section and the British Forward Observer do not award any battle points if destroyed.
Taking objectives in games can only be carried out by “scoring units”. A scoring unit in this tournament is any of the following : HQ, Forward Observer, Infantry Squads, Machine Gun Team, Anti-Tank Team, Sniper Team, Flamethrower Team, and all Mortar Teams. Mortar spotters and Medics are not scoring units. Basic rule – if it has boots and it walks, it’s a scoring unit. Infantry being transported need to be dismounted in order to take an objective and be awarded battle points.
TOURNAMENT POINTS
At the end of each game you need to add up the battle points gained within the battle (including any from game objectives that are met) and compare these with your opponents score.
If the difference between the 2 players is 4pts or less then the game is to close to call and is classed as a draw.
If the difference is between 5 – 9pts then the person with the higher score has a ‘minor victory’.
If the difference is 10+pts then the person with the higher score has a ‘major victory’.
Tournament points are then awarded as follows;
Draw = 2pts per player
Minor victory = 4pts to the winner & 1pt to the loser
Major Victory = 6pts to the winner & 1pt to the loser.
If a player concedes then the game is automatically classed as a major victory for their opponent.
Your tournament points and battle points must be recorded on the result card (supplied) at the end of each round and this will determine places. Battle points will be used if two or more players finish the tournament on the same number of tournament points.
If by miracle there is a tie for the championship, the result will be settled with a best of 7 dice off using two D6.
The Games
Please note, the following three scenarios resemble scenarios in the Bolt Action rulebook. Minor changes have been made to give both tournament players a fair go.
Round 1 – Get Into Them
This game will be played to a maximum of 6 turns or 2 hours. The objective of this game is to take on the enemy Australian army style.
All units must deploy in a deployment zone on their side of the board which is a maximum of 8” in from the back edge of the playing surface.
In this game you will earn battle points by destroying your opponents units. All units (not just scoring units) finishing in the opponents half of the table earn 1 battle point each.
Round 2 – Take the Objective
This game will be played with a maximum of 6 turns or 2 hours.
An objective marker will be placed at the centre point of the board and the mission is to capture and hold it at the end of the game.
All units must deploy in a deployment zone on their side of the board which is 6 inches in from each side and a maximum of 8 inches in from the back edge of the playing surface.
The objective can only be held by scoring units within 3 inches of it. Battle points are awarded at the end of the game by:
If held – 5 battle points to the controlling player.
If both sides are within 3” – both players awarded 3 battle points.
If no side controls the objective – the side with the closest scoring unit to the objective is awarded 1 battle point.
Round 3 – Break the Line
This game will be played with a maximum of 6 turns or 2 hours.
Your objective is to smash through the enemy and wreck havoc in the rear area, destroying as many enemy units as you can.
50% (rounding up) of your force will start on table. The remaining units will be in reserve. What is on the table and what is left in reserve is your command decision.
Initial set up area is 12” from your back table edge.
Any units not included in the initial set up are the reserve. Reserve units can come on from turn 2, but only if they pass a command test.
At the start of turn 2 you should put extra dice into the bag/cup to represent your reserve units. Reserve units can only enter the battle from the controlling players back table edge. Reserve units can only be issued a Run or Advance order to enter the field of battle.
If any reserve unit is unable to pass a command test the order dice is placed as down next to the failed unit. If a reserve unit cannot pass a command test by the end of turn 4 they got lost on the way to the battle and the opponent is awarded battle points just as if they were killed during the game.
At the end of the game for each scoring unit that has at least one model within 6” of the opponents back table edge earns 2 battle points. Each non-scoring unit, (excluding transports) that has at least one model within 6” of the opponents back table edge earns 1 battle point.
ARMY LIST COMPOSITION
Your army must comprise of one 1000 point reinforced platoon using the selection table on page 124 of the main rulebook. (“or more” wording is not applicable to this tournament).
Army lists can be drawn from the main rulebook, Armies of Germany, Armies of the United States, and Armies of Britain and the Commonwealth, the French PDF, the Japanese PDF, and the Additional Units PDF.
Anyone playing Finns or Italians can proxy the list for the German Heer list but cannot take the two German special rules of Initiative Training and Hitlers Buzzsaw, and are restricted to 1 LMG per squad. Finns can count as either Axis or Allies.
All lists submitted must detail how each unit is armed and the units must have these weapons on the models themselves. For example if a 5 man infantry unit is shown as all being armed with rifles as their main weapon then that’s what they have. If you field a Forward Air Observer, you must have a fully painted model aircraft. Aircraft scale is not important.
GAME TIMES & BREAKS
1st round – 9.20am to 11.20am
Lunch – 11.20am to 12.20pm (inc best painted army voting)
2nd round – 12.20pm to 2.20pm
3rd round – 2.45pm to 4.45pm (The awards ceremony will begin at approx 5pm)
ON THE DAY
Please ensure you are at the venue to register at 9.00am as games will start at 9.20am sharp. Your opponent will gain +1 VP for each 15 minutes you are late, and if you are 1 hour late, your opponent will be awarded a major victory for this first game. No exceptions will be made to this rule as everyone is paying entry into the event and we cannot hold up the schedule.
If we have a no-show the tournament organiser will withdraw from the tournament.
All models must be appropriately painted to suit the nation they depict, and infantry must have fully painted bases as a minimum, even if it is only painted green. Undercoated only models will not be allowed, and no ‘counts-as’ models will be allowed either, so if you have a halftrack in your list it must be a halftrack model and not a jeep playing as a halftrack for example. This goes for all other models including infantry, i.e. you cannot use a unit of Russians as a unit of Americans.
Lastly, it only remains for me to thank you for the interest you have shown in attending this event, and I hope that if you do enter, you enjoy the tournament ,and it can be the first in an annual event for this game.
Remember we are here to have fun, and hopefully make new friends doing our great hobby of wargaming, so we hope to see you at Achtung! Bolt Action 2013.
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
Craig Nixon