Why Bolt Action is the new Rock and Roll…
You may have heard the expression ‘History is the new Rock and Roll’ and you may have thought it would be great to tour around battlefields of World War Two, but did not want to spend half of your holiday getting from one location to the next. What if you could travel while you are asleep and have complete days to explore battle sites and museums in a small party with a professional historian on hand? And what if you could have a few Bolt Action games in the evenings?
Chris Brown is here to tell you how…
So if this is Tuesday we must be at Bastogne…
Chris: Concert tours can only work because bands can travel on comfortable coaches – often called ‘sleeper’ or ‘entertainer’ buses – and get a night’s sleep while they travel from one city or festival to the next. We are going to do the same thing but the theme is Bolt Action instead of Rock and Roll.
The lounge….
A typical concert tour bus interior is surprisingly comfortable and civilised, with lounge and kitchen areas, a toilet and the all-important sleeper function. Bunks are two meters (6 foot seven inches) long with memory foam-type mattresses, duvets and pillows and your bunk will have a mains socket, air conditioning outlet and a reading light.
Heads down while you travel!
The tour is scheduled to leave from Nottingham on the evening of 30th March 2018 and to arrive at our first venue – Arnhem -early on the 31st. We’ll spend the 31st and 1st April in the Arnhem/Oosterbeek/Eindhoven area with a night in the NH Rijn hotel which was a significant location during the battle and in which we will have two evening wargame events.
And we can watch a movie if we want…A viewing of ‘Theirs is the Glory’ is almost de riguer!
Late on the 1st we leave for Bastogne to arrive at dawn and have a day around the battle sites and museums before heading off for Normandy.
We will have two days in Normandy with a night in a hotel and another wargame evening. We depart late on the 4th for the return trip to Nottingham. There will be a pick-up/drop-off point in the London area to save unnecessary travel.
And we can always get the kettle on….
BOLT ACTION ON TOUR ITINERARY
- 30-31 March; Nottingham- Arnhem
- 31st March; Full day in Arnhem area, overnight in Hotel
- 1st April, Full day in Arnhem area, leave for Bastogne
- 2nd April, Full day in Bastogne, leave for Normandy
- 3rd April, Full day in Normandy, overnight in hotel
- 4th April, Full day in Normandy, leave for Nottingham
- 5th April, Arrive in Nottingham around midday
So what does it cost?
Including hotels, a basic breakfast (cereals/fruit juice/coffee etc) on ‘bus’ mornings, museum entry fees and local transport around the sites it comes in at £1130. The price compares very favourably with battlefield tours in general, and all the more so since you don’t have to pay your own way to join the party in Brussels or Amsterdam.
What do you need to bring with you?
The things you would generally take on holiday, but travellers will get a full briefing about ‘life on the road’. Figures and scenery will be provided for the wargame evenings, but there’s nothing to stop you bringing your own; the usual weight and space restraints of air travel don’t really apply for this trip! We will organise some very large multi-player games themed to the battles, but they are not compulsory; if you want to stick to smaller actions that’s fine too.
..and we will bring a lot of kit…masses of scenery, scores of vehicles and getting on for 1000 infantry- many of them done by Don & Tom at Alba Studios or John at Kingscolours.
What do you do next and when do you have to pay?
The first step is to email me – thathistorybloke@outlook.com or use the Facebook link….
Facebook.com/thathistorybloke/
In order to ensure that we have the bus and the hotels we want, payment will have to be made by the end of October 2017.
We are limited to a maximum of 14 berths and there has been considerable interest already. This will be a lot of fun and we are looking forward to meeting our fellow-travellers.
Chris and Patricia Brown.
