Bolt Action Locked & Loaded: Assault Or Shoot?
December 4, 2015 by dignity
Welcome back to another episode of Bolt Action Locked & Loaded where we talk about your options when you get close to foes in Warlord Games' World War II 28mm wargame.
Do you rush into close combat or should you hold back and shoot at your opponent? With combat being so lethal do you risk it just to lose those pin markers?
See what you think of some of our tactics for when things get sticky!
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Do you rush into melee or hang back?
Assault a great in BA, but keep in mind that enemy veteran smg-armed squads are deadly in close combat 😉
My primary opponent goes as heavy as possible on assault rifles and SMGs with his late war Germans. I tried assaulting a couple times and it didn’t go well. It does go well for him. I sit back with rifles and ping away while I send my two Easy 8 Shermans in to mess him up.
I like to stand and shoot, why go in and have someone lose all there pin markers
Even though I mostly play United States I try to set my squads up to assault whenever I can. I won’t recklessly charge at any opportunity, but I am willing to try even if I have a roughly 50/50 chance (even 60/40 not in my favor) of winning simply because I like the winner takes all aspect of it. For the most part, assaulting has been generous to me.
Assaults are deadly in our group. Especially because from our understanding of the rules you shoot defensive fire before the attacker is moving. So he probably gets cover and no point blank. Because I think when your assault covers less than 6″ there is no defensive fire. This makes it much more appealing to try and assault, because you won’t lose so much in defensive fire.
Can someone tell me if this or the video is right?
A unit about to be assaulted can fire if the assaulting unit is more than 6″ and that unit has not acted that round. It works like Ambush so the defensive fire squad gets to pick at what point they shoot. They usually choose at point blank range where the assaulting unit doesn’t have any cover requiring a 2 to hit. So the video is correct under those circumstances. The video is incorrect when it comes to assaults occurring when the assaulting unit is within 6″. There is no defensive fire allowed as the assaulting unit is too close. Additionally,… Read more »
The Americans shouldnt have been able to shoot when assaulted as the Germans came from under 6″.
I haven’t played Bolt Action, but I suspect my preference would be ranged combat. I favor the rifleman ethos. I still play 40K Orks though.
I tend to build my force with fire and maneuver elements. The maneuver elements are for getting stuck in. The fire elements provide base of fire. Having said that you still have to look at the battlefield situation before charging as cover makes a big difference. Also as “patton” stated above you can be to close for shooting. The Surprise charge rule if a unit is 6 inches or less from the unit being assaulted it doesn’t get to react. I like to use terrain to get close before close combat and deny shooting. If you play any PTO games… Read more »
One word, lads; Gurkhas. 😛