Bolt Action Locked & Loaded: Army Expansions & Pinning Rules
May 8, 2015 by dignity
We're scratching our chins and working out how to expand our Bolt Action squads, Justin & John discuss how they intend to move beyond their starter sets.
We also have some important tips from Chez of Warlord Games about the use of Pinning Markers in the game and what it takes to lock a unit in position.
Watch the XLBS Show
If you like the show, you can see even more by becoming a Backstage member and watching the XLBS version for even more gaming tips. In the XLBS show Justin and Chez show you how to run a demo game to entice your mates into the game?
Do you spread your fire to multiple units or concentrate on taking one squad out of the fight?
I like the idea of hitting the magic pin number then switching to the next target, so you can lock down where the opponent is having to go to get to the objective; also if you have the objective that you are defending covered with effective fire, it makes it harder for it to be seized.
We’ve really started getting into BA recently at my weekend gaming group- personally I prefer to concentrate fire and wipe Units out rather than pin them to ineffectiveness simply because it guarantees one less enemy Die in the bag! Having watched this video though I think I may well try to spread my fire a bit more in the next game and see how that works for me- I play Soviets and have been using small squads of Regulars with several big units of Inexperienced guys, but I wonder if I could switch this and split my conscripts down into… Read more »
You have to match the pins to the starting morale of the squad, not the number of troops, Justin. So smaller units aren’t at a disadvantage there.
Boys Anti-tank Rifles can replace the forward facing LMG on a Bren Carrier for +10 points. Are these weapons too light weight/expensive or worth the points? Can’t see a PIAT option.
Personally, I like 8 man squads (and at least 4 squads in a 1000pts game) as they have enough men to weather attacks and kick out pretty good firepower while not being so loaded with numbers that become pinned stop me. I think with 5 man squads it only take two good attacks then only be 2 to 3 men left plus two pins which makes it fairly unlikely they will even hit a target should they even get an action. Plus, all those squads can be vulnerable to area of effect attacks like Forward Observers. I like to force… Read more »
Leave the lmgs out of your german vet squads, you get 4 shots from one gunner and 0 from the loader for 20pts which a sniper can take out. Instead give those two men an assault rifle each for a total of 10pts. You still get four shoots but with a slight range reduction and they get the assault rule to boot! If your going to put german vets in transports make them pioneers give them smgs (dont give vets in transports assault rifles give them smgs) and add a flamethrower to the squad for taste! If you like your… Read more »
I really like the acrylic pin markers – I assume the dials rotate to indicate how much pinning is in place?
As the person that made them, I can confirm they do rotate yep. Numbered 1-12 😀
Six infantry units? Are you using a theatre selector, because the default list only allows five. Are you using two reinforce platoons of three?
We use Bolt Action for sci-fi games, so use 5 man squads with 1 special weapon.
Though as all infantry are packing assault rifles its a lot of dice flying around, so a -2 for Going Down is now also one of our house rules.
We also reduced movement to 4″ as there were far to many close assaults.
And now transports are really useful to….. 🙂
Now this is a really cool show, which is “saying something” because . . . to be honest, I don’t really get that into Bolt Action. But I really like how John and Justin are really getting into the INFANTRY rules for this game. One of the first things I noticed was when @johnlyons explained how his halftrack infantry has extra orders largely BECAUSE they’re in halftracks. This is actually great, and it’s rules like this that might actually turn me around on BA. I mean, not only are halftracks powerful combat units on their own right (armored, at least… Read more »
13:36 . . . 🙂 Uh, I don’t really know much about the RULES for Bolt Action, so I would definitely defer to posters above like @orinoco . Historically, Universal Carriers usually carried an actual Bren Gun (hence “Bren Carriers”), which I **guess** would be an LMG in Bolt Action? Allied MMGs would be basically the same caliber (roughly .308, .30, or .30-06), but weapons like the American M1919 is usually classified as an MMG in most games because it fires a BELT of practically limitless ammo, as opposed to a 20-round box like the Bren. I have run across… Read more »
Not just a single 2pdr AT gun, try 6! Trials were apparently carried out in ’42 or so to mount 6 preloaded 2pdr gun barrels onto carriers, which would then drive into the middle, or around the flanks, of enemy armoured formations shooting them off, recoil was absorbed by allowing the gun to slide right off its mount onto the floor. I guess there were enough guns lying around in depots, but I wouldn’t like to have been one of the carrier crew in that instance. Luckily, sense prevailed and they never saw action.
Wow, really? After I posted I started poking around the web and ran across a German 3.7cm variant (I guess a PaK36) which sounded crazy enough. A 6-pounder is a 57mm if memory serves, which is just nuts. Last year I went to Normandy for the 70th Anniversary, and someone had a RUNNING universal carrier in the parking lot of the Vierville Museum just above Dog One exit. Never actually saw one before, and I was amazed at just how SMALL those things were. I can’t imagine someone mounting a 6-pounder on it. Not surprised, though. In 42-43, the British… Read more »
Oh, crap. I just realized you meant SIX 2-pounder guns . . . not a 6-pounder gun.
Sorry. 🙁
pins mean prizes!
Where are those pinning markers from?
I made them for Justin 😀
I like to focus fire on a unit and try to wipe it out and take a dice off my opponent with priority going to units that haven’t activated yet
Lay down the pins then make them move with a mortar targeting them, make the other player respond to your actions.
open topped can also be pinned by small arms fire too.
oh and dont forget that enclosed veichles can only be pinned via heavy weaponry making cheap tanks quiet powerfull against regular infantry