Bolt Action rules learnings

Since we're still getting to grips with the Bolt Action rules, I thought I'd list some of the things we've done in recent games that I found out later were wrong. Hopefully this way we'll remember them in future. Feel free to add any others...

Pistols grant an extra attack in close combat.

Snipers always cause exceptional damage.

Although exceptional damage on an artillery team destroys the gun, you need a heavy weapon to cause exceptional damage to artillery.

Although you need a run move to enter the ground floor of a building, another run move once you're inside allows you to move up two floors. You can move up a single floor with an advance move (and could then still fire).

Howitzers don't have to fire indirectly, they can fire direct as well, so the larger minimum range only applies to indirect fire.

Anyone on foot counts as "infantry" for mission objectives - so Pete's medic could hold the objective on his own in our last game (but I could contest it with my A/T rifle team as well).

Despite all those I do think we're getting better at the rules...   

I'm not clear, are the things above what we're doing wrong, or how we should be doing them?!

Tanks can't capture objectives.

anomander2112 wrote:I'm not clear, are the things above what we're doing wrong, or how we should be doing them?!

They're all how we should be doing it. So your sniper should have been slightly nastier in our game, for example.

Ah yes. But I shouldnt have taken your artillery out with 1 shot?

Thought of 1. Kieron can't successfully role a 2+.

anomander2112 wrote:Ah yes. But I shouldn't have taken your artillery out with 1 shot?

That's right, you need a heavy weapon to be able to do that.

We've been doing exceptional damage wrong!

If you roll a 6 to damage, you then have to roll ANOTHER 6 to do exceptional damage.

anomander2112 wrote:We've been doing exceptional damage wrong!

If you roll a 6 to damage, you then have to roll ANOTHER 6 to do exceptional damage.

Good grief!

So do snipers do exceptional damage just for damaging, or do they have to roll a 6 to damage?

Just for damaging

I wondered how any NCO's ever made it back from the front. This explains it and makes snipers more worth their points.

Maybe we've been doing all the rules wrong! Is movement 6"?!

Looks like we don't know any of the rules...

We've been doing the MMG on your kubelwagen wrong!

For weapons on transports, you still fire them as part of the vehicle's order, it's just that they can only be fired if there are passengers on board.

This means that you could move the kubelwagen, fire the MMG, then dismount the people inside and have them fire their weapons as well in the same turn. But it also means you can't fire the MMG, then order the kubelwagen to run off somewhere else.

There's a bit about empty transports as well. If they end closer to the enemy than you're own units, they're removed

Matt, your tank should take double pins for being unreliable. Although I'm not sure I hit it anyway!

And you were wrong about assaults in buildings, you can only assault up or down 1 floor

We've been doing anti tank shots wrong! If you fire using its penetration value, you only cause 1 pin, not d2. Whenever you fire your pumas big gun, it will only ever do 1 pin.

You can choose to fire an HE round, which if it hits will do d2 hits, at +1 pen, but again, only 1 pin.

That's what I have been doing. Is Matt cheating again?

Yes, yes he is.

Meh, it never hits anything anyway. Except Wes's Sherman, but that avoids the problem of pinning by exploding spectacularly at the merest graze.

Based and primed 26 more men! I'm hoping to have at least fully painted the 3 BAR guys by Sunday so I can have a go with them.

So you'll probably still be at 500? If you drop your sniper to Regular and your mortar to Inexperienced you should have the points for the BARs.

Inexperienced is okay for mortars as the -1 to hit doesn't affected their ranging in roll and you can use the spotter to keep them out of danger.

More general learnings than rules learnings, but a) read the scenario rules properly before you start, and b) pay attention when you're rolling to penetrate armour, sometimes that one you rolled is actually enough even if you don't realise until after the game has finished...

C) roll as many 6's as humanly possible, to the point your opponent starts to cry

anomander2112 wrote:C) roll as many 6's as humanly possible, to the point your opponent starts to cry

I hate you so much.