Maréchal des Logis Walter wrote: Whereas i love to houserule
40k, i prefer not to apply the same treatment to
BA since it's already very balanced. But tht could be worth a try.
I agree that Bolt Action is overall pretty well written. However, after playing a lot of Bolt Action there are definitely a few tweaks I would make. The biggest one to me is the rules for targetting a unit in a building with high explosives which are currently terrible.
My playgroup house rules high explosive rounds, like Howitzers or Tank Heavy
AT Guns, to be able to target the building itself instead of the squad inside it. It removes the frankly ridiculous, unkillable building situation that often applies. For instance, under the actual rules- Sniper in a Bell Tower of a Church (how typical). A Howitzer direct fires at the building within half range, Sniper goes down.
Normal Rules;
Target Snipers in Building
hits on a 3
-1 small teams
-2 down
Hits on a 6.
If the building is empty, the Howitzer can hit it on a 3 and attempt to destroy it. So under our house rules, we let HE target buildings directly even if there are units in them, and units on the floor targeted still take damage (although going down still halves it). It makes the building rules a lot more intuitive and not terrible, and its not suddenly harder to shoot at a massive church just because there is a dude in it. As a result we often need to be careful with units in buildings, but it leads to more cinematic moments.
My personal opinion is that flame throwers are slightly too good right now. I personally want to house rule them, but its not a big deal so my group still plays with the regular flamer rules. Anyway, they are close to being balanced, I think they just need to lose the automatic forced moral check if they hit. Keep the damage, keep the D3+1 pins. Just lose the auto check. Flamers of course would still be able to cause Moral Checks normally through kills. But it would remove their ability to slap 2-4 pins and force a moral check even if they hit but fail to burn a single dude.
Finally, the empty transports and enemy squad rules are silly. They should go too
. It is lame to lose a half track because it is empty and the closest unit is an enemy.
Automatically Appended Next Post: torblind wrote: What about extra vehicles? And recce vehciles? (I haven't played a game yet, so the game mechanics are not at the tip of my fingers)
Starting out, you'll want to focus on infantry, it will really help you learn the game and understand what your squads do and how they work. Most lists will typically aim for between 4-5 infantry squads. Veterans are usually in squads of around 7 or so, Regulars tend to be a bit more numerous, occasionally taking advantage of the full size order re roll (useful for coming in from reserves- especially when outflanking- or playing against German Tiger Fear). Don't worry about going heavy into vehicles and transports starting out. They can be good, but can often distract from what you should be doing. The one thing I would really recommend is buying a couple of jeeps. They are incredibly helpful for transporting squads like Bazooka teams, or Flame Thrower teams. Those are high damage, high profile, relatively frail teams. A Jeep can help get them where they need to go. Aside from that, the starter army you have has a great selection of models, and you can build some really good starter lists from it.
I personally really like my medium tank, and I would recommend running your Sherman in lists starting out. Tanks are one of the only ways to get reliable long range anti tank on the table. Many players will note that Tanks are very expensive, and perhaps over priced- especially compared to some of the smaller Tanks and Armored Cars which can absolutely devastate infantry with multiple machine guns. However, from practical experience if your opponent took a cheap light tank geared to take on infantry, and you bring a Sherman with a Medium
AT gun... you will put an immense amount of psychological pressure on your opponent, the medium tank will bully the smaller vehicles effortlessly, and can often force them away from contested areas of the battle field where your opponent wants them in fear of a tank duel. I have played a ton of games where my T34-85's mere presence has made a Stuart cower in fear staying in reserves until turn 4 to outflank my tank, and limited a Panzer IV with dual heavy auto cannon turrets to an empty flank to avoid a tank duel. Tanks are especially intimidating because you will see a lot of lists relying on Panzerfausts and Bazookas and other short range anti tank weapons to deal with them. But tanks are effective at much longer ranges. Keeping a Tank in your back field can have a huge effect on an entire flank, that you don't really notice until you play a few games without the medium tank. The one thing you need to remember is not to shoot at Reccee vehicles that haven't activated because they will flee and waste your shot. That said, Ambush can help counter reccee vehicles- especially tank hunter ones, by giving you first strike.
Otherwise build up some lists, post em to us to look at them, and have a good time. As a general rule, you will always include a medium mortar (because they are great at pressuring shooting units entrenched in cover) and a Sniper, because they are a bit overpowered in the rules compared to other units. US lists usually always include a Zooka team, preferably in a Jeep, because its a great
AT platform if it can get in range, which the jeep helps with. From there, go in whatever direction you like.
