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So I've always been interested in military history, and the period between 1700 and 1950 are of particular interest. I looked on the Warlord Games site and found Black Powder and Bolt Action. Which, in your opinion, is the better game and why? Also, can anyone explain what I need in order to start playing the game? Naturally the core rulebook and some models, but are there equivalents of Codices and Army Books that one needs to play the game? Thank you in advance.

Well Bolt Action is WW2 only...

So an answer depends on what you want to play!

Dont play either of them personally, better sets out there.

I play a lot of bolt action, I really enjoy it,its not for everyone but I personally like the core mechanic of having a dice for each unit in a bag and picking at random to activate a unit, the club I'm a part of are getting into black powder Zulu war soon so I'll be able to give you a point of view on that soon, as Big P said bolt action only covers ww2 whereas Black powder covers all of the major conflicts between 1700 and 1900.

Lewis

What's attracting me right now is how relatively cheap it is compared with other games... I'm looking at you 40k.
Anyways, I don't know anything about any game mechanics or anything like that. Black Powder I assume is more regimental and Bolt Action is more squad based, is that right?
So how do stats work? Do the different armies in Bolt Action or Black Powder have different things that they specialize in?
The game I lean more towards right now is Black Powder, especially the Napoleonic Wars.

I'd advise having a look through the rules threads on TMP.

Beasts of War did a demo game of bolt action, it's two hour-long videos mind you, but it might be useful for you.

Part 1


Part 2

So it's mostly been about bolt action. What about Black Powder?
What would be a good place to start? When I open the Getting Started page it's blank.

Blackpowder is aimed at letting you fight big battles with lots of troops, in a quick way. It does well at that, but when you reduce numbers, the game lost its appeal for us as it lacked depth.

We still use it for huge games, as we will be for our up coming SYW spring bash with 1500 figures, but for smaller games I would suggest starting with something aimed at a lower level to see what you like and what appeals.

There are literally hundreds of options out there, but for Napoleonics, you might want to look at 'Sharpe Practice' or 'Song of Drums & Shakos' for a skirmish game, or 'Lasalle' for something larger at a divisional level.

These are links to a few of my Blackpowder AARs and they will give you an idea of the army sizes.


http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=18777

http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=23029

http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=23330

http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=81&t=23403

Napoleonics will require a certain strength of will I found. The large numbers of rank and file troops necessary can become a chore if your not passionate about the period. I quickly shifted my focus to skirmish battles when I got into the period but still love seeing a big Napoleonic war game on nice terrain.

WW2 might be cheaper as it requires fewer figures. Really though you should focus on whatever creates enthusiasm for you

So, in Bolt Action, does each army have a specialty? Like Russian Infantry or German Tanks?
Same for Black Powder, I suppose.

In bolt action each nationality gets a number of special rules, Russians get a free 12 man squad to represent the man power they had avalible, they can also feild a Commisar who will shoot a member of a freindly squad that fails an order test and allow them to take it again. The germans get extra shots with machine guns to represent the rate of fire the mg34 and mg42 had, brits get a number of national characteristics to choose from to represent the diffrent troops that made up the soldiers fighting for the British empire. The US get more airstrikes than other nations to represent the ammount of air power they had avalible and they dont suffer from the negative modifire for moving and firing with rifles.

Those are a few of the special rules from the main 4 nations involved the other nations all have their own special rules but I cant remember them all of the top of my head.
Hope that helps,

Lewis

Black Powder is a generic set and covers a wide variety of conflicts. It is a bit vague an covers the basic move, shoot, fight, and morale and not much else. There are a few special rules for units, but hte core is the unique "command" rules that are based on the old Warmaster model. If you are planning on fighting a specific period repeatedly, you might want something a bit more, but it is a fast, easy to play system for large games.

Therefore, it does not have much for army books. I think there is something for the Zulu Wars, but I'm not 100% at the moment.

Bolt Action does have army books and some "national" rules. The have a points system as well. For my tastes, Bolt Action is a bit too "gamey" for me.

I play both . Both great games . Bolt action is cheaper to get into 1 starter box and your ready for about 120$ u.s. Is a 1000 point list . Black powder depending on what scale you do . Is a lot more models to do armies . I do napoleonics , Zulus , and now the civil war in 28mm . You really need a lot of figs . Bolt action would be a little easier to jump into .

Bolt Action in 15mm is even more bang for the buck and you can use smaller tables.

After pressure from some friends to try Bolt action I tossed together a Russian army for less than $100.

Went to my first tournament this last weekend and had fun. Seems to be a lot of growing interest in it as it is very cheap.

The mechanic's are very different to anything I've played even Flames of War.

The dice order random thing is neat but really the pin mechanic is devious as heck.

For the cost to get into it if there's a local interest where you can actually play the game I would say Bolt Action is very hard to beat.

You can grab a box of Plastic Soldier company russians, a heavy weapons box, and a gun box for $75 and it'll put 1000pts on the table.
Snatch a $20 tank from Hobby Armor Depot (not the best quality but cheap) and your cracking heads for less than $100.

You could always get Bolt Action top trumps, http://shop.winningmoves.co.uk/products/top-trumps-every-pack/5036905022521-top-trumps-bolt-action-wwii-battle-units.html

Who knows they might turn out to be more realistic than the tabletop game....

I play a lot of BA I host tourneys and I will tell you it's a great game! Note the emphasis on the word game. Bolt Action is not a simulation realism is not what makes it great. If you can't get over the fact that rifles shoot 24 inches in the game then don't play Bolt Action you will be unhappy.

If you like great table top games that are innovative balanced and have a ton of tactical depth then Bolt Action is the game for you! I bet you will find more people wanting to play Bolt Action because WWII is more popular of a time period.

As for Black powder I know nothing about it.

 Easy E wrote:
Bolt Action in 15mm is even more bang for the buck and you can use smaller tables.

TOTALLY. 15mm is the way to go for WW2 gaming, so far as I'm concerned.

KOVAV wrote:

 Easy E wrote:
Bolt Action in 15mm is even more bang for the buck and you can use smaller tables.

TOTALLY. 15mm is the way to go for WW2 gaming, so far as I'm concerned.

Don't let Big P hear you say that - he'll have conniptions!

Nah, people cant help being wrong, not their fault.

There is only one size for WW2 - 20mm. Best figures, best vehicles, best looking and been around for decades longer.

Everything else is just a toy...


(Oh and im being tongue in cheek of course!)

Actually, I do like 20mm to; I have three leman Russes for 15mm sci-fi based on 20mm scale Mark V male, and I've been thinking of doing fantasy with the scale for a long time.

The Leman Russ idea sounds very cool!

Yeah, myn arent ready to show off yet, but I got the inspiration from this blog
h
ttp://gunnerswargamming.blogspot.com.au/search/label/15mm%20Imperial%20Guard%20DKoK

Thats fantastic.