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OK folks, I'm an avid 40k collector and play when I can, bolt action caught my eye recently and I'm interested on how easy it is to play/pick up. Very impressed with the miniatures etc..

What's the best way to start, the assault on Normandy box set or pick an army and buy a box set that way.

As always help and advice is much appreciated!

The box set is a good value and comes with a hard back rule book. Only enough models to play "intro" type games, but still worth it IMO, especially if you are trying to get others into the game.

The game is for the most part designed with simplicity in mind. I think the designers (ie some of the original GW guys) wanted a rule set that allows you to get your models on the table and playing as quick as possible.

I've played 40k for years but recently switched to BA. I've been having a ton of fun with it. It's got balance, simple effective rules, and is very affordable.

Hope you get into it!

The assault on Normandy starter box set is probably best as it has everything you need to start playing: full rulebook, 2 lots of infantry and some terrain.

http://www.shrewsburywargaming.co.uk/ourshop/prod_2904873-Assault-on-Normandy.html

As Strombones and Amosis have said The assault on Normandy box set is a good start you get everything you need to get started models, rulebook, order dice and some realy nice terrain. You get enough to make 20 Germans and 20 American soldiers, you can assemble them in what ever way you want but i would go with a second Lt and an extra man and two units of nine men for each side with the American sprues you get the option to have a bazooka so you could drop the squad size down to eight men and have a bazooka aswell.

Lewis

Thanks folks, what was swinging it for me was you get the rule book with the set, that's a big plus because its about £25 on its own. I will order the set at the end of the month and keep you updated guys!

The box set is a really good deal! It would cost a fair bit more to buy it all individually, I look forward to hearing how you get on with it.

Lewis

Hi Chrismck. I'm gonna suggest another way, but this assumes you don't need both the armies in the boxed set.

You can get the rule book for £16ish on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1780960867/ref=rdr_ext_uan

It's the same book that's in the boxed set, very nice book. This should help you decide what army to use/collect.

Then you can look at getting one of the army sets. I picked up the US 1000 point army set from Shrewsbury Wargaming:

http://www.shrewsburywargaming.co.uk/ourshop/prod_2904882-American-Starter-Army.html

They have similar deals for all the different nations. You get tons in these sets, easily enough that you won't need anything else.

This works out a little dearer than just getting the boxed set, but you'll have the rules and a full and varied army of your choice.

Have fun!

Thanks chucklehead, I'll have a look at that as well, think my dad fancies giving it a go now as well so need to work out what armies we would like to play etc, lots of options now. Awesome!

I started with the Assault on Normandy set and it's a good place if you are not set on a particular nation. Getting a rulebook, models, scenery and order dice makes it quick to start. The forces in the box are nicely balanced for a smaller game and you get a good feel of how the game works.

Since I planned to get both US and German forces it was an easy choice for me. I've since added to the set with some extra troops and now some vehicles and weapon teams.

That said, if you've already got a force in mind then it might be better to get the starter army for that force. There are some great deals available.

All the best

Pete :-)

I hope the OP doesn't mind me piggy-backing my query into his thread, but could anyone offer advice on where to start if I wanted to do Pacific theatre (Iwo Jima etc.), and USMC against Japanese?

So I assume:
- Main rulebook, Japanese faction book, US faction book (there is just one of these which includes USMC?)
- Then, what is a good starting points value to play with? I know 1000pts is recommended, but what would be a good starting point?

Pacific, its best to have a rule book and the army book for the nation you want. With regards to what points value to start at I would start at 500 and work up to 750 then eventually 1000. I would also highly recommend using bolt action easy army,its a free online list builder that has all of the USMC lists on there so you can have a play around with lists.

Many thanks for the advice Jonesy. I use Easy Army regularly for Flames of War, so that is extremely useful!

Also, the decision to collect some Japanese forces was made easier by seeing this tank, which I will just have to get!



Out of interest, has anyone had any experience with using plastic kits for the tanks, rather than the Warlord resin vehicles? How is the Bold Action 28mm in terms of scale, I assume I should be looking for kits something around 1/52 scale?

I believe 1/48 plastic kits are popular

Warlords tanks are 1/56 scale as Amosis mentioned a lot of people use 1/48, personally I use the warlord vehicles but its up to you which you like better.

Lewis

Battlefront's tanks are more towards 1/56. I think 1/48 looks better depending on the vehicle, but it really depends on who makes the kits. Some vehicles look great at 1/56 from one company and look tiny from another.

Try to look up reviews and measurements to get an idea of how big the kit will be before you buy it.

Scale is somewhat flexible. You can but two 1/48 Tiger kits, and get two completely different sized tanks.

My buddy has a T-34 from Warlord games, and he got another from Hobby Armor Depot both 1/56th scale neither the same size.

It can be kind of annoying though as one guys Tiger is small enough to hide behind a little house, and the next guys Tiger is big enough to entirely conceal a squad running along behind it.

Fun game though I threw together a Russian army for under $100. Doesn't get much cheaper for a tournament sized 28mm game than that.

Something strombones got me and a few friends into is bolt action in 15mm. so its easy to pick up an army for about 30$ buying battlefront models for instance and basing them separately

Wagguy80 wrote:
Scale is somewhat flexible. You can but two 1/48 Tiger kits, and get two completely different sized tanks.

My buddy has a T-34 from Warlord games, and he got another from Hobby Armor Depot both 1/56th scale neither the same size.

Hobby Armor Depot's vehicles are all 1/48. Warlord's are 1/56.

I see 1/48 to 1/60 being played. 1/72 is too small.

The key is not to mix scales in the same army...get the same scale infantry and same scale vehicles (they can be different than infantry as long as the vehicular scale is equal or larger (less in scale terms)). So heroic 28mm looks good with 1/48 vehicles or and ever so slightly under-scaled with1/56 vehicles. True 28mm looks a slightly under-scaled with 1/48, but looks well with 1/56 or 1/60.

Actually, think one of the great selling points of the Battlegroup games is the 1/72 scale. Yes of course you have lots of plastic infantry to go for (either PSC, or even the very cheap varieties from Revell and the like) but you can also get some bloody nice 1/72 scale tank kits from the likes of Hasegawa and Trumpeter. Great fun to put together, and you can go mental with the detailing and such-forth if you want to.

In fact, you can go the same way with 1/48 for Bolt Action, although the model range is much smaller. Tamiya do a really nice Tiger kit for instance, which would probably be better than the Warlord model.