Operation Greif: TO Report and State of the Game

Tournament Wrap Up

It's Monday morning and I'm drinking a coffee trying to wake myself up after a massive day at Operation Greif.

We somehow managed to get together 27 players (plus a Gumby for 28!) which was the largest Bolt Action event ever held in Victoria. Great work team!

Op Greif was held at Tivoli Club, a German bar & restaurant where the historical wargaming group League of Ancients holds their monthly meet-ups. Tivoli proved to be a great venue with lots of space for tables, a selection of german beer on tap and some delicious meals (despite a problem with slow lunch service!). Crucially, it was important to have a bunch of tables and spare terrain at the venue already there which helped us with setting up the night before, so I have to thank Richard Stubbs from LOA for letting us use the venue. I will personally be aiming to get to LOA meetings (third Sunday of every month) and I'm sure we will work out some more events between LOA and the Victorian Bolt Action League.

The event certainly couldn't have run without people from the community providing their amazing terrain. A big thanks to Viv, Brad, Jael and Nick Beattie for helping with this!

Similarly, our Bolt Action events are made as good as they are because of the generous prize support by our sponsors. Thank you to the guys at War & Peace Games, Knights of Dice and Battlefield Accessories for your contributions! I strongly encourage all Bolt Action players and hobbyists to look into their awesome ranges.

Lastly, a big thank you to Tristan for co-TOing with me. He did a lot of the logistical ground work in driving terrain around and acquiring prize support, so kudos mate!

I think the day mostly went smoothly. There were a few little things that I can improve on next time, but I was very happy overall with how the event ran. My biggest take away is that I have a new respect for other BA event organisers, because BA takes way more organisation than other game systems. The amount of terrain and setup time that is required for each board is crazy compared to systems that I'm used to like Warhammer (6-7 pieces of basic terrain) or X Wing (zero terrain!), and this event really made me realise the amount of work that other TO's put into their events.

Awards

As there was no podium or scorekeeping, game results didn't matter at Operation Greif. However, we gave out three important awards to encourage the hobby and new players entering the game.

Best New Player
This one went to Jon Hogg, who has recently gotten back into wargaming and chose Bolt Action as a game to start getting into organised play. Jon was our Chinese player, which was great to see a new player taking a more obscure army. I spoke to Jon's opponents and had a chat to him over lunch, and it was agreed that he had put a lot of effort into his army and is exactly the kind of player that we want joining the game. Well done Jon!

Hanoswag Award
This prestigious award, AKA the best theme award, went to Nick Beattie. Nick is another new player to the game, and is an experienced wargamer coming across from the Malifaux scene. He put together an amazing 'What if?' Last Levy German army, which had a spectacularly converted King Tiger supported by a really lovely painted army. This award was much deserved, and I hope Nick inspires other people to take lists that aren't super serious in the future.

Best Painted
This went to count-back as two players were tied on 27 votes each, but the tie breaker saw fellow Baconburger Tristan White winning best painted over Nick Beattie. Tristan has been gunning for a best painted award for a while now, and his US airborne were a stellar effort in showcasing his work as one of the top painters in Australia.

State of the Game

The event was aimed towards new players as we try to grow the scene. We only played two games and had no podium, which worked really well in fostering a relaxed and friendly atmosphere for people who are still learning the game to develop a better understanding of the rules.

I've said this on the Baconburgers podcast before, but from my perspective, this is the most exciting time to be part of the Victorian Bolt Action scene, and by extension the Australian scene. Our community is going from strength to strength as we are starting to get consistent attendance at events, and more importantly we are having regular events held by different organisers. It's really great to see that we can get consistent numbers as players are actively excited to get along to events to hang out with friends, roll dice and show off their beautiful armies that they have put together. What's more, we are getting an infux of new players who have never played BA events before, often coming from games like Malifaux, Warhammer and historical games.

To me, this is most exciting because it feels that we have finally recovered from the transition between V1 and V2 of the game, where a lot of players stopped playing regularly (or altogether). In some cases, the players who stopped were key parts of the community like the LRDG guys, who really helped build the scene in V1. It took a while to regenerate the BA community, but we are back at a healthy level, and now we need to make sure that it is sustainable.

As we move forward, I really want to stress that we need to continue promoting a scene that is friendly and welcoming, both in terms of playing games and list building. We currently have no issue with playing games as I know the vast majority of people at events are lovely people.

However, we need to make sure that we regulate our list building behaviour to reflect this. Bolt Action is not designed as a competitive WAAC game, and that is highlighted by many units being costed incorrectly, some rules being inconsistent or unclear, as well as some units that are head over heels more efficient than others. Basically, the game can be easily broken if you want to break it, normally by selecting points efficient vehicles, stocking up on veterans & tough fighters, or spamming HE elements.

I think we all need to make sure that when we build lists, we take into account the fact that we are playing a semi-historical game so there needs to be some consideration for realism, but also the fact that winning by taking the most efficient options is never a rewarding way to win. Spamming late war elements so you can dominate players who take less efficient options (particularly early war, but also things like big cats that are overcosted) is a shallow victory, and no one really cares if you win by winning with a list that is fundamentally stronger than your opponent's.

Having said that, there is of course nothing wrong with playing to win. Playing for fun and playing to win is not mutually exclusive, as long as everyone is on the same page. It is better to win by outplaying your opponent through tactical decision making in a game where the armies are evenly matched.

Self-regulation will also help bring a stronger diversity of nations and units to our events. I would love to see more minor powers at events, as they are mostly dominated by the big four (US, Germans, British & Soviets). At Op Greif, there were one each of French, Chinese, Australians, Bulgarians and Sihks which was awesome to see, but we need to keep encouraging this! Likewise, diversity of units is a big one that I'd like to see. I normally find weird tanks and vehicles like seen in French or Italian lists much more interesting than seeing another efficient Panzer 4 on the table, for example! I was also pleased to see a few big cats rolling around on the weekend: there was a Tiger 1, Tiger 2 and a Panther which was great to see!

Upcoming events

The rest of the year is going to be filled with a bunch of great events, so I encourage everyone to continue building the scene by making it along!

Badgacon: Queen's birthday weekend, 9th June at Bendigo, 1000 points

Operation Bear: 1st July, Good Games Melbourne, 1111 points

Occupy Europe: Run by VBAL's Tristan, this event is currently being planned but should run in the August/ September time slot.

MOAB: AFL Grand Final weekend in Sydney. This is a big one, so start organising your roadtrip/ flights!


Anyway, thanks for reading and putting up with my two cents! If you have feedback, leave a comment below or send us feedback on Facebook!