Bolt Action Warlord - Games Open Day 2016

This past week I was able to attend my first ever Warlord Games Open Day at the Reed Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was a whirlwind two days of non-stop gaming, making new friends, and the chance to play Warlord Games' upcoming Konflict 47.

I will put the disclaimer now... I met so many people and wrote down everyone who hosted the games I played.. but my wife washed that list. So I will be winging it! 

This years Warlord Games Open Day (WGD from here on out) was on Friday June 17th to Sunday the 19th. I loved pulling up and being greeted by the Warlord banner. Seeing as this was my first games day I was not sure what to expect. The hotel where I was staying was attached to the convention center and was very nice with a restaurant/bar located close enough to the gaming that I could double time down to grab a drink in between games.
Vendors were setup around the hall with local game stores, snacks, and all sorts of hobby goodness.

Australian company Dice of War had a great selection of World War II themed dice for sale. I was lucky to pick up some Fallschirmjager ones before they sold out.

Top Deck Games had an impressive selection of Warlord Games product for sale.

                     

One of my favorite booths. Warlord had dozens of their "made to cast" vehicles for sale. I was able to pick up an ISU-152, Flak 88, Ferdinand and the new Easy 8 Sherman.

Friday

The event kicked off Friday night with a private tour of the famous 45th Infantry Division museum and then game one of the Bolt Action tournament and the Gates of Antares tournament. I played a 1000pt USMC list in the Bolt Action tournament which consisted of three rounds, one Friday night and then two on Saturday, This allowed gamers to play all of the games available at WGD and still be able to play in a tournament. 

                                             Yeah, not letting these guys get near my Marines!

My first game against Morgan was a hard fought battle of Max Attrition. Playing Marines against Japanese, I knew I had to use my firepower to either pin out his units or destroy them as they will just keep coming. The game was a dead draw till with only two minutes left before we hit the time limit, I was able to kill off two of his units to give me a victory.

The end of Friday night saw me testing my hand at Warlord Games' Konflict 47. Konflict plays out pretty much just like Bolt Action but with a few new rules and a lot of new units. I will go more in-depth into the new rules in an additional article, but if you were looking for a game that had mechs, jetpacks, werewolves, Nazi zombies and Soviet bear infantry... then this is the game for you!

Grizzly Walkers support my infantry as they move up to engage zombies and werewolves... I am so glad I can finally type this sentence.

The WGD organisers were only able to secure a handful of the newest Konflict 47 models, but from what I was able to see they were finely detailed and on par with the quality we have come to expect. I was well on my way to victory until my infantry were set upon by the German Schreckwulfen! These nasty German werewolves have the special rule "Tooth and Claw" which gives them three attack dice in hand-to-hand combat. Did I mention they have a run move of 16" as well?

Saturday

Saturday morning saw me slugging it out in match two of the Bolt Action tournament. I played against Conor who brought Japanese as well. So a historic match up was in progress again. The match was Envelopment and the dice god Poseidon smiled upon me. Both my airstrikes hit and I was able to keep his armor at bay with my Sherman. His grenadier squad wreaked havoc on a squad of Marine riflemen but it was not enough to keep them down. I had to keep my men moving to avoid the dreaded Japanese Banzai, and I was fortunate to create a fire lane where I could run my troops off the board before his Japanese closed into hand to hand combat, Thanks for the great game Conor and I hope we get to play again soon.

Hand-to-hand combat with Japanese is always a risky endeavor, best to take a machete just in case.

My final match was against Josh. We were lucky enough to play a scenario that will be found in Bolt Action Version 2! The scenario was "Man Hunt" and had players setup as Attacker and Defender. The Attacker's goal was to "capture" his opponent's officer by assaulting the officer, which would result in a victory. If you were just able to shoot the enemy officer then it was an automatic draw. There were some additional modifiers and rules as well that I will elaborate on soon. It was a fast paced game with Josh's mechanized SS chasing my officer "Chesty Puller" around the table. The USMC were able to punish the SS for considering taking on Chesty and a final Marine victory was achieved. Josh was a great opponent and we were able to have a lot of laughs and "oh no" moments. 

A very cool 1st Place Trophy for Warlord Games Day.

With the tournament wrapped up I was able to cruise the hall and play all the other games available to me. All of Warlord's game systems were present so there was a vast selection of tables.

Italians hold a fort against LRDG.

 

Project Z

A very cool Point Du Hoc table...

Loved that this table had quick reference cards for each vehicle.

Gallant French Foreign Legion hold the Desert Afrika Korps at bay at Bir Hakeim.

Did not end well for the Shermans.

World War One using Bolt Action rules, very cool. At this point my photography skills fade as the tiredness sets in. 

Due to work obligations I had to leave before the sun rose on Sunday morning, but I was able to get hours and hours of gaming goodness with members of the community over the weekend. For every event I go to out of my bubble in central Texas, I am consistently reminded that we have such an amazing community. I met new players who are now friends and look forward to sharing a game with them in the future.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the consummate professional Jon Russell for organizing and setting up this fantastic event. Warlord Games Open Day 2017 is already scheduled for next May 27th - 29th in Oklahoma City. You can find all the details on their facebook or their soon to be live website at www.warlordgamescon.com. Next year's Games Day promises to be even bigger with additional areas provided for painting seminars and larger tournaments.

May your drinks be cold and your dice hot, see you next year at Warlord Games Day!