As we near the end of another Bolt Action tournament season, veteran TO and regular tournament competitor Phil Brewer considers the humble themed event, and joins us to make the case that players and TOs alike might welcome the various opportunities these events provide. Over to you, Phil!
PB: From the one-day event at your local gaming store, to a weekend’s GT, a Nationals, or even an international team event, Bolt Action tournament players are spoilt for choice when it comes to testing their mettle against like-minded players. Such events very often put history to one side, inviting players to embrace the dark arts and subtleties of crafting finely-tuned, efficient and (ideally) devastatingly effective lists, based on the ruleset and not particularly concerned with history or geography. Step forward the plucky British Home Guard fighting alongside an AA Crusader and Guards Engineers, or the dangerous combination of Panzer Is, IIIs, and a Panzerfaust or six, and let’s not get started on those US Rangers Air Observers on horseback!
As much as I love a no-holds barred, ahistorical Bolt Action slug fest, there comes a time when I find myself bloated from a diet of Cheddar, Brie and Emmental. What helps me in these moments (besides indigestion tablets)? A good old themed event, that’s what!
As the Tabletop Tommies, myself and Jonny Curran recently ran the 4th English Open at the Warfare Show, which is one of the highlights of the UK’s wargaming conventions calendar. Across two days and five games, 58 players battled it out in a matched-play format, with forces drawn up into legal Bolt Action: Third Edition forces, using units drawn from official Warlord Games publications. Sounds just like any other GT, doesn’t it?
However, the major point of difference for the English Open when compared to many other two-day events in the UK is the strict requirement for every list to be themed. At it’s core, players are asked to create an historically plausible list for their chosen nation, front and year. What do we mean by historically plausible? In essence, we’re looking for lists that don’t mix units across early, mid and late war, rather than being based on one theatre of operations but including units which never served there, nor min/maxing with the cheapest inexperienced officer and compulsory squads to open up options elsewhere.
Players are free to take this idea and run with it, providing it fits within the event requirements, and many do! Check out Simon Ronald’s SAS and LRDG force that represents the Bagush Airfield Raid on 7th July 1942, and Russell Wright’s USMC Tarawa beach assault force, both carefully researched and units chosen accordingly.
For other players, it’s a chance to get creative with the available units and use them to represent the weird and wonderful: James Shipman’s Home Guard force, complete with a Land Mattress (representing Corporal Jones’ homemade weed killer launcher from the Dad’s Army series) and a Light Artillery piece modelled as a Smith Gun being a great example of this.
Another source of inspiration for many players were the theatre selectors from previous editions of Bolt Action. Richard Vaughan’s Partisans list replicated the Paris Uprising selector from the D-Day: US Sectors book, whilst Sam Rawlings’ North West Europe SAS list drew from the same book – using the Chindit entry (with their Behind Enemy Lines and Fieldcraft rules) to cleverly represent the French Partisans units.
As a player, I see themed events providing three opportunities. Firstly, it’s a chance to pick a force, battle or unit, undertake some research and get creative about how to represent it in Bolt Action: Third Edition. Secondly, in choosing a different force to what you would usually take to other major events, it acts as a palate cleanser from the usual competitive builds. Finally, designing, building and painting a coherent and visually appealing themed force provides an opportunity to flex the hobby muscles – I’ll be doing so myself with a Soviet Tractor Factory force over the next couple of months, complete with NKVD, militia units, plenty of flags and, of course, some dilapidated T-34s!
For the TOs out there, I can strongly recommend mixing things up with a themed, match-play event. You might wish to require lists be linked to a nation, front and year. Alternatively, theatre selectors from the campaign books, previous versions of the Armies of books and the Compendium provide a great starting point for players. For those of you with a deep interest in the history, you might even decide to award tournament points based on how themed a list is, generously rewarding those players who go the extra mile!
For those players attending a themed event in 2026, get creative, mix things up and embrace the opportunity to step away from your regular tournament list – you may even find that you enjoy it more!
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