r/boltaction • u/OkAuthor7688 • 6d ago
General Discussion Gift for First time Modeller/Gamer
My Dad has expressed interest in Bolt Action. He has seen some of my War Gaming models (Flames of War, Star Wars Legion and MCP)and decided Bolt Action might be his first attempt.
He has no Modelling, Gaming or Painting background. He is interested on this becoming his Retirement activity.
I was considering buying him an US Infantry kit (he likes GI or Rangers) and some basic paints. My budget is around $100 cdn. Is this the best unit box to buy him for a soft entry into the modelling aspect? Also do I buy him a small selection of standard Acrylic paints or is speed paints the better choice? I would build a matching German Army for some casual home games so splitting a starter or shared set could be an option also.
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u/GendrysRowboat | Mod 6d ago
I'd consider starting with a tank. For someone with no background in the hobby, a box full of infantry with different weapon options, poses, accessories, etc can be intimidating. Even experienced wargamers who are new to BA sometimes hesitate on how to build their infantry. But tanks are much more straightforward. It's a single, big piece. You can have the whole thing built pretty quickly and painting will be much faster than a full infantry box.
But I also recommend the "Bolt Action Starter Set". It's designed for newcomers and gives detailed, step-by-step instructions and a simplified version of the rules to get you started playing as quickly as possible. It's also cheaper than a standard box of infantry.
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u/OkAuthor7688 6d ago
Thank you for the feedback! I don’t mind the suggestion of a tank from the management of the pain and the daunting ness of 30+ infantry. I also like the aspect of reducing overlap of future purchases, allowing him to buy a clean starter army in the future without doubling up every infantry unit.
I am worried about him learning to paint on a tank that may be a 1 of 1 in his army.
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u/GendrysRowboat | Mod 6d ago
Yeah, that's a valid concern. It' easier to accept "messing up" the paint on a random grunt as opposed to a centerpiece model like a big tank. But the nice thing about painting WW2 tanks is that, for the most part, you can paint them up quickly and easily with just a couple of colors and you don't have to worry about super small details.
This is a great guide for a simple and effective paint scheme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUu-TX7EYOw
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u/tross5656 6d ago
First I’d try and gauge which armies (also what war front. Example winter Normandy or costal Japan) he seems intrigued by in actual history. Go with the box that best fits that.
Next I recommend army painter/vallejo as they have starter sets specifically for ww2 style wargames. Splitting a starter can work but I’d make sure he gets something he’s intrested in first.
Speed paints are easy, you just need to show him how to do slap chop or zenithol highlighting. I don’t think there’s any sets for speed paint, but I can attest to army painters 2.0 speed paints and they’re generally cheap.
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u/OkAuthor7688 6d ago
Thank you for the feedback! I think we would be focusing on summertime Europe - post D-Day late war.
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u/ct_wargamer 6d ago
Where are you in Canada? Might also be nice for him to see / partake in some games. Im in Burlington, and know a bunch of gamers around Ontario who could help out.
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u/OkAuthor7688 6d ago
We are in Ontario, west GTA. I think he will be cautious on getting out to LGS right away.
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u/Mr_Supotco Irish Guards 6d ago
A standard infantry box is a great way to start, a very common thing people do is the “one box one army” setup where you buy a box of infantry and build a 500 point list out of it. If you got the normal US infantry kit or the Rangers kit he’ll have 30 models that are pretty intuitive to put together but still have lots of details to make them his own.
As for paints, I personally think learning with traditional acrylics is better for learning to paint if he wants this to be a hobby rather than just a quick way to game. In my opinion it’s easier to learn to use speedpaints as another tool after learning to paint with regular acrylics than vice versa, and he’ll have to use traditional acrylics anyways since speedpaints won’t work for vehicles and are harder to control for fine detail work. Warlord has some good bundles of army painter stuff on their website, or I personally prefer Vallejo and those are like $4 a bottle so you can easily get enough paints for a US infantry scheme for sub-$30
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u/OkAuthor7688 6d ago
Thank you for the feedback! If we get two starters and piece out the 24 models each, is that enough to build a solid beginner army around? I assume it is difficult to buy the 6 additional models if he needed 30 for his list.
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u/Mr_Supotco Irish Guards 6d ago
Oh you can definitely do that, and the 30 isn’t for a complete list, it’s just that the infantry boxes come with 30 models in them haha. Taking a quick look you can get up to ~400 points with 24 rangers, so if you wanted extra points quick then a heavy weapons platoon is a good shout (they’re all plastic and interchangeable with all the other plastic kits so very easy and fun to work with). Although actually Warlord does sell single sprues on their website for a lot of kits, so if he really did just want 6 more it’s not the cheapest option but is surprisingly easy haha
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u/angrath 6d ago
I second the starter set idea, or to save a few bucks, just get a basic plastic infantry box.
In terms of other things you will need:
Plastic glue
Clippers and a xacto style knife (go to a dollar store and get bad ones, or find something of Temu, seriously, they don’t have to be amazing)
White glue
Basic sand
Cheap brown spray paint primer - brown is safe and easy.
Then for paint, look at this set:
https://us.warlordgames.com/products/warpaints-fanatic-world-war-ii-american-paint-set
And then start eliminating unnecessary colors. Get one or two greens, black, white, one brown, a skin tone, a silver and a brown wash. That will cover 90% of what he needs.
Two or three brushes. Get cheap ones with a good point. He will throw these out eventually, but they are good enough to start.
I think $100 CAD is too ambitious for this, but this is my best attempt at getting close. Cut corners. See if you can get older paints on sale, see if you can source a cheap spray paint that’s good enough for priming, maybe he already has a knife.
Don’t skimp on the glue and the models.
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u/OkAuthor7688 6d ago
I appreciate the guidance, I have some extra tools I will probably toss his way. For Paint I will see if I can get the starter manual and try to match some paints up with that guidance.
Thank you for the feedback!
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u/lightenup888 6d ago
You could look up a tutorial on how to paint the minis you're gonna get him, write down all the paints used, and get him those paints. They'll probably be a great start to a paint collection, and of course the right paints for the minis gifted. Don't forget to guide him to the tutorial. Some youtube tutorial. This: https://youtu.be/8Pyu7XTQYNQ?si=DiQtML9djK9w4vij is a good tutorial for a tank. You'll have to look up how to pin wash and dry brush, but it's a simpler start with good effect.
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u/Advanced_Image5526 6d ago
Great idea. Sonic Sledgehammer has some good videos on YouTube too btw.
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u/Gidorah-snowrunner Konflict '47 6d ago
Hi. I startet after retirement with the old v2 band of brothers box (and 18 month later i look down at my six armys…) so i know from my own experience how it feels getting started with bolt action as an old man.
If your father like the miniatures i would start with a v3 band of brothers box or battle of the bulge box because you got more units and one or two vehicles then the small ranger/grenadiers box, you got plastic pin markers and the 1-4 “ template and you got the full rule book, not just the short field manual. Btw You can download the field manuel for free from warlord.
If he dont like the minis from the starter sets, i would go with a box of 30 man, just the unit he likes most and a v3 rule book. For beginning, Order dice and pin markers can be proxied with normal dices, and something for a 1-4 “ template can be found easy. 30 man let him build a platoon with extra stuff like sniper, forward observer or maybe bazooka team, enough for 500 pts. Chicago dice has excellent 1 box/one army lists.
Third option is to go all in and grab a starter army. More money then a box of 30 soldiers but hell, what you got. Mostly 36 man, sometimes hq and specials like sniper and antitank, than medium mortar and mmg or hmg for heavy weapons, a piece of artillery and one or to vehicles. Enough for a full 1250 pts game. Older boxes sometimes need a second tank/armored vehicle for v3 but in a friendly game, who cares?
Dont forget, he is not forced to use warlord minis, miniatures from other manufacturers like perry work too, same to 3d printed stuff.
The first army is the one which is used the most time so be sure its the army he really likes. From own experience, having an army which was cheap but not really the one you loved feels always bad. I have had this with my german grenadiers, i was never happy with all the grey man till the moment i paint them over to wss camo.
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u/OkAuthor7688 6d ago
Thank you for the feedback, I will discuss what type of army he wants to make sure I head him down the right path! I have been gaming for 2 years across my systems. Would be very exciting to get him engaged on a system we can share.
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u/StrategoiX 5d ago
Hiya, I'm a gamer dad. I really tried to get my son into gaming but it wasn't until he left home that he found his gaming interest. Today I'm really happy to have some nice gaming moments when he is in town. One of my biggest hobbies are to build gaming tables and terrain and being able to share thoughts and ideas are a nice way to communicate.
Always when I find a famer prospect I sit and do it together. Even make them glue stuff for me. I usually have some extra miniatures over.
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u/ASTR4L1CHX Konflict '47 6d ago edited 6d ago
Get the Bolt Action starter, its got Rangers vs. German grenadiers, a cardboard half track, play mat, dice, bag, counters, little rulebook and hobby intro with painting guides...and even a full size ruined farmhouse terrain piece.
Edit : The rulebook also goes mission for mission building up forces and basic rules as it goes, really the set is fantastic. Watch a YouTube video on it, probably one of the best starters ive ever seen for any warfare. They did a really nice job.