Following Combat Patrol on Thursday, Bolt Action Doubles took center stage on Friday at AdeptiCon 2024. Doubles has been a community favorite for many years and this was my third time as TO. The only thing better than a game of Bolt Action is a 2v2 game of Bolt Action! This was the biggest event Tom, Sam and I had ever run with a whopping 38 Teams lined up for a full day of 2v2 action. The Doubles format at a high level is:

• Two players per Team
• Three, two-and-a-half-hour games
• 1,400pts, 15 Order Dice max, split any way the players choose
• 2-4 Platoons per Team, up to 1 Armor Platoon per Team

You can review the full Doubles rules and the 2024 mission packet:

With the event format in mind, let’s take a look at the armies, the missions, and how it all played out.

The Armies

Our theme this year was The End of the Beginning: 1942-43. The event theme was not enforced, but highly encouraged. Just looking at this list of Teams, Nations, Theater Selectors and Clubs gives me joy:

Both players did not have to field the same nation on a Team, but some did. Some of the more unique Team combos were Australia & Soviet Union, Germany & Romania, and a very thematic UK & Canada. The Team Platoon aspect is just one of the reasons why Doubles is probably the most fun you can have playing Bolt Action. Of the 38 Teams that took the field, the individual platoon breakdown included:

That’s enough stats. Let’s look at some Doubles forces:

Perfection. I probably say this every year but this time I really mean it – the level of hobby just keeps getting better. The display boars, the commitment to theme, the creativity, the individual painting, all incredible. Walking around during the games I was blown away by all these players who were truly embracing the sprit of Bolt Action Doubles.

Game 1
The Firestorm

Oh we started off Doubles with a bang. I don’t think anyone had seen a mission like The Firestorm before. The objective was simple enough, 1 VP for every enemy unit destroyed and 3 VP for each of the three objectives captured at the end of the game. But now for the twist, at the top of Turn 3, before any Order Dice are pulled, every unit that is not wholly outside of 6″ of the long table edges was destroyed. At the top of Turn 4, the firestorm extended to 12″ and then to 18″ at the top of Turn 5. This meant that for the final turn there was only a 12″ safe zone across the middle of the table – and that was the only space units could occupy.

Mortars, Snipers and Artillery of all kinds found themselves engulfed by the flames early on and units that failed a critical Order Test were also destroyed by the endlessly creeping destruction. The concept is simple, advance or die. Commanders had to pick; move forward towards the enemy and possible death or stay behind and face certain destruction. The end result was pure chaos and a death toll that you simply don’t see in a typical game of Bolt Action.

I adore this mission. Playtests were pure joy and it’s perfect for the already unhinged battles of Doubles.

Game One Result Breakdown:

• 17 Wins
• 17 Losses
• 2 Draws
• 260 Order Dice lost

Game 2
Priority Targets

I first played this mission at Four Star Open 2023 and loved it. With only slight modification it was added to the Doubles lineup. I’m not typically a fan of straight kill point missions but Priority Targets adds an element of randomness that fits perfectly in the Doubles format. This mission allowed for a direct approach, simply destroy the enemy. But with critical bonus VPs available for eliminating the Priority Targets an extra layer of strategy was rewarded.

Of interesting note, even though the only objective in this game was to destroy the enemy over 100 fewer units were destroyed than Game 1. The Firestorm takes no prisoners.

Game Two Results Breakdown:

• 13 Wins
• 13 Losses
• 6 Draws
• 152 Order Dice lost

Game 3
Communication Breakdown

This may have been a bit ambitious. The concept of Communication Breakdown was taken from Campaign: Fortress Budapest and represents the confused fighting taking place in urban combat and forced players to leave units Down or on Ambush at the end of Turns 2, 3 and 4. The idea is solid. But after a long day of tournament play (and many players returning from Combat Patrol the night before) the mission might have been just a tad too complicated. Not complicated rules-wise, but the mental load to plan out several turns ahead was more brutal than I anticipated. It was, a lot.

I don’t think I’d change anything about the mission, but it probably should have been used for Game 1, not Game 3. When that Doubles fatigue starts to set in a mission like this could be overwhelming.

Game Three Results Breakdown:

• 14 Wins
• 14 Losses
• 4 Draws
• 124 Order Dice lost

AdeptiCon Historicals Charity Raffle

During Combat Patrol & Doubles we had three incredible charity raffle items on offer for any AdeptiCon attendee to purchase tickets for. At the cost of $2 a ticket, attendees could enter to win either:

• A full BEF/Home Guard Army painted by the legendary Patch of Bolt Action Alliance/Ghost Army fame featuring Dad’s Army, Highlanders and a full Cricket Team.
• The box-art mini of German Haupsturmführer – Fritz Klingenberg painted by Thomas Stoesser himself, the founder of Stoessi’s Heroes.
• A custom sculpt of the winner’s choice to be commissioned from the one-and-only Paul Hicks. The renowned sculptor for Empress Miniatures, Footsore, Hobday & Hicks and many others.

All the proceeds were donated to the Fisher House Foundation supporting military and veteran families worldwide. All told we collected $1,247 for these three raffles!

The Club Cup

Club	Combat Patrol Score 500 Max	Doubles Score 250 Max	Total Score 750 Max
Chicago Dice	380	218	598
The Cronies	381	185	566
FLTN	360	192	552
Dice Hosers	281	170	451
Team ETA	273	75	348
Blue Case Best Case	146	183	329
Bolt Action Denver	185	114	299
Dice Dojo	196	80	276
Team Ronin	107	86	193
Joliet Arsenals	0	178	178
Family Time Games	82	91	173
DD – 214	0	111	111
Ohio Warlords	0	87	87
Bolt Action Ontario Regiment	0	73	73

We have a our winner for 2024 – Chicago Dice! Holy moly it was close! Just a single win/loss would have tipped the scales in any number of directions. But more importantly than the win, there were 14 Clubs all competing. Fourteen! Last year we had eight and seeing almost the number of Clubs taking part in this “event within the event” was just incredible. We hope to keep the momentum going for years to come.

Final Thoughts

As with Combat Patrol, the final results were insanely close. Dexter & Cole secured Best Overall by only four points beating out Neely & Alex who took home Best Axis. Cody & John snagged Best Allies placing sixth overall. Josh & John walked out with Best Painted with their gorgeous Rogue Heroes & Desert Rats force (shown in the Game 3 section above). Ernie won Best Battlefield in both Combat Patrol and Doubles (never happened before)! Andy & Rob took home the first ever Captain K Award and John & Paul went back-to-back with Player’s Choice (see below) and it was well earned:

Overall, Doubles was once again incredibly competitive. There were only 18 points separating first from tenth. Any Team hunting for that coveted Best Overall would have to knock it out the part in all aspects of the Hobby – Battle, Paint, Sports and Theme/Comp.

I must thank our most generous event sponsors once again who provided a plethora of prize support for our two events. Especially our title sponsors Noble Knight Games and Badger Games who provided gift cards to our six medal winners. Because the incredible prize support, all 76 players walked out with a prize! Madness, just madness.

All told, there were 76 players at Doubles and 40 at Combat Patrol bringing the total to 116 players across two days and six games of Bolt Action. We sure packed in the players! We had room for only two more Teams at Doubles but with 76 players it was already getting wild! I’ve never attended a Bolt Action event with this many attendees and it was glorious to see how far we’ve come. This was our third year at the AdeptiCon Historicals venue and we are really starting to hit our stride.

With AdeptiCon 2024 now officially in the rearview, let’s look to next year. Adjustments for next year are:

• Move forward with the event theme. The theme for AdeptiCon 2024 will be Endgame 1944-45 bringing the three-year event theme journey to completion. This theme will apply to both Combat Patrol and Doubles.
• The 15 Order Dice cap felt right. The majority of games finished within the 2.5 hour time limit.
• Having all the missions end after Turn 5 is here to stay. Only a few games had to be called for time and five turns of Doubles sure feels like a full game.
• The longer breaks are here to stay.

A Final Note

This was my final year as TO for Combat Patrol & Doubles at AdeptiCon. I’ve loved just about every minute and I still can’t believe I had this opportunity. I been attending AdeptiCon as a player since the days of Warhammer Fantasy 7th Edition (shouts to the Team Tournament) and as TO since 2018. It’s time to take a step back and pass the Bolt Action Combat Patrol & Doubles torch to the next wave of Hobby Heroes. I’m not leaving the Bolt Action scene, but I am taking a break from running events.

Thank you to all the players who have made Bolt Action at AdeptiCon the highlight of my hobby journey. It’s been one hell of a good time.