Border Wars is a three-game, 1,000pt. Bolt Action tournament. Forces must be a single 1,000pt Platoon with a maximum of 16 Order Dice. Platoons must use a Theater Selector. Games will follow a strict Axis v. Allies format.

Border Wars is being held at Old Guard Games at 3132 N Downer St. in Milwaukee, WI on Saturday, May 25, 2024 as a part of the Grand Opening Celebration Weekend!

Registration – To register for the event, email Andrew at ChicagoDiceTeam@gmail.com with your intent to play and if you are bringing Axis or Allies. The event is capped at 24 players (12 Allied and 12 Axis).

Event Cost – The cost for Border Wars is $20. Players can send PayPal (@AndrewVerticchio), Venmo (@andrew-verticchio), or Zelle (708-207-0679) to Andrew when registering to lock in your spot. All participants will receive an Old Guard Games dice bag, an Old Guard miniature, and well as additional promo items. Lunch will be provided.

Army List Submission – Players are required to submit Army Lists in advance for review. Failure to submit Lists by the deadline will result in a points deduction. Lists are due by Saturday, May 4. Submit to Andrew at ChicagoDiceTeam@gmail.com.

---

Border Wars – The Illinois v Wisconsin Battle

This event will decide the new home of the traveling Boarder Wars Trophy. After Game 3, the top five scores from IL and WI players will be used to determine the winning team. The interstate rivalry between Illinois and Wisconsin must be settled!

---

Hobby First, Wins Second

Border Wars is a hobby-first event. Bring something cool. Bring something unique. Bring something fun to play with and against. Leave the cheese at home. I’ll be swinging the Banhammer left and right on lists that include nonsense such as:

• Multiple Flamethrowers
• Multiple Med/Heavy Howitzers
• Unit spam
• Anything generally exploitative

If there is even a hint of Min/Maxing, get it outta here. Border Wars is not that kind of event. There are all kinds of tournaments to bring the noise, but this is not one of them.

Army Building Requirements

• Single Platoon – 1,000pts – 16 Order Dice max.
• Players are required to use a Theater Selection when building their force.
  • No Tank Platoons allowed – unless it is a Theater Selector containing only Soft Skin vehicles (17 SS Aufklarungs Platoon (D-Day: US Sector), Arditi X Patrol (The Western Desert), Sowing Mayhem (The Western Desert), BEF Motorcycle Platoon (Battle of France), etc.
• Units and Theater Selectors from all Theater and Campaign books are allowed (up to and including Campaign: Case Blue).
• The Leadership Standard: The Morale level of the Lieutenant must be equal to or greater than the Morale level of the majority of the units in the platoon not counting the Lt (rounding up).
• British Commonwealth – Players using a Commonwealth force from Duel in the Sun, Campaign: Western Desert, Campaign: New Guinea, Campaign: Italy: Soft Underbelly, and/or Campaign: Italy: Tough Gut view the Commonwealth National Rule breakdown.
• The Feb. 28, 2024 FAQ & Errata will be used for the tournament.

The Ban List – These rules, units, and Selectors are not allowed in Border Wars:

• Multiple Nations:
  • Lack of Radios – Tank War – p11
  • The M3 Stuart is allowed, but cannot be given the additional hull-mounted LMGs (Dakka Stuart)
  • Forward Observer (Super-Heavy) – Campaign: Italy: Tough Gut – p157
  • Armored OP Vehicles – Campaign: D-Day: British & Canadian Sectors – p107
  • Fortifications
  • Multinational Forces
  • Any Heroes/Special Characters
  • War Reporter – Optional rules
  • Warplanes – Optional rules
  • Campaign: Korea
• United States:
  • 37mm M2 Canister Round – Campaign: Mariana & Palau Islands – p126
• Japan:
  • 320mm Type 98 (1938) Spigot Mortar – Campaign: Mariana & Palau Islands – p136
  • IJA Bamboo Spear Fighter Squad (Late War) – Armies of Imperial Japan – p25
  • IJA General Influence – Campaign: New Guinea – p116
• Great Britain:
  • British Forward Naval Observer – Campaign: D-Day: Overlord – p135
  • Gurkha Section – Armies of Great Brittan – p25
  • Gurkha Paratroopers – Empires in Flames – p81
  • Canister Shot – Campaign: Italy: Tough Gut p121
  • Delay-Fuse HE Shells – Campaign: Italy: Tough Gut p121
  • Mike Target – Campaign: Italy: Tough Gut p121
• Germany:
  • German Schützen Squad – Campaign: The Western Desert – p93
  • Brandenburgers – Campaign: The Western Desert, Duel in the Sun, Ostfront
  • German Siege Gun Forward Observer – Campaign: Case Blue – p98
• Soviet Union:
  • Soviet Naval Forward Observer – Campaign: Case Blue – p93
• Any rules, books, updates, etc. published after April 1, 2024 will not be allowed.

---

House Rules

• Turret Jam – The Turret Jam rule is not used.
• Wrecks – Leave the wrecks of all knocked-out vehicles on the table. The wreck counts as passible Hard Cover.
• Command Vehicle – Players must declare their Command Vehicle when it is deployed or arrives from Reserve.
• Tiger Fear – Tanks that cause Tiger Fear are not affected by Tiger Fear.

---

Model Requirements

All models used must:

• Be WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)
  • In other words, proxy models are not allowed.
• Minimum three colors
• Based

Any models that do not meet these requirements will not be allowed on the table.

Event Format

We will be following strict Axis v Allies for matchups. After each game, the side that scored the most Battle Points will be granted a bonus for the next game. IL v WI matchups will be made whenever possible.

Grudge Matches

Have a grudge to settle? Want to challenge an old friend to battle? That’s what this event is for! As long as both players agree, let Andrew know and he will get your Grudge Match set Game 1.

Schedule

Saturday, May 25:
10 – 10:25am – Check-in
10:25am – Briefing
10:30 – 12:45pm – Game One
12:45 – 1:45pm – Lunch Break and Players’ Choice voting (lunch will be provided)
1:45 – 4pm – Game Two
4 – 4:30pm – Break
4:30 – 6:45pm – Game Three
6:45 – 7pm – Scoring and awards

Event Scoring

The overall score for each player is a combination of:

• Battle – 60pts
• Appearance – 20pts
• Sportsmanship – 30pts
• Theme/Comp – 5pts

Battle Scoring

20pts for a Win, 10pts for a Draw, 5pts for a Loss, 0pts for a Withdrawal.

Appearance Scoring

Scored against a list of criteria. Points are awarded in each criteria including Painting, Basing, Display Board, and Bonus (Conversions, Weathering, Decal/Freehand):

Sportsmanship Scoring

Operating on the assumption that all players are good sports, opponents are automatically granted 10 points for Sportsmanship for each game. If it turns out that player’s opponents are less than good sports, players need to report it to the TO, before the start of the next round, using the following categories and examples as a guideline. Keep in mind: Everyone gets a little salty now and then, forgets (or misplaces) their tape measure once in a while, temporarily forgets how a rule works, or changes their mind about a decision, etc.

Salty Attitude: Complain a lot. Constantly ask to see your rules—even for basic things. Act put-out if you ask to see their rules. Do not communicate intentions or establish agreement with regard to movement, line of sight, etc. Are impatient, dismissive, curt, etc.; sore losers or ungracious winners.

Unprepared for Play: Show up very late. Haven’t read the tournament rules. Haven’t read the mission description. Don’t have the majority of the things needed to play the game (have to borrow a lot)

Incompetent Play: Unable to execute the core rules of the game without frequent referencing or coaching. Spend inordinate time looking things up (i.e. do not have materials prepared, marked, or printed for quick reference).

Questionable Play: Not quite cheating, but not aboveboard either. ‘Generous’ measurements or movement. Frequently take back movement or other decisions after they are in process. Not clearly distinguishing between similar units. Not keeping track of scoring. Abuse ‘playing by intent’ by failing to establish what their intent is, but taking advantage of what it ‘could have been’.

Sportsmanship Deductions: In all cases, the judge(s) will decide whether the described behaviors are Minor, Major, or Extreme instances.

• Minor instances will be minus 1-4 points each.
• Major instances will be minus 5-9 points each and a visit from the TO.
• Extreme instances will be minus 10 points and a visit from the Head TO.

Theme/Comp Scoring

Theme, also referred to as Comp, is a soft check against hyper-competitive, WAAC (Win At All Costs) army lists. Each army list submitted by the deadline is automatically granted 5 Theme/Comp points. If the army list contains a force construction more appropriate for a WAAC competitive event, points will be deducted. Examples of a deduction include:

• Inclusion of an Inexp. Indirect Fire weapon when the rest of the force is Reg. and/or Vet.
• Inclusion of an Inexp. Transport/Two when the rest of the force is Reg. and/or Vet.
• Unit spam (Cavalry, Dakka Stuart, Flamethrowers, indirect fire, etc.).
• Double Flamethrowers.

To put it another way, Boarder Wars is a hobby first. Yes, we are all playing to win, but not at the expense of the opponent’s experience.

Awards

Prizes will be awarded for:

• Best Overall – Player with the highest total points.
• Best Painted – Player with the highest Paint score, that is not Player’s Choice.
• Player’s Choice – Player with the most Player’s Choice votes, that is not Best Painted.
• Best Allies – Player with the highest Allies score, that is not Best Overall.
• Best Axis – Player with the highest Axis score, that is not Best Overall.

Army Lists

Players are required to submit Army Lists in advance for review. Failure to submit Lists by the deadline will result in a points deduction. Lists are due by Saturday, May 4. Submit to Andrew at ChicagoDiceTeam@gmail.com.

You should bring four copies of your list to the event. One copy for you and one for each opponent.

Note on EasyArmy – We all use it and we all love it. But double-check your lists against the book.

Players and Forces

The event is capped at 24 players – 12 Allies and 12 Axis.

	Player	Nation – Theater Selector
	Allies
27	Andrew P – WI	UK – 6th Airborne
2	Al M – IL	France – Free France
3	Alex W – WI	US – 1944 Guam
4	John V – IL	UK – 1942-43 Tunisia
5	W. Fergus – IL	UK – 1940-42 Commonwealth Infantry Brigade
6	Joshua T – WI	US – Iwo Jima
7	Rob S – WI	Partisans – Maquis
8	Tony S – IL	UK – SAS Northwest Europe
25	Shane W – IL	US – 1942-43 Guadalcanal
10	John M – IL	US – US Armored Rifle Company
28	Todd – P	Finland – Continuation War
12	Jason R – WI	Belgium – The Battle of Belgium
	Axis
13	Ernie O – IL	Germany – 17 SS Aufklarungs Platoon
14	Jacky L – IL	Hungary – Hungarian Second Army
15	Josh S – WI	Germany – Operation Watch on the Rhine
16	Dexter W – IA	Germany – Late-War Fallschirmjäger (Bulge)
17	Jeremy O – WI	Germany – Last Levy
26	Russell R – IL	Germany – 1944 Defense of the East
19	Adam W – WI	Germany – 1941-43 North Africa
20	Jim B – IL	Japan – Iwo Jima
21	Wyatt R – WI	Italy – 1940-43 The War in Africa
22	Chris S – WI	Germany – Operation Watch on the Rhine
23	Dave C – IL	Germany – 1943-44 Eastern Front
24	CJ B – IL	Romania – The War in Romania
–	Andrew V & Chad M – IL & WI	Germany – Battle of France UK – Commando Troop (North West Europe)
	Waitlist
29	–	–

Prize Support

Prize support is being generously provided by Old Guard Games.

Community

Join the Chicago Bolt Action Facebook Group and the Dice Dojo Historical Minis Discord for updates, hobby progress, list discussion, and questions.

---

Previous Results and Event Packets

• The Border Wars 2024 results are available for review.
• The previous Border Wars Event Packets are available:

Questions?

Contact Andrew at ChicaogDiceTeam@gmail.com with any questions.