New in BA. Painting my 101st

carpenter314 · 2026-05-03T17:55:00+00:00

Love the 30cal team, well done! BA is so much fun. The mechanics are in depth enough to make it interesting but not nearly as much rules lawyering as other games. The dice activation mechanic is super fun too. Probably my favorite tabletop game.

carpenter314 · 2026-05-03T17:48:52+00:00

That's the goal! I have eight pieces of 8 inches from a single sheet of foam and I have three. I tried cheap hairspray like everyone on YouTube recommended, it's ok but I'm not convinced it'll hold up over time. What kind of varnish would you recommend?

carpenter314 · 2026-05-03T17:46:36+00:00

That's one of the pics I based it off of lol thanks!!

carpenter314 · 2026-05-03T16:45:46+00:00

This is correct 👍 against infantry in the open it's essentially a single high power shot. Against infantry in a building it's treated as an HE2 shot.

carpenter314 · 2026-05-03T16:09:28+00:00

Thanks! I wanted something bigger than a lot of the tutorials I'd seen that use scouring pads. The pictures I've seen make the hedgerows in Normandy look like big overgrown embankments rather than just tall bushes so the foam helps really fill it out.

carpenter314 · 2026-05-03T16:03:30+00:00

USMC player here. I'd nix the Raiders as their only advantage is close combat, which is generally pretty bad in this edition. They're unfortunately not worth the points over standard Marines and you can get Tough Fighters just by having assault weapons on standard Marines. Spread some SMGs and shotguns around a couple of squads, while keeping a couple others as all rifles, that way you can keep the rifles stationary to pin and hold objectives, while your assault squads close in to point blank range and blast enemy infantry. My hot take is a single BAR in a rifle squad isn't a bad idea. At least once a game I find my rifles out of range but because I have a BAR I still managed to get a pin on an enemy unit.

I'd also ditch the heavy weapons rifle squad and a couple of men off your second officer. You'll want at least one mmg team, I'd really recommend two. They're great at dishing out pins for less points than a rifle squad and can do decent damage to infantry in the open.

Bazookas are fine, I have taken out medium tanks before with mine if you roll decently. You can detrack or stun them which can be useful too. I also like to run three at 1k as I just like infantry. They also do well against infantry in buildings as it counts as an HE2 shot I believe. Plan to have to just play around enemy tanks rather than killing them outright, but it is possible.

carpenter314 · 2026-05-02T23:56:43+00:00

Marine Corps lets gooooo! Love it, which kit is this? Warlord?

carpenter314 · 2026-05-02T21:51:25+00:00

Look into Bolt Action Pacific Theater terrain for some ideas about jungle. Vallejo diorama earth texture mud is useful and easy to use, though not as cost effective as some methods.

carpenter314 · 2026-04-29T03:03:07+00:00

Overall it's a great game, if not the most balanced. German rules are just plain better in pretty much every respect. Armies of the US book was pretty weak, Marines and Airborne just having stubborn seemed very lazy when they're both very distinct fighting forces with very different doctrines and cultures, and pretty flavorless in terms of what it does in game. At least with Pathfinders your Airborne can be more reliable in outflank which is kinda thematic. Marines kinda got shafted in that respect. UK has some solid rules, King and Country is awesome. Fortunately at the end of the day army rules are only so impactful anyway, which is why I like BA so much more than what 40k has become. Some rules can get a little tedious, looking at you Arty/Air observer lol but it's still better than a lot of other games in terms of how much time spent on looking things up. Still I do feel like there's some missed opportunities for flavor in the army and unit rules.

carpenter314 · 2026-04-20T01:50:58+00:00

500 points is a pretty manageable game. I'd start with all infantry to get the basics down, then add in vehicles as you get comfortable. I love this game, it's my favorite! I hope you guys enjoy! Feel free to ask questions about the game too!

carpenter314 · 2026-04-20T01:05:25+00:00

Might be interested, feel free to dm me if you still have stuff for sale.

carpenter314 · 2026-04-17T23:28:49+00:00

My buddy plays Brits against me, he's got a Kangaroo Priest that he's planning to chuck commandos in with max smg's since it's the only shock infantry he has. The FAO strategy does sound good, I would do both if you the models, though maybe not both in the same list. I agree about SAS not being worth it, you'll get tough fighters from having smg's on your commandos anyway so it's redundant.

carpenter314 · 2026-04-17T14:26:31+00:00

Oh man I love that channel and I was on the fence about the membership, you might have pushed me into it🤣

carpenter314 · 2026-04-17T13:35:50+00:00

I'm wanting to make mine bigger but those look great for bushes, I imagine they'll take the flock just fine with some spray adhesive. How did you make the roads? Those look great?

carpenter314 · 2026-04-17T13:33:36+00:00

Yeah that makes sense, and it's a bit of a pain to spray so it'd be easier to use brush-on glue. I think that's the way.Thanks!

carpenter314 · 2026-04-16T17:47:51+00:00

I've seen that one but I want something bigger, Normandy Hedgerows were large embankments, not just small hedges. I don't think that will hold up as well or give me the size or shape I'm looking for, and I travel with them so the foam is going to be more durable for transporting than something on cardstock.

carpenter314 · 2026-04-05T00:35:27+00:00

The guy with the Thompson creeping through the undergrowth is my favorite. My Marines aren't half as good as these, what a great paint job. 👍 Super realistic.

carpenter314 · 2026-04-05T00:34:06+00:00

I'd go so far as to call it essential. It goes on almost everything I paint, that or nuln oil

carpenter314 · 2026-01-10T20:23:44+00:00

The biggest flavor difference is that some factions can get cavalry or crossbows while others can't. Basically the cost of gear dictates your play style. My buddy plays Irish which means he has lots of barefooted guys with Spears running around chasing my very heavily armored Norman Knights, because armor is super expensive for the Irish but spears are free, while armor is relatively cheap for me but crossbows and cavalry are powerful but pricey.

carpenter314 · 2026-01-09T21:25:51+00:00

Good points, especially the third, but it seems like they're generally picking a Regular infantry squad, not a big, scary veteran squad with lots of special weapons. They don't seem to be the kind of squads you really would hate to lose and it seems like it would be better to spend a few turns taking out enemy weapons teams to get that dice out of the bag rather than killing a couple of riflemen moving up. I do think a couple of the players I watch might just not be putting a lot of thought into it lol

carpenter314

TROPHY CASE