Albany tabletop gamer travels to UK for Bolt Action world championships

Saturday 26 AprilSat 26 Apr 2025 at 1:40am

A close up shot of hand holding miniature toy soldiers. — The World Team Championships for Bolt Action is in Sheffield, UK. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)

Bob Quinn describes himself as an avid miniature tabletop gamer, but says his friends often call him "one of the gamiest players in Albany".

Based in the regional Western Australian city, about 420 kilometres south of Perth, his shed became a hub for preparations to join the team representing Australia at the World Team Championships for Bolt Action in the UK city of Sheffield.

The World War II-themed game is played on a board, with each move of miniature pieces such as tanks and soldiers meticulously measured and dependent on your dice roll as you work to win the battle or carry out the mission.

An overhead shot of a man with a tape measure hovering over a game board of a miniature village. — Bob Quinn has spent months preparing for the championship. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)

"The prep is playing games, testing stuff, this works, this doesn't," Mr Quinn said.

"The last three months I've been trying to get at least a game in a week and then getting people to tell me what they think."

Each individual piece is painted by the players.

"There's two side to this; there's the playing of the games and there's what is called the hobby which is the painting, the building of the terrain," Mr Quinn said.

A close up shot of hand-made miniature buildings on a table. — Players paint their own miniatures and often make their own scenery. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)

First time competing

Australia has two teams competing at this weekend's event.

Members are from various parts of the country, which means preparation has been challenging.

World Team Championships organiser Dave Nolan said it was the first time Australian Bolt Action teams were competing.

A man holds a figurine with other men looking and leaning over a table covered with board game pieces. — Organisers say the Bolt Action event continues to grow in popularity. (Supplied: Dave Nolan)

Competitions are also held for Star Wars Legion and Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game.

"Bolt Action has had a 10 per cent growth from last year where we're now up to 20 teams," Mr Nolan said.

A close up of two sings hand-painted location signs showing various distances on a gameboard. — Mr Quinn is among eight Australians travelling to the competition. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)

"Initially it was about flexing your muscles as a gamer, rolling some dice and showing you're the best, but after seven years it's now a case of the same sort of people returning and they get to see their friends."

Mr Nolan said he was excited for the event but wished travel costs were not such a barrier.

"We could get to meet people a lot easier and it wasn't a case of we're coming, but only if we can afford it," he said.

Mr Quinn began playing with a "starter army" about five years ago and has now expanded his game piece collection.

'It's a nice community," he said.

A man and young boy sitting next to each other painting small figurines with bottles of paint in the foreground. — Mr Quinn's two sons have been helping him paint miniatures. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)

"They say men don't talk face to face they talk side to side, or in this case on the opposite side of table, and as you're playing you're talking about how it's going, you're talking about your wife and kids and just how life is."

Gaming community

Another Albany gamer John Gill echoed the importance of the community gaming could create.

"When I first moved here I joined in because it was a mutual interest with a few other people," he said.

A man holds a tray of miniature game pieces standing in a garage. — John Gill says he likes the competitive aspect of the game. (ABC Great Southern: Rosemary Murphy)

"I think there's a point as a guy where you either discover smoking meats or World War II. Bolt Action in particular piques my interest in World War II."

University of South Australia game design and digital media lecturer, Susannah Emery, said interest in miniature gaming increased significantly after the release of a popular TV series.

A woman sitting on a chair talking into a microphone with a slideshow behind her. — Susannah Emery says Australia has strong gaming community. (Supplied: Jacinta Keefe Photography)

"We actually saw a pretty huge influx after Stranger Things came out," Dr Emery said.

"People started going back to Dungeons and Dragons and that resurgence and popularity of Dungeons and Dragons kind of got people into those gaming shops again.

"You go into a store to buy some minis and there's people painting, there's people playing, there's a whole community ready to help people and engage with them on that."