ArcBayonet | ArcFest

ArcBayonet at Glance

Game System: The Silver Bayonet

Point Size: 100 Points

Missions: Custom & Rulebook

Board Size: 3ft x 3ft

Event Organiser: War All The Time

Sessions: 6 (2 Days, May 2nd & 3rd)

Schedule: TBA

Ticket: $85

Venue: Sandown Racecourse, Melbourne

FB Event

Updated: 31/01/2026

Arc Bayonet is a two-day narrative tournament for The Silver Bayonet, presented by War All the Time.

The Silver Bayonet is a small unit skirmish wargame of Napoleonic gothic horror, designed by Joseph McCullough and published by Osprey Games. Players command a small unit of occult hunters from one of the great powers of Europe (Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, Russia or Spain). Each unit consists of an officer and 6 to 8 soldiers, each with a different battlefield role and skills. Games are short and fierce, with each side battling each other as they capture key objectives while fending off (or hunting down) foul and unearthly monsters.

The following rules will be updated on March 1st.

Source: Northstar Games Wesbsite

ArcFest Basics

Play for Fun is all about bringing armies that are enjoyable to play against.

You don’t need the most powerful list—focus on what makes the game fun, engaging, and memorable for both you and your opponent.

Roll dice, tell stories, and enjoy great games where shared fun always comes first.

Challenge Your Hobby is all about bringing your painted models to the table.

Every miniature must be painted, giving you the chance to showcase your army to fellow gamers, try new techniques, and push yourself creatively.

This event celebrates both your craft and your courage to put your hobby on display for everyone to enjoy.

Create & Collect is all about the rule of cool. Bring the models, conversions, and armies that excite you the most—no limits, no pressure, just fun.

Show off your creativity, collect inspiration from others, and celebrate the ideas that make your hobby unique.

This is your space to play, craft, and enjoy the things you love most.

Play It Forward is about making new friends, enjoying a hobby we all love, and showing respect and sportsmanship to everyone at the event.

It’s about being part of a welcoming, positive community where every game is fun and every player feels included.

Each event will either score, or give awards representing these categories.

ArcFest wide Rules

Painted Miniatures: All models must be painted with a minimum of three distinct colours (This includes the base, which can be 1 of the colours). This ensures every miniature is table-ready and contributes to the visual enjoyment of the event. It’s about celebrating your hobby and showing off the creativity and effort you’ve put into your army. Everyone knows, painted models roll better dice.

All 3D-printed models must follow the ArcFest Model Policy. This ensures they meet the same standards as other models for quality, safety, and table readiness. It’s about keeping games fair, enjoyable, and consistent for everyone at the event. We also want to make sure participants are respecting our sponsors and game creators who support the entire con. Some events will have exceptions, however please review the policy for more detail.

ArcFest Model Policy (update coming)

Behaviour Policy: All attendees are expected to act respectfully and responsibly. Any inappropriate, violent, bullying, or abusive behaviour, deliberate cheating, or disregarding TO rulings will not be tolerated, and those who engage in such conduct will be asked to leave. This helps keep ArcFest a safe, fair, and welcoming environment for everyone.

AI Artwork: If the event has theme or presentation you may not use Chat GPT or gen AI to create text or artwork for your theme. You will receive no points for it, and AI artwork may not be displayed at the event. Ours is a hobby of imagination. We want to see yours.

More about The Silver Bayonet

You can read more about the rules for The Silver Bayonet at the Osprey website, or watch this excellent rules primer from Peachy (he also has some great battle reports). You can see the game’s official miniatures at the NorthStar Military Figures website. In Australia, you can find the North Star range at Gap Games (friends of ArcFest). You can also use absolutely any 28mm Napoleonic miniatures you like, from any manufacturer.

Source: Northstar Games Wesbsite

Games

Players will fight 6 games, 3 per day

Missions will be a mix of rulebook missions and homebrew

Game length is not yet set, but will be decided before the event.

Each table will have a fixed mission, with 2-3 variants. So, the mission you play will be determined by the table you draw, not by what round it is.

Players will score experience points per the standard mission results, and then will do their injury rolls and experience upgrades together.

There will be a prize for Best Commander (most experience points earned by a unit).

There will be a prize for Most Valued Soldier. To qualify a soldier must have maximum experience (2 pts per mission), and must never be knocked out during any battle; we will then have a boasting contest among the contenders to see who did the bravest act.

Unit List

You must submit your unit list via email one week before the event.

The missions will feature monsters with different vulnerabilities, so load up accordingly.

As per the rules, once a soldier has chosen their specialist equipment, it cannot be changed.

You must show your list to your opponent at the start of the battle and explain which model is which.

After each battle you can swap any soldiers in or out of your unit.

These can be additional models, or same model with a different name.

You cannot make changes after the Round Draw is up. (In other words, you can’t quickly add an Artillerist when you see there is a swivel gun in the mission, you have to commit beforehand.)

Bonus theme points will be awarded if you do not take more than 3 of any soldier type. Variety is the spice of The Silver Bayonet.

Bonus theme points will be awarded for naming your soldiers.

Bonus theme points will be awarded for up to one page of written background, art, props, etc.

There will be a prize for Best Unit.

As with all tournaments, there are a lot of rules to make it clear and fair for everyone, but honestly we just want to have a blast playing this marvelous and action-packed game of brave hunters versus gnarly monsters. Rock up for a rad weekend playing toy soldiers with new friends, and you’re already a winner.

ArcBayonet Rules

The Following books can be used to build your force

The Silver Bayonet rulebook

The Carpathians

Egypt

Italy

Britain

* Canada will not be used, purely because it breaks the narrative of the Napoleonic Wars.

Models

Each player should bring a unit consisting of an officer and up to seven soldiers, totalling 100 points (or 105 points if you upgrade your officer’s Recruitment stat).

Any Napoleonic 28mm miniatures can be used.

Uniforms do not have to be accurately painted (see rulebook p.15) but you will get bonus points if you use a Grenadier model for a Grenadier, a Rifleman model for a Rifleman, and so on.

The main weapon of a figure must be WYSIWYG. Don’t worry about modelling a second pistol if you’re carrying two as long as one is clearly visible, but if you’ve got a blunderbuss, your opponent needs to see it. Similarly, heavy weapons should look heavy, etc.

You will get bonus points if you can contribute one or more painted monster figure(s) from the Unexpected Encounters table (rulebook p.56) to our monster library for the weekend, for the use of other players.

Sports

You will be asked to give your opponent a Sports score after each round. Favbourite Player scoring will take place after Round 5.

Painting

All miniatures must be painted to minimum tabletop standard.

A full painting guide will be available on 1 March.

Painting points will be awarded, to the same amount as theme points.

Your paint score will be based on your starting unit. We will not judge any reserve soldiers you swap in later.

We’re here for fun. You don’t need to be a master miniature painter, and in fact you’ll get a good score just by being diligent. So please don’t stress, just get ‘em done. We’re here to fight vampires.

You may use miniatures painted by someone else, but you will be excluded from maximum points and any painting prize(s). Please tell the painting judge.

Awards

First, Second and Third places will be awarded for the players with the highest total of

Sports, Theme, Battle and Painting scores. Ties will be resolved in that order.

There will be a prize for

Best Sport

Best Unit

Best Painted

Best Officer

Best Soldier

Best Monster

Players Choice

Favourite Opponent

ARMIES ON PARADE

At Lunch time on Day 1, each player will lay out their army on the table they are playing on and players will walk around and vote for their favourite army

You will be provided with a link to access the score card
Score your three favourite armies from the weekend
You will be able to award a single army 3pts, a single army 2pts, and a single army 1pt. With 3pts being the highest.
The winner will be revealed during the Awards presentation

What to bring...

What to Bring: To make the most of your games at ArcFest, please come prepared with everything you’ll need for smooth, fun, and fair play. Below is a handy checklist of what to bring along:

Fully Painted Miniatures (As per the ArcFest wide Rules)

An Official copy of The Silver Bayonet Rules (Either a physical book, or legal pdf on tablet)

Army Lists or Roster Sheets as specified above (A Master copy)

Dice, Cotton Wool, Cards & Tokens will be provided

A Notebook & Pen/Pencil for tracking results (If Required)

A Positive Attitude - Be ready to play, have fun, and support sportsmanship!