Bolt Action is a lot of fun! I've only played 300pt games so far. The rules are straightforward, and I really like the initiative mechanic.
I am playing as the Canadians. For our first league day, I had an officer, artillery spotter, one 10 man squad (with 2 SMG and one lmg), one 5 man squad with the same weapon upgrades, and a medium machine gun team.
Being in cover is great, but once you run into the open, your troops die really quick. The biggest mechanic is pin markers. Everytime a unit gets hit by shooting from an enemy unit, it gets a pin marker.
When a unit has pin markers, it has to make a leadership test with -1 per pin marker on the unit to do anything it's ordered to do, or they hit the dirt for that turn and do nothing.
A lot of the stradegy then is to advance in cover, try to pin the amphetamine parrot out of your opponent and then rush him. The artillery spotter is great at calling in a strike once per game, which can give out a bunch of pin markers.
Close combat is deadly too. If one side loses, all it's surviving models die. Combats never last more than one round. Certain weapons and skills make you better at melee, which is one of the best ways to deal with dug in enemy troops.
Moving onto 500pt forces, where I'll be adding a second 10 man squad, 6pdr anti tank gun, and a PIAT team (personal infantry anti tank).
After that, I am adding in my first tank, a Cromwell, which is 195pts on its own!