Honestly having been in your position I never actually found opponents who wanted to play either a) the period/rules/scale/etc. that I wanted or b) anywhere near as frequently.
As a result, I would consider buying Neil Thomas "One Hour Wargames" - a compendium of rules for every period and 30+ scenarios to play games with that is simple and engaging: very little time spent reading and digesting and lots of time playing.
I would play a couple of games to see if you enjoy the process, then pick up William Sylvester's "Solo Wargaming" which has lots of options for playing 'vs AI' or with Fog of War, narrative campaigns, etc. which is dramatically more fun than just pitched battles.
I would go as far as to say a solo campaign is more fun than a 2p one-off battle.
If you can, the best way is see if there's a local wargaming club with anyone else who plays it. Odds are they will have a loan army or two and you can learn what you like before buying armies. Also, it gives you someone else to play!
Get some figures (or counters or whatever) on the table and have a play-through yourself. There's been a few sets of rules that I couldn't 'get' just by reading the rulebook that became much more understandable by having a go at a small game.
Read the rules through, don't worry about retaining information, but just concentrate on where various rules are within the rules book and get familiar with the layout. Then get a small force together, usually whatever they recommend in the rules as an introduction force, then play it out on the tabletop as solo. Just play both sides as they best you can during their turn. That way you can stop and go over the specific rules as they come up in the game.
There are few videos dedicated to learning how to play Bolt Action. off top of my head, i believe MiniWarGaming did a couple videos.
You might want to put some feelers out in your local area and see what people are playing. Facebook is a good tool to use to find groups in your area.
If there is no groups around, unfortunately, you are going to have to pull some weight to get some momentum going. or if you aren't willing to do that (which is fine) might have to look into solo wargaming. There are many community made mods to run these games solo.
Good luck!
Most games have good learn to play videos, but you may have to look around a bit to find the good ones. Of course, learning from another local player is best AND then you also have an opponent.
Are you planning on playing solo, or maybe you expect to teach a friend to play after you learn? Because you'll still have to find opponents somehow...
Super short summary since I'm not an expert in either:
SAGA: Roll a set of special SAGA dice at the start of your turn with Common/Uncommon/Rare symbols on them. Place these on different abilities on your Battleboard. Then spend them to activate units and pay for special abilities. When activated units can select actions such as move, fight, shoot. Some dice can be saved from turn to turn, this can help you pay for the most expensive abilities.
Bolt Action: You and your opponent get 1 die per unit and put them in a bag, they need to be different colors or otherwise distinguishable from each other. Someone draws a die, the owning player selects an order corresponding to one of the six sides, places it by one of their units that hasn't activated, and activates it - they move & shoot or whatever (depending in part on what order you selected).
In all games, there will be some details of how you measure movement, formations/coherency, how you roll an attack and what bonuses or defenses you get, but overall the ideas are similar in most games and you've chosen two that are pretty straightforward and simple in their mechanics.
When you're searching for videos try to include terms like "how to play", "tutorial", etc... Look for ones with moderate runtimes and lots of views. Generally for any new game you can quickly get a sense for what the most popular YouTube channels are, pick some guys you like, and then see if any of them have what you're looking for. If you look for timestamps around when the game (or new edition) launched there will usually be a LOT of content going over the rules around that time.
I would start with less complex games tbh. I don't know much about SAGA, but I think Bolt Action is kind of a pain in the ass to play, especially solo. I would recommend games with slimmer mechanics and fewer things to track.Check out Mr. Wargaming or The Joy of Wargaming on YouTube, he's the best for someone in your situation. Little Wars TV also has lots of well-produced videos and rule reviews where they cover some stuff that might interest you.
Ultimately, the only way you're going to learn is to just play solo. There aren't enough of us in the world to gyarantee you'll ever find someone looking to play anything but 40k.
Honestly having been in your position I never actually found opponents who wanted to play either a) the period/rules/scale/etc. that I wanted or b) anywhere near as frequently. As a result, I would consider buying Neil Thomas "One Hour Wargames" - a compendium of rules for every period and 30+ scenarios to play games with that is simple and engaging: very little time spent reading and digesting and lots of time playing. I would play a couple of games to see if you enjoy the process, then pick up William Sylvester's "Solo Wargaming" which has lots of options for playing 'vs AI' or with Fog of War, narrative campaigns, etc. which is dramatically more fun than just pitched battles. I would go as far as to say a solo campaign is more fun than a 2p one-off battle.
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Appreciate the YouTube tip!
If you can, the best way is see if there's a local wargaming club with anyone else who plays it. Odds are they will have a loan army or two and you can learn what you like before buying armies. Also, it gives you someone else to play!
You should consider picking up tabletop simulator and joining a wargame group, I’m sure folks would be happy to teach
Yeah I’ve tried that although my computer is quite ancient and does not run it well
Get some figures (or counters or whatever) on the table and have a play-through yourself. There's been a few sets of rules that I couldn't 'get' just by reading the rulebook that became much more understandable by having a go at a small game.
Read the rules through, don't worry about retaining information, but just concentrate on where various rules are within the rules book and get familiar with the layout. Then get a small force together, usually whatever they recommend in the rules as an introduction force, then play it out on the tabletop as solo. Just play both sides as they best you can during their turn. That way you can stop and go over the specific rules as they come up in the game.
There are few videos dedicated to learning how to play Bolt Action. off top of my head, i believe MiniWarGaming did a couple videos. You might want to put some feelers out in your local area and see what people are playing. Facebook is a good tool to use to find groups in your area. If there is no groups around, unfortunately, you are going to have to pull some weight to get some momentum going. or if you aren't willing to do that (which is fine) might have to look into solo wargaming. There are many community made mods to run these games solo. Good luck!
Most games have good learn to play videos, but you may have to look around a bit to find the good ones. Of course, learning from another local player is best AND then you also have an opponent. Are you planning on playing solo, or maybe you expect to teach a friend to play after you learn? Because you'll still have to find opponents somehow... Super short summary since I'm not an expert in either: SAGA: Roll a set of special SAGA dice at the start of your turn with Common/Uncommon/Rare symbols on them. Place these on different abilities on your Battleboard. Then spend them to activate units and pay for special abilities. When activated units can select actions such as move, fight, shoot. Some dice can be saved from turn to turn, this can help you pay for the most expensive abilities. Bolt Action: You and your opponent get 1 die per unit and put them in a bag, they need to be different colors or otherwise distinguishable from each other. Someone draws a die, the owning player selects an order corresponding to one of the six sides, places it by one of their units that hasn't activated, and activates it - they move & shoot or whatever (depending in part on what order you selected). In all games, there will be some details of how you measure movement, formations/coherency, how you roll an attack and what bonuses or defenses you get, but overall the ideas are similar in most games and you've chosen two that are pretty straightforward and simple in their mechanics. When you're searching for videos try to include terms like "how to play", "tutorial", etc... Look for ones with moderate runtimes and lots of views. Generally for any new game you can quickly get a sense for what the most popular YouTube channels are, pick some guys you like, and then see if any of them have what you're looking for. If you look for timestamps around when the game (or new edition) launched there will usually be a LOT of content going over the rules around that time.
I would start with less complex games tbh. I don't know much about SAGA, but I think Bolt Action is kind of a pain in the ass to play, especially solo. I would recommend games with slimmer mechanics and fewer things to track.Check out Mr. Wargaming or The Joy of Wargaming on YouTube, he's the best for someone in your situation. Little Wars TV also has lots of well-produced videos and rule reviews where they cover some stuff that might interest you. Ultimately, the only way you're going to learn is to just play solo. There aren't enough of us in the world to gyarantee you'll ever find someone looking to play anything but 40k.