Bolt Action is finally out! And some extra goodies
Three weeks ahead of schedule we’ve released our new WWII rulebook – Bolt Action! We know you’ve been anticipating the day with barely concealed excitement. Now you can place your order for this superb rulebook and also ensure you receive a rather special miniature for free. Take a gulp of your canteen, soldier and read your orders…
Written by veteran game designers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley, Bolt Action provides all the rules needed to bring the great battles of World War II to your tabletop. Using miniature soldiers, tanks and terrain, you can fight battles in the shattered towns of occupied France, the barren deserts of North Africa, and even the sweltering jungles of the Pacific.
Players get to decide which of the major or minor World War II powers they would like to represent, and then construct their armies from the lists provided. Army options are almost limitless, allowing you to build the kind of army that most appeals to your style of play. The choice is yours.
Created as a joint project between Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing, the leading independent military history publisher, Bolt Action is sure to be the most popular new wargame on the market.
Contents
Introduction
Basic rules
Advanced rules
Scenarios
Quick reference sheets
Index
Anyone placing an order with us for the Bolt Action rulebook will also receive this superb free miniature – a British Paratrooper aiding a wounded comrade in the heat of battle!
Sculpted by one of the previous owners of Bolt Action and the man that sculpted much of the original Bolt Action range – Paul Hicks. Hicksy is still sculpting for us as you will have seen by his recent offerings – SAS in NW Europe, Crimean War British Lancers, Crimean War British Hussars…
You can only get hold of this exclusive miniature by ordering the Bolt Action rulebook directly from us at Warlord Games.
Order your copy now!
As you can see from the images here, the rulebook is a thing of beauty – not only full of great photos of miniatures but also plenty of information and anecdotes as you’ve come to expect from a Warlord Games book.
Speaking of free miniatures, we’ll also be giving away a bespoke miniature for those of you ordering one of the forthcoming Bolt Action supplements ditectly from us. We’ll bring you more details on that nearer the time but suffice to say that orders for the German supplement will receive a miniature of SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Skorzeny and the American supplement will be accompanied by none other than Colonel ’Chesty’ Puller! We’re too good to you, you know…
I mean how large are the forces? In terms of number of models, etc?
'Standard' game size is 1000 points.
That translates to...20-30 infantry models in 2-4 squads with a small command team (3-5 men); 3-ish infantry support teams (such as a 3-4 man MMG/HMG, 2 man bazooka team, 3 man mortar team, etc.); 1-2 guns (usually 3-4 men plus a gun); and 1-3 vehicles.
The game scales up and down...going up typically means more vehicles. For example, a tank is ~250 points while an infantry platoon (command team plus 2 squads) is ~250-500 points dependent on experience and gear. The 'big' tanks like a King Tiger is ~400 points.
So if you buy a box of infantry, a MG team, a mortar team, an infantry AT team, a gun, and a tank; you'll be a 1000 points or close to it.
I'll be playing this tomorrow at a local club gaming day. It looks promising.
I like 20mm/1:72 plastics for WW2 rather than 28mm. There are way, way more 1:72 vehicle, gun emplacement and equipment kits in 1:72 than in 28mm.
With this being a joint Osprey production, I'm gathering it won't be any more married to 28mm Bolt Action miniatures than Hail Caesar! and Black Powder were to 28mm miniatures.
Probably my favorite thing about historicals is that the rules have to stand on their own merit and the miniatures have to stand on their own merit because there are multiple sources for each and you can mix and match your favorites easily.
This is getting to be more and more the case with fantasy and sci-fi as well.
I bought a copy at Colours yesterday. I've read most of the rules and basically 40k with a few tweaks and changes which is good if it gets more people playing historical but I can see some purist historical gamers not wanting to touch them because of that... Personally I'm looking forward to my first game with them
I also played some games (I really dig rules, and especially WW II rules).
Short version: I like the rules. 8)
Bolt Action seem to prefer simple rules that are written in broad strokes. The funny thing is IMO that BA and my system Victory Decision is always doing it simpler on opposing ends.
Some Examples:
Bolt Action Activation, extremely simple and luck depended
movement, standard complex
Very simplistic move rates for vehicles
No pre-measuring
simple vehicles types (an armoured car is an armoured car - period)
Victory Decision Alternate Activation modified by Ld extremely simple, move leader arrange the rest around in Ld distance
more detailed move rates for vehicles
Always pre-measuring
different move and armour rates for vehicles of the the same type.
Both games seem to have the same fun level. BA is favouring bigger armies as Rick has explained, but this is no surprise since it comes from a mini company.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Mick A wrote: I bought a copy at Colours yesterday. I've read most of the rules and basically 40k with a few tweaks and changes which is good if it gets more people playing historical but I can see some purist historical gamers not wanting to touch them because of that... Personally I'm looking forward to my first game with them
Sorry have to disagree on that.
It is NOT 40K like.
Unit activations totally different and makes a VERY different game. Shooting, CC etc also different. A simpler vehicles system (in fact a bit too generic..).
The list goes...
scipio.au wrote: Has anyone got much familiarity with the game? What size are we talking about in terms of figures and the like?
Or you could've checked out the army deals I linked to get an idea of what you're looking at here.
No need to be unpleasant. And yeah, I saw those. My question is along the lines of "are those actual usable and reasonable armies?". Because, you know, the Hail Caesar starter box isn't. Nor have been the various 40k Boxes, or the recent FoW one, or most GW Batallions, or....
scipio.au wrote: Has anyone got much familiarity with the game? What size are we talking about in terms of figures and the like?
Or you could've checked out the army deals I linked to get an idea of what you're looking at here.
No need to be unpleasant. And yeah, I saw those. My question is along the lines of "are those actual usable and reasonable armies?". Because, you know, the Hail Caesar starter box isn't. Nor have been the various 40k Boxes, or the recent FoW one, or most GW Batallions, or....
They are playable and also quite balanced. A bit infantry heavy, but BA is this way...
Mick A wrote: I bought a copy at Colours yesterday. I've read most of the rules and basically 40k with a few tweaks and changes which is good if it gets more people playing historical but I can see some purist historical gamers not wanting to touch them because of that... Personally I'm looking forward to my first game with them
Mick
It shares similar features to 40k, Warmachine, Hordes, other 20mm mini-games, etc.; but I would not say it plays like these games.
For me the two biggest features / differences are the unit activitation and the role of suppression.
Regarding turning off historical...I dis-agree. The game is flexible to create various historical force orgs without imposing these on you. That could turn off people who want the game to ONLY allow (force) historical on everyone. If you are looking for a real-world historical simulation - no mini game does this well enough, I'd recommend playing Combat Mission (computer) as it accuately models all the physical aspects of reality and can do the math for you behind the scenes to make that happen.
No need to be unpleasant. And yeah, I saw those. My question is along the lines of "are those actual usable and reasonable armies?". Because, you know, the Hail Caesar starter box isn't. Nor have been the various 40k Boxes, or the recent FoW one, or most GW Batallions, or....
I think it might be your avatar. When I had an angry Zap Brannigan, people were snarky with me all the time. Since I changed to a frozen corpse, people have suddenly become far, far more pleasant in their responses to me. I think people might see the crazy shouting guy and react to it, for better or worse.
The game really does seem to be focused on the 20-40 miniatures and a tank level. So the army sets they are selling seem to be actual full armies.
I'll be playing it in a couple hours and will report back later.
I think it might be your avatar. When I had an angry Zap Brannigan, people were snarky with me all the time. Since I changed to a frozen corpse, people have suddenly become far, far more pleasant in their responses to me. I think people might see the crazy shouting guy and react to it, for better or worse.
Haha right so now people feel sorry for you because they associate you with being a frozen corpse?
Actually there might be something to it, not so much these days but I've always used the same avatar (12-13 years on some forums) and back in the old days - when you had the likes of the GW forums banning mention of squats (so it was a form of trolling i guess haha) I used to sometimes get comments like 'yeah but your avatar is a squat'
The turn structure is interesting. You put a die in a cup for each unit on your side. Same for the opponent. Then you draw a die and the side who's colour it is gets to choose one unit to activate. You choose an order. You can stay still and fire, move and fire, double move, hit the dirt for cover, rally, or ambush (a true overwatch reaction ability). And the end of each turn you can choose to leave the getting down for cover die or the ambush die on the model, which means it will be in that mode for the entire turn.
The shooting is a bit like 40k. Only there are modifiers. For moving, for range, for cover, etc.,. That determines your target number and you roll your dice. Then you take all the hits and roll trying to get equal to the quality of the target. 3+ for rookies, 4+ for regulars and 5+ for veterans. I guess the idea is that they are better or worse at hugging cover and staying out of sight.
Every time you score a hit with a unit shooting at another, it gets a pinned marker-- whether you kill a target or not. If you activate something with pinned markers, you make a morale check (2d6 roll under like 40k or Warmachine) with a -1 to your morale for each pinned marker. You can shed pinned markers at a rate of one per turn if you do other stuff or you can rally and get rid of lots of them.
Most combat will be shooting. But close combat is deadly. The defender gets a full round of shooting at all chargers, so make sure you pile up the pinned marker before you go in (as each pin marker gives you -1 to shoot).
I was expecting the vehicles system to be really bland, but it's basically a reworked version of 40k's rules. You can pivot once during your movement and many vehicles go about 9" or 18" on a double move (but with no pivots on that). Guns and vehicles are separated into categories by size (medium, heavy, etc.,) and type (anti-tank, heavy explosive). You can fire at a single target in every arc of fire, so if you have a turret it can swivel to the left while your hull mounted machine gun shoots forward at a different target.
There's a damage table like 40k, but the results play into the whole pinning system, so it's far more satisfying than just getting the result and being done. There's also the possibility of getting massive damage and rolling more than one attempt on the damage table.
Reserve rules are fabulous. Absolutely excellent. You choose when they come on by dedicating an order die to them when one of yours is pulled out of the cup. So say you have 4 units on the board and 3 in reserve. You pull a die out of the cup and decide to either is it on one of the units on the table, or use it on a reserve unit. You could then choose advance and move 6" onto the table and shoot. Or you could choose one of your reserve units and pass play without bringing in the unit if you want to wait for future turns. My opponent masterfully held his reserves back until late in the game and they totally changed the tide of battle.
It was nice that it isn't just optimal to get everything on the table as fast as possible and ram it at the enemy as fast as possible.
Snipers were neat-- they killed some squad leaders and took out a personal anti-tank weapon.
Some scenarios have attackers and defenders and they equalize the attacker by having a preliminary bombardment which starts the defender off with some pinning markers.
The book is a nice small hard cover about 10x7.5 inches or so. Very, very nice, with lots of clear explanation text and good diagrams.
Final thoughts
I just ordered a copy. It was absolutely a blast to play. While it has some basic similarities to 40k (which is unsurprising considering Rick Priestly co-wrote 40k) like the roll-to-hit, roll-to-wound mechanic. But the use of modifiers to hit and no saves at all meant it went faster than having a third round of rolling for saves. And the turn structure and true overwatch through the ambush order means there is lots of player interaction during the game.
It also would work perfectly with no changes to the ranges or movement for any scale of World War 2 miniatures. The ground scale is already compressed, so Micro-armor would work perfectly, as would 10mm, 15mm, 20mm/1:72 or the default 28mm. 40mm and 54mm/1:35 would probably not work well as the vehicles would be a bit big.
If 40k was based on these rules with sci-fi added on, I would get back into 40kimmediately. Instead, however, I've ordered a copy and dug out my existing WW2 models out of storage. Though I may end up going with 6mm/micro-armour as it would work so, so well.
scipio.au wrote: Has anyone got much familiarity with the game? What size are we talking about in terms of figures and the like?
I heard a reference to it on the most recent WWPD podcast and they said it's 28mm and designed so an 'army' is a platoon or two in most cases... So less than 50 models, definitely.
No need to be unpleasant. And yeah, I saw those. My question is along the lines of "are those actual usable and reasonable armies?". Because, you know, the Hail Caesar starter box isn't. Nor have been the various 40k Boxes, or the recent FoW one, or most GW Batallions, or....
I think it might be your avatar. When I had an angry Zap Brannigan, people were snarky with me all the time. Since I changed to a frozen corpse, people have suddenly become far, far more pleasant in their responses to me. I think people might see the crazy shouting guy and react to it, for better or worse.
The game really does seem to be focused on the 20-40 miniatures and a tank level. So the army sets they are selling seem to be actual full armies.
I heard a reference to it on the most recent WWPD podcast and they said it's 28mm and designed so an 'army' is a platoon or two in most cases... So less than 50 models, definitely.
Thanks for the actual answers, guys. People who are snarky for no reason can go to hell, TBH, and expect the same from me down the line. Great review as well, FW. I'll definitely be picking up a copy to get more use out of these models.
Looks like it'll turn out that between my existing (and waiting to ship) Warlord, West Wind and WGF stuff, I'll be pretty close to having forces for the UK, Germany and US. Just need a little bit more armour and infantry between the three and it'll be a go. I always kept umming and ahhing over WG's Wittmann's Tiger. Though I guess it might be a bit OP for this sort of scale of battle. Maybe a PzIV instead. Or as well.
Hmm found a/some "negative" or at least a "critical" review(s) of the game. Anyone here who has played have any thoughts on this?
PLayed a game a week or so back. The rules are fast to learn, fairly intuitive and pretty fun. Unfortunatly close assault is like WWWAAAAYYYY broken. I see no need to never take anytrhing but SMG armed infantry with anti-tank grenades. When the range for a rifle is only 24" the defender is only going to get one ( maybe 2) phases of fire on the assaulting unit ( maybe 3-4 casualties) before they are assaulted and totally destroyed by the SMG's. And when you can get a 12 man squad of Soviets SMG w. AT grenades for something like 160 points and keep a 1st lieutenant or two nearby to keep them moving you can spam a human wave that not much stands up to.
oh also as for more brokeness in assault you can move 6, run 12 but only in open ground but you can assault 12" regardless of terrain. Prettymuch the rules are a good beer and pretzels vanilla WW2 set. If you remove assault or make up a house rule giving defensive fire or requiring a leadership test to assault and when being assaulted to stand it might help but I've not tried it out yet.
Also just thought of another bug/feature. Tanks while fairly hard to destroy really don't seem to have much affect on the battle. without infantry support they can be swarmed and destroyed by AT infantry and their main gun and MG's really don't do enough damage to blunt a focused infantry attack. ( so much like real life YMMV). And to me I;d of loved to see hit locations for the tanks . Even if it was just something like track, hull and turret with different damage effects. But that's not hard to bodge up houserules for.
it's not a question of realism or not. It's the all or nothign nature of close combat in the game. everything else you have to roll to hit with modifiers tacked on due to cover, moving, pin markers. then you have to roll to actually wound and remove models.
In Assault it's simply you charge 12" no matter whats in the way. Since you charged you attack first. you roll to wound no modifiers they remove models for every success. Then they attack back, you remove a model for every success. whoever lost the most models looses the combat and the entire squad is destroyed automatically.
It's a way to bypass modifiers and eliminate rolling to wound form the equation. Your cutting out half the math that mitigates casualties and extends the game. And turning it into an all or nothing charge fest where CC is king. essentially a WW2 40K. but at least in 40k if you loose a round of CC you might stick around to fight another round and turn the tables on the enemy.
I watched another game being played last night and as soon as one person charged and everyone saw the effect that assault had. Suddenly everyone stopped shooting ( unless they couldn't charge) at each other and it became a mass chargefest
Had a look at the rules (not played yet) this week and I am not sure I'll like them.
That it's basically WW2 flavour 40k with a mix of 2nd and 3rd editions with order dice from EPIC thrown in is greatly off putting. There's lots of little niggles in it, and mostly I blame Allessio for them since it's nearly all the same competitive gaming things he usually does.
It's certainly going down the route of Flames of War in only really being barely associated with the history for the sake of context. There's little that really seems to make this a WW2 game rather than what's a pretty generic system.
kenshin620 wrote: Hmm found a/some "negative" or at least a "critical" review(s) of the game. Anyone here who has played have any thoughts on this?]
The comments on assault are wrong. They either read the rules and played them wrong or are making them up. Assaults are brutal versus the tarpits like 40k. Closr combat is not an extended brawl like in the movies.
You can human wave (especially with the soviets, which is like no duh!), but you have pass an orders test if suppressed. You have to get lucky to get it off without a lot of planning.
These reviews are funny, so far everyone I have seen liked it. Not everybody found it engaging enough to buy and play, but no one found it lacking.
The most critical review so far (and true) is this is a squad based game not a highly detailed tactical simulation (which apparently is what some people want).
Frankly, I'll be waiting for Soviet infantry to go plastic before I buy any.
It sounds like a small scale WW2 Miniatures game using 28mm figures. Essentially a smallish, more relaxed WW2 40k-ish game, not requiring too many models. Which, yes, is what some people want. Like me. I can't be bothered finishing the painting of my 1/100 DAK force - it's been shelved for about 8 years because the infantry was tedious as all hell.
The thing about close combat is that the defenders get a full round of shooting as a reaction. So unless they are pinned first, then they're going to seriously hurt the attackers on the way in.
I found the games really came down to the pin markers. And with rifles, you can can get pretty good at judging what's just over 12". So if someone runs within 12", you back up a couple of inches and shoot. They get a pinning marker they'll have to test before they can run at you again. Having the LT there to spur on the SMG armed assaulters will help make sure it happens, but there should be enough fire lanes to layer pinning onto the thing. In the last game I played, the sniper team just took the squad leader out on the all SMG infantry units, which gave them a permanent -1 to their checks.
Any defender worth his salt is going to give ground unless they are holding cover and then assaulting will be simultaneous-- but the defender still gets their full round of shooting first (I saw no mention of the reaction fire in the comments about close combat). If you're not going to lose by giving up an objective by backing up, defenders should just reposition outside of 12".
The only two times someone could bypass your ability to do so is if you're pinned and fail to move (and then you should be run over by assaulting infantry) or if the opponent moves the attackers into position near the end of a turn and then pulls the first die and attacks before you can back off. And even then, you'll still get your shooting.
Also:
The Germans are now making extensive use of a new type of barbed wire. This new type is made of a non-corrosive metal, and is thicker than ordinary wire. It is square in cross-section, rather than round. The wire, which is twisted, has 3/4-inch barbs, 4 inches apart. -- U.S. WWII Intelligence Bulletin, September, 1943
Can't charge through terrain you can't move through:
Spoiler:
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, by RAW, you can't assault into rough terrain as you can't run into rough terrain. This is going to be errata'd to allow it but at half speed. So you don't just ignore terrain.
Some typos. Including some errors in the points values for some things. Maybe three or four total. For example, it sort of sounds like German LMGs are 20 points for either one or two, when it should be 20 points each like every other army.
Close combat removes all pinning markers. Yes, one side or the other will be wiped out, but despite going through a grueling close assault either as the attacker or the defender, the survivor will always end the combat without any pinning markers. If this bothers the people playing, I'd say just leave them on the units. That's a house rule i'll probably use.
The issue mentioned above where you can't assault into rough terrain because you can't run in rough terrain. Rick Priestly has posted on the Warlord forums that if you do an assault and you move through rough terrain, your assault range is 6" rather than 12".
Yeah. Instead they have the "Hitler's Buzzsaw" special rule that gives German MGs more shots. They're still 20 points each.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Just wanted to add:
For those who care what a book reads like, Bolt Action is very conversational in its language. It's an easy read that sort of draws you in. You get the sense it's the authors inviting you to try their game.
No index, but the table of contents is quite good and everything is where it should be in the rules and any time it's needed, there's a page reference to other pages.
I suppose that's another negative to some, positive to others. For myself, I've been playing Warmachine so long I can estimate ranges really, really accurately.
frozenwastes wrote: I'll be playing this tomorrow at a local club gaming day. It looks promising.
I like 20mm/1:72 plastics for WW2 rather than 28mm. There are way, way more 1:72 vehicle, gun emplacement and equipment kits in 1:72 than in 28mm.
With this being a joint Osprey production, I'm gathering it won't be any more married to 28mm Bolt Action miniatures than Hail Caesar! and Black Powder were to 28mm miniatures.
Probably my favorite thing about historicals is that the rules have to stand on their own merit and the miniatures have to stand on their own merit because there are multiple sources for each and you can mix and match your favorites easily.
This is getting to be more and more the case with fantasy and sci-fi as well.
I love 20mm/ 1/72 WWII.
Unfortunately it's does not seem at that popular where I live let alone the US. Seems like the only scales people will game with in WWII is 15mm (thanks to FoW) or 28mm (at least now). Some of the older guys like to play 10mm.
Maybe PSC will make 1/72 a bit more popular than it is.
I've actually decided to switch to 15mm for Bolt Action. I want to be able to play against those with Flames of War armies who might want to give it a try.
frozenwastes wrote: I've actually decided to switch to 15mm for Bolt Action. I want to be able to play against those with Flames of War armies who might want to give it a try.
Well BA is not really supporting multi based infantry stands ala FoW!
To fully play BA you should consider to individually base your 15mm soldiers.
scipio.au wrote: Frankly, I'll be waiting for Soviet infantry to go plastic before I buy any.
It sounds like a small scale WW2 Miniatures game using 28mm figures. Essentially a smallish, more relaxed WW2 40k-ish game, not requiring too many models. Which, yes, is what some people want. Like me. I can't be bothered finishing the painting of my 1/100 DAK force - it's been shelved for about 8 years because the infantry was tedious as all hell.
I don't know if you were aware but WIP plastic Soviet Infantry were shown by Warlord at Salute this year.
frozenwastes wrote: I've actually decided to switch to 15mm for Bolt Action. I want to be able to play against those with Flames of War armies who might want to give it a try.
Well BA is not really supporting multi based infantry stands ala FoW!
To fully play BA you should consider to individually base your 15mm soldiers.
Yep. My 15mm will be individually based.
If the opponent has them on FoW bases, we'll just stat them up with the exact equipment they have and put markers on them as needed for casaulties. Battle reports are starting to pop up where people did exactly that and found it worked fine.
Oh, I'm not going to use them also for Flames of War. I don't like the model count required for that game, nor the segregated IGOUGO turn structure. I just want to be able to invite people who have FoW armies to try Bolt Action out if they want.
frozenwastes wrote: I've actually decided to switch to 15mm for Bolt Action. I want to be able to play against those with Flames of War armies who might want to give it a try.
Well BA is not really supporting multi based infantry stands ala FoW!
To fully play BA you should consider to individually base your 15mm soldiers.
Yep. My 15mm will be individually based. If the opponent has them on FoW bases, we'll just stat them up with the exact equipment they have and put markers on them as needed for casaulties. Battle reports are starting to pop up where people did exactly that and found it worked fine.
You will eventually encounter some problems as soon as area/blast weapons target the really close bunched FoW infantry stand based minis, so some houserules will be necessary.
Individully based squads tend to be more spreadout and therefore more difficult to get.
Still a worthy endeavour IMO!
My own system Victory Decision was designed with individully based minis in mind, I integrated some rules to overcome the above problems.
This worked so fine that right now FoB style based 15mm games are my favourite!
You will eventually encounter some problems as soon as area/blast weapons target the really close bunched FoW infantry stand based minis, so some houserules will be necessary. Individully based squads tend to be more spreadout and therefore more difficult to get.
Umm. No.
Bolt Action uses no templates for blast/area weapons. Squads are targeted and squads take a certain number of hits based on a roll of the dice.
You will eventually encounter some problems as soon as area/blast weapons target the really close bunched FoW infantry stand based minis, so some houserules will be necessary.
Individully based squads tend to be more spreadout and therefore more difficult to get.
Umm. No.
Bolt Action uses no templates for blast/area weapons. Squads are targeted and squads take a certain number of hits based on a roll of the dice.
Right, but in some cases it does matter which model is hit and killed. On a multi-base, you need to be able to indicate when the LMG guy is no longer there, and the 15s make it hard to see actual armament easily.
The other downside to multi-model basing is that you need additional chits/markers: order die, casualties inflicted, pinning markers, and then a way to indicate when a particular model is removed. It makes the board look very cluttered with all the markers.
I think 20mm is the way to go comparing cost, aesthetic on the table (versus space to play), and ease of seeing the armament of the models.
Other than that, the game is very easy to pick up and gives a good game.
It's one extra marker near or on a model on a base.
What a small inconvenience in order to be able to play against anyone with a FoW army.
So far everyone who has used Bolt Action with their existing Flames of War collection and reported back (be it on boltaction.net, TMP or on blogs) has reported no real issues with integrating the multi-model bases.
I'm still going to base my own collection individually, but it's not some huge hassle for me to invite FoW players to give the game a try with their existing collection.
I understand AAN has a commercial interest in poking holes in the idea in order to sell his own Victory Decision game, but why is anyone else making a mountain out of this molehill?
The first post, absolutely. The 2nd was strange though, with getting the game rules wrong to present a problem and then offer an alternative rules set as the solution.
frozenwastes wrote: The first post, absolutely. The 2nd was strange though, with getting the game rules wrong to present a problem and then offer an alternative rules set as the solution.
Well my 2nd post was based on an older version of the rules and was simply wrong! But please do not read any malice into everything...
I just received the actual rulebook these days and now fully see your point, the random number of dice rule for area weapons solved any problems I mentioned elegantly. So no issue when playing against multibased infantry units.
On a side note - I also have commercial interests in BA... I want this one to succeed too. Rick and Alessio are splendid guys and a pleasure to work with!
(I am already involved in this game too)
I've not played Bolt Action yet, but I do skirmish in 15mm. It's easy and cheap because essentially all you need is a single platoon blister pack. I base them on pennies.
For something like Bolt Action, designed for 28mm, I just half all distances.
So let me get this right: they are more 20mm than 28mm? Either way the scale is better for what I want so I will be getting into this rather than FoW (doesn't mean I won't later )
I did have a look at the british para's and they were a little smaller than 28mm it seemed.
Also the British book to be released will contain ALL british forces?
Brother-Captain Scotti wrote: So let me get this right: they are more 20mm than 28mm? Either way the scale is better for what I want so I will be getting into this rather than FoW (doesn't mean I won't later )
I did have a look at the british para's and they were a little smaller than 28mm it seemed.
Also the British book to be released will contain ALL british forces?
The British book and all others are comprehensive, not everything is included, but what is missing are really obscure things.
I have even included some prototypes in the Japanese book...
The scale discussion is an endless thing, IMO it basically boiled down to your preferences and taste. I have 28mm, 20mm and 15mm WW II minis and like them all.
http://www.adpublishing.de/html/ww2.html Right now I like to play with 15mm more.
Brother-Captain Scotti wrote: So let me get this right: they are more 20mm than 28mm? Either way the scale is better for what I want so I will be getting into this rather than FoW (doesn't mean I won't later )
I did have a look at the british para's and they were a little smaller than 28mm it seemed.
Also the British book to be released will contain ALL british forces?
The British book and all others are comprehensive, not everything is included, but what is missing are really obscure things.
I have even included some prototypes in the Japanese book...
The scale discussion is an endless thing, IMO it basically boiled down to your preferences and taste. I have 28mm, 20mm and 15mm WW II minis and like them all.
http://www.adpublishing.de/html/ww2.html Right now I like to play with 15mm more.
Excellent, thanks for the info! One last question, would it be possible for me to run 1000pts of combined para's and standard brits or is that not allowed?
What a small inconvenience in order to be able to play against anyone with a FoW army.
So far everyone who has used Bolt Action with their existing Flames of War collection and reported back (be it on boltaction.net, TMP or on blogs) has reported no real issues with integrating the multi-model bases.
I'm still going to base my own collection individually, but it's not some huge hassle for me to invite FoW players to give the game a try with their existing collection.
I understand AAN has a commercial interest in poking holes in the idea in order to sell his own Victory Decision game, but why is anyone else making a mountain out of this molehill?
And why are you getting your panties in a bunch on a discussion board. No one is poking holes in anything, just offering observations after playing the game with various scales.
And sure, no one might mind an extra chit or die next to a base, but after having played and watched a 15mm game, 3 or 4 marker dice sitting behind or next to the multi-base seemed cluttered when there were several bases in proximity. Again YMMV.
The great thing about all of these rulesets is that you don't need multiple collections to play them, and there is plenty of choice in rules and scale. I've just picked up a bunch of 20mm for BA myself, even though I have extensive FOW armies already.
One last question, would it be possible for me to run 1000pts of combined para's and standard brits or is that not allowed?
YES, the British list in the BA rulebook allows it. You have in fact 1 entry for Infantry and one for Veteran Infantry covering Commandos, Paras and Marines.
Your reinforced platoon consists of 2 infantry squads and 0-3 additional squads.
Each squad is between 5 and 10 men.
I have no clue if the upcoming British army book will allow it.
YES, the British list in the BA rulebook allows it. You have in fact 1 entry for Infantry and one for Veteran Infantry covering Commandos, Paras and Marines.
Your reinforced platoon consists of 2 infantry squads and 0-3 additional squads.
Each squad is between 5 and 10 men.
I have no clue if the upcoming British army book will allow it.
AAN,
The above advice is accurate.
However...I think it is inappropriate for you to be giving advice, confusing posters about YOUR GAME Victory Decision and Bolt Action, and jumping in to discussions for a commercially competitive product portraying your self (either intentionally or in-intentionally) as merely another customer.
PLEASE STOP.
BTW I own and play VD. I like it but I think your intervention here is bad form.
frozenwastes wrote: The first post, absolutely. The 2nd was strange though, with getting the game rules wrong to present a problem and then offer an alternative rules set as the solution.
Well my 2nd post was based on an older version of the rules and was simply wrong! But please do not read any malice into everything...
Well, you are a publisher of a competing rules set posting with your gigantic banner advertising it in a thread about Bolt Action news. When you started misrepresenting the rules, I thought it was a bit fishy.
One last question, would it be possible for me to run 1000pts of combined para's and standard brits or is that not allowed?
YES, the British list in the BA rulebook allows it. You have in fact 1 entry for Infantry and one for Veteran Infantry covering Commandos, Paras and Marines.
Your reinforced platoon consists of 2 infantry squads and 0-3 additional squads.
Each squad is between 5 and 10 men.
I have no clue if the upcoming British army book will allow it.
Cheers dude I see no reason for them to change it but will stick to just para's until the new book
However...I think it is inappropriate for you to be giving advice, confusing posters about YOUR GAME Victory Decision and Bolt Action, and jumping in to discussions for a commercially competitive product portraying your self (either intentionally or in-intentionally) as merely another customer.
PLEASE STOP.
BTW I own and play VD. I like it but I think your intervention here is bad form.
He hasn't really done that at all, and the giant banner and post content clearly identifies him as the guy who owns/runs VD. He's also stated that he has interests in BA. I think it's inappropriate for a poster here to be (trying to) tell another poster here what they should and shold not do, regardless of whether they're "just" a customer or instead are involved in a company. Better clear all of the other people involved in the industry out of here as well, no?
...I think it is inappropriate for you to be giving advice, confusing posters about YOUR GAME Victory Decision and Bolt Action, and jumping in to discussions for a commercially competitive product portraying your self (either intentionally or in-intentionally) as merely another customer.
PLEASE STOP.
BTW I own and play VD. I like it but I think your intervention here is bad form.
OK, I will stop after this posting.
Just some thoughts to get things straight from my side.
It was never my intention to criticize BA, on the contrary! I am also involved in BA, I want this game to succeed too.
The comparison with my game was only meant as an explanation, I like both the design approach of BA and of course the design approach of my game. Both are on a very similar abstraction level and - at least IMO - are equally fun.
So no fishy intention from me, simply some infos I wanted to share.
BTW - there is much less competition between game companies/ designers as you might thing.
I got involved in BA via Andy Hoare. I know him since the days when he wrote the Witchunter Codex together with Graham.
I was one of the playtesters and once in a while we mail each other.
Alessio was asking his buddies if someone can help writing the Japanese supplement of BA. Andy recommended me since he knew that I wrote Pacific War theatre books for Victory Decision and World at War.
So Alessio contacted me in January and we skyped two times about the project.
We agreed that I would write the Japanese book.
He gave me the drafted rule books (very basic layout, and that's were my error above came from) and I started work.
The Japanese book is now with him and he paid me asap. We have done this all without any contract, bills or whatever.
Just good old agreement and trust! An absolute pleasure to deal with!
So maybe you can imagine that I have NO interest at all to make BA seen in a bad light!!!
At the time when the topic popped up I knew that not many would have too much infos and thought that some input from my side would be welcome.
If this is too much confusing because of my own rule system I apologize and - as said above - will stop doing so.
I really like what I see in BA, and with the new chaos dex leaving a bad taste in my mouth for 40k I very likely will buy the starter set and give it a try.
Cool news about the Japanese book AAN. I'll definitely be getting a copy of all the books for Bolt Action as they are released.
@Deathshead420 - Bolt Action, rules wise, will be very familiar to you as a 40k player. But imagine it all designed at once so there's no codex revisions/creep/balance issues, and with a turn structure where you alternate activating units between sides based on pulling dice out of a cup. And then add in the ability to do true overwatch with an Ambush order so you can interrupt your opponent as they walk into the open in front of your guys with guns.
WW2 is also the largest conflict in human history (and hopefully stays that way as we certainly don't want an even larger one). There's literally everything occurring somewhere during the war. The stories of actual people who went through it are amazing and will definitely out do the terrible fanfic approach to GW codex fiction that they've been doing lately.
You'll also probably be shocked at the low prices in historicals as well. And you can still get metal miniatures to your heart's content.
DO NOT STOP posting in this thread or any others. I for one find your posts interesting and/or informative, and would find it disappointing to say the least if you allow one person on the internet to bully you into no longer posting on this topic. If it comes to it, this forum has moderators who are more than capable of telling people when it's time to "STOP" posting about any given topic. Considering the guy telling you to stop actually agrees that your post that he was replying to was accurate, and that he simply thinks of it as a "conflict of interest", it's a poor reason to no longer post on the topic.
DO NOT STOP posting in this thread or any others. I for one find your posts interesting and/or informative, and would find it disappointing to say the least if you allow one person on the internet to bully you into no longer posting on this topic. If it comes to it, this forum has moderators who are more than capable of telling people when it's time to "STOP" posting about any given topic. Considering the guy telling you to stop actually agrees that your post that he was replying to was accurate, and that he simply thinks of it as a "conflict of interest", it's a poor reason to no longer post on the topic.
Here Here!
Seriously though why would he try to down one system over another? Its not like your miniatures are tied down to one rule book. I'm going to invest money into models and I'll be danged if I dont use them to their full potential by playing every WW2 game system around.
Nice website. Really liking what I see, although I'm too poor at the moment.to buy anything. I have an inkling for a platoon of Marines and a couple transports though.
Usually the tanks consists of a resin hull and turret, metal tracks and guns plus some smaller metal parts (MGs, hatches etc).
Smaller kits like the Bren Carrier are one piece castings with metal driver and MG.
Mailman just brought in my copy of the core rulebook. An interesting format size akin to Tomorrow's War, smaller than the Hail Caesar and Black Powder books, probably due to Osprey being the publisher, thus wanting everything in a universal size.
A quick leaf through reveals one of my favourite things about Osprey books: Their trademark art!
Guys, I have some praise for the guys at Warlord.
I got a best friend that I only get to see twice a year or so and I wanted to play the bolt action starter set with him but the thing is, he comes October the 14th and the starter set doesn't come out until mid November. So I put what contents would be in the starter set into the online shopping cart, 1 box germans, 1 box americans and the rulebook/dice combo, and its $117. Thats more than my hobby budget for the month so I e-mailed them last night to help me out and they sure did, they offerd a large discount so I can even have it shipped overnight so I can get everything ready for when my buddy comes down.
Warlord proved itself to me today to be a good company and will have a life long customer in me and I'm sure my buddy John aswell. Thanks Warlord and Andy who threw me the bone.
Thats more than my hobby budget for the month so I e-mailed them last night to help me out and they sure did, they offerd a large discount so I can even have it shipped overnight so I can get everything ready for when my buddy comes down.
After reading this I got the bright idea to try this with GW. So I understood most of what the rep said but I have 2 questions, what's a Eversor assassin, and what is Exterminatus? Because they said that i would be paid a visit by both in the near future.
Warlord proved itself to me today to be a good company and will have a life long customer in me and I'm sure my buddy John aswell. Thanks Warlord and Andy who threw me the bone.
That is really awesome, makes me want some even more now.
Just wanted to chime in with my 2 cents. Having been in the game industry for over 10 years now, I can tell you that most of the smaller UK based companies are all friends with one another. You don't get the same kind of animosity you get with the larger companies.
We just opened up the Warlord Games North American office here in the states this last Summer and we distribute for several of the smaller UK companies now. Even ones that would be considered direct competition.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, for those of you in the states, the fact we are here now will increase the availability of our product.
We also have a volunteer program to demo the game similar to the old Outrider program so if you are interested or know of a store that wants to carry our product please contact me for the details.
I've been collecting up Brits, Germans and now some Americans in 28mm to do multiple duty across proper WWII games like Bolt Action and even WWW2 like Incursion/SotTR/Tannhauser/Dust (hell, they can serve in the Imperial Guard as well for that matter!).
I've got to say though, that the idea of grabbing a couple of blisters of little FoW men and basing them individually for some "large scale" BA games appeals to me more and more every time I think about it. Especially as it'll make adding a couple of tanks per side trivial.
I wonder, will the American source book include the Winchester shotgun for their USMC squads? Bit of a dick move that they show you the weapons table flanked by a US marine with shotgun, but no ability to use them!
Also a bit miffed that the Japanese aren't in the book. :(
The lists in the rule book are just the basic rules for each. The army books will go into a lot more detail for each unit with more options and special rules.
Also soon the basic lists for Japan and others will be up on the website. I don't have an exact date, but soon.
The book arrived on Friday and I have got to say it is the nicest book for any wargame I own, it is quite evident how much love and care went into each drawing and the mini's in it look great. I like it better than the 6th ed. rulebook for 40k and that cost £20 more!
Also the warlord exclusive para mini is ace! Well worth the direct order!
Brother-Captain Scotti wrote: The book arrived on Friday and I have got to say it is the nicest book for any wargame I own, it is quite evident how much love and care went into each drawing and the mini's in it look great. I like it better than the 6th ed. rulebook for 40k and that cost £20 more!
While I like the Osprey painting a lot, the layout and miniature presentation is not so much to my liking.
IMO Many of the minis are not painted to a standard that they deserve and the worst part are the semi realistic photoshopped scenic pics.
Examples (Page 66, 101, 111(!), 112, 143(!))
But I have read many positive layout feedback's as yours, so I might be in a minority!
Well, not to be rude, but at least they didn't include minis from John Stallard's own collection.. I'm more bothered by the typos littering the book, which seem to be more and more as I read the book in detail.
Got book...play Rules of Engagement for my WW2 skirmish kicks but am looking forward to playing this especially with regards drawing the dice out for who goes next.I also play Muskets and Tomahawks and love the random card system which always makes for a great narrative game and makes each player think on their feet as you never quite know whether your plan will be scuppered or helped re. order of draw.Anyway I get the impression that you can die pretty quickly in this game esp. your support teams like mortars and hmg's so am guessing it has a little of the WW2 aka 40K about it..Now don't shoot me down in flames here as I play and like 40K for different reasons and have no axe to grind with this game..on the contrary I am looking forward to getting my first game played within the next week,
I will say that it is also exciting that I may get to use more vehicles,etc although that will obviously hurt my pocket somewhat so overall extremely excited at the whole game as it seems to offer something different to RoE albeit a more expensive version...if you want grenade rules and support team survivablility it's RoE but if you want and can afford FOW 28mm I reckon BA is the way forward....I hope to one day play on a 12'x6' with friends and relive Arnhem/Carentan/Orne Bridge and many other scenarios...good luck to Warlord
Full sentences take time...prefer lots dots...type as I think...which is random at times...hope it still gets point across!
Think of it as WW2 orders deciphered from morse
BOLT 2 Bolt Action: Armies of the United States (Jan 2013)
BOLT 3 Bolt Action: Armies of Great Britain (Mar 2013)
BOLT 4 Bolt Action: Armies of the Soviet Union (May 2013)
BOLT 5 Bolt Action: Armies of Imperial Japan (Jul 2013)
BOLT 6 Bolt Action: Armies of France and the Allies (Sep 2013)
BOLT 7 Bolt Action: Armies of Italy and the Axis (Nov 2013)
Yeah, not clamouring for a whole book dedicated to it, but while late war involvement was minimal, we did have armed forces fighting on the side of the Allies. It would be nice to see that happen. I mean, Flames of War is finally doing Dutch articles that aren't centered around those traitors!
scipio.au wrote: I wonder what they're going to do with the Commonwealth nations? In with Great Britain or lumped in with France?
Probably with Britain's book I guess? Mostly the sameish equipment.
IIRC there is a small section in the British book how to handle Commonwealth troops.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
BrookM wrote: Yeah, not clamouring for a whole book dedicated to it, but while late war involvement was minimal, we did have armed forces fighting on the side of the Allies. It would be nice to see that happen. I mean, Flames of War is finally doing Dutch articles that aren't centered around those traitors!
Well considering the very generic approach of BA, why not make your own list?
As soon as the 4 big nation are covered more or less all tanks and weapons will be done, so pick the units stats you like or see fitting and use them as a stand in for you Dutch forces...
This is not 40K after all.
AAN wrote: Well considering the very generic approach of BA, why not make your own list?
As soon as the 4 big nation are covered more or less all tanks and weapons will be done, so pick the units stats you like or see fitting and use them as a stand in for you Dutch forces...
This is not 40K after all.
True enough, I guess this means hunting for research books first.
I thought the temp cover amazon had for the American book was a lot better than the actual cover Warlord went with. Oh well. Reviews and pics of the Germany book are floating about. Looks like Australia already has the book but it'll be another few weeks before it makes its way to the rest of the world.
Generic list with almost everything ww2 German as well as more restrictive lists for different areas of fighting.
Can't wait to flip through it myself.
Hm.. I'm thinking of buying a couple of FoW platoon blisters to use in BA as we were discussing earlier. I'll also play in 28mm (I've been buying up some Germans, Brits and Americans) but I'd also like to use a bunch of my 15mm armour.
Here's the tricky part - advice on which FoW figures to buy - there's a lot of ...variable quality in the FoW range, and if I'm going to play skirmish I'll paint them like their big cousins. So any advice on which Germans have the nicest sculpts, and also which Brits? I'd ideally like to get figures I can use as SS versus Paras (Arnhem theme) but I also just want to buy a blister of each and not a whole company box - and with the rounded bases (not the really old oval or irregular ones). I could use the new plastics, but I'd prefer metals - since the plastics would probably fly all over the table if I sneezed, while the metals ones have (a little) more heft.
AAN wrote: Well considering the very generic approach of BA, why not make your own list?
As soon as the 4 big nation are covered more or less all tanks and weapons will be done, so pick the units stats you like or see fitting and use them as a stand in for you Dutch forces...
This is not 40K after all.
Yes and no.
During the early period, most of the nations used either French or Czech equipment, with a smattering of home-built stuff. The Poles, for instance, had their own tank designs. The Czech stuff should be statted out when the German book is released next month (since the Germans captured and used pretty much all of it), but the French stuff won't be officially statted out until much later. And then you've got the minor Axis powers. The Finns are easy enough (German and captured Soviet equipment). But the Italians pretty much used just their own stuff. The Hungarians also made a lot of their own equipment, including armored vehicles. And while the Romanians used a lot of purchased and captured equipment, they also ended up doing some very creative things combining tanks and guns in ways that the original designers had never envisioned (i.e. TACAM R-2 and TACAM T-60).
Late war allies, however, can all be built using more restrictive versions of the British (Commonwealth and most Free Allied Forces), US (Free French), and Soviet (Poles and Czechs who fought in the East) lists.
The other army books (United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union) are also on pre-order, again with 15% off, though as with the German army book linked above, no special mini is included with the order.
The Red Horde is almost upon us! Stalin’s Soviet soldiers are now immortalised in hard plastic with this, our latest plastic Bolt Action set. You can place a pre-order for these superb miniatures now…
These are the men who fought ferociously to defend Mother Russia from the German invasion of 1941 through to the fall of Berlin in 1945. Simple peasant soldiers, they were taught to obey orders and do as they were told. Their life was hard and their battles probably unequalled in history for scale and suffering.
The Russian divisions grew from a disorganised mass to a fully capable and experienced force of modern infantry in just a few short years, a deadly weapon tempered in the cauldron of battle against the German invaders.
“Quantity has a quality of its own” said Joseph Stalin, alluding to the huge numbers of men he could put into the field. Well-equipped with simple, solid weaponry the Soviet soldier was a terror in attack and the very devil in defence as the legendary sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad hold in stark testimony.
Soviet Infantry contains:
Enough plastic components to make 40 Soviet Union infantry miniatures. Includes a host of options to allow for different weapon configurations and command models.
Weapons included:
Mosin-Nagant rifle (scoped, with bayonet and without), PTRD Anti-tank rifle, submachine guns (PPS-43 , PPSh-41 and PPD-40), Mosin-Nagant carbine, DT-28 light machine gun, Tokarev semi-automatic rifle (and bayonet version), pistols and captured Panzerfaust!
Round plastic bases (25mm diameter).
Background leaflet.
As you can see there is a stack of variety available with bodies wearing a mix of Summer and quilted uniforms. The sheer variety of equipment and weaponry in this set is bewildering – you can even have your soldiers fighting close quarters wielding entrenching tools!
The new plastics are just the star of what will be a comprehensive Soviet range – we already have the likes of the Iosef Stalin 2 heavy tank on the way (and loads more vehicles!) as well as many metal sets such as Forward Observer teams and Scouts. The Red Army are often the poor relation compared to German, British and US ranges but not here at Warlord Games!
It would be rude of us not to include the Soviet anti-tank rifle wouldn’t it? You’ll also be able to arm this prone pose with the DP-28 light machine gun, sniper rifle or one of the other weapons on this Soviet Weapons sprue.
What kind of company would we be if we didn’t include Molotov Cocktails? Is there anything that screams ‘Soviet!’ more?
Its worse; they've got a bundle deal on 3 boxes, saving $15 (I can only see the US site from here). That'll land you 120 28mm infantry figures for about £75?
I know I don't need that many, but it's tempting none the less!
I am defiantly interested in this game, I have be thinking about starting a 28mm WWII game for a while, and this one seems very good after reading some of WWPD’s coverage of it. It will also be very affordable to start, as with a box of WGFs Germans and Americans (I like them more than Warlord's ones) and the rulebook, I can start the game for about $70 and have around 500 pts for Germans and Americans in the game (I threw together some lists with WWPD's excel lists to see what I could make with 30 Germans and 30 Americans).
scipio.au wrote: Hm.. I'm thinking of buying a couple of FoW platoon blisters to use in BA as we were discussing earlier. I'll also play in 28mm (I've been buying up some Germans, Brits and Americans) but I'd also like to use a bunch of my 15mm armour.
Here's the tricky part - advice on which FoW figures to buy - there's a lot of ...variable quality in the FoW range, and if I'm going to play skirmish I'll paint them like their big cousins. So any advice on which Germans have the nicest sculpts, and also which Brits? I'd ideally like to get figures I can use as SS versus Paras (Arnhem theme) but I also just want to buy a blister of each and not a whole company box - and with the rounded bases (not the really old oval or irregular ones). I could use the new plastics, but I'd prefer metals - since the plastics would probably fly all over the table if I sneezed, while the metals ones have (a little) more heft.
I only have limited experience with infantry other than Italy, but I can say that the sculpts from the Late-War Panzergrenedier Platoon ( http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=1155 ) I have are good sculpts overall. This platoon is also good if you plan on using a lot of MG-42s, as it comes with 6.
Thanks, Gen.Seric. I'm now thinking I may just bite the bullet and go with the Company boxes - Brit Paras and SS Panzergrenadierkompanie. It's more than I wanted to spend, but then again, if I want to play BA on a bigger scale than with the 28mm figures I already have, I may as well have more actual figures than I do in 28mm. Just means I have to wait a bit longer to afford them, but circumstances have just changed so I probably won't be doing much painting until just after Christmas anyway....
Still waiting on my Assault on Normandy to arrive where I pre-ordered it, but I'm liking the look of that Panzergrenadier set as well.. and the plastic Soviets ....it's 40k all over again...
Assault on Normandy has gone on official sale today, shipping wont happen until next week, as most of the Warlord staff is in Belgium right now for Crisis 2012 tomorrow.
I think that the re-release of the plastic hamlet kits may also be a reason for the lateness of this release.
So just as a general question, but can't you buy only one hanomag in the typical "force org" at a thousand points, and technically 2 past that? If so, wouldn't that make the third unable to be used in all but friendly games?
Because otherwise, I would buy this in a heartbeat.
MrMoustaffa wrote: So just as a general question, but can't you buy only one hanomag in the typical "force org" at a thousand points, and technically 2 past that? If so, wouldn't that make the third unable to be used in all but friendly games?
Because otherwise, I would buy this in a heartbeat.
"Note that transports can always be included up to one vehicle for every infantry and artillery unit in the reinforced platoon. This enables infantry to be mounted into carriers if desired, HQ units to have jeeps or similar vehicles, and artillery and anti-tank guns to have prime movers." -- Bolt Action, p. 124
I play a lot of M44 and this game seems to fit my miniature itch for WWII without the expense, hopefully as I unload my 40K/Warmahordes I can replace it with some BA minis, Thanks to those with informed reviews and views
Just got word that Armies of Germany is on its way to me. So is Assault on Normandy sadly. Royal Mail and its Dutch equivalent, a horrible, terrible match made in heaven.
So, got to take a peek at the starter set, and I gotta say its a crazy awesome box of goodies. You get the same hardback book they sell on the shelves, 20 americans and 20 germans, the order dice, and a really cool plastic ruined farmhouse. Pretty good value from what I could tell, and everything in the box had really good detail. It's packed in there nice and tight toosho nobody should have anything broken when it shows up. If I didn't already have the rulebook I would probably look into getting it myself.
BrookM wrote: Might be miscounting it, but I count 43 minis, the box has enough parts for 40.
Maybe those first 3 are from a command blister or something? The commander and his two "aides" might be metal models added in.
Regardless, this kit is an insane deal, and I'm very glad that they made sure that the army with the most infantry has the best deal on their models (and good ones at that)
I'm going to have to start a russian army just because it's such a good deal
My starter set arrived yesterday. I've already got a box of Germans, but the US troops are quite nice as well. I'll probably have to get some more. The book though, is a real piece of work. Just Beautiful.
Same here, though chances are that's going to take a while to get to, as more conventional stuff will be turned into plastic first. Dare I say, T34's and Bren Carriers, those would be great.
As it's his birthday we thought we would make available the basics of the early war French army for Bolt Action. (A full list will be published in a few months time but for now this will allow you to take on the Blitzkrieg!
Question: Has anybody else received their Assault on Normandy boxed set as of yet? I'm still waiting on mine to arrive and this is getting worrying, so much so that I've shot Warlord an email about it.
BrookM wrote: Question: Has anybody else received their Assault on Normandy boxed set as of yet? I'm still waiting on mine to arrive and this is getting worrying, so much so that I've shot Warlord an email about it.
I got mine from Firestorm about 2 weeks ago now....
Our first Bolt Action plastic vehicle is now available singly. The iconic Hanomag halftrack is the epitome of the Third Reich’s mechanised forces and now you can add this beautifully detailed and easy to assemble halftrack to your army.
The massed forces of Uncle Sam are ready to enter the war be it in the steamy jungles of the Far East, the arid North African desert or the greener but no less deadly environs of mainland Europe! You can now place a pre-order for this, the next Bolt Action supplement!
We even have a free miniature for those so doing…
Oh look, a WWII soldier without a beard or unshaven face for a change!
Thanks, they sent out a new one earlier this week, priority mail and according to the Royal Mail site is has been in country since yesterday, so I'm dearly hoping it comes in today!
Anyway, here's hoping that the US source book has stats for the shotgun!
Marines and some Japz, or Airborne and some panzers....
MMMMM......
How are those tank models to put together, should I use spray paint or an air brush on them?
What type of plastic do they use? is it like a model, or soft plastic?
What type of cement do you use to put those together with? Do the tank and men come in the same type of plastic, or do they come along with the metal ones?
Really interested, might need to make me an Island Board and start island hopping.
Again speaking of the Japanese, found this in the comments section of the following Warlord post:
Warlord wrote:Have we got loads of exciting Bolt Action vehicles coming through now we're into the New Year? Too right - in resin and in plastic!
We'll be posting previews of various vehicles over the next few days - if you are a collector of US, Soviet, Japanese or British armour you'll be rather pleased indeed...
Several jokes about Japanese tanks were made, but a certain chap who goes around the industry circles chipped in with the following:
Rick Priestley wrote:Just sent the Japanese book text off to Osprey!
Allowing you to field the forces of the Emperor prior to the Armies of Japanese army book, this basic list provides the fundamental elements of Japanese armies to allow you to get stuck in with bayonet and Samurai sword!
There is a full supplement being published later in 2013 but this basic list will allow you to field the fundamental elements of the Imperial Japanese Army until then. For the Emperor!
To go with the army list, there are some Japanese army deals, but those aren't up yet for some reason.
My order went in today with Christmas cash. Picked up a brown and grey set of dice, A Sherman Firefly, Canadian/ British and German pin markers, Britsh Vickers HMG and a British 3" mortar team.
And a good friend of mine has sent me the rulebook and two starter armies, both Canadian/ British and German. Both look to be around the 1000pt mark + extras.
Wouldn't really call it a starter set, more a bundle deal. :/
You get good stuff in it, but what I was missing was quick-start rules and maybe a wee hobby guide, instead we you get a leaflet telling you what to read in the big rulebook along with a suggestion on what to do with the minis provided.
Also, OP? Could you maybe edit the thread title to include the release of the Japanese army list?
I do like the look of that Japanese army list even though it's so bare bones, I bet it'll become very impressive once the full book is released. I have to admit building a Japanese army is really tempting me, but I think I should probably get plenty of games under my belt with my Germans first.
Nick Ellingworth wrote: I do like the look of that Japanese army list even though it's so bare bones, I bet it'll become very impressive once the full book is released. I have to admit building a Japanese army is really tempting me, but I think I should probably get plenty of games under my belt with my Germans first.
The Japanese are indeed an interesting army to play.
And please keep in mind that - as you already noted - the list is basically just a teaser.
The full army book I commissioned for Warlord has way more in it!
I'd be interested to see the sprues of both those kits. I wonder if they're just the same as the existing US infantry kit with "ethnic"-styled heads?
Since Warlord use the separate head system, I'd be tempted to pick some up to use with other figure ranges. Vary my Imperial Guard some more. I get the feeling that unless you're doing a whole Nisei/Buffalo force, that it would look quite odd to have a couple of squads of each fighting alongside the caucasians, given the small scale of BA.
I think I mentioned it, but both the Nisei and Buffalo boxed sets are basically the same plastic boxed sets as the vanilla US Infantry, but with metal bits thrown in as with the Rangers boxed set.
Also, if you're using regular 28mm heroic for your 40k, I wouldn't use the Warlord stuff, which is closer to 28mm true-scale, which when put on heroic bodies, makes them look like they suffer from baby-head syndrome.
What do the Rangers have as far as Metal bits go? I've got a decent whack of Warlord's 28m stuff now, but haven't gotten around to starting to do anything with it.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hm, it looks like they can be mixed in, in some circumstances:
Wikipedia wrote:
Despite some official resistance and administrative barriers, black airmen were trained and played a part in the air war in Europe, gaining a reputation for skill and bravery (see Tuskegee Airmen). In early 1945, after the Battle of the Bulge, American forces in Europe experienced a shortage of combat troops so the embargo on using black soldiers in combat units was relaxed. The American Military History says:
Faced with a shortage of infantry replacements during the enemy's counteroffensive, General Eisenhower offered Negro soldiers in service units an opportunity to volunteer for duty with the infantry. More than 4,500 responded, many taking reductions in grade in order to meet specified requirements. The 6th Army Group formed these men into provisional companies, while the 12th Army Group employed them as an additional platoon in existing rifle companies. The excellent record established by these volunteers, particularly those serving as platoons, presaged major postwar changes in the traditional approach to employing Negro troops.
Wikipedia wrote:
522nd Field Artillery Battalion
The all-Nisei 522nd Field Artillery Battalion was organized as part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team; but towards the end of the war, the 522nd became a roving battalion, shifting to whatever command most needed the unit.[2] The 522nd had the distinction of liberating survivors of the Dachau concentration camp system, from the Nazis on April 29, 1945.[1] Nisei scouts west of Munich near the small Bavarian town of Lager Lechfeld encountered some barracks encircled by barbed wire. Technician Fourth Grade Ichiro Imamura described it in his diary:
"I watched as one of the scouts used his carbine to shoot off the chain that held the prison gates shut .... They weren’t dead, as he had first thought. When the gates swung open, we got our first good look at the prisoners. Many of them were Jews. They were wearing striped prison suits and round caps. It was cold and the snow was two feet deep in some places. There were no German guards. The prisoners struggled to their feet .... They shuffled weakly out of the compound. They were like skeletons - all skin and bones ...."[2]
Holocaust historians have clarified the Nisei 522nd liberated about 3,000 prisoners at Kaufering IV Hurlach. Hurlach was one of 169 subordinate slave labor camps of Dachau. Dachau, like Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Ravensbrück, was surrounded by hundreds of sub-camps.[2]
Pierre Moulin in his recent book 'Dachau, Holocaust and US Samurais' writes that the first Nisei arrived at Dachau's gate not on April 29, the date of the liberation of the camp, but on April 28, 1945.[3]
scipio.au wrote: What do the Rangers have as far as Metal bits go? I've got a decent whack of Warlord's 28m stuff now, but haven't gotten around to starting to do anything with it.
From the Ranger boxed set entry:
Metal parts, including Bangalore torpedoes, M2 flame-thrower, pick/mattocks, axes, wirecutters, heads with goggles, and US Ranger knuckle-knife.
8 unique metal heads representing well-known film characters.
Which is a pretty good deal for just £2.50 extra imho. Not sure on the Nisei and Buffalo Soldier boxed sets, though judging from the previews up, those too are a mix of new arm sets and a sprue or two of extra heads. The Buffalo set with the rolled up sleeves us a nice touch indeed.
Thanks Brook. I'll probably have to pick up the Rangers. For some reason I thought they were an all-metal set. Might have been confusing them with another of their US sets..
scipio.au wrote: What do the Rangers have as far as Metal bits go? I've got a decent whack of Warlord's 28m stuff now, but haven't gotten around to starting to do anything with it.
Found a review for it (though in german) with some pics
The irrepressible Tommy’ is ready for pre-order as the next Bolt Action supplement.
From early campaigns in Europe to the deserts of North Africa and the jungles of the Far East, the book covers wherever the British forces faced the Axis threat and allows you to field the British Army, British Airborne, Commandos, Commonwealth troops such as Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Polish Airborne, Gurkhas, Chindits and of course the SAS!
Complete with a free special miniature of Captain Charles Upham, VC & Bar sculpted by Paul Hicks and only available from Warlord Games!
For all his remarkable exploits on the battlefield, Upham was a shy and modest man, embarrassed when asked about the actions he had been decorated for. “The military honours bestowed on me,” he said, “are the property of the men of my unit.”
When King George VI was conferring Upham’s second VC he asked Maj-Gen Sir Howard Kippenberger, his commanding officer: “Does he deserve it?”
“In my respectful opinion, Sir,” replied Kippenberger, “Upham won this VC several times over.”
Got my army deal (german) after a month I placed order. Very nice all metal inf minis. Vehicles resin. Free dice. 2 free bonus minis. Rulebook is nice hardcover (very 2nd edition 40k like rules!), german army book super. Lots of osprey color plates....
Only prob is artillery blister missing (bottom left) & no flat green bases at all!
No decorative bases included, although pictured.
$301 ttl...
That is my experience thus far, and my opinions... cant wait to play....
krazynadechukr wrote: Only prob is artillery blister missing (bottom left) & no flat green bases at all!..
That no base thing annoys the hell out of me. All of their metal blisters and metal box sets do not include their bases. The blisters I can understand, no room. But no excuse for the box sets not to have them. I have plenty of 40k bases, but I prefer to use what the game system pictures the minis with, just for uniformity.
My own experience: I ordered a Japanese tank and Japanese Army Paint set and some snipers. Tank came wrapped in bubble wrap secured with a rubber band, with the metal bits in a tiny bag that had slipped under the folds at the bottom of the shipping box, luckily finding them when I demolished the box. . The paint set was incomplete and also box-less, with the paints just rolling around in the box, no bubble wrap to secure them or bubble wrap to fill the space in the box.
I'm not really raging about it, my local store had the missing paint and nothing was broken. It just surprised me that their shipping methods seemed so amateurish when all else related to Warlord is superb. Prices, presentation, rules, etc, are all top notch, but for a first time ordering something from them, it left a bit to be desired.
The no base thing, at least aside form their plastic sets, sort of makes sense before their BA rules actually came out
Many other historical models dont come with bases simply because there are many different ways of basing these miniatures depending on which systems you used
I'll chip in and say that my experience with Warlord's shipping methods has so far been fine. I bought my German army from them and everything arrived safely in proper boxes. I suspect that some of the more fringe aspects of their range don't have blisters or printed boxes yet which would explain some things (the jap tank).
I agree completely about the lack of bases in the metal box sets and blisters being annoying but at the same time a lot of historical models aren't provided with them because so many rule sets have their own basing system so I can understand why these older boxes which predate the Bolt Action rule set are sold like that. If you want the 25mm flat bases Warlord provide with their plastics they are available direct from Renedra although I'm sure there are suppliers of similar bases in the US. For stuff like the MMG, mortar and light artillery teams you need 50mm bases which sadly Renedra don't make. However Warlord do make their own MDF ones which are pretty good value IMO.
Nick Ellingworth wrote: For stuff like the MMG, mortar and light artillery teams you need 50mm bases which sadly Renedra don't make. However Warlord do make their own MDF ones which are pretty good value IMO.
If you want a plastic option then proxie models sells some plastic 50mm bases.
With the advent of heavy German armour such as the Panther and Tiger, the standard U.S. tank destroyer, the 3″ Gun Motor Carriage M10, was rapidly becoming obsolete because its main armament, the 3″ M7 gun, had difficulty engaging these new tanks past 500 metres. This problem was foreseen, however, and in September 1942 American engineers had begun designing a new tank destroyer armed with the M3 90 mm gun. The first M36 prototype was completed in March 1943, with a new turret mounting the 90 mm M3 gun on a standard M10 chassis. Like all US tank destroyers, the turret was open-topped to save weight and provide better observation. It was not until September 1944 that the vehicle first began to appear in the European Theatre of Operations. The need for 90 mm gunned tank destroyers was so urgent that, during October–December 1944, 187 conversions of standard Medium Tank M4A3 hulls were produced by Grand Blanc Arsenal. These vehicles, designated M36B1, were rushed to the European Theatre of Operations and used in combat alongside standard M36s. The M36 was well liked by its crews, being one of the few armoured fighting vehicles available to US forces that could destroy heavy German tanks from a distance.
The 37 mm Gun M3 was the first dedicated anti-tank gun fielded by United States military. Introduced in 1940, it became their standard with its size enabling it to be pulled by a jeep. However, the continuing improvement of German tanks soon rendered the 37 mm ineffective, and by 1943 it was being gradually replaced in the European and Mediterranean theatres by the more powerful British-developed 57 mm Gun M1. In the Pacific, where the Japanese tank threat was less significant, the M3 remained in service until the end of the war. Like many other light anti-tank guns, the M3 was widely used in the infantry support role and as an anti-personnel weapon, firing high-explosive and canister rounds. The M3 saw action for the first time during the defence of the Philippines in December 1941. It went on to become a factor in the Guadalcanal Campaign, where it was successfully employed against both Japanese armour and infantry. Throughout the war it remained effective against Japanese vehicles, which were thinly armoured and were rarely committed in large groups. The light weight of the gun made it easy to move through difficult terrain, against enemy fortifications the M3 was only somewhat effective because of its small high-explosive projectile. Its overall effectiveness and ease of use meant the gun remained in service with the Marine Corps and with some Army units in the Pacific until the end of the war.
This US anti-tank gun, classified as substitute standard under the designation 57 mm Gun M1, was based on the British 6 pounder Mk 2. Production started early in 1942 and continued until 1945 and the M1A2 introduced the British practice of free traverse, i.e. the gun could be traversed by the crew pushing and pulling on the breech, instead of a solely geared traverse, from September 1942. A more stable carriage was developed but not introduced. Once the 57 mm entered US service a modified towing point design was introduced (the M1A3) but only for US use. American shell designs and production lagged behind the introduction of the gun once it was accepted for service and so at first only AP shot was available. The HE shell was not available until after the Normandy landings and UK stocks were procured to cover its absence. In spring 1943, following the experience of the North African Campaign where allied guns struggled against German armour, the Infantry branch of the U.S. Army recognised the need to field a heavier anti-tank gun than the 37 mm M3 and from 26 May 1943, a regiment anti-tank company included nine 57 mm guns and each battalion had an anti-tank platoon with three guns giving a total of 18 guns per regiment. By mid-1944 the M1 was the standard anti-tank gun of the US infantry in the Western Front and outnumbered the lighter 37mm M3 in Italy.
FOOs were assigned to a company or squadron of a battalion or regiment that their battery was supporting. In the British artillery system FOOs were always authorised to order fire commands to their own troop or battery, based on their assessment of the tactical situation and if necessary liaison with the supported arm commander.
From mid World War II some artillery observers were authorised to order fire to all batteries of their regiment, it also became the practice for some observers to be designated 'Commander's Representative' able to order fire to a divisional or corps artillery. Unauthorised officers could request fire from more than their own battery. In World War II FOO parties were normally mounted in an armoured carrier, although those assigned to support armoured brigades usually had a tank. Initially a Stuart but in NW Europe usually a Sherman. Pack contains 3 metal foot figures.
By 19:00 GMT today (25th January 2013) we will have implemented our price rise on the items outlined below; if you are quick you may still be able to take advantage at the old prices…
There will be nominal price increases on the following product:
Our metal Bolt Action boxed sets. Some Resin Vehicles. Bolt Action single figure Reinforcements. Bolt Action two figure weapon teams. A selection of items found in the armoury section e.g. shields and caps. Following feedback from you we are repackaging our Bolt Action Orders Dice into packs of 12 rather than 10. The new price will be £10, but only once current stock of the 10-packs have sold out. We are also temporarily retiring the Bolt Action platoon deals. We feel they do not fit in with Bolt Action force selection but we expect them to return before long with rules for fielding more vehicles in your games of Bolt Action.
If, in the meantime, you wish to buy 3 or more of the same vehicles just drop us an email to info@warlordgames.com and we’ll make sure you get your eager hands on them!
Warlord’s second plastic vehicle is now ready to pre-order from our webstore and it is a beauty – the classic Soviet T34/85!
The T-34 series, with its sloping armour, changed the principles of tank design during the war. The sloping, angular layout of the T-34 increased the effective armour thickness, and also saw a larger proportion of shells deflected away than penetrated its armour. The introduction of the T-34 into action saw German tank design follow suit with similarly angled armour on the likes of the Panther and King Tiger. As German tank design came to the fore, the Soviet war machine once again raised the bar with the T-34/85.
The T-34/85, the very symbol of Soviet military strength in the Second World War, had a new turret to house the more powerful 85mm ZiS gun. A supremely rugged and reliable tank, the T-34/85 had excellent off-road capability, especially in the marshland or snow of the Eastern Front, and was easy for the crew to operate and maintain.
The T-34/85′s great strength lay in its adaptation of the T-34/76tank design which preceded it. This ensured a far smoother and faster production line than would have been the case with a completely new design. Another major advantage of the relatively simple design is the sheer number of tanks the Soviet tank factories could produce – by the summer of 1944 the Soviet war machine could produce more T-34/85s in a month than the Germans had Panther tanks in the whole of the Eastern Front!
With over 21,000 of the 57,000 T-34s built during WWII being T-34/85s, the Russian credo was clearly one of quantity over quality, although it was an unwise Panzer commander who discounted the ability of the T-34/85.
The box contains 1 plastic tank, assembly leaflet and the fantastic decal sheet shown below. Please note the models is supplied unassembled and unpainted.
Good to see another plastic vehicle so soon after the Hanomag. Given that Bolt Action will at some point have a set of expansion rules to allow lots more tanks to be used the T34 could be a big hit for them. Hopefully we'll see some Shermans and Panzers in plastic soon too.
I heard good things about BA at my FLGS. Reading this thread got me even more interested...
Any idea why the Warlord site is so painfully slow to navigate? I had every intention of making an order, but navigating that site is painfully slow. I can't even get the BA section to open up.
Chronepsis wrote: I heard good things about BA at my FLGS. Reading this thread got me even more interested...
Any idea why the Warlord site is so painfully slow to navigate? I had every intention of making an order, but navigating that site is painfully slow. I can't even get the BA section to open up.
Dunno, some websites are like that. Could just order from warstore or something. Get a discount to boot
It's an army deal with essentially 80 russians, a tank, and a few specialists guys for free. Yes the tank is resin/metal, but 120 bucks for a fully manned Russian army sounds really awesome with tax returns coming for me soon.
Only thing that bugs me is there are 8 infantry sprues but only 5 weapons sprues, and I feel like there should be 6 or something.
Looks like you're getting a weapons sprue for every sprue of Russians, otherwise I fear there won't be enough rifles to outfit every model in the boxed set.
Oh look, a WWII soldier without a beard or unshaven face for a change!
Ummm, that's not a soldier....soldiers are in the Army. Lewis "Chesty" Puller is a Marine. Not the same...just ask any of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children and they'll tell you so.
Speaking of the USMC, are there going to be boxed sets for them for BA? I saw there was an army list in the US book for them and was wondering if they were getting their own sets.
Speaking of the USMC, are there going to be boxed sets for them for BA? I saw there was an army list in the US book for them and was wondering if they were getting their own sets.
Speaking of the USMC, are there going to be boxed sets for them for BA? I saw there was an army list in the US book for them and was wondering if they were getting their own sets.
They already have a box of them
No idea if they'll make them plastic though
Good, but I do hope they come out with a plastic boxed set for my favorite armed force of the US military.
As a curiosity, for those that are interested in that sort of thing, the British Army source book is written by Jake Thornton and the Russian Army source book by Andy Chambers.
Also, any guesses on who the special edition Russian might be? Perhaps Vasily Zaytsev?
There is no official list entry for it just yet, but chances are it will sport a heavy howitzer, be slow and benefit from the same "Armoured all round" rule as the KV-1.
