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Hey guys,

i´ve been playing W40k for 8 years now. But lately 4 frinds and me decided to give bolt action a try.

And with some questions in my mind, i´ve come here to hopefully get some answers ^^

1) Do the theatre books have additional rules for units or are they just sort of a campaign book ( with rules only for certain kind of warzones) ?
Say for instance, I want to play an African Korps from the germans or brits do I need the "Duell in the Sun" theatre book or is the accordingly army book enough ??

2) Does Bolt Action have war periods like Flames of War ( so early-, mid- and latewar) ???
Or is it possible to play with every unit and faction without having balance issues( even if it is historically inacurate) ???

3) More specific question .... concerning my first purchases.
Including me we are 5 players. 1 Italian, 1 Russia, 2 Germans and me with brits (altough i would prefer germans too i am going with the brits for geting some diversity in the games)

I am thinking to get this box for the start https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/british-chindits/products/chindit-force " target="_new" rel="nofollow"> https://store.warlordgames.com/collections/british-chindits/products/chindit-force . Is this an advisable first buy for a beginner ???
Lorewise australians never fought germans or russians do they still have a chance rulewise ??? (which brings me back to my second question)

Alternatively i´d go with the airborns starter box and maybe some commandos and a tank ... i think they are a better choice for a beginner( also easier to play) ???


So that´s all for the start

Thx in advance
Greez

1) Not sure, havent actually bought any of the theatre books... dont think they include any really important units though. Should probably be able to get started with just the army book. Maybe someone else can add some to this though if theyve got more experience with these.

2) It does have periods, but they arent really enforced. You can totally play early war germans against late war japanese, for instance. Though the balance can be slightly off when it comes to tanks, since EW AT is going to have issues with heavier late war tanks, for instance. But in general, its possible, just dont take any heavy or super heavy tanks if your opponent isnt equipped to handle them.

3)... no clue, tbh. Soviets for me!

Hey there, Greez! Hope you have a great time playing BA. It's dominated my wargaming hobby ever since my first game. Let me see if I can help with some of these questions...

Yep, the theatre books do have additional units. They also have bonus force selectors, scenarios, and fluff (or as we say, history ) Buying the campaign book for your theatre is not at all necessary, it just gives you some neat options. You can take all the motorcycles, Panzer III's, and early war German squads you want with just the core German book.

No periods. It's up to you to adhere to making your list historical and talking it over with your opponent to match up periods. Or you can take the force selectors out of the campaign books and save yourself a slight headache.

The base rules off no restrictions to what armies you can fight. You can play any army against any army- all balance, continuity, and geographical issues aside!

Don't worry about what other people are playing, do what YOU want to do! That being said, starting off with doing some desert rats before moving onto the DAK army of your dreams isn't at all a bad idea if you are really committing to the hobby. Brits are a ton of fun and offer a wide variety of playstyles.

Starter armies, boxed sets, and build-your-owns are a great way to go, especially if you have not created a specific list. Just make sure you have enough for an officer, 2-5 squads of infantry, a couple of teams or fixed weapons, and a couple of vehicles (trucks, jeeps, a tank, etc.). 1,000 points fills up quick!

British are a solid army. You should have no problem going toe to toe with ANY army. Germans can be pretty nasty with the new Tiger Fear rule, though, if they don't have enough shame to take a more stately Stug or Puma . You might consider talking them into ignoring that particular rule for your first couple of games.

Airborne are an excellent army. Chindits will likely be regular and Airborne veteran, though it depends which divisions you want to play. I would say neither is inherently more complex.

Best of luck!

Cheers,
Warptide

Thanks now everything is clear

And yeah I decided to go with the Chindits for the start .... Catachans at WW2 hell yeah

Greez

NEVER get the German player to ignore Tiger Fear unless you are willing to leave that free FO at home!

Aside from that, welcome to the game and have fun. Just a few pointers:
>Get an FO model, you get one for free and it is tremendously powerful (as in it wins my regular opponent games regularly)
>Always have at least 3 full strength infantry units, preferably 4
>Tanks can be powerful, and a Churchill is nothing to laugh at, though with Chindits you are somewhat limited
>Bring an AT weapon and have a backup for it if you are playing more than 750 points
>Jeeps and Flamethrower teams are both dirty and go hand in hand