The third installment of “Bolt Action” intends to streamline the experience, making the gameplay more intuitive and focusing less on the rules and more on strategy. Alessio Cavatore, the author of “Bolt Action: Third Edition,” expressed his intent for the update, emphasizing the goal of a seamless rule system that allows players to focus more on tactical decisions during play.

This edition updates the rules and includes new starter army lists designed to help new players engage quickly with the game. For experienced players, the updated edition offers new strategic elements, including detailed force composition mechanics and an enhanced scenario generation system, providing varied and challenging new gameplay opportunities.

Players can recreate historical World War II battles across diverse settings such as Normandy, North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific islands. The game supports multiple army configurations and scenarios, catering to different historical interests and gameplay styles.

“Bolt Action: Third Edition” will continue to be supported by a range of official miniatures from Warlord Games. Review copies, both physical and digital, are anticipated to be available by July or August 2024.

Preorders for “Bolt Action: Third Edition” are currently open. This release invites both new and returning players to experience the updated mechanics and expanded gameplay options.

A Wealth of Customization

The sprue features six dynamic poses for soldiers adorned in the iconic French Army greatcoat. For those concerned about in-game aesthetics, the French soldiers can be easily identified by these unique coats, even when placed alongside other ‘greatcoat’ armies. The sprue also comes with a variety of gear including 1935-pattern haversacks, holstered pistols, and other tools essential for getting comfortable along the Maginot line.

Arms for La Patrie

When it comes to armament, the new sprue doesn’t disappoint. Players can choose from the modern MAS 36 rifle or go retro with the Mle1907/15 Berthier rifle. Additionally, the set introduces the plastic version of the iconic VB Launcher and the highly efficient FM 24/29 ‘Châtellerault’ light machine gun, ensuring that your troops are never under-armed.

The Hat is Where it’s At

The headgear options are arguably what sets this sprue apart. From the iconic ‘Adrian’ helmets to the large berets for ‘Fortress Infantry,’ the options are numerous. There are even ‘bonnets de police’ for the French chasseur light infantry regiments, offering a range of stylish and functional headgear choices for players.

Diverse Troop Types

The new range also celebrates the often underrepresented colonial troops, with headgear perfect for North African soldiers. Now, players can field a variety of colonial troops, adding depth and variety to the French army.

Options to Order

Warlord is offering multiple ways for fans to get their hands on these new miniatures. The French Starter Army Boxed Set contains a whopping 36 new figures, medium mortar, medium machine gun, and a 25mm anti-tank gun for firepower. It even includes the Char B1 bis medium tank for armoured support.

If you want the full experience, the French Army All-in Bundle provides all this along with cavalry, artillery transports, and light tanks.

For those only interested in the infantry, the French Army Infantry Bundle will be available later this year, offering three new boxes of infantry along with a Somua S35 light tank and a Lorraine 38L armoured carrier.

“Tough Gut” narrates the gripping tale of the first five months of mainland Italy’s invasion in 1943/44, covering the landings and breakout from the Anzio beachhead, the Gustav Line’s fierce combat, and the legendary battles for Monte Cassino. The book is a must-have for Bolt Action tabletop enthusiasts keen on re-enacting these strategically crucial yet often overlooked battles.

The book presents a total of ten unique scenarios, from the opening skirmish “The Barracks,” to the concluding epic battle “Playing With the Big Cats.”

“Tough Gut” introduces new units and theatre selectors for both Allies and Axis. Allies can now utilize specific rules and units representing New Zealanders (including Māori), Indians, Canadians, and Poles. The Axis also gets a refresh with German forces, including seasoned veterans and raw recruits, especially the Fallschirmjäger paratroopers who played a significant role in Monte Cassino’s bitter defense.

The book also includes extra rules and revised special pieces of equipment tailored explicitly for the Italian campaign, ranging from early-model Panzerfaust 30 anti-tank weapons to flash suppressors for machine guns. Gebirgsjäger now receive the Mountain Warriors special rule, and the Forza d’Animo national special rule sees Italian forces become more aggressive on the tabletop.

A unique addition to the book is the legendary bear, Wojtek, who was adopted by Polish soldiers and served alongside them throughout the Italian campaign. Wojtek was an ammunition carrier for an artillery unit, and his presence boosted morale among the human troops. Wojtek’s special rules in Bolt Action extend a morale-boosting aura to friendly troops within his vicinity.

“Tough Gut” is available through the Warlord Games webstore and comes with the exclusive book figure, Wojtek the Bear, when ordered from there. This campaign book is expected to provide fresh and exciting content for Bolt Action fans and provide an immersive WWII gaming experience.

From the article:

This article is a set of guidelines about writing scenarios for Bolt Action. This advice has been derived from my own personal experience of writing many many scenarios for different purposes within the Bolt Action game system over the years.

From that experience I have to say that there is a huge difference between writing balanced ‘battle scenarios’ and more uneven ‘historical’ scenarios. The first are aimed at being playable in competitive events like tournaments, with both players having equal chances of winning. The latter are more for fun and aimed at capturing the flavour of a particular historical engagement or campaign/sector of the war. And they are, in my opinion, very different beasts!

As the historical ones are those that are far more commonly designed by players all over the world, this article will concentrate on them. Players that are interested in ‘balanced’ tournament scenarios are more normally happy to use the existing ones in the rulebook, or simple tweaks thereof to adapt them to their needs and likes.

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From the article:

This set of experimental rules comes from way back in the origins of the designing process for Bolt Action. As with any wargames system things get modified perhaps because of limitations on time, design brief, or we felt they needed more work. Treat these ‘rules’ as entirely optional and an experimental alternative to the main rules for aircraft in Bolt Action & have a little fun.

Essentially these experimental Warplanes rules would replace the Forward Air Observer rules. In terms of army selection, instead of including an Air Observer, each Platoon can include a Warplane chosen from the appropriate list at the end of this article. 

Warplanes are rare and expensive units, and remain on the table for a limited amount of time. Because of the scale of our game, we will concern ourselves only with tactical air power: fighters, fighter-bombers and dive bombers, either strafing or attacking ground targets directly. We feel that strategic attack by high altitude level bombers is satisfactorily covered by the rules for artillery barrages.

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