Bolt Action 3rd Edition Rulebook

So if you slept through the brief, Bolt Action 3rd edition has just parachuted its way onto our gaming tables. Warlord Games have stated this is more of a 2.5 than fully revised edition because after all why fix what isn’t that broken. 3rd edition is pitched more as a refinement, a tweak, a rebalance, and an overall modernisation of second edition. Suits me fine as despite there being the odd bizarre or ambiguous rule, the game plays pretty solidly. That said, with all new editions of a wargame comes a shake up of the meta so let’s see if we can work out what we will start seeing more or less of on the table, and maybe which kits are worth snapping up before they sell out in the process!

Half-tracks

Praise Warlord. Praise them! Half-tracks are an iconic element of the second world war but were often ignored in Bolt Action second edition simply because of how costly they were but now half-tracks have seen points reductions across the board so get ready for the blitzkrieg. Also note, while the core rulebook lists a limited number of half tracks for each faction I suspect we will see many more in certain nation’s army books. This is especially apt for German players who famously liked half-tracks so much they issued them to postman, milkmen, and Uber drivers.

Trucks & soft skinned vehicles

In contrast to the above, trucks and the like are now made of something like a anxious souffle as they no longer get a roll on the vehicle damage table when damaged. You can shoot them with the big bullets AND the small bullets and if you score a six then the driver better have an AA card because that vehicle is destroyed. Also, if you have a penetration value then they are even easier to destroy. This is another reason why I expect to be seeing a lot more half-tracks and people being a little more cagey (or suicidal) if they are bringing unarmoured transports.

Tanks and things that look like tanks but technically are not

A common source of grumbles was how vehicles often got squeezed out when making lists because they hella pricey. Well Warlord have acquiesced and made a lot of vehicles cheaper seemingly overhauling how they approach costing armoured vehicles entirely. The demonstration of this currently doing the rounds is the Tiger 2, aka Germany’s tribute to the concept of overkill, has gone from 666 to 528 points between editions. This is just one example mind as most vehicles have experienced something similar. What does this mean for the edition? More tanks, obviously, but beyond that this change does benefit some factions more than others. Japan, famed for its dinky little Fisherprice tanks, sees a far lesser reduction in overall tank points cost because their tanks were already merely a shilling each. I won’t stop taking tanks in my IJA list, but I will be prepared for my opponents to bring something bigger.

Guns guns guns

So SMGs, assault rifles, and automatic rifles are all going up by 1 point per gun. Huh. Personally I always thought assault rifles were surprisingly cheap given how vicious they are but I am a little surprised to see the others get a nerf too. By contrast LMGs are going down 5 points. It’s hard to see how this will shift the meta but I wonder if we will see more squads of standard rifles with an LMG in there over people upgrading their weapons for the sake of it/because they had the points left over. We might see less tooled up special forces armies and more horde or rifle infantry focused forces because of this.

Also, we need to talk about MMGs and HMGs (medium/heavy machine guns) as they got a Bolt Action glow up. MMGs now do 1 extra dice of damage, nice, and HMGs now do 3 more dice of damage and got their range extended to 48 inches.Spits drink out – they what? So pair this with how easy soft skinned vehicles are to deal with now and this feels delightfully nasty. Machine guns were seldom used in second unless maybe against horde factions but the age of lead is now and I will be taking an HMG in my first game of third ed. All praise the dakka dakka.

Light Mortars and howitzers

A small detail perhaps but light mortars now get an extra twelve inches on their range which means they now operate at 12-36 inches. While maybe not on everyone’s radar this was one of those friction points in the last edition for me. 24 inches felt oddly restrictive especially as someone who ran them at every opportunity. A modest update but great news for plenty of factions. However, Warlord giveth and taketh away. Howitzers are now at a minimum range 42 inches which seems a bit silly. If that sounds sensible to you then just take a moment to measure the width of the table you play on and now consider the practical implications. Hm.

Flamethrowers

Hey look, it’s the most evil and wicked weapon ever deployed on the front line. Hurray! Ethical ick aside, flamethrowers just took it in the face from the nerf hammer. They now have 1 less penetration, take a pin when used, and have double the chance of running out after use. On the plus side when they run out of fuel they become a dude with a rifle instead of blinking out of existence. Look, these guys were one of the boogiemen of the last edition and could be a beacon of anxiety for anyone facing them down so they were due a rethink but I am surprised Warlord went this hard. For many these won’t be a viable pick anymore and that will hit some factions more than others. I would shout out to the Italians who I often see struggling with their thematically appropriate terrible units but whenever I did see them succeed it was usually with their flame thrower shenanigans where they take two in each squad of engineers. If the long range candle lighters are out then Italian players will have to go for historical accuracy and attempt to join their allied opponent as soon as they realise it isn’t going well for them. Some time around turn 1.

Conclusion

Well well well, some good some sad. These are only my personal observations after flicking through Warlord articles and the core book. There is plenty more to talk about but these are the changes that struck a chord with me. What you do with this intel will depend on who you are playing but top tips are get you some half-tracks, treat yourself to that tank you’ve never quite managed to justify in a list, and give your flamethrowers a taste of their own medicine by yeeting them into the fireplace.

So what’s next for Bolt Action 3rd ed? Well, the Army rules given in the core book are only a starting point. Each force will be getting their own “Armies of” book which will expand their options. These will include more army rules, more unit rules, and lots of other stuff to please fans of the faction. Armies of Germany will be the first army book to deploy early next year.

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