As I wrote in mine review, the war game Bolt Action takes you from the perspective of an augmented platoon to the battlefield of World War II on all its main and secondary fronts - from the invasion of Poland to the fighting in the Pacific to the desperate defence of Berlin. And there really are no limits to desire and variation. For all these battlefields have their own rules, as do almost all the nations involved in the war. As well as the major powers, there are also rules for the more fancy stuff like Norway, Bulgaria or China! And who doesn't like regular armies, there are also rules for guerrillas, in short, you name it...
Through the various campaign books, the French or Soviet partisans have their own rules, for example, but there's also the Warsaw Uprising, or even better for us Czechs, the Prague Uprising, which even has special units of Protectorate gendarmes/resistance soldiers, and you can reinforce your partisan army with friendly "German" Vlasov units.
And even for army building itself, there is an almost unlimited amount of possibilities that the rules allow. If a given unit existed during the war, it is very likely to be deployable. So of course, in addition to infantry platoons, motorized, tank, motorcycle, marine, mountain and cavalry platoons can be deployed. And if you want something completely unusual, no one is stopping you from building an army just out of Hitler Youth kids or spicing it up with dogs with a mine strapped to their backs.
Easy and cheap entry
So you can assemble your army in a way that suits your gameplay style or visuals, and nothing ties you down. The game is also designed for newcomers who are not proficient in the composition of WWII squads, offering them pre-made armylists (a list of units and rules for the army) so you don't have to worry about having to buy or study additional literature to build an army.
Since the game is played at the reinforced platoon level, not too many models are needed to play. You can more or less just buy one box of basic soldiers in plastic, two support weapons (which are often included in the box) and a tank for flavour. Because everyone wants to play with a tank, plain and simple... Done.
This makes the game snappy (around two hours for a "big game"), there's no huge flood of models to paint, and it doesn't break the bank (a proper game army can be had for two thousand crowns).
If you decide to start with two players, Bolt Action also has several boxes just for such cases - for the Normandy landings, the war in Africa and the Pacific. In addition to the models, all of these two-player starter sets include A5 pocket rules, dice, pin markers (for determining morale) and a couple of terrains.
Although the rules allow for a game of around 30-40 models for each of the opposing sides, there are of course exceptions - no one will be surprised that the Russians have no problem sending a hundred and twenty Ivans against thirty SS men in the standard format. But even so, it makes for a balanced game.
Which is one of the biggest positives of Bolt Action. Almost always a balanced game. The rules are really well written, and so each game is interesting, and different nations or units are sometimes stronger than others, but still within limits to keep everyone entertained. So it's not a problem when, for example, the Americans from Ardennes meet the Polish cavalry - both players get to play a game that is not quite historical, but is balanced.
Game systems
The game mechanics are very different from other "you play, I play" games due to the implementation of orders and morale. Units are activated by an order, which players must first pull from a "bag of orders". Each unit has its own "command dice", with each player having them in a different colour - whoever has the upper hand, ergo more dice in the bag, has the initiative. A given order must be executed by the unit first. To do this, it needs to sub-roll its morale, which is determined by the quality of the unit, but also by other factors - whether it is being shot at, has a dead sergeant, has a lieutenant nearby, etc.
But you don't have to worry about the complexity of the rules - the game is sometimes called "Hollywood WWII" instead of "historical" because it simplifies a lot of things at the expense of historical accuracy to achieve a more nimble experience.
The original mechanics, however, have additional demands on the player in the form of extra game aids - you need to buy special Order Dice (which is an investment of a few bucks, which is lost in the context of the wargaming hobby, and can also be used in more games from Warlord Games) and the already mentioned pin markers.
You do have to buy the dice, but pin markers are easier. While you can buy them directly from Warlord, you can still use colored rhinestones, tokens, or skull counters that you already have at home for another game. Alternatively, you can play around and model up some nice vignettes of wounded soldiers or the like.
Terrain and figures
As far as terrain goes, it's worse here, as Bolt Action works a lot with terrain and modifiers to shoot through various obstacles, and therefore the game needs a relatively large amount of cover for your miniature soldiers. Here again, it depends on what time period and battlefield you choose. If you're going to play Conquest of Germany, a nice "medieval" village can be built from the Renaissance models you have for medieval historical wargaming or possibly from fantasy buildings for Mordheim or Lord of the Rings (Games Workshop's Lake Town set is absolutely great for this, for example).It's just as universal on tables for Asia and Africa, where the (village) architecture hasn't changed for a couple of centuries - at least for our gaming needs. However, if you want to play landing on the beaches of Normandy or waging battles for the Reichstag, you'll have no choice but to invest in new terrain. But as always, it's okay to play with books instead of hills or use generic terrain from other games to start. Fighting in the forest among the trees looks the same in WWII, in the Middle Ages and in the distant future of the 41st millennium.
Even though the game is made for a reinforced platoon, it works easily at company level or a little higher. You just need a bigger table and a full day free. But it still works internally, and its activation system makes it work great for multiplayer games, where each player has their own set of differently colored activation dice, so there's no confusion or dead spots, as there often are in larger multiplayer games that aren't built for that.
The fact that the game is set during World War II has the advantage of a plethora of models to use. In addition to the "official" models from Warlord Games, the company behind the game, there are dozens of other companies that produce usable models. Even in the Czech Republic there are several shops that have Warlord models in stock.
Moreover, you can buy plastic equipment from Italeri, which officially produces it for Warlords in plastic, also in classic brick-and-mortar model shops. The official scale for the equipment is 1/56, but many players also use larger 1/48 scale models, which allows them to build mainly armies in detailed kits from Tamiya.
Bolt Action, like other historical games, has the advantage that you are not tied to any particular model line and can buy models from a bunch of different manufacturers depending on which ones you like better, are in stock nearby, or have a better price. And of course, WWII is a mainstream enough topic that if you have access to a 3D printer, it's no problem at all to print complete armies from the available masters.
Books: rules, armies, campaigns
In addition to the models, terrain, and order dice, you'll need a classic inch tape measure and a pair of hex dice to play. And, of course, the basic rules, which will suffice amply to get you started, as they include trimmed-down armylists for the basic nations. However, you'll probably eventually want to play the extra units the game offers, and for that you'll need the "Armies of" book, which contains comprehensive rules for each nation. Germany, for example, has rules for over a hundred combat vehicles in their book.
And with these two books (the basic rules and the army rules) you can, and a large number of players will, end up with them. It's completely everything you need to play and you really don't need to buy anything else. And aside from the Germany book, none of the books have gotten a second edition in the 10+ years Bolt Action has been around, so you don't have to worry about devaluing rulebooks like in Warhammer 40K, where you buy a rulebook, it's "no longer valid" after 2 years, and it's just an artbook for your bookshelf.
If you do want to invest in more rulebooks, Bolt Action has a number of campaign books focused on specific battles that include different scenarios and new units. But you don't really need to buy them, as most of these campaign books are written purely to play the specific armies in that particular book. A few scenarios include basic rules, and you can also play completely without scenarios on your own terms and situations.
If you've decided to give Bolt Action a chance based on this text (or even our review), you can still visit the publisher's website Warlord Games, where you'll find a handy guide to help you choose the ideal entry conditions for you.
Also, if you find this article helpful, you can buy something from Warlord store with my affiliate link or just buy me coffee. :)
Originally published in Czech on the ZeStolu portal. Unless otherwise stated, images taken from my Hobby Instagram page @Potan_CZ.
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