/bag/ Bolt Action General

Resources:
mediafire.com/folder/z8a13ampzzs88/World_War_Two

mediafire.com/folder/n7jmdnlv1n0ju/Bolt_Action

Feel free to ask questions about the game and discuss armies & platoons you've built!

Request - Scan of: Road to Berlin campaign book

Sniper, MG team, and a mortar are essential support options. If you're looking at an really war force, an easily panzer IV with the howitzer would be a great option for an early war force

So, what do people play, and why?

I play Commandos (No. 10 Inter-Allied, No. 5 Troop) and I'm building a platoon of Canadians (just wish I'd found a good way to paint their uniforms with GW paints). The former due to nation of origin, the latter due to coolness factor.

Late war Normandy germans, because I'm a German Language major and is where my family is from. I want to put together a platoon of winter soviets, because I love whitewash camouflage

Bumping with Tiger wrecking a 76mm Sherman

How are Soviets in Bolt Action? Can they take Lend-Lease vehicles like Shermans?

Yes, there's a list of what you can use in the Armies of the USSR book.

>moving BA to a separate general.
what next for /hwg/? Death?

Who knows if it will last. It would be nice if it would though, especially if people can discuss derivatives like Konflict '47 and Antares.

Tell me stories of your non historical campaigns and games

>especially if people can discuss derivatives like Konflict '47 and Antares.
/awg/?

> be me
> have Veteran Grenadier force and big cats
> next match is in a city completely filled with buildings and rubble
> think Stalingrad
> know it's going to be a tough match
> see my opponent's list
> 9th Australian commandos w/ Papuan native support
> his squads are all veteran with all SMGs
> has a matilda frog, flamethrower, and engineer squad with flamethrower
> tfw all my glorious Grenadiers are unceremoniously burned to death
> tfw my Veteran Tiger 1 is hit with a superficial blow by flamethrower
> tfw rolls 6's and puts 3 pins
> tfw fail my terror test

Flamethrower too strong pls nerf

...

Currently have Winter Ostfront Soviets and Germans and Iwo Jima Japs and USMC.

The soviets are a massive horde of infantry and T34's. Very simple, very straightforward sledgehammer of an army.

The Germans are kitted to the 9's. Very veteran, all sorts of fancy kit, all kinds of shenanigans. Basically the counterpoint to the Soviet style.

As for the Japs, lots of infantry, infantry crew weapons, pretty typical Iwo Jima type stuff as far as I could figure out. Very aggressive list, tends to be really fun.

As for the marines, tons of close quarter weapons like shotguns, flamethrowers, SMG's as well as two LVAT4's, a Sherman, and some supporting weapons like MMG's and Engineers.

The reason why I run both sides of both these conflicts is I'm a "Sarge" for Bolt Action, so I use these forces to demo the game. They're fun armies that play off of each other very well and give a good "nutshell" of how each army works.

I've gotten a good 3 or 4 40k players in my area interested in the game thanks to it and now two of them and I are saving up to buy the Battle of Berlin to get them armies and myself some terrain.


If I had to pick a "main" army, it'd be a tie between the Marines and the Germans. They've been my favorite to build and paint so. Plus they both rely on very fast, in your face styles with lots of focus on firepower over numbers. Lots can go right but way more can go wrong so they tend to always give a good match.

The Chinese army list says in the HQ section that Warlord armies can take any option, but then a large number of units mention "Nationalist only", "Communist only", and "Warlord only". So can I take anything like the HQ section says, or just what is marked as available to Warlords?
Also the Warlord officer unit says it has a morale bonus of +4, does it get YM,StA like a Major then, or does it not get that special rule despite being an officer?

I would interpret that as, warlords can take anything except what is marked "communist only" or "nationalist only"

I mainly did this because I feel Bolt Action gets buried under a bunch of other games that are more Napoleonic or other eras. If Flames of War has their own general, why can't we?

Flames got it because at the time there was a pretty regular posting base and they would've taken over /hwg/

Was there enough bolt action posting to pull /hwg/ off track? I don't usually post in /hwg/ so I don't know if that's been a thing.

How's this for starting out with Bolt Action

2nd Lieutenant SMG Regular 60
+1 Infantry SMG

Forward Observer SMG Regular 10
+1 Infantry SMG

PIAT Anti-tank team Regular 40

Light Mortar teams Regular 35

Infantry Section 1
9 men Reg AT grenades with LMG 128

Infantry Section 2
9 men Reg with LMG 110

Infantry Section 3
9 men Reg with LMG 110

Total: 493

I'd recommend using a 1st Lieutenant, because the morale bonus and the extra "Snap to Action" dice is really helpful

Also, always, always, always, ALWAYS take a sniper. They always inflict exceptional damage, and are SUPER useful for taking out officers, LMG gunners, NCOs, and other single-targets that are peskily shielded behind globs of riflemen

I did this, primarily, because I don't want to wade through hundreds of posts about Hail, Caesar and Napoleonics, and Medieval games, just to find potentially one post that I want to read on the specific game I decide to piss my paycheck away on

what country is this supposed to be for? For example with Germans this list would play very differently than Americans or Soviets.

I've got Canadians, mostly the British starter army and a few blisters. Need to get around to painting then and grabbing another tank or two.

I want to do a specifically early war BEF force at some point. Also debated doing a Chindits army, but not sure on that one yet.

given that there's a PIAT and a free foward observer in the list i suspect the list is tea-drinkers
If this is a 500pt list it seems decent, though ATgrenades arent as useful as you might think, specially at that point level. use those points on a Medium mortar instead, you wont be able to move and shootbut you dont want to, you want to stay put and range in on enemy units, keeping them on them move. It also has Indirect fire, which is a bonus against open-topped vehicles.
gives you a total of 490pts i believe
so that extra ten can go to your foward arty observer getting an extra man, giving you a mini assault unit of sorts if taking smgs.

what national special rule do you want as tea drinkers get to choose an extra national rule other than free FAO and prep bombing

same user, i suggest rapid fire as national rule. For every 3 rifles in a unit you add an exta die as if you have four. giving you the choice of giving the FAO squad rifles. Allowing you to shoot 4 dice from a three point unit at 24 inches instead of 6 at 12

I'm a 40k player, but historicals have always looked fun.

Unfortunately no one in my area plays them, and my group of friends outright refuse to spend cash in anything that isn't 40k related. It sucks.

It also doesn't help that the only store in my area that sells Bolt Action stuff only carries the starter set and nothing else.

i suggest you're going to have to do some favours for your mates and ask for a test game in return, BA is very 40k friendly so that might help.
Really feel for ya man, though there's bound to be someone who plays BA near you, you just need to ask.

The Great Northern War lasted two years, from 1939 to 1941. The principal powers involved were the Kingdom of Prussia, the Scandinavian Union, the Soviet Union, and the United Republics of Britain and Ireland. Prussia and Scandinavia were allies, as were URBI and the Soviets.

The war in the east was defined by brutal back-and forth fighting between the united Prussian/Scandinavian alliance - their initial success in taking Leningrad was turned back in the vicious Battle of Trotskygrad, in which the city which bore the Premier's name was reduced to rubble before the principally Prussian forces were driven out. In the west, the British formed a Western Coalition of France, Italy, and the Spanish Republic, which together were enough to dissuade Prussian aggression, before launching an invasion of Scandinavia in 1941. The assault was beaten back, barely, and a peace was brokered in which the Soviets ceded Leningrad to Scandinavia and the Prussians retained control of Poland, and the numerous British prisoners in Scandinavian hands were repatriated in exchange for the Western Coalition giving up its claims to Denmark.

Pictured: Map of military positions in the war's final phase, Summer of 1941

im quite happy that BAG is now a thing thats running well

Is Konflikt '47 any good? I used to play Dust which had a similar aesthetic, but that game is obviously dead so I'm looking for a replacement.

>when that guy takes two howling cows

Just started Bolt Action, and I bought quite a lot of stuff for the Soviets. Got a T-34/85, winter infantry and Siberian veterans.

I'm trying to figure out a reasonable starting army so that I know what to build and paint up first. Does this list seem decent?

Hello, im new to the game, and im trying to start along with a friend of mine.

I undecided beetween mechanized panzergrenadiers or italians, can i have a few suggestions on both?

Mechanized Panzergrenadiers are always a decent choice, since with their halftracks, they can throw out a lot of shots per turn

A (veteran) 1st lieutenant would be a better choice, and more infantry. The more order dice you can cram into 500pts as a soviet player, the easier it will be to overwhelm your opponent

Guy you responded to here, like any game (hell even 40k in 7th) you kind of need two armies to demo the game with.

Show up with all your stuff painted and ready to go and people will try it out 9/10 times. 40k players in particular eat it up because it has a ton of things people like to complain about not being in 40k. You know, stuff like actual cover rules, proper hit modifiers, templates (ironically), pretty tight rules, etc.

You just have to bite that initial bullet and accept it. At least it helps that you can get 2 full bolt action armies for well under what it costs to get a full sized 40k army.

Loving playing Marines. Been playing a Guadalcanal campaign with a buddy of mine, we're at Alligator Creek. Waiting for him to build his landing craft for...reasons.

Amazing, exactly the kind of stuff i wanted to hear about

What do people think of the Romanian list and rules? Any good, at least for a minor nation?
Also, for you historical-accuracyfags, what'd be the easiest way to do Romanian helmets? Any existing bitz I could buy, or would I have to sculpt them?

I play a lot of 40k, but I own flames of war as well. Is this game worth getting into? It looks neat but if the buy in is too high I would probably pass

Play it at 15mm, it will cost you 100 bucks tops.

it's worth it
It's not a heavy simulation of ww2 battles but it's a fun game and you'll be able to make what ever army you want

its 40k with a wwii skin

Not really it's too much of it's own thing and with nu-40k being completly different now

Then the "Warlords only" units like the Sutton Skunk would make no sense.
also, as for example for the Big sword units, they say Nationalists only, but they were fielded in a number of warlord armies, there are even photos of them.

Romania is probably one of the best minor nations, as it can take one German selection, which gives it access to a lot of good weaponry

Is that a thing? Even if the only 15mm I own is already based on the flames of war tiles?

You can use it, but it's sub-par and not great. The 28mm scale is really best, and the buy-in is not very steep, considering that 3rd party minis are viable

Are there 3rd party vendors in particular people use? One of the draws of FoW for me was how cheap alternate models were, so if it applies here that would be a pretty big plus

Black Tree Designs, Artizan, Die Waffenkammer, and Company B are the top ones I see people using In addition to Warlord's

Ground zero games has recently brought out a dedicated Romanian range in 28mm

Quite a few people use 1/72 scale figures

Perfect, I'll take a look. Thanks!

I'm an idiot, I was thinking of great escape games.

Good shop. Used to frequent it, but I moved away right as I was getting into Bolt Action actually. Hoping to move back there in a couple years.

I play USMC because I served in the corps for a few years, and the store owner had a box set on sale.

Does Allessio have an equivalent Of Phil yates cheers?

Thanks, although the German selection is also usable by Hungarian and Bulgarian armies. Granted, officers getting Fanatics isn't all that great, but the Bulgarian special rule seems interesting.

If nothing else I'd say it's nice to get away from the anti-BA bias in the /hwg/ threads.

I play (not very much though due to my location) Germans because their uniforms are aesthetic.

I'm currently working on a Soviet army.

It's just one or two idiots 2bh

Is it me, or are Soviets underpowered at anything up to 1,000 points? Sure, the free inexp squad is nice, but you really need a Commissar to keep them chugging, which has to be paid for; and an observer is a big chunk of your list that's probably going to be targeted by everything possible.

At 750 or 500 level games, I'd be looking at running a 1st lieutenant, commissar, an armored car with a light AT gun or light autocannon, and as many inexperienced squads as you can cram. The dice advantage will pay off against German players in particular, who have a small forces. Large squads chock-full of submachine guns are amazing against Germans in CQC

To be fair once in a blue moon a /bolt action general/ pops up, gets 200 replies and then doesn't return for a while.This thread is just partaking in that tradition wether or not OP knew about this beforehand.

as a ruski player, this is perfect for 500 points games. Always max out your units, don't cheese with spamming small squads.

Unless said Germans have lots of Assault Rifles and are able to outrange you from hard cover...

we don't explode easily, the free unit is green so it's better than you think, observers aren't mandatory and we have great heavy tanks. Not to even mention their great anti tank options! They're a good army.

How important for you is it to create a thematically cohesive force? Do you mix over theaters and time or do you pick a certain battle and deign your army around that?
Since I have several armies I've done both.

Theme is reasonably important for me, but I like the versatility in not being locked into one single selector. With a few unit swaps I plan on my german force to be viable from the september campaign up to and including Stalingrad without looking too out of place in any of them.

>Heavy tanks
>great
So a third of my list can die in one shot? cool!

>Great anti tank options
Yeah, but they have no models for them

Warlord just released the new winter ZiS-2 and ZiS-3

I've got a Finnish Army, and am working on a force of Manchukuo Imperial Armymen, and then am looking to do Romania. Because for some stupid reason I don't like the idea of doing a force from the major powers.

Nobody has anything even remotely on par with Phil and his cheers wankery.

Super pumped to get into this game. Looks great.

Question, the "Armies of X' books.... are they usable with the 2nd edition?

I want me a Soviet Penal Legion.

The only issue I have with a Stalingrad themed german force is all the winter units have Stg44s, which weren't seen in Stalingrad.

yes, all books are compatible with 2nd edition

The proto-STG44, the MkH2(b), was in service around Stalingrad.

Unfortunately, warlord doesn't have much in the way of regular Heer riflemen in winter gear or greatcoats.

Luckily, you can convert with soviet greatcoat bodies and german helmets/weapons and Black Tree Designs have good greatcoat german sculpts

Awesome.

One more question... I see the Soviet plastic winter models armed with molitov cocktails... but I can't find rules for those in the Army book.

Am I missing something?

They'll count as anti-tank grenades but if you want specific rules you'll have look through one of supplement books to see if they're there

Molotov Cocktails usually signify Anti-Tank Grenades, but they can also just be used as an aesthetic thing.

Ehhhh I did some looking abouts and it appears that it did NOT appear in Stalingrad itself.

Rumor has it that a plastic German greatcoat kit is in the works....

If warlord releases plastic greatcoat/winter Germans after all the fucking metal models I bought I'm going to strangle Phil with my own two hands.

I would be so happy. I HATE fucking around with metals, and a box of plastic great coats would be a miracle that might make my Stalingrad army actually doable

Pretty mediocre. I WANT AN A-19 DAMNIT

Wait wut.

I was about to buy a bunch of metal german winter minis.

How legit is this rumor? Any timetable?

I hear you but Stalingrad wasn't exlusively a winter battle. My thinking is my summer (early war) germans represent forces fighting in the fall of '42.

On that note, with the emphasis of Soviet doctrine on artillery, how come Warlord doesn't make a single Soviet howitzer other than the ZiS-3? Artillery doesn't seem to be very popular among other miniature makers either so there's a definite gap to be filled.

Yeah I'm aware. I just feel that the iconic Eastern Front fight is the Stalingrad winter months.

I think that'd be good for introducing new players into the game.

Like the bolt action rules say, the game is mostly for battles at the platoon/company level. And like the books also say, most of the heavy artillery would have been organized at the regimental or divisional level.

This level of heavy artillery is most accurately represented by the preparatory bombardment

I want to start a finnish army because I studied in finland for one year and love the country. can I play against US and germans etc just like against any other army like warhammer kind of way? Or do I need to be against soviets or are there some rules like this? and can I use also some soviet winter clothed infantry with my finnish troops they look cool with snow bases.

To all of those: Yes
BA doesn't need to be played with 100% historical accuracy unless you want it to. Feel free to play against whatever armies you like.
And as for using Russian winter infantry, the Finns snagged a lot of gear from the Soviets, and greatcoats aren't exactly uncommon. Wouldn't be out of place in a finnish army, as long as you make sure the colorus are right

Rate Babbies first Romanian List:
>>First Lieutenant (103)
>+1 man, Veteran, SMGs
>>Late War Infantry Section (99)
>7 men, LMG, 3 SMGs, Regular
>>Late War Infantry Section (99)
>7 men, LMG, 3 SMGs, Regular
>>Late War Infantry Section (82)
>7 men, 4 SMGs, Regular
>>Sniper Team (65)
>Veteran
>>Medium Mortar (50)
>Regular
>>Medium Artillery (Free)
>Regular
Total comes out to 498, look good for a 500point list? Any advice for going to 1K?

>If nothing else I'd say it's nice to get away from the anti-BA bias in the /hwg/ threads.
Oh will you fuck up about that

sounds good. what is a good way to start a finnish army?

Model-wise, Build-An-Army and the Italy & Axis rule book.

For 1000pts, I'd expand with a Panzer IV G, a flamethrower, some more infantry, and maybe an armored car or other mobile machine gun platform.

I don't care much for the plastic British infantry. The weapons all being separate from the arms/hands is a massive paint in the dick. I'd rather work with metal than all those fiddly ass little parts.

That's part of the reason I want to do early war BEF because they're all metal.

Warlord's newer kits have the weapons attached to the arms & hands. Especially in the newest plastic kits like the British Paras

Yeah, I looked at the airborne. Might grab one of those boxes and make them Candian airborne.