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Bolt Action
Bolt Action: World War II Wargames Rules
Using miniature soldiers, tanks and terrain, you can fight battles in the shattered towns of occupied France, the barren deserts of North Africa, and even the sweltering jungles of the Pacific. Written by veteran game designers Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley, Bolt Action provides all the rules needed to bring the great battles of World War II to your tabletop. Players get to decide which of the major or minor World War II powers they would like to represent, and then construct their armies from the lists provided. Army options are almost limitless, allowing you to build the kind of army that most appeals to your style of play, from heavily armored tank forces to lightly armed, but highly skilled. The choice is yours. Created as a joint project between Warlord Games, the premiere historical miniatures company, and Osprey Publishing, the leading independent military history publisher, Bolt Action is sure to be the most popular new wargame on the market.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 24, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 15, 2023
Probably the best WWII miniatures game rules set out there atm!
November 1, 2015
Given who designed it, it should be no surprise that the core mechanic of Bolt Action is that of Warhammer: roll a d6 to hit followed by a d6 to wound.
From that common core the rules do add some very different elements. Most notably the pinning mechanic that degrades a unit's effectiveness just for coming under fire and forcing morale tests to carry out the orders you give them. Also notable is the replacement of the igo/ugo system with a chit pull system.
This results in a playable game that gives a bit of historical flavor, but doesn't resemble actual historical reality very much.
I present what I thought was the most glaring example of this: It's a 28mm scale game, yet we have rules for on-board artillery, even Katyusha and Panzerwerfer rocket launchers! For those unfamiliar, the Katyusha had a minimum range of 1.5 miles. In Bolt Action it has a minimum range of 18" which at 28mm works out to about 108 feet (incidentally, its maximum range in the game works out to about 432 feet, or about 7500 feet less than its real life minimum range).
Now, there's nothing wrong with a light, playable game that takes liberties with historical accuracy, and I'll likely have some fun with this one, but it's harder to take because of who publishes this book. See, I suspect that because Osprey publishes this that it's the reason that we never saw a true WWII supplement for the just as playable but far more accurate Force on Force game. Since both games were published by Osprey, I suspect that they didn't want to have two products competing with each other in the same space, and that's a shame.
From that common core the rules do add some very different elements. Most notably the pinning mechanic that degrades a unit's effectiveness just for coming under fire and forcing morale tests to carry out the orders you give them. Also notable is the replacement of the igo/ugo system with a chit pull system.
This results in a playable game that gives a bit of historical flavor, but doesn't resemble actual historical reality very much.
I present what I thought was the most glaring example of this: It's a 28mm scale game, yet we have rules for on-board artillery, even Katyusha and Panzerwerfer rocket launchers! For those unfamiliar, the Katyusha had a minimum range of 1.5 miles. In Bolt Action it has a minimum range of 18" which at 28mm works out to about 108 feet (incidentally, its maximum range in the game works out to about 432 feet, or about 7500 feet less than its real life minimum range).
Now, there's nothing wrong with a light, playable game that takes liberties with historical accuracy, and I'll likely have some fun with this one, but it's harder to take because of who publishes this book. See, I suspect that because Osprey publishes this that it's the reason that we never saw a true WWII supplement for the just as playable but far more accurate Force on Force game. Since both games were published by Osprey, I suspect that they didn't want to have two products competing with each other in the same space, and that's a shame.
August 22, 2012
Just picked up my copy at GenCon 2012, haven't had a chance to read through the entire thing (only vehicles and close combat left to read), but so far it has exceeded my expectations!
October 3, 2012
I can't wait to get this game on the table and try it out.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews