Warlord Games has begun previews for the Third Edition of Bolt Action, the new edition of their 28mm World War II wargame. You'll be able to check back throughout the pre-order period to find out what's new as part of their Intelligence Reports!

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Warlord Games are taking suggestions from the community as to what they cover next so if you head over to social media and share your thoughts, you might get to dive deeper into the rules you are interested in sooner rather than later.

Close Combat Update

This week's update from Warlord Games for Bolt Action focuses on the Close Combat procedure and how it has been updated for the third edition of the game.

Close Quarters Procedure // Bolt Action

The Close Quarters procedure works more or less as you'd expect based on past editions of the game. You make a Run order and charge into combat with another unit. As you can see, it follows a similar flow (see image above) and combat is still seriously brutal as it continues until one unit has been wiped out.

The big change comes in who strikes first. No-one does. Combat is resolved simultaneously meaning that it's no longer a no-brainer to run straight into combat knowing that you're going to strike first. You will have to seriously think about whether or not you want to commit or stick behind cover, shooting at your enemy as would have often been the case.

Another change comes in the use of Defensive Positions. If you find yourself as the defender fighting over terrain then YOU get to fight first because you've dug in and you're ready to fight. There are more intricacies here but you can find them over on the blog linked above.

If you are a serious nutter, you can still clear out defensive positions if you take troops equipped for the job. Engineers now come with specialised equipment for clearing out the enemy and they can remove that Defensive Positions rule mentioned above.

Sniper Rules Update

Another week and another announcement from Warlord Games for Bolt Action. This week, we got to learn about how the Sniper has changed and how the rules have been updated to make them feel more fitting to the period.

Sniper Rules // Bolt Action

Snipers have lost some of their potency but haven't been changed so much that they don't have a powerful function on the tabletop. They can use their weapons normally but can also benefit from the use of the scope to do some serious damage. The spotter can also take up the role of sniper should the original shooter die and get some revenge which is always nice.

Fixing the sniper to a range between twelve inches and thirty-six inches feels like it works well to mimic the role of a sniper from history. It also makes sense that they'd be better at hitting their target and benefit from avoiding cover and doing extra damage against infantry and artillery units. Picking out the squad leader is also quite iconic and works nicely within the setting and is not far removed from how snipers worked in the past.

With their being more focus on running between cover in this edition of Bolt Action, having a team that can hone in on targets and flush them out makes a lot of sense. Now, can you land that mortar on the enemy sniper before they get another shot?

Troop Quality & Morale Update

The latest update from Warlord Games covers the quality of troops in your games and how morale works. Nothing fundamental has been changed concerning the quality of troops. As Warlord Games has said...

"Veterans of Bolt Action: Second Edition will be delighted to know that nothing major has changed when it comes to troop quality and morale – Inexperienced are wounded on a 3+ and have a morale of 8, Regulars 4+ and 9, and Veterans 5+ and 10"

The change has come in the way that officers work and how they interact with your morale tests. Rally has been changed in the new edition so instead of rolling and taking into account your pin markers, you roll without taking into account pin markers and if you pass, all of your pin markers are removed. With pin markers able to be applied easily in the new edition, they have made it so great acts of heroism and getting back in the fight are also viable.

However, if a unit ever gains enough pin markers to equal or exceed their morale value, they immediately break and count as being destroyed. This is why having some officers nearby is going to be handy when rolling your Rally checks.

Officer Bonus Table // Bolt Action

This has, again, been made simpler and there are now just two rank options for you to consider. These fellows also have to pay for their weapons now (the audacity!) which means that you're not going to be getting anything free when building an army. Everything has to be taken into consideration.

Vehicles have also been tweaked when it comes to morale and going down. A vehicle can't really "go down" so instead it reverses from the threat to try and get out of danger. This counts as it panicking and slamming into reverse gear. Additionally, if your vehicle ends up reversing off the edge of the battlefield, well, it counts as destroyed as the crew got the hell out of Dodge. Tweaked wording has been chosen to try and make the game as flowing as possible.

Vehicle Rules Update

Warlord Games has shared another update for Bolt Action Third Edition. This time, they are looking at the way in which vehicles have been changed up for the new edition of the game. We start with the way damage now works.

Superficial Damage Table // Bolt Action

For starters, if you're a soft-skin vehicle you have a damage value of 6+. What's nice here is that, because light armour was never meant to keep you alive, if you can roll that 6+ then your jeep or what have you is going to be blasted into hundreds of little pieces. It just goes boom. Hitting a light vehicle with heavy weapons makes this even easier so don't drive your jeeps right down the throat of your enemy.

If you're armoured, you have two different options presented to you when you roll to damage these vehicles. If you roll equal to the damage value of the armoured vehicle then this counts as a glancing hit and you roll on the table above. This slowly degrades your vehicle and showcases what happens when it gets damaged in the heart of combat. If you managed to roll higher than the damage value of your target then you get to roll on the table below.

Full Damage Table // Bolt Action

This is where you can absolutely blow a vehicle apart 50% of the time. If you manage your armour-killing units properly you could turn plenty of tanks and more into wrecks without breaking a sweat. You will need the tools for the job though and even if you get through, you still might only immobilise or stun the crew. It still does a good job of replicating what might happen during the fighting taking place during World War II.

To give you an idea of the profile for vehicles, here is a look at the Panzer VI Tiger II.

Panzer VI Tiger II // Bolt Action

It has a damage value of 11+ so it's going to be a tough nut to crack and it has actually taken a reduction in points. Bear in mind, you'll need to consider how your tanks fit into the new Platoon system for Bolt Action so don't start thinking you can spam Panzers. A lot of vehicles have been rebalanced for the new edition.

Oh, and if you're someone who wants to clog the battlefield up with Transport Vehicles, they have been reworked so that they make sense within the context of World War II warfare.

Transport Vehicles // Bolt Action

As you can see, they will be abandoned and wrecked/leave the battlefield if they get too close to the enemy. This means that you can't start to just shove trucks into the face of your enemies. You'll have to think about how they get used and where they drop off troops before retreating from the battlefield. All in all, this seems like a solid set of updates for those looking to dive into Bolt Action.

Special Rules Update

A new update landed from Warlord Games for Bolt Action this week dealing with Special Rules and how they have been reshaped and reworked for use in the new third edition of Bolt Action. For starters, as with a lot of stuff in third edition, special rules have been simplified.

Engineers Special Rule // Bolt Action

Special Rules are broken down into three categories. There are Unit Special Rules, Weapon Special Rules and special rules that then work on the tabletop itself. Everything is broken down in the back of the book as part of a hefty list of Special Rules. It isn't exhaustive but it should cover pretty much everything. An example special rule shown off was that for Engineers which has been designed to mimic the advantages they they would have on the battlefield.

Additionally, because of the new way that army lists are built (see below), this will apply to a subsection of your army rather than being a blanket rule for your entire army. It seems to make sense with the make-up of a force from the period.

Other rules have just been simplified. Rather than having to break terrain specialisation into mountains, jungles and the like, the new Fieldcraft rule covers all sorts of rough ground. Simple.

Fieldcraft Special Rules // Bolt Action

Warlord Game also showed off a Weapon Special Rule for Anti-Tank Guns.

Anti-Tank Gun Special Rule // Bolt Action

When given that all-important Fire order, they will get a +1 hit modifier when striking at vehicles. This has been designed to give you a solid representation of how dangerous these guns are in the games of Bolt Action. You won't just be able to roll your tank down the centre of the board and shrug off all oncoming fire. As well as being important to position your tanks in the right place, this also means setting up your defences with anti-tank guns is just as important. Hold key firing lines and keep your troops safe.

Lastly, the back of the book also features a host of battlefield optional rules. This will include rules for beach landings, night fighting, minefields, city fighting in the likes of Stalingrad and more. They have designed this third edition as a big toolbox of everything people have enjoyed from previous editions in one place.

New Shooting Phase Update

Another week and another update on what you've got coming for Bolt Action in Third Edition. This time, it's a change to the way that the Shooting Phase works and a few tweaks to the mechanics to make the game run smoother. Here's how shooting works in the new edition...

Shooting Procedure // Bolt Action

The Shooting Phase is similar to what you've come to know from past editions of the game but you'll notice that the game now features cover saves. This is because the process of shooting has been simplified to allow for this extra step in the process.

The base level for securing a hit in Bolt Action is now 4+ meaning that the lethality has been stepped up. As Warlord put it, this means that if you're caught out in the open then you're going to get shredded. Just like you would be in reality!

The Hit Modifier Table has also been changed so that it just focuses on the unit firing rather than the target. You simply add or subtract from that base number as normal but without having to work out the added modifiers for where the target is placed.

Hit Modifier Table // Bolt Action

You still make Hit rolls followed by Wound rolls but the next step is to see if the cover that you've hunkered down behind actually saves you from harm. Cover saves come after rolling for damage to stay in line with the wargaming tradition and also make it so one player does all of their rolls before the opponent does.

Cover Saves Table // Bolt Action

This was playtested and apparently, it makes little difference mathematically. The rulebook will discuss this in more detail and there will also be an optional rule for those that want to roll for their cover saves before they take damage. So, there will be options for everyone and whilst this is a departure from the previous edition, it feels like a good one if it keeps the flow of the game on track.

Most importantly, you're going to have to consider getting your units into cover and hugging those walls, moving between places of safety at opportune times rather just haring across open fields! At least you go can down though if you really get stuck!

Third Edition Medium Machine Guns

The second Intelligence Report from Warlord Games for the third edition of Bolt Action addresses the way that Medium Machine Guns work in-game to try and make them both more effective and more survivable.

Weapons Table // Bolt Action

One of the first updates has been to give the Medium Machine Gun one more shot. It doesn't seem like a big change but it allows you to lay down a bit more firepower for the points cost. When this is combined with the fact that you can take more of them due to the Platoon format (see below), you should be able to mirror their prevalence in World War II.

Additionally, the Exceptional Damage and Small Teams rules are gone from Third Edition so an MMG Team can't be taken out by an eager sniper. If you stick your MMG Team in cover then you will find them even harder to shift.

MMG Teams In Ambush // Bolt Action

Warlord Games has also changed how machine guns work when mounted on vehicles. Rather than haring around like you've in Mad Max, shooting with abandon, all vehicle-mounted machine guns now fire half their shots. So, a hull-mounted MMG will fire three shots rather than six. This reflects the inaccuracy of firing them from a moving vehicle and the fact that they had more of a suppressing role than for out-and-out killing the enemy. If they make use of this in a flak-based capacity then you will get your full complement of shots as you try and stop aircraft from soaring into view.

Vehicle Mounted MMG // Bolt Action

Other machine guns have also been changed in different ways but they won't be revealed until later down the line. As it stands, this update seems like a small one but should make people happy when it comes to the more realistic use of machine guns in World War II.

Army Composition

The first of the Intelligence Reports from Warlord Games about Bolt Action surrounds the updated rules for Army Composition and just how you construct your forces for the tabletop. Warlord are keen to reinforce the idea of Bolt Action being an infantry-based game and so to that end, the new rules are designed to bring that to the forefront.

Rifle & Heavy Weapon Platoons // Bolt Action

You have a lot of freedom in your list buildings but because of the focus on Bolt Action as an infantry-based game, you must include one Rifle Platoon in your army. This is the minimum requirement for your army and comes with one Officer and two Infantry Squads (see above). From here, you can either fill out the Rifle Platoon or add on different Platoons as you see fit.

Each Platoon comes with a list of Mandatory Units which you must take in various numbers alongside Officers to lead them. The added rule is that if you want to unlock more Platoons then you can only have as many multiples of any Platoon type as you have Rifle Platoons. Want to bring two Armoured Platoons then you'll need two Rifle Platoons. Simple.

Engineer & Artillery Platoons // Bolt Action

This should allow you to dive in and create the armies that you want but keep the focus on infantry and stop particular units from being spammed constantly as to be unrealistic. As Warlord has noted, whilst this might mean that some armies don't quite fit the new Platoon Selector format right now, all you'd need to do is buy a few additional Officers and you'll be able to run your Platoons easily. Chances are, if you already have Bolt Action armies then you probably have plenty of Officers squirrelled away somewhere.

Armoured & Recce Infantry Platoons // Bolt Action

All of this is then obviously tied into the points cost for different units and different armies but it gives you an interesting structure to work with during army building. If you're someone who played old Warhammer 40,000 with the one HQ and two Troop set-up then you will find some familiar DNA here. It also feels like it locks in that idea of the game being more of an infantry-based game which has always been the bugbear for a lot of players who find themselves facing too much armour in higher points games!

Make sure to let us know what you think of the Intelligence Report information in the comments down below and come back to see more updates in the near future!

Are you excited about Bolt Action Third Edition?