First Look at Germans in Bolt Action 3rd Edition

By Kreighton Long

Within the next few weeks the 3rd Edition rulebook of Warlord Games’ WWII platoon skirmish game will hit store shelves and mailboxes around the world.  We here at No Dice No Glory were given the opportunity to peruse the upcoming rulebook and I personally scrolled straight to the Armies of Germany section to see what notable changes Warlord Games has in store for the Wehrmacht.

First, let’s cover the Army Special Rules.  German players from Second Edition will be relieved, or concerned depending on their thoughts on previous editions, to see that the German Army Special Rules are mostly untouched.  The Blitzkrieg army rule still gives German officers one additional Order Die for their ‘You men, snap to action!’ ability.

Remember though, in Third Edition, Platoon Commanders can issue up to two Order Die and Company Commanders four.  So German Platoon and Company Commanders can issue up to three and five respectively.  German officers aren’t the only ones benefitting from retained Second Edition Army Special Rules.  Keeping the Second Edition rule, Initiative Training allows German players to roll a D6 anytime an NCO is taken out of the game.  On a roll of 2 or higher, another model from the squad is eliminated as a junior soldier takes on the role of NCO.  The third German Army Special Rule is another echo from Second Edition.  Hitler’s Buzzsaw grants one addition shot to both Light and Medium Machine Guns regardless of whether they are carried by infantry or vehicles.

Following the Army Special Rules are the units made available in the core rulebook.  To my surprise and delight the units listed in this section of the book are broad and deep.

Whereas the Second Edition rulebook includes enough units to get started, it includes significant gaps in available units that required you to purchase the Armies of Germany (2rd Ed) book to fully understand what units German players had at their disposal.

The Third Edition rulebook took a different approach in which units they included in the core rule book.  Reading through units listed I was thrilled to see how many options players can start using while waiting for the Third Edition Armies of Germany book to be released.

The 3rd ed rule book includes a design feature that I was not familiar with but makes sense from a spacing perspective. Different sizes of the same weapon system are included in a single entry.  For example, the Mortar Team entry starts as a Light Mortar but includes options to upgrade the Light Mortar to Medium and Heavy.  Comparing that to the Second Edition Armies of Germany book, which features three separate entries for the three types of mortars, it is clear to see how this one design change allowed the powers that be to fit more unit options into the 18-page Armies of Germany section.

After reflecting on how many units appear in the core rule book I am even more curious as to what the Third Edition Armies of Germany book will give us.  The 2nd Ed infantry options include the Headquarters Units we’re familiar with, nine infantry squad, and a full range of infantry support teams.  The ninth infantry squad can be used for a variety of Inexperienced squads to include Volksgrenadier, Osttruppen, Luftwaffe Field Divisions, Vokssturm, Hitler Youth, and Kriegsmarine squads.  Artillery units listed are your typical types and sizes and Vehicles take up ten pages.  For context, the Second Edition rulebook only give six pages to German Vehicles and the options of those vehicles do not include upgrades to maximize the number of vehicle variants available under a single entry.  So much bang for your buck with the new design!

Let’s talk point costs.  Readers will notice a wide range of changes to the point costs we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.  Regular and Veteran infantry armed with rifles still start at 10 and 13 points apiece.  The Inexperienced infantry squad starts at 25 points for five men with additional men costing 7 points a man.  So far, nothing ground-breaking.  Weapon upgrades are another story.  Giving your squads SMGs will now cost 4 points each while Assault Rifles cost 6 points.  Light Machine Guns have their costs dropped from 20 to 15 and Panzerfausts increased from 5 to 15.  Flamethrower additions to Engineer squads are going to run you a whopping 30 points a pop! I suspect we’ll be seeing a few more LMGs and a lot less panzerfausts and flamethrowers in future games.

Vehicle costs are generally on a downward slide for points.  The cost of a Regular Panther decreased from 355 to 298, a Tiger I from 395 to 330, a Tiger II from 555 to 440, a StuG III from 230 to 215, a 250/1 Hanomag from 89 to 62, and a Truck from 39 to 27.  As the proud owner of too many halftracks, I am hoping to have more opportunities with the new point costs to field them.  The trend appears to be the bigger the tank, the greater the point change.  I hope the decrease in point costs will lead to more big cats appearing on tables.  Although the new force structure may not make it as common as I imagine.

One final change of note is that multi-launchers and flamethrower teams will suffer a pin marker when they execute a Fire order.  With the price of flamethrower upgrades to engineer squads increased from 20 to 30 points, as well as the extra pin when firing, the popularity of flamethrowers will be threatened.  A similar threat faces the infamous German Nebelwerfer.  While the cost of Nebelwerfers remains the same, that extra pin marker when firing will make players think twice before bringing one.

The way ahead for German players appears to be bright.  The combination of reduced costs for LMGs and the Hitler’s Buzzsaw special rule will likely result in German players fielding a higher quantity of LMGs than rival factions.  The increased costs for SMGs and Assault Rifles will likely mean a few less of those.  I can only hope that the cost of these weapons will not eliminate them completely from peoples armies.

Panzerfausts now costing 15 points will certainly mean far fewer of these weapons.  As a one-shot weapon I myself will be hard pressed to include these in my lists.  Where German players will really benefit from the new rule set are in their heavy tanks.  Cutting costs on the big cats will make it easier for players to include them in their lists.  I for one am excited about the prospective spectacle of more big cats roaming tables looking for prey — admittedly I am a tad biased with my own collection of big, scary German tanks.

Happy gaming!