Recon Report: Bolt Action Third Edition Armies of Italy Unit Highlights

By Aaron Kamakawiwoole

Hey Reader!

Kreighton gave an excellent overview of the new Third Edition supplement for the Armies of Italy, and today we’re continuing in our review of the book by looking at some of the highlights for new units in the book.

Italy is the first of the “minor nations” in Bolt Action that has received an army book.

We’ll start with an infantry choice: the Bersaglieri. These veteran riflemen changed a lot last edition, starting as just “veterans who can take 2 light machine guns,” to being able to Advance without the -1 to hit penalty, to being “veterans who can take motorcycles” with the Get You By PDF this edition. So we all wondered what they’d look like in the final rendition of the book.

And these guys look good (which is good news for me, because I’ve painted a lot of these guys): they have the ability to reroll Advance and Run order tests (including FUBARs!), which is something that several infantry and vehicles get this edition. This makes pushing up on the map far more reliable, and allows for greater board control even in the presence of suppressive fire. If that appeals to you, Bersaglieri may be for you (plus they get very cool hats)!

Next we have the Guastatori: an engineer unit that had the ability to take two flamethrowers last edition, making it both unique and powerful (because flamethrowers were one of the most powerful weapons in 2nd Edition, and they were the only squad that got access to two). This edition they only get access to one flamethrower innately, but you can choose, for the same 30pt cost, to switch this for two one-shot flamethrowers instead.

This makes for far more reliable damage, and allows you to clear a space immediately upon arriving at a location, which is very useful.

The primary issue with engineers is the short range of their submachine guns and flamethrowers, so to get your boys into range with minimal casualties, take a look at the Autoprotetto. Not only is this a fully enclosed (so small arms can’t pin them), DV7 (so small arms can’t damage it), wheeled vehicle (so it moves really fast), with 8-man capacity (which is plenty enough for an engineer and a platoon commander to give them orders), you can field it for only 34-43 pts! Which is crazy!

There is also a larger open-topped version with 20-man capacity if you’re looking to transport a whole mess of flamethrowers, so if that’s more your style, you’re in luck!

As we look at attack vehicles, the Sahariana has to be discussed. Last edition these were soft-skinned vehicles (despite having an armored hull) that could only be taken veteran (so they were expensive), but they had a lot of weapon options. People ran them, but not many, because it was a gambit as to how survivable it would be for the cost.

This edition it got the much-needed bump to Damage Value: 7+ (which is really nice), starts with a Transport capacity of 5 (which is great for dropping paratroopers or engineers near the enemy), or you can trade that out for a pintle weapon system, including the Solothurn Anti-Tank Rifle (which is an AT rifle that can fire twice instead of once), a light autocannon (which is also really good), a machine gun (which is fine, but not great), or a light anti-tank gun (which is fine – expensive, but fine).

So a much-improved vehicle, and arguably the Most Improved Vehicle of the edition so far.

And finally, we have the M15/42, a crowd favorite in 2nd Edition that got a much-needed update this edition. The biggest complaint about this tank last edition was a historical error: it was given two coaxial machine guns because there are two holes on either side of the main gun, but one of those was the viewport, so technically in 2nd Edition the gunner couldn’t see…

They fixed it this edition by reducing it back to the single coaxial machine gun (which makes sense, and it’s fine), but they also gave it Improved Ballistics, so even though it has a light anti-tank gun, it never fires with the PEN+4 associated with that weapon profile: when it is at long range it still drops to PEN+3, but when it is at standard range it fires with a PEN+5, which is very reliable damage potential.

And with the ability to reroll failed Advance and Run orders (including FUBARs!), for 145pts Regular it’s phenomenal value.

There’s more, so be sure to check out the book! It’s an interesting army, with plenty of flamethrower access (arguably better than any nation to date, especially when you start including the tankettes, and we’re not likely to see its equal), autocannons and anti-tank rifles (for those who want to suppress the enemy in order to win), and some of the most mobile infantry we’re seen to date in the game. If you enjoy a skirmish style of play that can close to bring the heat (literally!), this army may be for you!

Aaron Kamakawiwoole

YT: @ZurnCentral (Bolt Action)