Recon Report: Bolt Action Third Edition Armies of Germany

By Kreighton Long

We here at No Dice No Glory snagged ourselves a preview copy of the first “Armies of…” book to follow the release of Bolt Action Third Edition — Armies of Germany.

In an effort to do my part for the war effort I focused my reconnaissance on the units and selectors that caught my eye.

With roughly 180 units to consider adding to your list there is no shortage of options for German players.  Veteran German players will be able to find a unit option for nearly all, if not all, of the fun toys in their collections.

Players accustomed to the German Army Special Rules from the Third Edition rulebook will see two changes to the Army Special Rules.  The writing of Initiative Training is cleaner allowing Regular and Veteran units to ignore the -1 morale penalty for losing the Noncommissioned Officer.

The initial Third Edition version forced German players to role a D6 and would maintain their NCO on a 2+, similar to Second Edition. The new verbiage will save a some time during games with one less die to roll when an NCO is threatened.

The second change is the addition of Panzer Ace. This rule grants a +1 modifier to damage rolls as well as on the damage table for shots from the main gun.  To help encourage and reward players who choose to bring Veteran tanks, a few feature the Panzer Ace Army Special Rule.

I, for one, will be looking to make room in my Mid and Late-War German lists for a Veteran big cat such as a Panther or a Tiger.  A 258 point Veteran StuG III/IV or a 246 point Veteran Hetzer, are more cost effective way of taking advantage of the Panzer Ace Special Rule, and I will be playing around with this rule.

After reading through the Infantry Squad and Team section three things in-particular stood out to me: Panzergrenadier Squads, Spahtruppen Squads, and the variety of affordable infantry squads.

The Panzergrenadier Squads are great for German players who want to capture the flavor of a mounted infantry force with rules that will complement that theme.  Panzergrenadier Squads benefit from the Mechanized Infantry Special Rule which allows these squads to re-roll failed dismount or mount orders tests as well as are more resilient when inside a transport vehicle that is destroyed. Instead of taking the standard D6 hits, Panzergrenadier Squads suffer D3 hits. Load up and drive to the sound of guns!

The Spahtruppen Squads are one of the only options for German players to forward deploy their forces. The other options are Forward Observers, Snipers, and a new-to-me Infantry Squad called 5th Columnist Unit.

Both the Spahtruppen Squad and 5th Columnist Units have built in negatives that make them less tempting but I feel the Spahtruppen Squad is the more useful of the two. Being able to forward deploy four to six men at either Regular or Veteran may be a useful asset for German tacticians.

I personally found great success with forward deploying infantry squads with my most recent army build and will be tempted to maintain a similar, albeit much reduced, capacity with future lists.

For German players who yearn for cheap infantry squads to save points for the bigger German tanks that opponents dread seeing on the table across from them there are plenty of options to choose from.

A total of 18 Inexperienced Infantry Squads are available in the book with staggering variety to include Penal, Replacement, Grenadier, Waffen-SS, Fallschirmjager, Luftwaffe, Ostruppen, Volksgrenadier, Volkssturm, Hitler Youth, Alarm, Kriegsmarine, Russian Liberation Army, and even Pioneer squads!

For anyone looking to make room in your point totals for Veteran Tanks to take advantage of the Panzer Ace Army Special Rule there are loads of ways to make it work.

The Armies of Germany book includes 95 vehicles of German origin plus another 22 Captured/Repurposed vehicles.  German players enjoy no shortage of Armored Platoon builds to include light tank swarms, run-of-the-mill medium tank squadrons, anti-aircraft vehicles for shredding infantry, and heavy tanks for intimidating and dominating your chosen battlefield.

While no single vehicle option captured my imagination quite like a few of the infantry options I am excited to see what players end up doing with such a glorious plethora of vehicle choices.

A delightful touch included towards the back of the book are Force Selection Guides for the Early, Mid, and Late-War Periods.  The guides break down what was generally available to German forces during each of these three periods broken down by unit type.  As a stickler for historical accuracy when building my army projects I find this tool a wonderful starting point.

Additional investigations will be needed depending on the level of depth the hobbyists wants to invest when building historically accurate forces.  Upon seeing these additions I couldn’t help but wish Warlord Games took it a step further by including what options would be appropriate for theater as well as period.  Perhaps that will be highlighted in future campaign books in a similar format for ease of reference.

Overall I am excited about the opportunities presented in the new Armies of Germany book.  The abundance of infantry squad options will empower players to create a mind numbing variety of thematic forces.  Add to the infantry platoons the full compliment of artillery options and vehicles for every potential problem and German players will have their time in the sun while other players wait for their “Armies of…” books.

Happy gaming!