No Longer Forgotten; Bolt Action Korea

By Mitch Reed

Find the with Bolt Action Korea authors Steve Smith and Jon Russel, from the NOVA Open 2018 .

Long known as the “Forgotten War” the Korean conflict holds a unique place in history. It was never officially a war and to this day it has not officially ended. Due to these circumstances, it does not hold a place in our memory and we often forget the sacrifices of those who fought in the first major hot conflict in a very long Cold War.

The new Korean War book from Warlord Games not only pays homage to the combatants who fought in 1950-1953, but it also expands the game and brings a new wave of excitement for all Bolt Action players. If you have ever gone to Washington DC, the Vietnam Wall is a must-see destination. The sobering dark wall shows the American lives lost in yet another unofficial war that was a hot extension of a Cold War. Nearby is a monument to those who fought in the Korean War, and while it doesn’t leave you with the same feeling as the Vietnam Memorial, it does put a face on the participants of the conflict and leaves you with an understanding on just how tough the Korean Campaign was.

Not only have we neglected the history of the Korean War, but we have also neglected its inclusion on the gaming table. I cannot think of many games that focus on Korea and aside from a very few home-brew games at conventions. I can’t remember many gamers looking to play a Korea based war game.

Due to the dedicated work of Steve Smith and Jon Russell, has corrected this error of exclusion. If anyone recalls with these two men you will know how much sweat equity and time they put into developing this game. The research is seen by the detailed and lavish history as one would expect from a book in the Bolt Action series and they go a step further in teaching us about the heroes of the war that even the most well-read of history buff have never heard of.

The pre-print draft of this book comes in at well over 240 pages (biggest in the BA series) and is full of not only a detailed history of the war but the usual spectacular artwork we have come to expect from Warlord and Osprey Press.

Despite its size, the book is an expansion of the Bolt Action game. For those starting the hobby with this book, you will still need a copy of the Second Edition rules.

While gamers love the art and history, it’s the lists we really care about and we should move on to that.

The Forces
Let me answer the usual question gamers have up front; “is nation X in the game: and the answer is yes. The book details the five major participants, US, British Commonwealth, China, and North and South Korea.

The other nations that fought under the United Nations flag are also represented and ten of the major UN combatants are included, using a modified US force selection list. This is historically accurate since the US provided the equipment the free-world went to war with during this period.

The scope of each of the included nations is exciting. Nations like the US have Army, Airborne, Marines, Engineers, Rangers, Dog-Teams, and USMC Raiders with an additional option to tailor the forces for the early, middle and later periods of war. The wide treatment is not just for US forces, Korean Partisans, South Korean Marines, Commissars, and British Commandos. My opinion is that if a gamer was to seriously complain that something was omitted from the game they would never find any game that would meet their high standards.

When it comes to heroes, this game becomes a history lesson and gives us the ability to play the likes of Sgt Reckless USMC and Private Speakman of the British army. The DPRK and the PLA also get heroes and much like the two UN names mentioned before I have never heard of these warriors before. This shows me that the research for this book was deep and very thorough. Each of these heroes has a detailed background history in the book so you will also learn their names and deeds of valor.

Support is the standard BA fare, mortars, light and medium machine guns, along with some artillery pieces and AT guns that the armies of the period used. Much like the other weaponry tanks and vehicles also have been updated for the early 1950s and the T-34/85, Centurion and even the M46 Patton makes an appearance in the game. The list of equipment is very complete and should leave no one wanting more.

Special Rules
Many of you may have into learning and loving Bolt Action last year and I have to admit of not being an expert on what all of the books may or may not contain. The special rules tailored to this book, however, blew me away.

City fighting, amphibious assaults, night fighting, minefields, trenches and adverse weather are all in the game so you can get the full experience of the conflict. Based on my knowledge of the war I cannot think of a battle that this game does not cover since the special rules and forces are so complete.

Adding to these rules the book is loaded with about seventeen narrative scenarios that re-create many of the battles that took place during the war. I love these scenarios because they give you the forces, table layout, special rules and unique victory conditions that go beyond the missions in the base rule book. This is something that players who do not like tournaments can really get into.

The Air War

The new book also brings the jet age into the game with air support being provided by jets and what would Korea be without those early helicopters made iconic by the movie and TV series MASH.

Warlord is doubling down on this new period in the air by releasing the MiG Alley box set for Blood Red Skies. NDNG will have more on this in the near future. I will tell you that I have been playtesting an early draft of the rules and those jets play differently. Wow! Are they fun.

Some of you may have noticed that Jon at Warlord always talks about how he combines Bolt Action with Blood Red Skies and in some cases Cruel Seas. I wonder if gamers know how cool this is? A gamer can play a battle in three domains with the events in one domain affecting the play of another.

Overall

In future articles, the NDNG staff will give you more details as to what the book contains. The scope and depth of the Korea book are remarkable. In this single volume, the writers have captured the full story of a war that few other games have accomplished.

Players who have been playing the WWII version of this game should give Korea a try, it expands the game you have been playing a great deal and will give you a new found excitement for it. I also hope that gamers who have never played Bolt Action that are drawn to the aspect of playing the Korean War will work to grow our community.

Gaming Korea

As stated above, I cannot recall any major miniature games that cover this conflict and I wonder why this is? Perhaps it is because its proximity to World War Two, and many developers feel the technology didn’t advance that much to warrant developing a unique game or expansion to portray it.

There may be some truth to this however it never really has stopped other games from becoming wildly popular. Maybe the moniker “Forgotten War” is really fitting for gamers as well as society, that despite the compelling story of the war we have chosen to forget it.

All you have to do is listen to my in 2018 and you can hear the passion they had for bringing this war to your table and how much they want us to remember the “Forgotten War”.