Brother versus Brother – North and South Korean Forces in Bolt Action – Korea

By Matt Sakrekoff

“At 0830 a staff officer of the 7th Division radioed the ROK Minister of Defense in Seoul: “We are under general attack and heavy artillery fire near the parallel. The enemy has already seized his initial objectives. We require immediate reinforcements. Our reserve is engaged.”

In one of the many dramatic passages from the seminal book on the Korean War, This Kind of War by T.R. Fehrenbach sets the tone of the shocking attack by North Korea across the 38th parallel and the desperate defense by Republic of Korea (ROK) forces. Warlord Games has done a credible job in re-creating the historical organization and tactics for both the Korean Peoples Army (KPA) and the ROK military. Both sides used equipment, organization, and tactics from their respective major supporting international power, e.g. the Soviet Union and the United States.

KOREA – Forces of The Chinese PVA

By Jacob Shober

In a war which echoes even to this day, nearly the whole world had turned their eyes to the Korean Peninsula, and the overt and covert politics playing out.

It was a war which turned allies less than a decade after the end of the Second World War against each other. None was more jarring than the Chinese joining the fight on the side of their communist brethren in the north.

If one observed closely, however, one could see the waves and ripples of the political turmoil and war in China itself that stretched to before the start of WW II, with the two Sino Japanese wars, the Warlord Era, and the Chinese Civil War.

This resulted in the Chinese Communist Party taking control of the country, and presenting the unified force of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (PVA). This article will examine the differences between the fractured Chinese forces found in “Empire in Flames”, and the unified forces found in the book, as well as the new units and theatre selectors available to them.

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.

Heart of Leviathans Will Steel Your Heart

Many of you have seen our previous on a game called and a lot of you have asked when the game will be available. Your wait is over and HoL is now taking pre-sale orders (as of July 5, 2019). If you order, in a short amount of time, you will be slugging it out with some of the biggest weapons of war ever created.

Bolt Action Skirmish in the Dark

By Troy A. Hill

“Suddenly a low flying aircraft buzzes them and a flare is fired beyond the trees. As they walk the men look up, first at the plane and then at the flare as it hung in the air slowly moving toward the ground. As their eyes lower to the horizon, they widen. Across the road behind another stone wall are figures with the distinctive silhouette of German soldiers. Alarmed the five American stragglers realise they are facing the enemy, feeling a rush of adrenaline they raise their weapons.” – excerpt from Campaign D-Day: Overlord by Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing

That snippet is from the opening text for mission #5 in the new D-Day: Overlord book for Bolt Action. Our gaming group at Brookhurst Hobbies in Garden Grove California is gaming in the Normandy theatre, and we decided to give this scenario a try this past weekend.

How to start Advanced Squad Leader

By David Garvin

If you’ve been intrigued by my posts here on NO DICE NO GLORY, and you want to start into Advanced Squad Leader (ASL).  I can well imagine that you’re thinking “Well?  How do I start?”  Simple question and with typical ASL style, there is no easy answer. There are a few paths to playing ASL. In this article, I’m going to lay out five paths to playing ASL. Then I’ll tell which path I took.

Class Project – D-Day Display

By Tom “Chairborne” Mullane

Info for the displays

Thanks to John Spiess, and the generous folks over at (who are hosting Historicon in only a few short weeks), a small group of students were able to dip their toes into war gaming this past year.  Back in September,  It was suggested by John and by fellow NDNG writer Tom Burgess, that HMGS might see fit to give these kids some money to start a club here at the high school I teach in.

With the 500 dollars we received, coupled with Brian Sullivan over at Battlefront, The students ordered a full set of paints, all the Midwar books, and enough terrain to get them started.  Brian also threw in some hills and buildings for free with our order. But as the year drew to a close, and with it the 75th anniversary of DDay, I asked if students would be interested in a different extracurricular project.  What you will see here are the results of their efforts.

FOW D-Day Mega Game

Embarking on a Great Crusade D-Day Mega-Game

The Huntsville Historical Gamers gathered on 8 June to recreate the Allied Invasion of Europe. Operation Overlord was the codename for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe. The assault phase of Operation Overlord, was known as Operation Neptune. Operation Neptune began on D-Day (6 June 1944) and ended on 30 June 1944. By this time, the Allies had established a firm foothold in Normandy. Operation Overlord also began on D-Day, and continued until Allied forces crossed the River Seine on 19 August 1944.

Converting with Nothing

A standard arm from a Bolt Action figure. Another photo below shows how little material you need to remove to change to a much more dynamic pose.

By Jacob Shober

Converting is one of my favorite parts of assembling miniatures; customizing them by changing (whether simply or drastically) from the original model, to create your own flavor of character or pose.

This is sometimes daunting to a beginner, as you see tutorial after tutorial on using green stuff, plasticard, brass rods, and various other extra parts. Sometimes, you end up spending as much as if not more on extra materials to convert your model as you did on the model itself.

This does not need to be the case, however, as this article will show. Sometimes, it is as simple as shaving off a tiny bit of plastic, “cutting and pasting” from other parts on the same sprue, or even using parts of the sprue itself. Below are several examples of tricks I have used to customize my own miniatures, so you too can bring your models to life in your own special way.