Recon Report: Bolt Action Third Edition Armies of Imperial Japan

Image courtesy of Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing

 By Kreighton Long

The most recent addition to Warlord Games‘ Bolt Action Third Edition is enroute in the form of Armies of Imperial Japan.  This latest edition comes in at just under 100 pages and is full to the brim with exciting and unique units, Osprey illustrations, and photographs of miniatures in action.

V3 for Victory Bolt Action Tournament – 22 November 2025

Photo by Jesse Marcelo.

By Kreighton Long

Two weekends ago I had the opportunity to compete in a Bolt Action tournament organized by Jesse Marcelo at Your Hobby Place in Alexandria, VA.  This was Jesse’s third time as Tournament Organizer since hosting his first tournament last year in an effort to help grow the community.  Each player was permitted a 1100 point list not to exceed 20 order die.

The mood of the event was friendly and light-hearted.  All three of my opponents were a pleasure to play against with no absence of good humor and laughter while we worked through the three, two hour rounds.  What I overheard throughout the day was that most of the players were congenial and friendly — minus one exception that the TO dealt with quickly and quietly. Overall, it was an excellent atmosphere for both green and veteran players alike.

Building Urban Bases

By Kreighton Long

With my North African Italians finished it’s time to look forward to a new project.  After attempting desert bases with my Italians, I had the idea to challenge myself with new-to-me basing themes for my next few projects.

The next project will take me from the sands of North Africa to the ruined cityscape of Stalingrad.  If I said the German Veterans release from Warlord Games had nothing to do with this choice I would be lying.  Having never attempted urban bases before, I spent some of my prep time looking for different ways of creating urban bases and came up with three options to experiment with: Green Stuff, plastic mats, and sand.

Bolt Action Canadian Nationals tournament

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

We had a 2-day Bolt Action tournament recently (May 24-25, 2025) as part of the Canadian Tabletop
Championship (CTC) here in Ottawa ON. We had enough players for Warlord Games to let us declare
it Canadian Nationals. 1250 points, 18 Order Dice (OD) cap, no more than two of any unit bar regular
Rifles, HQ , Transports and Tows.

Since my last event in April <link to article> I’ve tinkered with some
lists, settling on the following (regulars unless noted):

Bolt Action Compendium

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

Well all right, this is something I’ve been waiting for, the first non-Army book for Bolt Action, the v3 Compendium articles written by the Community. One thing I loved about Bolt Action v2 was the many campaign books and the extra flavour they brought to the game. I wasn’t a huge fan of the many one-off vehicles that became staples of all competitive lists from the old Campaign books, but I mean, that’s what’s expected when they aren’t really playtested?

So far, in v3, the focus has been the main rulebook, the minor nations PDFs and Armies of Germany. It’s nice to finally have something for the history buffs and not just competitive play.  Speaking of, right off the bat, they do mention that the lists, units and missions in the book have NOT been playtested and shouldn’t be used for competitive play, this to me is the right direction, keep it fun and historical.
So what do we get in this book?   (Note the above FSJ miniature for Op. Rosselsprung is included as of time of writing)

Bolt Action – New ‘Mixed Bag’ Armies of Germany list

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell

In my previous article here, I mentioned trying out three lists and seeing what I’ll take to some upcoming events. Troubles at the Kruppe plant (aka 3d Printing issues) mean the Panzer IIs were still on the factory floor, and thus I would take either the gunline army or Mixed Bag list out for a spin vs Scott Roach.

Our order for the new Armies of Germany book and my MMG teams not having arrived yet meant probably not the Gunline list, so I decided to put together a list that had many of my new units painted and I could try out the ‘Hit Squad’ idea:

Rifle Platoon
Officer (veteran) SMG 43
3 Veterans with SMG   51
Hanomag (reg)              62     156
Heer Infantry x6 60
1x LMG 15                  75
Heer Infantry x6 60
1x LMG 15                  75
Heer Infantry x6 60
1x LMG 15                  75
Panzerbuchse Anti-Tank Rifle 25
Light Mortar Team (Inex)         21
Light Mortar Team (Inex)         21          448
Heavy Weapons Platoon
Officer (reg) w rifle 30
Medium Mortar 45
Spotter 10                   55
Medium Mortar 45
Spotter 10                   55
Panzerbuchse Anti-Tank Rifle 25
Panzerbuchse Anti-Tank Rifle 25          190
Artillery Platoon
Officer (reg) w rifle 30
Medium Howitzer 90
Medium Howitzer 90                               210
Armour Platoon
Czech 38t  135
Command Tank 10   145
8-Rad                            95                          240
18 OD                                                          1088

“Battle for Sharpe’s Farmstead” Bolt Action 3rd Ed Battle Report, new Armies of Germany book

by Dennis ‘Matt Varnish’ Campbell, pics by Scott Roach     

Header picture: From the Sharpe’s Rifle series, Sharpe retires with his french wife to a farmstead in France.. we decided this was that farmstead, and as such I put an objective in it

Warlord Games graciously allowed us a preview copy of Armies of Germany, and since I play a Blitzkrieg-themed German Heer army, I felt I should take out some of the new units and rules for a spin and see what’s new.

“Free” weapons on the HQ units are gone, now every member of the Officer team gets a Rifle, and pays for Assault Rifle or SMG, or gets a discount if armed with just their Luger.    Officer units can now take 4 other men, but only 1 can have an Assault Rifle, but everyone else can take SMGs or pistols.  FSJ you can add a 6th man, Waffen SS can take a 2nd Assault Rifle.

Vanguard: Normandy Kickstarter date announced

the vanguard normandy boardgame laid out ready to play

Story and images courtesy Warlord Games

Vanguard goes live on KickStarter!

Warlord Games are excited to announce that Vanguard: Normandy goes live on Kickstarter at 2pm GMT on 5th November 2024. Vanguard: Normandy is the ultimate World War II board game, bringing the key mechanics of our award-winning Bolt Action to the world of board gaming.

Navigate the fog of war, manage vital resources, and make swift tactical decisions in this 1-4 player World War II board game. Note that Vanguard: Normandy is in active development. All images shown are of pre-production prototypes and may not necessarily reflect the quality of the final product.

Getting into Bolt Action, Third edition

Bolt Action 3 Rule Book with special Francis S. Currey figure
Hot off the presses, the Bolt Action 3rd ed rulebook (courtesy Warlord Games and Osprey Publishing)

By Morten

For a couple of years now, I have been eyeing Bolt Action from the sidelines, never really taking the steps to get into the game. I already play Team Yankee, Star Wars Legion and have had a few games of Star Wars Shatterpoint, so I was a bit on the fence about getting into yet another game system.

Then came the news, that Bolt Action was getting a Third Edition in September and I couldn’t help myself, as this seemed like the perfect time to start.

Now, I don’t really know anything about how Bolt Action Second Edition plays or how army building works. I have watched a single game some years ago and all I know about Third Edition, is what Warlord has spoiled in their Intelligence Reports. So far, I like what I’m seeing.

You can check out the Intelligence Reports here:
https://warlord-community.warlordgames.com/category/world-war-two/bolt-action/

“A funny thing happened on the way to Tobruk” a v3 Bolt Action Battle Report

by Matt Varnish 

A new edition of Bolt Action by Warlord Games is upon us, we were blessed with an advanced copy, and rather than spill the beans for all the competitive players like everyone else, we figured why not actually play a regular old fun game with fellow No Dice No Glory alum, Scott Roach.   We decided upon a desert game, so that he could dust off his Aussies and his Afrika Korps.   We tried to incorporate as many new things from the new edition, and as luck would have it we came across a fair amount of questions and sneaky changes.

 

First big change, the way army lists are built is different.   No longer can you take a lone ’88 or Pzr III, now these support units need to be in their own platoons.  My own Blitzkrieg army only has 1 HQ painted up so I’ll need to paint up more, since a Heavy Weapons platoon and Artillery platoon need their own Lieutenant or Hauptmann.  Speaking of lists, here is what we ran: