Part 6: Bolt Action Early War.

The Second World War saw enormous and unbelievable technological advancements over the course of a mere six years. Armies that began the war with bolt-action rifles and horse-drawn transports ended it with assault rifles and jet-powered aircraft, and the world was forever changed by the terrifying power of atomic weaponry. We see this too in our games of Bolt Action – an early-war force is vastly different to a late-war one in terms of equipment, composition, and playstyle. 

 An early-war army may seem restrictive in terms of what you can include – very few heavy guns and tanks, and a distinct lack of small, ‘elite’ units packing all sorts of crazy weaponry. Your infantry are likely going to be in nice big blobs, probably with only a single light machine gun and a submachine gun or two, while you’re going to have something with a ‘mighty’ 7+ or 8+ Damage Value sitting in your tank slot. 

 let’s look at what we do have access to in for an early war British force.

Early-war infantry is available in all three flavours (Inexperienced, Regular, and Veteran), along with MMGs, Boys anti-tank rifles, and both light and medium mortars. As one might expect, all sizes of howitzer can be had, but we’re limited to 2-pdr light anti-tank guns. Likewise, our armoured support is perhaps a little underwhelming at first glance, being primarily light and early ‘cruiser’ tanks. For armoured cars, there are a few choices which could get quite interesting, and we’ve got plenty of transports to get us on the move.

Early war forces focus on infantry sections and remember the more units the more activation dice “control the dice bag can give you a great advantage”. back up all those infantry sections with a few low to medium caliber weapons and your ready to go.

 

This bolt action force is based on the Highland Division BEF force which was even more restricted than most ” we will have a look at army list at a later date”. 

In the next part we delve into what every hobbyist wants….. the miniatures.

 

Coming soon………….Part 7: March to hell STL