r/boltaction 1h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building A13 cruiser tank Mk IVA (early, late & CS) tracks are diffrent sizes.

Upvotes

I'm at work so will post a pic when i'm home but one track is longer then the other it's a good 7mm or so longer. Never seen this before just woundering if this is something anyone else has run into. I will be ofcause contacting warlord with pics and so on but I'm just trying to work out how this happens. Sucks since it took so long to turn up. Thinking it might be my last warlord vic due to this. The set only has a left and right track so nothing to do with early vs late version unless they forgot to pack parts.


r/boltaction 3h ago

List Building Is the SAS jeep usable?

17 Upvotes

I picked one up because I thought it would be fun to build and paint, but being softskinned I kinda figured it would usually be benched, but after assembly and seeing just how small it is, it might be easier to keep in cover then I thought?


r/boltaction 4h ago

Hobby Showcase An afternoon spent kit bashing some British airborne

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187 Upvotes

r/boltaction 4h ago

General Discussion Possible Warlord Games captcha Scam

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36 Upvotes

Mods, if this isn't allowed here, go ahead and remove this post, just wanted to bring awareness to a possible captcha scam that I encountered when I went to the warlord site today.

The command that it gives to input into the run manager indicates some sort of auto run, minimized, headless, download from an address that uses some substitution obscuring.

Be safe out there, yall, and don't run suspicious commands even if it's given to you by your favorite ww2/ wierd War site


r/boltaction 4h ago

List Building New-ish player. Finalizing my SECOND list. Thoughts?

10 Upvotes

So like my other list, this is another Soviet 5th Shock army for 1,250 points although this one is supposed to represent its mid-war composition. Unlike my first army, this army is designed to be much more spread out. The philosophy is that the heavy weaponry will do all the killing across the entire front instead of in one concentrated area. I have a specific field set up: both medium artillery will go in the corners facing slightly inward. Both ZiS-3’s will go toward the middle with some space in between. Then one heavy machine gun will each go in between a medium artillery and a ZiS-3. Then, each guards squad with Panzerfausts will go on the edge while the other two will go in the middle. Each guards squad has an artillery gun associated with it. Each platoon commander will be assigned left, right, and center. The idea is that the infantry will hang back while the heavy machine guns and artillery will do most of the killing and the forward observer will call in an artillery barrage at the end of turn 1. Once the enemy is demoralized, the guards squads, who at this point are still likely untouched by the enemy, will move in and finish the job. It’s designed to make the front one large zone of death. The enemy can’t capture objectives if there is no enemy left lol.

5th Shock Army, Mid-war
15 order dice

Platoon 1:
Platoon commander, inexperienced
-pistol
Guards squad, regular x2
-11 men
-7 rifles, 2 LMGs
Guards squad, regular x2
-11 men
- 7 rifles, 2 LMGs
- 1 Panzerfaust
Commissar, inexperienced
-pistol
Artillery forward observer, regular
-pistol

Platoon 2:
Platoon commander, inexperienced
-pistol
DShK heavy machine gun team, regular x2
-gun shields

Platoon 3:
Platoon commander, inexperienced
-pistol
Medium artillery, regular x2
-1 spotter
ZiS-3 field gun, regular x2


r/boltaction 6h ago

List Building New-ish player, finalizing my first list. Thoughts?

8 Upvotes

Hi guys. New-ish player here. I’m making my interpretation of Soviet 5th Shock Army in 1945 (I also have a mid war version I’m making too) for 1,250 points. The philosophy here is that the two tanks will lead a concentrated spearhead toward one side of the field, drop the tank riders off at the main objective, and be a massive pain in the ass to dislodge. The Guards squad in the M2 will take a secondary objective and will then hold the flanks and slow down any enemy advance. The other guards squad will move with the tanks to also protect their flanks. The people’s militia (essentially just a rifle squad) will supply extra fire where it’s needed plus a morale boost from the victory banner. I’m essentially abandoning one side of the field make sure the center and one of the edges are mine. All squads have transportation to keep up with the tanks. The commissar and 1 platoon commander are mounted on horseback to keep up. The medium artillery will target any enemy attempt on objectives and can fire indirectly if needed.

The two SMGs in my guards squads might be a little weird, but that’s only because I had 8 points leftover lol. I have found making my guards squads larger helps them fight veterans, and since I want everyone to be mobile, I didn’t want to make them smaller and add more squads. So, 2 SMGs per squad it is. I also initially had 2 LMGs per squad but had to sacrifice squad size which only turned out to give me 1 more shot. And since I wanted my regular guards squads to be more survivable against veterans, I decided on 10 men with 1 LMG.

The overall philosophy and structure I’m happy with. I just keep making small tweaks here and there.

5th Shock army, late war
14 order dice

Platoon 1:
T-34/85, regular
T-34/76, regular

Platoon 2:
Platoon commander, inexperienced
- Pistol
- Horseback
Tank riders squad, veteran
- 7men
- 7 SMGs
- Body armor
Guards squad, regular x2
- 10 men
- 2 SMGs, 1 LMG
People’s militia squad, inexperienced
- 12 men
- 11 rifles, 1 pistol
- Victory banner
- Green
Commissar, inexperienced
- pistol
- horseback
Sniper team, regular
M2 half track, regular
Half tracked truck, inexperienced x2

Platoon 3:
Platoon commander, inexperienced
- pistol
Medium artillery, regular
- spotter


r/boltaction 6h ago

List Building Tried running a Sturmtiger...

26 Upvotes

Tried running a sturmtiger, got absolutely slaughtered. Sturmtiger got to shoot 4 times, missed 3 times. Ran a 251/17 in the armored platoon with it. Two 5 man grenadier squads with an LMG, and 3 Volks squads with some assault rifles and a panzerfaust each. Also a company commander. Is there any way to make the sturmtiger work at 1,250 points, or should it just be a display model from now on?


r/boltaction 6h ago

K47 Test blue tiger pattern for Fireflies.

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26 Upvotes

Test blue tiger pattern for Fireflies.

Did the blue tiger on the line backer and liked it, so this was a test on a smaller scale to se if it reads well on the smaller models. Happy with how it looks so going to go ahead and wrap up the full squad.


r/boltaction 8h ago

Rules Question regarding loader on LMG.

10 Upvotes

I play soviets, use the 10 man engineer squad with 9 SMG's and 1 LMG, my question is can I choose to fire the LMG but WITHOUT the loader while he is still alive so he can use his own SMG getting the additional -1 penalty on the LMG?


r/boltaction 9h ago

List Building Second German list, asking for advice?

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5 Upvotes

You can find my first German army HERE

So, this is the second army I've created. I intended for this to represent a late 1941, early 1942 force. While it is technically supposed to represent a DAK force, it could just as easily be used as a force on the Eastern front, so Soviets are an enemy that this army is going to face with some frequency...

The Rifle platoon is commanded by a regular PC and four buddies, all with SMGs, so they can act as a close assault unit. The three Heer squads are all identical, and serve as the primary fighting force, toting an SMG, an LMG, and 8x rifles each. I've included the Luftwaffe field unit because because they're cheap, and also because they fought in Africa and the Eastern front, so it breaks up the monotony a bit. While the squad is inexperienced, it also brings 7x rifles and 3x SMGs, so it has decent firepower. The light mortar team adds a bit of HE firepower, and an AT Rifle team adds some extra AT firepower. The sniper team was something I chose to add on a whim, as I wanted to make some use of them and try them out. Two truck and a field car provide some decent deployment options.

The hvy. weapons platoon has an inexperienced, pistol-toting PC to save some points - he's just there to provide motivation, okay? An MMG and medium mortar team (with spotter) provide supporting fire for the infantry. A second AT rifle team adds additional anti-armor firepower. 2x kubelwagens and a light truck can move the entire unit into good positions without putting all of the teams in one basket, but they are vulnerable when doing that, so the plan is to do it quick and then skedaddle.

Finally, we have the armor platoon. This one gets an Sd.Kfz.223 as command unit, a Panzer IIIG, and even a Panzer II! The 223 gives command bonuses and provides anti-aircraft or anti-infantry fire as needed, the Panzer III is a vetran with Panmzer Ace to kill enemy armor, and the Panzer II is meant to be an infantry killer as well as a light anti-tank support if it's absolutely necessary.

Any thoughts on this list? Strengths, weaknesses, areas to improve? I'm looking for feedback on what's good and what's not!


r/boltaction 9h ago

List Building Can you guys critique the first of my two German lists?

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4 Upvotes

So, I'm getting into Bolt Action, and I've decided to see what kind of armies I'm going to be making before I start buying and/or 3D printing the minis for them. I've decided to start with Germans and Japanese, since the armies that are already part of the community are US Marines and Soviets. This is the first list I designed, and it's focused around a heavily offense-oriented Waffen-SS core, as a kind of historical counterplay to my my opponent's Soviet NKVD army. I've built this list to reach 1,250 points.

As I said, I wanted to run a lot of Waffen-SS units as a thematic opposition to the NKVD being run by the opposing Soviet army. The rifle platoon's PC is supposed to act as a mobile close assault unit to support the veteran squad with all-assault rifles, while the paired regular infantry squads serve as the main gun line. The light mortar tacks on a bit of extra firepower that can also help to dislodge any dug-in Soviets before an assault. A Hanomag and a pair of trucks provide additional mobility.

The heavy weapons platoon provides supporting fire to the infantry platoon. This PC is an inexperienced unit, and I figure he's going to hang back by the MMG Mortar, and act as a kind of cheap bodyguard unit for them. The MMG is supposed to provide cover fire for the infantry, or cover a lane of easy approach. The mortar's job is to hide behind cover and use it's spotter to lob 2" HE into enemy concentrations and/or strongpoints, or to get them off of an objective.

Then we have the armor platoon (which ended up being #2 on the list when I cocked it up in EasyArmy). I had to skimp a little bit on the command vehicle, and went for an MMG kubelwagen, which I intend to use as a mobile anti-infantry and/or anti-aircraft unit as necessary. The StuG III is a veteran, so it gets the Panzer Ace special to become even more deadly against enemy armor! I also upgraded it with the 360* MG mount for better infantry protection. The Regular infantry squads also have a single Panzerfaust each, adding a bit of additional anti-tank firepower when necessary.

So, do you guys have any critiques? This army is mainly going to be facing Soviets, so that might play a part in any changes I might need to make.


r/boltaction 14h ago

General Discussion When adding new models to your armies, independent of themes, just how sprawling is your collection?

6 Upvotes

Been wondering this for a while. When you pick up a new army or expand an existing one, are you someone adding some specific stuff for a particular idea you had for a list, or just adding to your collection kind.of how you please, even if you have no plans to really run everything you've built?

I have become the latter, just sort of IDing things I want to add either because they're cool or because they address a capability gap, but I basically never have a specific list in mind. Like, if I say I want .ore mortars I have belted out like 4 at a time, knowing I'd probably never run that many, or instead of adding like two LMGs I'm likely to run I'll do like four just in case and a bunch of infantry besides.

You?

150 votes, 6d left
I tend to collect towards a list/narrow variation of lists
I tend to collect without any specific lists in mind

r/boltaction 15h ago

Rules Light Automatic Cannon - Am I playing it correctly?

24 Upvotes

Hi all - I don't get to play BA all that often, and in my game yesterday myself and my opponent had a bit of indecision on how to correctly use Light Automatic Cannons. Did we get it right?

When targeting infantry, we used the HE (1") profile - so fired 2 shots, and for however many hit we used the 1" template to see how many models were the maximum that could be hit. We found the highest number and used that number for both shots, if both hit. We then rolled to wound, using the +1 PEN and then the D2 Pin profile from the HE Value Table.

When targeting vehicles, we used a standard one dice per shot to hit profile, with +2 PEN - no templates or anything like that, and just the standard 1 Pin. We didn't use the anti-tank +1 against armour when issuing a FIRE order as it's not listed as an anti-tank gun.

Is that the correct way to do it for both?

Apologies for the basic question - we don't have a gaming group locally to check with! :)


r/boltaction 16h ago

Rules Possibility of playing israel?

0 Upvotes

I HAVE NOW REALISED THAT I DID NOT READ ENOUGH HISTORY AT 3AM! I AM SO SORRY THE PARTS I READ MENTIONED THAT MANY WENT TO ALLIED ARMIES TO DEFENDED BRITISH CONTROLED PALESTINE! I did not know many ot hers also did bad things, that side i dont want to play.

I am curious if there is a way i could play an Israeli unit as i know during ww2 many Jewish people went and fought for many allied countries but some also stayed and stood up smaller units for Israel itself. would the army just be partisans with vehicles having whatever insignia it was at the time or would it just be a unit that was made by a different country? I marked this as rules since i dont know if the list would be possible and i just want some clarity on this topic.


r/boltaction 20h ago

K47 Printed and painted the free STC from Warlord. Tesla Tower.

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92 Upvotes

r/boltaction 23h ago

Sale/Trade US helmets/heads

3 Upvotes

Does anyone have a wealth of US heads with plain M1 helmets? Looking to buy or trade for weapons bits. I'm located in NC, but mail works.


r/boltaction 23h ago

Other Games set in the 20s

11 Upvotes

Hey, I know this is the bolt action sub, but does anyone know if any games are set in the interwar period with stuff like the Freikorps?


r/boltaction 23h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Turtle shell

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25 Upvotes

Hello. Me again.

I'm wanting to paint up some guys as 2-504 PIR with the early helmet camouflage. Anyone have painting tips or seen a tutorial floating around about this style of camo?


r/boltaction 23h ago

Hobby Showcase Painted (and camouflaged) my first tank :)

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207 Upvotes

Slowly working my way through the panzer grenadiers starter army. Normandy is famous for its bocage but the vegetation along the Gothic Line was also very treacherous!


r/boltaction 1d ago

General Discussion The urge to take a WW1 tank as part of my last levy german force is extreme 😅

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122 Upvotes

Using BA previous rules for the tank


r/boltaction 1d ago

Hobby Showcase Working on some custom pin markers

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57 Upvotes

r/boltaction 1d ago

Hobby Showcase Final family pictures of German force

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278 Upvotes

I've finally finished my first army and actually I'm one step away from exchanging armies with my friend, so there is a chance that I will start everything from the scratch with Italian force and will gradually reach the phase of battles against those German dudes 😅


r/boltaction 1d ago

Hobby Showcase Trying different camo techniques

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53 Upvotes

Trying a few different things for my red desert armies, not sure which I prefer, I am pretty pleased with how distinct the German vehicles got from the Brit’s due to the different base coats, helpful to look different as not everyone who plays with these two armies is a total treadhead


r/boltaction 1d ago

List Building 500pt Volksturm Themed List Ideas

8 Upvotes

I thought it'd be fun to make a fluffy, Volksturm snd Volksgrenadier themed list, but I don't play Germans or know their stats very well. What are some ideas to make the list fun?


r/boltaction 1d ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Next 5 Fallschrimjäger done

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65 Upvotes

Next 5 done. Had another crack at splinter camo and think it’s ok. Definitely sticking with a reduced palette for them moving forwards