Bolt Action 3rd Edition Review - Snapping Into Action

In the world of historical miniature wargaming, there are few conflicts that quite capture the imagination of gamers quite like World War II - and for those gamers, one of the most popular games on the market is Bolt Action. Warlord Games just released a new edition of the game, and they sent me a copy to review. Could this be a good entry point into historical wargaming? Read my Bolt Action 3rd Edition Review to find out!

What Is Bolt Action 3rd Edition?

First developed by Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley in 2012, Bolt Action is a 28mm miniature wargame taking place across the span of WWII. And while Warlord Games creates many different models for a wide array of armies, the game itself is technically manufacturer agnostic. As long as your miniatures are 28mm scale and set on round 25mm bases, there’s nothing saying you can’t use them.

In the game, players will collect, build, and paint armies from this era, clashing against one another on the tabletop. And while this review is also covering the rules in general, we’re mainly taking a look at the new Battle of the Bulge Starter Set.

What’s Included in the Bolt Action Battle of the Bulge 3rd Edition Starter Set?

Included in the Bolt Action Battle of the Bulge 3rd Edition Starter Set are the Bolt Action A5 rulebook (this is the entire rulebook, condensed into a smaller sized softcover book), a starter scenario and assembly booklet, Bolt Action dice, and six-sided dice.

On the miniatures front, we get 24 hard plastic US Winter Army infantry models (on 4 sprees), 18 hard plastic German Winter Fallschirmjäger paratrooper models (on 3 sprues), 1 hard plastic M8 Greyhound armored car (can also make an M20 scout car) with a transfer sheet, 1 hard plastic Ruined Farmhouse terrain piece, plenty of pin markers, and templates for heavy explosive attacks.

For an extra $50 USD, you can upgrade the bundle to also include a hardcover version of the rulebook. And while I don’t know if I would have upgraded had they not sent me the hardcover, I’m glad to have it - as the text is much bigger and makes leafing through to run down a rule all the easier.

How Do You Play Bolt Action 3rd Edition?

In my opinion, the core of what sets Bolt Action apart and makes it special is the way the game handles activating units. For each of your units on the board, you’ll add a special six-sided die to a bag. Your opponent will do the same with their own (differently colored) dice. Then, someone will reach into the bag and remove one die - whoever’s color is pulled is first to activate a unit. Once that unit has activated, you repeat the process, pulling another die from the bag.

You get to choose which of your units you activate, and you get to choose how you activate them (more on that in a moment), but the thrill of not knowing when you’re going to get to activate adds some really nice tension to the game. This does a really nice job of breaking up the “I Go, You Go” nature of so many miniature wargames.

Attacking in Bolt Action 3rd Edition

When activating units, you’ll fire upon your enemies with various weapons, all of which have different ranges, amounts of dice they roll, armor penetration values (for larger weapons), and more. 

To simplify things a bit, you’ll essentially be doing the following: rolling a collection of d6’s to see if you hit your target, then your opponent can potentially react by hitting the deck (and losing their action), and then you’ll roll for damage, and they’ll roll for cover saves! Each model has 1 health, so one point of damage takes them out. Remove enough units in one go, and you might just scare your enemy off the board if they fail a morale test.

Activating With Bolt Action Dice

The Bolt Action dice - those same custom dice you’ll pull from the dice bag to see who activates first - also tell you the six different actions you can assign to your units. Let’s break it down one by one, because it very cleanly lays out how to play the game!

• Fire - Unit fires their weapons at full effect
• Advance - Unit moves their Advance speed (6” for infantry) and then fires (with a -1 penalty to non-Assault weapons)
• Run - Unit moves at twice their Advance speed
• Ambush - Unit holds their action and waits to attack
• Rally - Unit removes all pin markers (pin markers make it harder to shoot and harder to take any action at all)
• Down - Unit gains either 5+ cover save or (if already in cover) a +2 to their cover save rolls. Also, if they stay Down for two turns, remove all pin markers.

Units Included In the Bolt Action Battle of the Bulge 3rd Edition Starter Set

Now I want to briefly chat about the units included in the Bolt Action Battle of the Bulge starter set. For the American forces, it instructs you to build one NCO unit of three (with quick-bursting SMGs), one 11-man unit, and a 10-man unit. You’ll also build the M8 Greyhound armored truck. 

Of all of the army construction I did with this box, this was the only aspect that gave me trouble. Maybe it’s a skill issue, (though god knows I’ve put together my fair share of confounding Sylvaneth Treelord Ancients) but I seriously struggled to follow along, and ended up with (gasp!) extra parts left by the wayside.

For the German combatants, you’ll build one 3-man NCO team, and then three 5-man Veteran units (Veteran units are harder to hit, and have higher morale). Two of those three units also include a one-shot anti-vehicle weapon, giving them a shot against that Greyhound.

All in all, both sides of the field feel very well-balanced, especially when weapon upgrades are factored in. And the starter scenarios in the assembly booklet help ease you into the game (before, tantalizingly, presenting a final scenario where you need units not included in the starter set).

Bolt Action 3rd Edition Review - Final Thoughts

Though I didn’t have any experience playing any historical wargaming prior to this, I’ve had my eye on Bolt Action for a long time. For years, words like “accessible” and “fast-paced” have been thrown around when people talk about this game, setting it apart from the (perhaps incorrect) preconception of historical wargames as being a bit stuck in the mud.

When the opportunity to check out Bolt Action 3rd Edition came around, I jumped at the opportunity. And what I found in this box is a game that is absolutely engrossing, with an approachable ruleset that doesn’t skimp at all on depth and detail. The rulebook is full of gorgeously painted dioramas and battle scenes, and there’s so much to dig into once you begin building beyond what’s included in the core box.

If I had any critiques of the Starter Set box as a whole, it would be the lack of diversity among models included. While I understand that keeping the models included in the box limited to infantry and one vehicle lessens the amount of rules needed to jump into the game, it would have been nice to see something like a mortar team. 

That being said, because you’re starting with mostly infantry, playing the game was fun and, yes, fast-paced. The action economy in this game is second-to-none, and rolling a clutch of dice as your soldiers unleash punishing rifle fire is extremely satisfying, every time.

But more important than all of that is that fact that Bolt Action 3rd Edition completely ignited my imagination, and made me want to go out and learn everything I could about these specific WWII battles, and immerse myself in more of the in-depth, tactical history of the war.

That’s the true power of a historical wargame. Sure, Warhammer Age of Sigmar can inspire you to read fantasy literature. And Marvel: Crisis Protocol can inspire you to check out back-issues of your favorite super-heroes. But with a game like Bolt Action, I find myself looking for books to read and movies to watch about The Battle of the Bulge. It’s an experience that can be, for the right gamer, as enriching as it is entertaining - and when that happens, it’s truly something special.

The copy of Bolt Action 3rd Edition Battle of the Bulge Starter Set used in the creation of this review was provided by Warlord Games. All photos courtesy the author.