Alex & Dan return for our final set of hot takes on the brand new 3rd edition of Bolt Action. In our last two articles, we reviewed every change from the Orders, Shooting, Weapons, and Weapon Special Rules sections – and the Close Combat, Headquarters, Unit Special Rules, and Artillery changes.
In this final article we cover the last 1/3 of the book containing rules for Vehicles, Buildings, Scenarios, Force Selection, Army Lists, and Optional Rules. As a reminder, the goal in this series of articles is to go page-by-page finding every change from 2nd to 3rd edition, discuss the impact the change will have on the game, and rate it.
Table of Contents
The Rating System
Each change will be rated on the following scale:
- Much Better – The rule change is excellent and significantly improves this particular rule, or adds to the game as a whole.
- Better – This changed rule is better than 2nd edition, but might not have addressed a problem rule as thoroughly as it could have, or there are slight downsides to the new rule.
- Meh – The change is neither here nor there. This could be a completely unexciting rule change, or one that will have little or no impact on the enjoyment of the game. It also covers rules that are changed, but not necessarily better than the 2nd edition version.
- Worse – This is a rule change that seems unnecessary, and/or will not improve the game experience.
- Much Worse – These rule changes will significantly detract from playing the game.
Vehicles
Vehicle Pinning
As before, fully enclosed armored vehicles (not open-topped or soft-skinned) are only pinned by heavy weapons. However, now both Inexperienced and Regular vehicles take pins by any heavy weapon, while only Veteran vehicles can ignore heavy weapons that cannot penetrate their armor.
Alex: I think this is an attempt to make veteran vehicles more attractive, and has the additional bonus of eliminating the dice roll when a regular vehicle gets hit with a heavy weapon that can’t penetrate it. Overall, a fine change to me. Rating: Better
Dan: This is a phenomenal change. I never ever took veteran vehicles since there was no impact on veteran for them (just like you should never take anything other than Inexperienced mortars – you need 6’s to hit anyway). This change might make me take veteran vehicles now, especially if the point cost isn’t outrageous. Rating: Much Better
Vehicle Movement
There have been several changes to how vehicles move. First, all vehicles now get two pivots when using an Advance order, and one when using a Run order. Secondly, tracked vehicles (except halftracks) no longer get the double speed bonus on roads.
Alex: This makes sense to me. After all, a tank can generally pivot pretty well on the spot but has a fairly low top speed, even on a road. I feel like this gives each vehicle type its own little niche. Rating: Better
Dan: I fully agree that this gives vehicles their own flare. With the changes to how many shots vehicles get now though with their MMGs, I’m not sure how often I’ll be taking Hanomags or other troop transports, though. Rating: Better
Vehicle-Mounted Machine Guns
This is a new rules section that specifies that MGs mounted on vehicles only get half the shots they normally would (so 2 for LMGs and 3 for MMG/HMGs).
Alex: The MG vehicle spam was out of control, with inter-war MG-laden monstrosities dominating Bolt Action instead of normal WW2 vehicles. Originally, I was in favor of this rule, but having seen it in action, I think it’s gone too far. Vehicles are now strangely inert vs. infantry unless they have a howitzer or autocannon. Rating: Meh
Dan: I think this was an overreaction to the use of MMG tanks and other outliers. While I fully agree they needed to be nerfed, I’m really bummed that ALL vehicle mounted weapons got hit – especially Hanomags. I loved taking them in 2nd edition because even with soft skin, open-topped and the high point cost, I still loved taking them because they got a mobile MMG that could provide fire support for moving infantry. Now that it gets less shots, I think I’m going to shelve these for a while. I think it’s better for the game overall. Rating: Better
Multiple Targets
There has been a subtle change here to how vehicles shoot at multiple targets. 3rd edition now specifies that the player controlling the vehicle must declare what targets each of his weapons is shooting at before beginning to roll. You can no longer wait to see the results of each weapon before selecting a target for the next.
Alex: Probably a good change, although fairly minor one. Rating: Meh
Dan: Yeah, duh. This makes absolute sense and how it should be – turns represent seconds on the battlefield and the shooting should occur all at once or within a second or two of one another. A good change. Rating: Better
Hits from HE Shells
Another subtle change here. When a vehicle ends up under an HE template from an adjacent target, any potential damage to the vehicle is now worked out using the armor closest to the blast rather than always using the front armor value.
Alex: This could, potentially, mean that you can more easily hurt both a vehicle and an adjacent unit with one blast, although this is a pretty rare scenario. Rating: Meh
Dan: Another change that makes complete sense. Why would a shell landing to the side of a vehicle or the rear impact the front? Rating: Better
Cover Saves
These work the same as for other units, with the caveat that the vehicle must be at least 50% behind cover or within an area of dense terrain.
Alex: I’m less excited about tanks getting cover saves than other units. I think it’s going to end up with a lot of annoying fiddling with tanks to get them “just right” behind the corner of a building or whatever. It’s interesting that the rulebook recommends you work out cover saves BEFORE rolling on the damage tables because they realized how upsetting it is for players to successfully roll to destroy a tank, and then have it canceled by a cover save! Rating: Meh
Dan: I fully agree with you here, Alex. I’m not a big fan of this rule – I feel like it’s going to just lead to a bunch of arguments in the game. Plus, this is kind of anathema to how I play tanks – they’re armored vehicles, move them up and get in the fight. Stop fiddling being corners! Rating: Meh
Roll to Damage vs. Soft-Skins
This is a new rule, specifying that any damage roll of 6+ on a soft-skin vehicle automatically destroys it, rather than rolling on the normal vehicle damage chart.
Alex: This is a good change. Soft-skin vehicles were hilariously hard to kill in 2nd edition, with even just a man on a motorcycle being incredibly resilient to small-arms fire. Rating: Much Better
Dan: Yeah, a much needed change. Soft-skin vehicles are going to die a lot easier now, but it’s a much needed change. Rating: Much Better
Roll to Damage vs. Armoured Targets
These damage modifiers are mostly the same with a couple notable exceptions. Long range is still a -1 damage modifier, despite long range no longer being a to-hit modifier. Otherwise, point blank is a new arrival, giving a +1 modifier within 6”.
Dan: Ah, my beloved long range rule! Here is where you have landed in v3. I like Point Blank being added in, but I’m less sure about Long Range landing here. Most tank battles were operating at a distance of 900 yards (a great write up of these statistics here), so I think when scaled down to 28mm, we’re not really operating on long range scales for AT guns. Totally think this makes sense for stuff like AT Rifles, but that’s a bit niche. Rating: Better
Alex: Like Dan says, anywhere on the table is pretty short range for AT guns. I guess this is necessary to encourage vehicles to move forward. Rating: Meh
Superficial Damage
Rather than subtracting three from the result on the regular damage table, superficial damage now has its own table. This includes a few familiar results such as Crew Stunned, Immobilized, and On Fire, however it also introduces Engine Damage (gives the vehicle the Slow rule), or Steering Compromised (gets one less pivot), as well as being the new home of Turret Jam.
Alex: Warlord has heard the calls to destroy Turret Jam, to cast it back into the fires of Mount Doom from whence it came, and like Isildur, they have defiantly answered “No.” Now it’s permanently here in the Superficial Damage table, and honestly, it’s fine. We no longer have to roll for it every single time a vehicle gets damaged. Some people are annoyed with all the various afflictions tanks can get, but I like it. In reality, there were a lot of different ways vehicles could get “mission killed” and I think this reflects that. Rating: Better
Dan: I think this is a great change, especially not having to roll every time. I fully agree with you Alex, I love seeing tanks get impacted in different ways – there’s a lot of nuance as to HOW tanks get knocked out, and seeing them get those afflictions built up is great. Superficial being separate is a better method. Rating: Better
Tank Assault
The verbiage of tank assaults has changed some, with open-topped and non-tracked vehicles no longer able to assault enemy units – although the requirement to have at least an 8+ armor value has been dropped.
Alex: I never see anyone assault with tanks, so I don’t think this really matters much. Rating: Meh
Dan: I got to see this one actually in action in my last game and confirm it’s a big let down. Rating: Meh
Infantry Assaulting Tanks
The rules here are largely similar, with the exception that if infantry manage to immobilize the enemy tank, it must pass a morale check or be considered knocked out.
Alex: While I do appreciate that they have slightly increased infantry’s ability to damage tanks in close combat by giving them a second result on the superficial damage table that could result in a destroyed vehicle, the entire infantry vehicle assault system is overly complicated and ineffective.
In reality infantry could be a real menace to unaccompanied tanks, but in Bolt Action there are just so many factors going against infantry assaults against tanks that they’re almost never performed. The only real scenario where they are feasible is if the enemy vehicle is Down, and you have a very large squad armed with AT grenades (which are still +2 pts per model, by the way). This whole system needs to be simplified and rebalanced to give infantry a chance. Right now almost no one takes AT grenades because they’re so situational. Rating: Meh
Dan: As much as I love the “sticky bomb” scene in Saving Private Ryan, I pretty much always ignore the fact that infantry can assault tanks in Bolt Action and will continue to do so in V3 because it’s very underwhelming on the tabletop. Ignoring the historical reality of tanks being caught out without any infantry support, even in film it’s the same way. In Band of Brothers during the assault on Foy, the German tank hauls ass backward as Spiers goes running in. In Fury, the tank is overrun. I think in a perfect world I would actually apply a version of the “enemy proximity” rule from transports to tanks – making it more difficult for them to receive an order or to activate if they’re being actively overrun. Rating: Meh
Enemy Proximity
This is the new name of the section detailing how transports are automatically destroyed if left closer to an enemy unit than a friendly one at the end of a turn. One change here is that armored transports and tows now take a morale test instead of being destroyed automatically.
Alex: I think this is a good change, as I think it will encourage more halftracks, which are objectively cool vehicles. Rating: Better
Dan: Strictly speaking this rule is better than V2, because now transports aren’t just fully destroyed. I just hate having something be automatically wiped out. At least make the enemy roll to hit it or something. Rating: Better
Officers/HQ Aboard Transports
This is another new section in the vehicle chapter, specifying that officer and HQ unit abilities work normally when transported in a soft-skin or open-topped vehicle. If in a fully-enclosed armored transport, their abilities only work on the transport and other units in the transport.
Alex: This makes sense to me. Rating: Better
Dan: Yeah, this is a chance that was needed. I like that officers can be in a transport and yelling commands out to troops on the ground, although I can think of some scenarios in which this shouldn’t work, like beach landing craft which are soft-skinned and open topped. I can’t imagine that between the roar of the engines, the loud ocean and men getting ready to hit the beach that your voice would be able to carry very far, but I think that’s an outlier and too much nuance for this rule. It also makes sense for them to only be able to communicate with their dudes that are in fully enclosed transports with them, although I’m not really sure how often that will come into play. Rating: Better
Command Vehicle
Command vehicles can now snap-to a friendly vehicle within 12”, except for other command vehicles.
Dan: With armored platoons being a thing now, I really like the idea of armor activating together. With machine guns being nerfed on vehicles, I’m still not sure how I’ll use this rule – I think it could be really strong when taking armor that can split out templates and you need to open up some space in the enemy line. Rating: Much Better
Alex: Having an armored platoon operate together is pretty fun, I got to try it in my last 3rd edition game. Rating: Much Better
Recce Escape Move
Can now move closer to the enemy, attempting to end up out of line-of-sight or with a better cover save.
Dan: So since I play Early War French, I often take Panhards which get the Recce rule. I use it a lot, so I like being able to dictate which direction you want to move in. That’s a great chance, but the REAL great change is vehicles being able to Recce off the table during a FUBAR. Super funny. Rating: Much Better
Alex: I’m in favor of this change. Rating: Better
Buildings
Ruins vs. Intact Buildings
This is a new section in the rulebook, clarifying what counts as a ruin, and what counts as a building.
Alex: This section isn’t so much new, as it is just a clarification and consolidation of existing info about the two types of buildings. I think it was a great idea to put this right front and center in the building section. Rating: Better
Dan: Clarifying what terrain is what is really important and you should be doing this with your opponent during each game anyway. My MLIS degree is leaping at joy for the structured nature of the V3 rulebook. Rating: Better
Entering Buildings
The new verbiage here is that infantry can now either Run or Advance into a building, although they cannot shoot if they used an Advance order.
Alex: I believe this is an attempt to stave off weird scenarios where a unit in rough ground is trying to enter a building and the inability to run in rough ground would conflict with the requirement for units to Run into a building. Overall, a good clarification. Rating: Better
Dan: Yeah, not much to say here other than what Alex did. I like clarification, especially with ambiguous scenarios that will make it easier to avoid conflict with your opponents during games. Rating: Better
Extra Protection
Previously, units in buildings would have the score needed to wound them increased by 1. So a Veteran could only be wounded on a 6+, for example, when in a building. This has been eliminated in 3rd edition.
Alex: I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, this did get forgotten about a lot during play. On the other hand, this was the main advantage of buildings over ruins, and now it’s gone. Really, it seems like ruins are now superior to buildings in every way, except that they are rough ground. Rating: Meh
Dan: Between the nerf to assaulting, the boost to point blank shooting and the weird elimination of cover in buildings, I’m not sure I’m ever going to put units in a building, honestly. This is where the game feels slightly a little more Space Marines 3rd/4th edition – just rolling around, gunning stuff down, not really caring who dies. I think this removes a tactical element to the game and while it may make the game faster, I think it will suffer long term for it. Rating: Meh
HE Weapons Against Buildings
HE weapons against buildings now ignore all cover saves, including being Down. This is a change, as being down before affected the to-hit modifier for HE weapons.
Alex: Man, they just keep making HE more and more deadly against buildings. You know what this rule would go well with? Rifle grenades! Rating: Meh
Dan: As a Big Template Appreciator, I fucking love this rule. BUT, as a player and thinking about the health of the game, this is just another reason for anyone to completely avoid putting their guys in a building. Might as well just run up as fast as you can to get into point blank range and start dishing out some damage. Rating: Meh
Indirect Fire Weapons Against Buildings
There are two additions to the rules here. First, 3” & 4” HE template weapons now roll for hits on every floor they pass through, increasing the odds of destroying the building entirely. Second, the rules now state that multi launchers targeting an occupied or empty building measure their 6” radius from the building.
Alex: Let’s skip past the first bit about HE template weapons destroying buildings. I think a lot of people probably missed the bit about multi launchers, but it’s HUGE. In 2nd edition, there was an FAQ ruling that said when a multi-launcher targets a building, the 6” blast radius is measured from the footprint of the building. It was probably the worst ruling in the FAQ, and I can’t believe it made it into the main rulebook for 3rd edition.
Let me explain why this is such a problem. First, multi-launchers can’t take a spotter, which is supposed to limit their power. The problem is, they can target buildings, even empty ones, and it is very easy to draw a line of sight to buildings – so no spotter is really necessary anyway. Secondly, and more importantly, measuring from the footprint of the building DRAMATICALLY increases the area that the ML can reach. If you have a 6”x6” building, the blast now extends 6” from each wall of the building, making the new blast radius essentially 9”.
In this image we can see the original blast radius of a ML marked out by the grey dice. Then, measured from the footprint of the building, marked out by the white dice. By targeting the building, a ML is now generating a blast zone almost 20” wide.
This means multi-launchers can hit all sorts of areas of the map, and the amount of the board they can hit increases with the size of the buildings. This was totally broken in 2nd edition, and is potentially even worse in 3rd edition considering the amount of multi-launchers that can be taken. There are two solutions to this. First, the wording can be clarified that ML measure 6” from the CENTER of a building. Second, remove targeting empty buildings. It is really only used for the sake of this ML exploit. Rating: Much Worse
Dan: I was at the tournament where Alex got absolutely hosed by Nebelwerfers, so I completely understand his rage at this. I fully agree, it’s horseshit and an incredibly bad rule – probably the worst in V3 in my opinion. It’s just too much of a wide area. If you like playing with MLs, great! I hope you have a wonderful time having no friends. Rating: Much Worse
Bunkers
Bunkers now give a 2+ cover save, including against HE. Previously they were a -4 to hit and HE didn’t roll damage against the units inside.
Alex: This means units in bunkers will be much easier to pin, but very very difficult to kill without a sniper to pick men off one at a time, or a flamethrower. Overall, I like it. Rating: Better
Dan: This is exactly how bunkers should work. Rating: Much Better
Scenarios
Battle Scenarios
There is a huge change in the scenarios for BA in 3rd edition. 2nd Edition had twelve pre-set scenarios and this has been replaced by a scenario generating system with randomly generated victory conditions, deployment zones, and deployment types – making 36 different possibilities. Then there are five pre-built “story scenarios” that are mostly similar to those in the previous book.
Alex: This reminds me of a more limited version of SAGA’s scenario generating system, which is fun. I think this will be especially cool for tournaments so you don’t end up seeing the same six scenarios over and over. My only reservation is the Fog of War variant that lets units from all forces come on from any table edge, seems way too chaotic. Rating: Much Better
Dan: I think this is probably just a holdover until we start to get more campaign books, but all the scenarios seem fun to me, including the Fog of War one. A few months back we played a game where units came in from random table edges and we had flame tanks show up right behind enemy units and wipe them out. Made for a pretty funny game. Rating: Better
Reserves
There are a few changes to Reserves. First, there is a clarification that units in Reserve don’t need to resolve a FUBAR if they roll double sixes. Then, there is an allowance made for artillery pieces that are too heavy to move on their own, getting a free 6” move to get onto the table. Third, a note that officer abilities do not work while off the table, except on any transport they are mounted in, along with any other units in that same transport. Lastly, spotters come in from reserve with their accompanying artillery/mortar piece and can enter the table at different points.
Alex: All good bits of clarification. The bit about officers being able to affect the transports and units in it is interesting. Does this mean you can snap-to a transport and its crew while off-table and activate them all together to come in from reserve? Rating: Better
Dan: Yeah, these are all good changes, I think. There’s going to need to be some house rulings on some of these, such as the officer snapping a transport unit. I already told Alex that at some point I’m going to try taking a Bedford and just call it in with an additional 30 or so guys. Rating: Better
Outflanking Manoeuvre
Outflanking has changed to allow units that come in from outflanking on turns 3-4 to come in anywhere on the short table edge that isn’t part of the enemy deployment zone, and from turn 5 onward to anywhere on that table edge.
Alex: I think this is a significant buff for outflanking. Depending on the deployment type, this means outflanking units could come in 36” along the short table edge on turn 3. I’m unclear how this interacts with the Meeting Engagement deployment type, where no units are set up at the beginning of the battle. Does this mean outflanking can come in up to the whole short board edge starting on turn 3? Rating: Meh?
Dan: I really like this change. I only ever really did an outflank once during my very first game of Bolt Action in 2nd edition and it took so long to get to the board I just never bothered with it again. In V3, I’ve already done it in my first game and I really liked the change. In the battle, my Chindits came in from the side to hamper the Japanese advance toward our table edge and the safety of the thick jungle. What I’d really like to see to buff this is some rules for specific units that increase when they can come in from the enemy deployment zone. Overall, I think is is a good change. Rating: Better
Force Selection
Platoon Selectors
The generic platoon selector has been replaced by a completely new structure for choosing forces. Now, there are six types of platoons (rifle, heavy weapons, artillery, engineer, armoured, and recce). Players select which platoons they want to take in their force, and this unlocks different types of units for them to take.
Alex: This is probably my favorite change in 3rd edition. The old generic platoon selector was limiting, stale, and boring. Even with the fairly small amount of units available in the rulebook, I’m having a ton of fun building new army lists with the platoon selector. Deciding if I want to invest in artillery, infantry, tanks, etc. creates so many interesting decisions when building an army – and it’s more historically realistic too! The only potential downside I can see is tournament lists are going to be absolutely wild, but I’m not a big tournament player so I’ll just sit back and enjoy the chaos. I’m also super excited to see what other kinds of platoons they will offer going forward. The rulebook hints that “within expansion books for Bolt Action you will find more platoon selectors”. Rating: Much Better
Dan: I also really love the new structure. Starting with what I like, there’s a lot of versatility in taking the kind of list you want to take. Lots of infantry? Go for it. Heavy Weapons focused? Also able to spam those mortars now, which as a mortar sicko, I love. I think it will also lend itself really well for thematic lists. The other major addition I like is the introduction of Company Commanders, because being able to snap to four order dice is absolutely batshit and leads to some real cinematic moments. What I don’t like, so far, is the armor part. I never really focused on vehicles when I played Bolt Action, despite having a lot of tanks. Having to take 2 now no matter what is a bit of a bummer for me, but I think that might be because I just haven’t played at the new suggested 1250 points yet, only 1000. I still need to play around with lists to figure out what works best for me. Lastly, one change I’d make here is allowing a Recce vehicle in the Recce platoon. I’m looking forward to the Armies Of books and seeing how they expand on the platoon selectors. Rating: Much Better
Army Lists
Unit Consolidation
The main rulebook has only a limited selection of units for each nation, with many units either combined into a single entry or unavailable until the Armies of… book releases.
Alex: This has dramatically reduced the number of units each army has available, for better or worse. Some nations, like Germany, were completely out of hand, with over 200 unit types by the end of 2nd edition – these have been condensed into about 50 for 3rd Edition. For the minor nations, this has been a little more problematic as they have very few units to choose from to begin with and are reduced to about a dozen or so. Rating: Meh
Dan: I think (or hope anyway) that this situation is temporary and will get fixed as the books roll out, but for now, it’s certainly a bit of a let down for minor nation players. I fully agree that the sheer amount of units available needed to be culled a bit – especially over minor differences in units. I think this is good for armies with a ton of options, a bummer for minor nation players. Rating: Meh
Germany
The only change to Germany’s national rules is the elimination of Tiger Fear.
Alex: Tiger Fear – annoying, complicated, and unloved by all. Rest in peace. It says a lot that Germany’s national rules are improved by simply removing a rule and not replacing it with anything. Meanwhile, the other national rules remain solid, and synergize well with many of the changes in this edition. Rating: Better
Dan: Tiger Fear was mostly just super annoying to play against because it slowed down play and it changed so much that tracking how it worked became a bit of a chore. Rating: Better
USA
Fire and Maneuver has been completely changed. It no longer removes any penalty to shooting while moving, instead it essentially works the same way as the British Rapid Fire rules, giving an extra dice for every three men with rifles firing. The only difference is that the American version works while Advancing.
Alex: I don’t really like anything about this change. The US Fire & Maneuver rule in the first two editions of the game was one of the most fun and unique national rules in the game. This version is just a knock-off of the British Rapid Fire rule. It’s also baffling that it only affects rifles, and not BARs, which will discourage American players from taking that iconic piece of equipment. Rating: Much Worse
Dan: I know that they changed this rule specifically because with all the changes to how shooting works it made Americans too good. But that’s just the facts, jack. We are that good. In all seriousness, I think this is a fine change in light of the new mechanics while we wait to see what shakes out of the Armies of The United States book. It’s certainly worse than the 2nd edition rule, but I’m not super upset by it. Rating: Meh
Great Britain
Britain’s Artillery Support rule has been changed from a free artillery observer, to a second barrage from a purchased observer. Furthermore, Bombardment has been removed Finally, Up and ‘at ‘em and Rapid Fire have had some minor changes. Up and ‘at ‘em no longer provides an automatic pass to order checks to assault, instead it allows a reroll, and Rapid Fire no longer affects shooting after an Advance.
Alex: I’m ok with most of these changes. Despite overall being a little less powerful, the British still get to select from five national rules, which is pretty cool and powerful. I wish more nations were given the option to choose from different options. Rating: Meh
Dan: I like all of these changes, especially removing the free artillery observer and just giving them a second barrage. As always, the British have a huge selection of rules that are all pretty good with no real downsides. Rating: Better
Soviet Union
Quantity has a Quality All of Its Own has been replaced by For the Motherland, another knock-off version of a British rule (Vengeance), except only affecting Inexperienced units.
Alex: I’m so tired of the Red Army being portrayed as nothing more than a horde of untrained conscripts. Removing the free inexperienced unit was fine, but how about replacing it with something not influenced by the “Asiatic Horde” theories propagated by German generals during/after the war? I’m also bummed to see that Not One Step Back is still a rule, which is both historically questionable, while also being something that should really be a unit special rule and not take up a national rule spot. Rating: Worse
Dan: I’m glad to see Quantity Has a Quality All of Its Own be removed, but I still like the Not One Step Back! Rule, I’d just like to see it reworked a bit. I’d focus more on Order No. 270 & less on Order No. 227. The reality is that Commissars & the political machine were a part of the Soviet Army, but it feels very bizarre to include them in the Soviet section with a little turn toward the barbarity while completely ignoring the German version. A lot of missed opportunities here with The Soviets. Rating: Worse
Japan
Japan has lost the Ambush Tactics rule. Furthermore, Banzai Charge has been changed to only provide a reroll to order tests to assault, as well as limiting it to only working within range of an enemy unit.
Alex: Severe nerf to Banzai Charge here. Automatically passing all order checks to Run was probably too powerful and definitely being abused, but I feel like this rule could have been changed into something more interesting instead. I also don’t understand removing Ambush Tactics. It just seems to box Japanese players into one particular playstyle. Rating: Worse
Dan: I’m really sad to see Ambush Tactics go away. I don’t think it was ever really abused nor was it super powerful, so removing it feels a little weird to me, especially when there’s tons of historical evidence and fictional films supporting it. Regarding Banzai Charge, automatically getting to charge definitely needed to be nerfed. I feel like this is a reasonable fix. Rating: Worse
Minor Nations
Rather than going into each one individually, suffice to say they all receive some variation of the same couple of national rules.
Alex: Whether the national rules any of the minor nations got are good or not is debatable, they are, however, all extremely boring. Aside from Finland, almost every nation received some variant of the same couple nation rules. This is exacerbated by the fact that it’s likely to be two years until they receive their Armies of … book for all these nations. Since they’re released as a PDF why not use this opportunity to swing for the fences and do some experimenting? If they don’t work, just update the PDF. Oh, and China, Slovakia, and the Commonwealth nations didn’t get rules at all. [Editor’s note: how in the world could you forget Slovakia here, WLG.] Rating: Much Worse
Dan: I mean, what needs to be said? They straight up didn’t provide any rules for some of the minor nations. Forgotten and sidelined, much like they are in modern memory. For the nations they did remember, the rules are boring. This in itself doesn’t bode well for when the rules do eventually roll out. Rating: Much Worse
Optional Rules
Night Fighting
There are a couple changes to the night fighting rules regarding the modifiers to visibility range. The small unit penalty for visibility now only applies to single model units (since small teams isn’t a thing anymore). Furthermore, vehicles are no longer easier to spot and there is a mysterious entry just called “Visibility Modifiers” that adds +6” to spotting range.
Alex: I feel like the “Visibility Modifiers” entry has to be a placeholder that was supposed to be something else but they forgot to change it. Maybe it was the vehicle spotting modifier, which doesn’t really make sense to have gotten rid of. Rating: Meh
Dan: The few changes that were made here aren’t really enough to make much of an impact on the game. I will say that my favorite version of night fighting is the random turns in which flares go up and light up the night, extending sight to normal visibility, but that’s not a new rule. With them forgetting to include some national rules, I’m not surprised some other stuff got left out here. Rating: Meh
Amphibious Assaults
There have been some changes to landing craft in 3rd edition. First, the Landing Craft Assault and LCP (Higgins Boat) are no longer open-topped, but the LCM still is. Furthermore the LCA is now a 6+ softskin, matching the Higgins Boat. Lastly, they’ve all had their prices slashed to about half of what they were previously.
Alex: I’m not sure I understand some of these changes. First, the boats are about as open-topped as could be, so not sure why they no longer count as such. The main problem is not bumping them up to armor 7+ considering the new soft skin rules. This means any rifleman can potentially sink an entire Higgins boat with a single shot. Rating: Worse
Dan: Lol, lmao. This is definitely going to get house ruled in our group. I understand that the landing craft were not designed to stop small arms fire and vehicles like the Higgins Boat were actually made from plywood, but the reality is that a single rifle shot would not outright sink a boat. They could take a ton of fire and still float. It’s a shame to me, because beach landings and taking bunkers seems like such a fun mission, but potentially losing a vehicle with dudes in it is brutal. Rating: Worse
City Fighting
Rubble cover has been converted to the new cover save system, with units that have no orders, are down, or in ambush getting a 3+ save, firing a 4+ save, and advancing a 5+ save.
Alex: I dislike that there are different modifiers for rubble depending on your action. It means having to consult the chart, and I don’t necessarily agree that rubble should provide a better cover save than buildings in some instances. Rating: Meh
Dan: This is unnecessarily burdensome. I personally think the reasoning behind this was city fights like Stalingrad, Leningrad & Monte Cassino, in which the removal of buildings by reducing them to rubble turned city fighting into dystopian nightmares, but I agree that they aren’t necessarily better than just regular buildings. Pavlov’s House immediately comes to mind, with dudes fighting floor to floor and through walls to try to retake it. In any case, this one gets a worse rating from me for making me consult a chart for a dumb reason when they took the chart away from shooting modifiers. Rating: Worse
Desert Fighting
These rules are imported from the Duel in the Sun campaign book. Everything remains the same except upgrading units to Desert Fighters is now only +1pt. Furthermore, the Sandstorm weather effect does D3 pins, rather than D3-1.
Alex: I don’t think anyone really uses these rules much, so I don’t think it matters much. Rating: Meh
Dan: I like this change, actually. I think reducing the upgrade to +1 point for desert fighters is good – it’s not like it makes them an expert in the terrain or anything, it just reflects the experience of soldiers fighting in a certain biome and adapting to it. Sandstorm just doing D3 pins is a great change, it just removes an extra step. Nothing new under the sun here (see what I did there?), but a better chance. Rating: Better
Dug In
Being Dug In still counts as Down (which is now a 5+ cover save) and actually going Down while Dug In allows a reroll for that cover save. There is no longer any ability for units to Dig In mid-game.
Alex: Under the new cover save rules it seems like being Dug In isn’t all that great. A 5+ cover save is basically just light cover, and the rules specify that you don’t get the Defensive Position rule to help you in close combat. Kinda weird. Rating: Worse
Dan: This sucks and doesn’t reflect what being dug in actually does. I’m not a big fan of this one, I think they should have made it a better save if anything, since being dug in usually confers a cover plus positions would be concealed if there was ample time to do so, and there usually was. Rating: Worse
Hidden Units
The effect of Hidden is now a +1 to cover save instead of -4 or -5 to hit modifier.
Alex: On one hand, Hidden was pretty broken before, making it nearly impossible to ever hit them. Now, however, hitting is super easy, and once you’ve hit once, Hidden goes away. So basically, Hidden is now a +1 cover save the first time you’re shot – after which you’ll almost certainly take a hit and lose Hidden. Rating: Meh
Dan: This is fine, I guess. It’s just a bit boring. If units are hidden, I usually think of things like Sappers or Snipers, ala Enemy at the Gates – dueling snipers, sneaking around trying to find good positions to ambush the enemy. I like that they include an option to rehide during a game, but they say it slows the game down so players should avoid it. Rating: Meh
Thin Ice
Small team no longer has a modifier for crossing thin ice. Furthermore, there are no longer bonuses for attacking units with flamethrowers or HE on ice.
Alex: A super niche change, but one that is fine by me. Rating: Better
Dan: The biome rules are more for flavoring battles rather than hardcore rules. They’re such niche rules that I have almost no opinion on them. I think making the chart easier to use and removing the bonus for flamethrowers makes sense and is better if nothing else than for the sake of making the game easier to play. Rating: Better
Outro
Well, that is the last of our articles covering the changes from 2nd to 3rd edition. Without further ado, here is our rating breakdown for the entire rulebook:
- Much Better = 19%
- Better = 35%
- Meh = 28%
- Worse = 12%
- Much Worse = 6%
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