r/boltaction • u/chaos-stu-painting • 9h ago
r/boltaction • u/Georgy_K_Zhukov • 26d ago
News & Announcements Bolt Action: Third Edition Errata & FAQ: 2026-09-24 Updates
Looks like updates for the main Errata/FAQ, and for Germany, UK, USSR, Italy, Japan, and Commonwealth. (or put in reverse, everyone but the USA gets an update).
r/boltaction • u/Georgy_K_Zhukov • 27d ago
General Discussion Two Years In on Bolt Action v3, What Are Your Thoughts?
Version Three dropped in late September, 2024 so we all have had two years to play and think! As such, I figured I would throw a general discussion thread up to share thoughts and reflections on how it has been so far. This thread is intended to be pretty free-wheeling, so any and all insights are welcome, but to kick things off, some of the core questions worth considering and weighing in on:
- What changes do you think the designers got right?
- What changes do you think got wrong?
- What changes were simply unnecessary (Right, wrong, or neutral)?
- What small things still need work but seem attainable with the current ruleset?
- What are you hoping for with releases post-Armies of Europe?
- How has v3 been for competitive games, versus casual?
- What would you focus on for a hypothetical Version 4 in however many years (or Version 3.5 if you prefer)?
- Was v3 an improvement on v2?
r/boltaction • u/NeLsun438 • 46m ago
Hobby Showcase Japanese Army
👁️👄👁️ I bought it all before the refresh. Never played a game since I painted it months ago.
r/boltaction • u/Hallotron • 3h ago
List Building Italian cavalry army list
Hello guys,
So I'm a total newbie in this game, but as Italian WW2 history passionate I have recently started to make army lists & paint the minis for my future games, following the mash-up of the historical accuracy and rule of cool, instead of meta. I have already made Paracadutisti only 1250 pts army list (okay, there is a non-para Ab41...) and now I think that having an another one, focused MAINLY on the Savoia cavalry might be pretty fun and interesting.
According to the rules, where cavalry can actually be taken instead of infantry, I'm wondering if such a list might be even legit and working on a table, like not being total unusable disaster, but requires unusual playstyle, etc? Obviously, there would be need some non-cavalry units like vehicles, AT, MGs, etc. which I need to accept, but the idea is to have as much cavalry as possible, not using it as a support unit.
Any advices from more experienced players like you? Maybe someone could even help with such an army list, or maybe even someone tried it?
r/boltaction • u/THEReaalARG • 14h ago
Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Is this too big for an SDKFZ 8?
German infantryman and panzer 3 for size comparison. I 3d printed this sdkfz 8 and it looks a bit large
r/boltaction • u/RaptorTom989 • 14h ago
Hobby Showcase WiP 8th army
Got an 8th Army starter for my birthday. Been working on these blokes a few months. Can't wait to get to my tanks!
r/boltaction • u/RottenGrot • 1d ago
Hobby Showcase Airborne Jeep Platoon
Finished my Airborne armoured platoon for an event next month.
r/boltaction • u/someguy762 • 7h ago
List Building Engineer Platoons
How often do people use Engineer Platoons? Outside of perhaps a narrative game where I know I'd be doing an attack v defence scenario I don't ever find myself being able to justify the cost of a whole new platoon for units that only have niche benefits, especially with flamethrowers not being so strong in V3. I have the guastatori destruction group for my Italians and love the models, just don't find myself using them ever.
r/boltaction • u/Seeking-Alt • 3h ago
Rules Rules for Smith Gun
Does anyone have handy the rules for the Smith Gun? I’d like to include it as part of a home guard list bus as I understand it, it never got transferred over? Same as the Northover Projector.
Would it be fine in casual games to just run it as a 2pounder?
Also run the Northover as a light artillery / howitzer?
r/boltaction • u/Martyn_Svoboda • 6h ago
Rules Error or misunderstanding?

I created a list for US Paratroopers on Easy Army, and I'm not sure about the squad with the light machine gun.
The squad has 8 men: 6 rifles, 1 light machine gun, and 1 loader. In total, this should be 8 soldiers × 11 points + 15 points for the LMG = 103 points. However, the website shows that the squad costs only 92 points!
Does the loader carry a rifle? Is this a website error or am I misunderstanding the rules?
r/boltaction • u/Maukin • 14h ago
General Discussion Looking for suggestions
Hey everyone, I run a small hobby shop I run a small hobby shop in China and I am looking into doing a 1 day beginner event for bolt action. Warlord Games was nice and sent a free band of brohters starter box so I can assemble it and run demo games, but I am looking for some help from experienced players as most people I've met in China play gamesworkshop IP's.
Basically what I want to as is if you are being introduced to BA how would you prefer it to be done, and for non-English speakers is there a way to simplify the rules down to be able to hook them into it more?
r/boltaction • u/El3aaab • 14h ago
Advertisement or Promotion OC Bolt Action List Builder (New Updates!)
Hey everyone!
I shared our OC Bolt Action list builder here previously and wanted to follow up with some updates. Thanks to everyone who gave it a try, reported issues, and offered suggestions. It’s helped me catch things I missed and figure out what needed more work, and work, and work!
This still started as something for our local community to build scenarios and custom profiles, but I’ve been working on making it more useful for everyone. I’ve attached some new screenshots showing where it’s at now.
Some of the updates:
- Printable unit cards: You can now include 3" × 5" cards in your PDF export. These show your configured weapons, movement, fire, morale, and special rule names, with national roundels and unit icons for quick reference during a game.
- More control over PDF exports: There’s now a settings panel alongside a live preview. You can change font size, use greyscale or compact weapon data, control page breaks, and choose whether to include army rules, compact rule references, full descriptions, QR codes, and unit cards. Your settings are remembered for next time.
- Updated roster design: The main PDF keeps the familiar roster format but now uses your army’s country colors for the unit banners.
- Detailed unit browsing: Before adding a unit, you can turn on Detailed View to see its starting weapons and available options without opening each unit individually.
- Captured vehicles: Browse eligible vehicles by country, including transports and tows. Partisans follow their own captured vehicle restrictions, while other armies use the Trophy Tank rules from the recent FAQ.
- Additional community armies: Denmark and Switzerland have joined the available armies, alongside the Chinese forces and other community lists. Custom armies are clearly labeled. Thank you to u/G_K_Zhukov, u/lucasbastonne, u/DemocracyIsGreat ,u/MonitorStandard5322 and others for bringing these armies to my attention. I plan on releasing Czechoslovakia once they are updated once more.
I’ve also been working through points and option corrections, loading performance, unit editing responsiveness, and improvements to both the desktop and mobile layout and feel as if it's in a really good spot now but if you're dealing with some sluggish behavior, please let me know.
Also, a big shoutout to Chicago Dice for mentioning our builder on their Adepticon event page! I honestly wasn’t expecting to see it there, so thank you for including it. Their reminder is important too: whichever builder you use, the books, PDFs, and current FAQs should always be your reference if something doesn’t match. I'll hopefully be meeting you all there next year!
You can try the builder here:
https://ocboltaction.com/list-builder
No account is needed to try it, click 'Try Now' and choose a nation. Registering lets you save, manage, and share your companies.
before, I’d really appreciate people testing armies they know well. There are a lot of profiles and unusual rule interactions, and I’m sure there may still be things that need correcting.
Feel free to join the Discord as well and reach me that way or if you just want to chat Bolt Action: https://discord.gg/yKeRzTH2m9
General feedback is welcome here too. Thanks again to everyone who’s been helping to test it!
r/boltaction • u/Leading-Ad-3634 • 1d ago
Hobby Showcase Finished captured Japanese Braat overvalwagen
Tips and tops wanted 🙃
r/boltaction • u/MalBredy • 1d ago
News & Announcements Intelligence Report – Armies of France: Free France & Vichy
A look at the Vichy and Free France rules
r/boltaction • u/Thatcardassian • 1d ago
Hobby Showcase Canadian 'Unathorized Badger'
r/boltaction • u/K00PER • 1d ago
Hobby Showcase Final additions to my Canadian Army
Maybe the final additions to my Canadian Armies.
Sherman Skink, C15TA transport, HMG squad for my FSSF army and a well dressed officer.
r/boltaction • u/Hadsutr • 1d ago
Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building SDKFZ 253/1 kitbash
Hi
I just found an old sdkfz alte but i couldnt finish it i miss some piece... so i kitbash it with plastic card to make it as a sdkfz 253/1.
r/boltaction • u/Jaxlan2322 • 1d ago
General Discussion Infantry Squad hitting on 4s….US Marines 8 man 1 BAR 😑
r/boltaction • u/someguy762 • 1d ago
General Discussion Help Identifying Models
I got a massive job lot on eBay and am struggling to pinpoint exactly what these 11 models are. Does anyone know/is able to help?
I think they're a combination of British and German.
Obviously if you want another angle/closer up to help let me know!
r/boltaction • u/Soliar_87 • 16h ago
Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building 15mm basing materials
Hey, y'all, im looking to use some extra flames of war minis to play bolt action at 15mm. Does anyone have experience with individually basing 15mm models, and if so, what bases should I use?
r/boltaction • u/Monty_Bob • 1d ago
Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Tank riders
r/boltaction • u/Spiritofthunder • 22h ago
Advertisement or Promotion Hey its the Morale Check team back again, this time talking about competitive vs casual play and that cursed FAQ
I had spent the last week or so in the hospital getting very little sleep so heaven only knows what I was on about. Jay had significantly more to say, however