Bolt Action Coming to PC!

[Jarhead0331]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3856030/Bolt_Action/

The Battlefield Comes Alive
Bolt Action adapts the award-winning Warlord Games tabletop ruleset into a stunning, demanding digital theatre of war, where the difference between victory and rout is a single, calculated decision. 

WWII Tactical Combat
Players wage war from the beaches of Normandy to the brutal, fortified hedgerows of Northern France. Forces are always in motion, but total domination hinges on an attentive tactical mindset.

Units and Customization
Forged straight from the tabletop, every army marches into battle with its own unmistakable design. From elite squads to war machines, players can shape their forces using the Army Painter to personalize their forces' look and feel while staying true to their faction's battle spirit.

From Tabletop to Digital
Core mechanics like Morale, Line of Sight, and Pinning deliver a faithful yet expanded digital experience that captures the intensity and unpredictability of the battlefield. Every order, maneuver, and engagement tests tactical skill and careful planning.

Main Features 
WWII setting - Command troops from the beaches of Normandy to the fortified towns and hedgerows beyond.

Tabletop tactical systems reimagined for PC - Order Points, Morale, Cover, and Line of Sight drive every engagement.

Uniquely designed units - Lead U.S., British, or German forces with distinctive unit design.

Army painter - Customize squads, weapons, and vehicles for a personal touch.

Dynamic single-player campaign - Progress through connected missions with evolving objectives.

Replayable skirmish battles - Randomized initiative and varied conditions keep skirmishes fresh.

Multiplayer - Test tactical skill in competitive online battles and ranked matches.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I play Bolt Action because I like tactical level WWII minis games and it's by far the most popular ruleset but, personally, I much prefer other rules such as Chain of Command.  Bolt Action is basically Warhammer 40K with a WWII skin.  It's designed primarily for competitive play so balance is favoured over historical authenticity.  It's more like a 1970s era Hollywood action movie portrayal of WWII than it is an attempt to recreate history.  You end up seeing a lot of very rare, very elite units as though they were the norm.  Lots of SS troops with StG 44s and Royal Tigers vs. Rangers or Brit Airborne.  It's fun but a bit ridiculous.  The way combat is determined also leads to some very lopsided systems.  Things such as rifles and machineguns get to roll buckets of dice.  Big guns on tanks and arty only get to roll one die.  This means it's either a massive hit or a complete whiff.  Seeing as how a game only lasts 6 rounds and seeing as how it's highly unlikely for a tank to have a valid target every round, you're only going to get 4 shots off with a tank gun per game.  It makes them very expensive units to add to your force pool for not much result.  Conversely, smaller vehicles with MGs or light, rapid-fire cannons like 20mm guns are very overpowered as they can fire on the move and get to throw a tonne of dice when they do, making it very unlikely that their attacks ever result in a complete miss.

[Destraex]

I considered playing bolt action tabletop at one stage. But the reality is that i'd have nobody to play with. So I love the idea.

Did this mention it was wego?
There are a tonne of games out their in combat mission's genre right now. But apart from that why would you not just play combat mission?

I mean maybe the army painter and if multiplayer was more than one v one?

Edit: Just looked at the "toy soldiers" art style. I'm out. I'd rather just try the tabletop.

[Bardolph]

I ran a couple games of Bolt Action when it came out because our local game shop got the rules and some figs in and I liked to support them where I could since they let us play historicals in a shop that was mostly euro games and GW stuff. We had a few of the regular historical crowd and a couple young chaps who were 40k players but curious about the history stuff. We did not do the point buy thing but ran more typical historical platoons with the odd support.

From what I recall the groupthink quickly decided melee was more effective than shooting so there was a lot of hand to hand combat. It was silly, but there were lots of casualties which seemed to keep folks entertained at the time, but after 3-4 games the novelty had worn off and we went back to our usual fare.

I will still be interested how this computer version turns out.

[undercovergeek]

I play Bolt Action because I like tactical level WWII minis games and it's by far the most popular ruleset but, personally, I much prefer other rules such as Chain of Command.  Bolt Action is basically Warhammer 40K with a WWII skin.  It's designed primarily for competitive play so balance is favoured over historical authenticity.  It's more like a 1970s era Hollywood action movie portrayal of WWII than it is an attempt to recreate history.  You end up seeing a lot of very rare, very elite units as though they were the norm.  Lots of SS troops with StG 44s and Royal Tigers vs. Rangers or Brit Airborne.  It's fun but a bit ridiculous.  The way combat is determined also leads to some very lopsided systems.  Things such as rifles and machineguns get to roll buckets of dice.  Big guns on tanks and arty only get to roll one die.  This means it's either a massive hit or a complete whiff.  Seeing as how a game only lasts 6 rounds and seeing as how it's highly unlikely for a tank to have a valid target every round, you're only going to get 4 shots off with a tank gun per game.  It makes them very expensive units to add to your force pool for not much result.  Conversely, smaller vehicles with MGs or light, rapid-fire cannons like 20mm guns are very overpowered as they can fire on the move and get to throw a tonne of dice when they do, making it very unlikely that their attacks ever result in a complete miss.

As someone who is famously poor at rolling dice I spent far too long attempting to shoe horn tanks into my squads only for them to miss every time - I mean 4 5 or a 6, what are the dice gods thinking, I didn't stand a chance

In the end I finally discovered the majesty of the truck mounted quad AA cannon - 16 high explosive dice - even the dice gods couldn't stop me - it was allowed once in my bolt action career before the club said no 🫣☹️

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I did the same.  I quickly gave up my Sherman Fireflies in favour of a few Bren carrier Wasp flamethrower units and a Skink quad 20mm AA Sherman.  The club quickly instituted a no-skinks, one Wasp rule.

[undercovergeek]

I did the same.  I quickly gave up my Sherman Fireflies in favour of a few Bren carrier Wasp flamethrower units and a Skink quad 20mm AA Sherman.  The club quickly instituted a no-skinks, one Wasp rule.

Curse those meddling club rule makers

My regular opponent had an amphibious APC I forget its name now - could fit 24 marines in and had about 6 Hmgs around it - it could deliver 3 squads of marines anywhere in 2 turns - we used to call it the Death Star - all fun and games until I brought a hetzer flammpanzer - good times

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Heh, yeah.  A dirty Bolshevik player at our group always runs around with Soviet SMG squads and T26 tankettes. Those stupid little things are only 50 points, so they're mobile, 7+ armoured, dual MMG teams.