Bolt Action (wargame)

Bolt Action is a miniature wargame produced by Warlord Games. It is set during World War II and uses 28mm-sized models. The game was developed by Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley. The first edition of the rulebook was published in 2012, and the second edition was published in 2016. Supplements for the game include The Korean War and Konflikt '47, set in a Dieselpunk and supernatural alternate history of World War II.^[1]

Bolt Action

A game of Bolt Action.
Manufacturers	Warlord Games
Designers	Alessio Cavatore and Rick Priestley
Publishers	Osprey Publishing
Years active	2012–present
Genres	Miniature wargame
Players	2+
Website	boltaction.com

The game has multiple playable armies such as the Soviet Union, British Empire, United States, German Third Reich, and Empire of Japan. The game also has a few smaller or supporting armies such as France, British Commonwealth, Greece, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Kingdom of Romania, China and Kingdom of Italy as well as rules for major battles such as The Battle of Stalingrad, Pegasus Bridge, Battle of Berlin and D-Day. Some starter Boxes can symbolize the Campaigns done in World War 2 like the American Island Hopping Campaign against the Empire of Japan in the Island Assault box and African Campaign with the British Empire and German Third Reich in the A Gentleman's War box.

Bibliography

The following core rules were published for Bolt Action:

• 2012 Bolt Action^[2]
• 2016 Bolt Action Rulebook Second Edition^[3]
• 2016 Konflikt ’47: Weird World War II Wargames Rules^[4]
• 2024 Bolt Action Rulebook Third Edition^[5]

The rules of the second edition were also translated into Spanish,^[6] French,^[7] Italian,^[8] and German.^[9]

In addition, several expansions were published:

The following expansions were published for Bolt Action:

• 2014 – Bolt Action: Battleground Europe D-Day to Germany^[10]
• 2015 – Bolt Action: Ostfront – Barbarossa to Berlin^[11]
• 2015 – Bolt Action: Germany Strikes! – Early War in Europe^[12]
• 2015 – Bolt Action: Empire in Flames – The Pacific and Far East^[13]
• 2016 – Bolt Action: Duel in the sun – The African and Italian Campaigns^[14]
• 2019 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Korea^[15]

The following army-expansions were published for Bolt Action:

• 2012 – Bolt Action: Armies of Germany^[16]
• 2013 – Bolt Action: Armies of the United States^[17]
• 2013 – Bolt Action: Armies of the Soviet Union^[18]
• 2013 – Bolt Action: Armies of Great Britain^[19]
• 2013 – Bolt Action: Armies of France and the Allies^[20]
• 2013 – Bolt Action: Armies of Imperial Japan^[21]
• 2016 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Armies of Germany^[22]
• 2013 – Bolt Action: Armies of Italy and the Axis^[23]
• 2014 – Bolt Action: Tank War^[24]

The following campaign expansions were published for Bolt Action:

• 2017 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Battle of the Bulge^[25]
• 2017 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign New Guinea^[26]
• 2017 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign The Road to Berlin^[27]
• 2018 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Market Garden^[28]
• 2018 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Battle of France^[29]
• 2019 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign D-Day: Overlord^[30]
• 2021 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign D-Day: US Sector^[31]
• 2021 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign D-Day: British & Canadian Sectors^[32]
• 2020 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Mariana & Palau Islands^[33]
• 2021 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Italy: Soft Underbelly^[34]
• 2023 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Italy: Tough Gut^[35]
• 2018 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign The Western Dessert^[36]
• 2020 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Stalingrad^[37]
• 2023 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Case Blue^[38]
• 2017 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Sea Lion^[39]
• 2017 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Gigant – Operation Sea Lion: The Second Front
• 2019 – Bolt Action Second Edition: Campaign Fortress Budapest^[40]

The following expansions were published for Konflikt '47:

• 2017 – Konflikt ’47: Resurgence^[41]
• 2018 – Konflikt ’47: Defiance^[42]

Reception

Bolt Action has been awarded a 7.8 out of 10 overall rating by BoardGameGeek. The game has also been described as the leading World War 2 wargame by many people worldwide.^{[like whom?]}