As with our Infantry Command Groups, we keep as close to the Bolt Action Third Edition rules as we can. The only changes are the ones needed to keep tanks manageable at 15mm in epic games of around 2500 points per side.
Definitions
- Armoured Platoon: built exactly as in the Third Edition Armoured Platoon selector: one command vehicle, one more mandatory vehicle, and up to three optional vehicles (2 to 5 vehicles in total).
- Platoon core: the command vehicle and the mandatory vehicle. Together they receive one order die and act as one unit for orders and pins, the same way an officer and his rifle platoons share one die in a Command Group.
- Optional vehicles: each optional vehicle receives its own order die and acts as a separate unit, with its own orders, pins and order tests, as in the standard rules.
- Eligible vehicles: tanks, tank destroyers, assault guns, self-propelled artillery, anti-aircraft vehicles and armoured cars. Types can be mixed freely.
- Command vehicle: must have the Command Vehicle special rule, or take it from its entry’s options. If no such vehicle is available, any eligible vehicle can be given the rule for +10 points.
Example: a Sherman command tank, a second Sherman and two optional Fireflies put three dice in the bag: one for the two Shermans of the core, and one for each Firefly.
Orders
- The core’s die gives one order, and both core vehicles carry it out. Neither can take a different order.
- Optional vehicles act independently on their own dice. They don’t have to follow the core’s order and can be activated before or after it.
- Each vehicle moves its own full distance. The core does not move at the speed of its slower vehicle.
- There is no coherency distance. Vehicles may spread out freely.
Shooting
- Each vehicle fires its own weapons. The two core tanks get two main-gun shots.
- The core may split its fire between targets, for example one tank at an enemy tank and the other at an anti-tank gun. Hits and damage are rolled per vehicle.
- If one core vehicle is knocked out, the other keeps shooting normally.
Pinning
- Pins are shared by the two core vehicles. A pin that would be placed on either core vehicle is placed on the core instead.
- Optional vehicles take their own pins, as in the standard rules. Pins on an optional vehicle never affect the core, and pins on the core never affect an optional vehicle.
- The standard vehicle pinning rules still decide whether a pin is caused: fully enclosed armoured vehicles ignore small arms, and Inexperienced and Regular crews take a pin from any heavy-weapon hit (Pen +1 or better), whether or not it damages them. Open-topped vehicles are pinned as normal.
- The core takes one order test when activated, using its shared pin total. Failed order tests and FUBAR results apply to both core vehicles. If the core suffers a Panic result, both core vehicles make a reverse move and go Down.
Damage and Losses
- Damage that forces a Down order (such as Crew Stunned) works on the unit that was hit. If a core vehicle is hit, the core’s die goes Down and both core vehicles are Down. If an optional vehicle is hit, only that vehicle goes Down. The rest of the platoon is not affected and carries on with its own dice.
- When a core vehicle is knocked out, the surviving core vehicle keeps the core’s die and takes the pin marker as usual.
- An immobilised core vehicle can’t move, while the other core vehicle still carries out the order, so the two may end up far apart. An immobilised vehicle can still shoot if it has a line of sight to a target.
- A vehicle that is on fire follows the standard rules.
The Command Vehicle
- As in the standard rules, the command vehicle gives +1 morale to itself and every friendly vehicle within 12″ (not cumulative with other morale bonuses or other command vehicles).
- Its “You men, snap to action!” extra die can be used on one friendly vehicle within 12″ that has its own die, including the platoon’s own optional vehicles. This lets the command tank pull its optional vehicles into action alongside the core.
- Vehicles outside 12″ of the command vehicle do not get the bonus. If the command vehicle is immobilised and left behind, vehicles that move out of range lose the bonus but keep operating normally.
- Losing the command vehicle works like losing an infantry officer: the core takes a permanent -1 morale penalty, its die does not split, and the surviving core vehicle keeps functioning. Optional vehicles lose the command vehicle’s bonus but are otherwise unaffected.
Changes from Standard Bolt Action (Third Edition)
| Standard rule | In this adaptation |
|---|---|
| Each vehicle has its own order die | One die for the platoon core (command vehicle + mandatory vehicle); each optional vehicle keeps its own die |
| Pins per vehicle | Shared by the two core vehicles; optional vehicles as standard |
| Each vehicle takes its own order test | One order test for the core; optional vehicles as standard |
| A damage result that forces Down affects that vehicle | On a core vehicle, both core vehicles go Down; on an optional vehicle, only that vehicle |
| Command vehicle bonus to nearby units | Same, and losing it gives the core a permanent -1 morale; the die does not split |
| Platoon composition | Unchanged, per the Third Edition selector |
