We try to keep it as original to the Bolt Action ruleset. But there are small things we need to address to make the game playable at 15mm at an epic pointage scale like 2500 points per side.
Definitions
- Command Group: one officer base plus two rifle platoons. It receives one order die and acts as one unit for orders, pins and morale.
- Rifle Platoon: ten men on two bases of five.
- Officer base: the officer plus one or two accompanying soldiers on a single base.
Small teams, such as snipers or flamethrowers, are not part of a Command Group and each keep their own die.
Orders
The Command Group’s single die gives one order, and every unit in the group carries it out. No unit in the group can take a different order.
Pinning and Morale
- Pins are shared by the whole Command Group. One marker is placed whenever an enemy unit fires at any part of the group and scores at least one hit, in the usual way.
- The group takes one order test when it is activated, using its shared pin total. A pinned group ordered Down goes Down automatically, and Rally clears pins as in the standard rules.
- If the group’s pins equal or exceed its morale value, the whole Command Group routs and is destroyed.
- Losing the officer gives the group the standard permanent -1 morale penalty. The group’s die does not split, and the group carries on under one die.
- The “at full strength” re-roll belongs to the group as a whole and is lost at the group’s first casualty.
Shooting at a Command Group
- The attacker chooses which unit in the group to fire at, from those he has a clear line of sight to.
- The officer base can be chosen only if the attacker has a clear line of sight to it. If other units of the group block the view, it can’t be singled out.
- Casualties come only from the unit that was targeted. They are never taken from the other rifle platoon or the officer base.
- The owner chooses which models to remove. On the officer base, accompanying soldiers may be removed before the officer.
- A Command Group is one unit for line of fire. Its models may shoot past each other, and the 1″ restriction on firing past friends does not apply within it.
Morale Checks After Casualties
A morale check is taken when the targeted rifle platoon loses half or more of its models to one enemy unit’s fire. [Confirm: if the check fails, is the targeted rifle platoon removed, or the whole group?]
Officer Ability
The officer keeps “You men, snap to action!” It can issue orders to other friendly units within range that hold their own dice, such as snipers and weapon teams. It does little within a Command Group, since the group’s own members are already covered by the die.
Changes from Standard Bolt Action (Third Edition)
| Standard rule | In this adaptation |
|---|---|
| Each unit has its own order die | One die per Command Group (officer + 2 rifle platoons) |
| Pins and routing per unit | Per Command Group |
| Models may shoot through their own unit only | The whole Command Group counts as one unit for this |
| Owner chooses casualties from anywhere in the unit | Attacker picks the target unit, and casualties come only from it |
| Officer is protected by being inside his unit | Officer can be targeted only with a clear line of sight |
| Morale check at half of the unit lost | Half of the targeted rifle platoon |
| Officer loss: -1 morale | Same, and the die does not split |
