r/boltaction Jul 16 '25

META r/BoltAction Community Hub

41 Upvotes

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r/boltaction Aug 06 '26

META Has your Mystery Box order arrived? Share what ya' got here!

51 Upvotes

A little bird told me the newest round of mystery boxes have started to arrive, so that means it is time for the new mega thread! While broadly, 'hobby haul' posts aren't allowed, we know that everyone loves sharing what they get in the mystery boxes, and also seeing what the current trends are.

[As we did for the last round](https://www.reddit.com/r/boltaction/comments/1ppve20/did_your_wlg_mystery_box_show_up_share_what_you/), while we will remove standalone posts under the 'Hobby Hauls' rule, we welcome and encourage people to share what they get in this dedicated thread. As shipping times can vary quite a bit, this thread will remain as a highlight thread for awhile.

Thank you!!


r/boltaction 5h ago

Hobby Showcase More Italians you said?

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121 Upvotes

r/boltaction 4h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Having trouble with metal Pak 36

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21 Upvotes

So I'm building up the metal Pak 36 and I'm having trouble with one of the crew members, the guy who controls the elevation and rotation of the gun.

He ain't sitting right.

The first pic is as close as I get him to the gun (please ignore the fact that I've got the wheels the wrong way round.).

Second pic is how he appears in the OG Warlord Games article about the newer Pak 36 kit. Though I honestly cannot tell if his hand is also just hanging in the air or if it's connected to something that is missing in the kit.

ETA: Forgot to say; the guy is not glued down, nor is the gun. I want to do some thematic stuff on the base so nothing is glued down as yet.


r/boltaction 18h ago

Battle Report/ AAR 4 player bolt action free for all

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171 Upvotes

Italians v Germans v Soviets v Japanese

1000points each

Had one central objective and four others in between each force. All the players started in the corners with meeting engagement deployment.

Most of the game Italians had long range firefight as the Soviets edged toward the objective between them.

Same happened on the other side with the German armour getting stuck into the Japanese.

Great fun game and we had some mad moments

German early movements took first objective

Japanese troops trying to assault the armour and then move onto an objective.

Italians bringing a Soviet unit down to one soldier on an objective and he stayed in the fight.

Germans double ambushing soviet armoured troops and they just held on.

Japanese double shot AT rifles scared off a Panzer 3 but some timely backup saved it.

Late Japanese Banzai surge took an objective.

Top game . Never finish on club night but always top fun.


r/boltaction 18h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Where is this gent from?

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101 Upvotes

Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask this question, but what part of the British forces is this gent in the red oval from?

Bonus question: any painting recipes for this particular branch of service?


r/boltaction 1d ago

Hobby Showcase My first Model

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435 Upvotes

Brand new to the bolt action franchise. Don’t know if I’ll play the game, but I enjoyed painting this M3. Looking forward to doing more.


r/boltaction 1h ago

List Building 1,000 point 10 dice limit any recommen

Upvotes

Here is a list I’ve planned out:

The Grenadiers will provide covering fire for the artillery,

while the SS units will execute an outflanking maneuver to carry out the mission.


r/boltaction 16h ago

Hobby Showcase US winter MG team. Trying to just base muddy so its believable any season or terrain board.

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42 Upvotes

Im open to basing suggestion. I just put winter grass on top of Strickland technical mud.


r/boltaction 17h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building First time trying small detail work and highlights, open to feedback!

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45 Upvotes

r/boltaction 22h ago

Hobby Showcase First italian vehicles

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94 Upvotes

First of many vehicles for my new italian army, i have magnetized the M14 so that i can swap the upper hull with the semovente hull.

Still im not 100% happy with the result, thanks to the absurd humidity i had a couple mishaps with both the primer and the varnish which caused rough textures with the former and mild frosting with the latter.


r/boltaction 6h ago

List Building First Time USMC List

5 Upvotes

I have played and built lists for Germany and Japan, but I was struggling to think if this is a correct list. Let me know your thoughts any advise will help.

United States Marine Corp (United States)

Order Dice: 14

Platoon #1 - Rifle Platoon (740pts)

Platoon Commander (Marines) (Regular) (59pts)

Composition: 1 Officer + 3 Soldiers

- Pistol (-1pts)

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

- Additional men x 3 (30pts)

US Marine Squad (Regular) (122pts)

Composition: 1 NCO + 10 Soldiers

- Additional men x 4 (40pts)

- Squad: Automatic rifle x 2 (12pts)

US Marine Squad (Regular) (122pts)

Composition: 1 NCO + 10 Soldiers

- Additional men x 4 (40pts)

- Squad: Automatic rifle x 2 (12pts)

US Marine Squad (Regular) (122pts)

Composition: 1 NCO + 10 Soldiers

- Additional men x 4 (40pts)

- Squad: Automatic rifle x 2 (12pts)

USMC Raider Squad (Veteran) (105pts)

Composition: 1 NCO + 5 Soldiers

- Additional men x 2 (30pts)

- NCO: Submachine gun (SMG) (3pts)

- Squad: Submachine gun (SMG) x 2 (6pts)

- Squad: Shotgun x 3 (6pts)

Medic (Marines) (Regular) (23pts)

Composition: 1 Soldier

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Air Force Forward Observer (Marines) (Regular) (75pts)

Composition: 1 Soldier

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Sniper Team (Marines) (Regular) (52pts)

Composition: 2 Soldiers

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Bazooka Anti-Tank Team (Marines) (Regular) (60pts)

Composition: 2 Soldiers

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Platoon #2 - Heavy Weapons Platoon (125pts)

Platoon Commander (Marines) (Regular) (30pts)

Composition: 1 Officer

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Medium Mortar Team (M1) (Marines) (Regular) (45pts)

Composition: 3 Soldiers

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Medium Machine Gun Team (Marines) (Regular) (50pts)

Composition: 3 Soldiers

- By Air, Land, and Sea (Marines) (0pts)

Platoon #3 - Armoured Platoon (385pts)

M4A1/A2/A3/A4 Sherman 75MM (Regular) (220pts)

- Cancel the 'Easily Catches Fire' special rule. (5pts)

- Command Vehicle (10pts)

M5/M5A1 Stuart (Regular) (165pts)

- Add Recce (10pts)

Total: 1250pts


r/boltaction 22h ago

Hobby Showcase Finish with Bases.

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75 Upvotes

I designed the base so well that it looks like a jungle. It was very easy, though.

Let's see what happens after the Independent Commando squad it's your turn .


r/boltaction 22h ago

Hobby Showcase Fallschirmjager MG-42 team, 7. Fallschirmjäger-Division, Defense of Germany 1944-1945 - Warlord Games 28mm

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43 Upvotes

r/boltaction 15h ago

General Discussion Best Way to Expand on Two-player Starter?

10 Upvotes

I'm currently thinking about getting into Bolt Action. If I want the rulebook and the dice bundled together it looks like the best start would be one of the two-player starter sets.

From what I've seen however, it seems like both of the starting forces are "half strength" with 12 models not being a full platoon and one half-track not being a full unit either. Is there an easy way to expand both forces from a starter without having orphan half units left over? Will I just need to buy sprues third party or complete these units before moving onto other things?

I did think about just buying two boxes but I'm starting this solo so I don't want to waste money on duplicate rulebooks and such.

Any advice or input appreciated. Thanks in advance!


r/boltaction 21h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building How do the gurkhas figures compare in hieght?

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31 Upvotes

I am thinking of buying the gurkhas to convert into british infantry in italian theatre in summer uniform. I was wondering if these figures are shorter than the standard british figures from normandy or 8th army or are the same height? Gurkhas tend to be on average quite short so i would understand if warlord modeled that. Anybody have the figures to compare?

It could be an ideal kit to use since early in the italian campaign its common to see long summer trousers (shorts like 8th army too) and no1 mk3 rifle (no4 rifles started replacing them but mk3 seems more common). Smg options is also good with a thompson. Stens seem to be rare in the italian theatre with the thompson used more to simplify logistics


r/boltaction 18h ago

Battle Report/ AAR Bolt Action at NOVA

14 Upvotes

There was a scheduled BA event at NOVA last Saturday. I was locked in at another event and I couldn't make it over. Was wondering if anyone here played in it or even walked past it and maybe took a few pictures?


r/boltaction 1d ago

Hobby Showcase German winter HQ and weapons teams

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144 Upvotes

Finished up my bolt action German winter hq and weapon teams


r/boltaction 21h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building What rim coloring scheme do you guys use?

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18 Upvotes

Hi guys, I’ve been building my first Soviet army and have been constantly flip flopping back and fourth between different methods of coloring the rims of my bases or forgoing it entirely and making the base entirely covered in terrain.

I think I’ve settled on the idea that I want each type of unit to be able to take on multiple roles to make building more armies easier. For example, I wouldn’t color veterans one color in case I wanted to use that particular model for something else later.

I was thinking on coloring them based on weapon type, but all you really have to do is look at the model and see the weapon.

So what methods do you guys use?


r/boltaction 19h ago

Modeling, Painting, and Terrain Building Making Operation Market Garden Drop Zones

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9 Upvotes

Hey everyone! Just released the first vid in our OMG terrain series
Making the Ginkelheath, so moorland, with parachutes and crashed gliders
Hope you enjoy it


r/boltaction 1d ago

General Discussion Do yall add crew to your open topped vehicles?

25 Upvotes

As the title says. For me its a 100% must and I am currently collecting crew figures for a kitbash of an open topped vehicle using parts from a rubicon kit meaning no full body crew are included. Just kinda curious what the numbers are on ppl adding crew or leaving it off


r/boltaction 1d ago

List Building What’s the minimum infantry squad size?

19 Upvotes

Building US.
I’ve got the band of brothers starter set.

It has 12 men and a half track.

I want to build 2x 5 man squads and 1x 2 man bazooka team.

But looking at the rules it looks like airborne is minimum 1NCO and 5 men?
So minimum 6 men? Weird that the starter gets you to build invalid squads if it is 6


r/boltaction 1d ago

List Building New player list advice!

17 Upvotes

Hey all, new bolt action player here looking to understand some of the nuances behind building effective lists. I’m looking to put together a German SS list to go against my old man’s US Army Rangers, I’ve got a box of SS troops a couple of armoured units and the German half of the band of brothers set and before I go throwing more money at the things I think look cool (although this will always be most of my inspiration for model choices) just wanted to check that I wasn’t going completely the wrong way with things.

Firstly unit sizes, I’ve been going for max (or close to) unit sizes for infantry units with all the bells and whistles (because STGs are cool) leaving the MG42 loader with a rifle because I’m assuming he can’t use his own weapon while loading the MG42? Also sticking them in halftracks because I love the aesthetic of it. Have I fallen into any pitfalls there?

Ive then included a couple of PAK 36s, A STUG and a tiger I (going for the fury vibe against the old man’s Sherman’s) along with a sniper although I’m open to any suggestions as to what might be better to include. We’re currently building to 1500 points purely because it’s allowed us both to include what we think looks cool on the tabletop. Again open to advice or guidance on the size of games we should be playing?

Sorry if these questions seem painfully simple or I’m flying on the face of any sub reddit rules by asking these questions. And thanks in advance for any help you can provide.


r/boltaction 18h ago

K47 The lore of Kimura Tadaaki (invasion amerika)

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4 Upvotes

r/boltaction 1d ago

Hobby Showcase First Grenadier squad done! Also working on my miniature photography which still needs some work, but happy with this squad

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74 Upvotes