Thoughts on transports in Bolt Action

Having played a decent few games now of Bolt action I thought it was worth adding my two cents worth to the discussion on transports based on our experiences. Transports vary across armies, but the two I’ve principally used are either the Opel Blitz truck or the SdKfz 251/1 halftrack.

Picture: DAK assault troops charge the bunker after dismounting from their transport.

The stats for these two are as follows:

The SdKfz 251/1 (Regular) costs 89 points, has a damage value of 7+ and includes a forward facing MMG. It can also tow Light to medium howitzers or up to heavy anti-tank guns.

Picture: Original line up of DAK motorized column

The Opel Blitz (Regular) costs 39 points, has a damage value of 6+. It can tow a Light howitzer or up to medium anti-tank gun.

Picture: Opel Blitz loaded up with DAK

Both vehicles can carry up to 12 men.

Most armies have similar options that are available to them. Both options can include upgrades with machine guns and other items.

The general tactic I have used with transports is to send them quickly to either the game objective or a key area of the battlefield. The purpose being to take and secure the objective before the enemy and thus allowing my troops to shape the course of the battle as my opponent has to change their plan in the face of the unexpected. A couple of transports can take a sizable number of men to cover a wider scope of the battlefield.

In 2 of the last 3 battles I’ve used the truck to speed units across the battlefield. Once there they burst out and launch and assault either with close range fire or a physical charge in the following move (or both). In both these instances the initial attack was successful. The main issue is that the attacking unit suffers causalities and therefore significantly weakened once at the objective. My opponent while losing the objective simple takes it back as what remains does not have the numbers to withstand the attack.

Every game is a lesson learned and next time there are a few things to take away:

1.      Don’t commit your trucks without support: Gage when and were you are going to use them and what actions you will then take. Isolated troops will be quickly dealt with – even if they disrupt the enemy for a turn or two – the game is 6 (possible 7 turns long) so there is plenty of time for them to resume their plan.

2.    Patents is a virtue: one thing I have been guilt of is attacking too soon and then by turn 3 or 4 the plan unfurls. The beauty of transports is that they can cover significant distances on the board so objectives can be secured later in the game when the battle starts to unfold – the objective will dictate this some what.

3.   Does size matter? This goes back to the support question. Will one squad in a truck be effective. If the plan is to attack and seize and object is not better to have 2 or 3 squads with support weapons. It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing as a decent attacking force could amount to 300-400 points which in most games would still allow you points so spend on the remainder of the force.

I have in the past used the SdKfz that starts the assault with a burst of machine gun fire into the enemy – this has led to a stronger total assault as the enemy is now pinned or suffered casualties. The Sdkfz series also has the benefit of more armour so not susceptible to small arms fire. The danger with both transports is that once emptied if they end the turn closer to the enemy they are considered destroyed – which is ok for 39 points, but 89 points has a greater impact.

So lessons learnt a good cavalry charge is not much use if you can’t consolidate your position by bringing up the infantry and the same is true here. If you can’t consolidate your position, then the attack has been wasted and that is certainly true of my early attempts.