The well-loved WW2 tabletop game, now in its third edition, is getting a PC port coming in 2026. Let’s take a look!
Bolt Action is the 300 pound gorilla of WW2 games, at least in 28mm. Developed by living tabletop legends Alessio Cavatore (MESBG, Mordheim, and a lot more) and Rick Priestly (Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, and also a lot more), the game has seen enthusiastic support and a strong community for years. It is only fitting that a venerable game studio, known for their solid body of work in WW2 games, should take up the challenge of digitizing this excellent tabletop game.
So what information do we get in this release announcement? Well, first of all, the game sounds like it will be a faithful port of the BA rules. It will be turn based and include all hallmarks of the BA order, activation and combat system. There will be order points, a morale system, cover mechanics and line of sight. There will be a single player campaign where you can fight through connected missions, individual skirmish battles, and of course, multiplayer battles! On top of all this, Slitherine has said that the game will ship with an army painter. Yes, now you can be yelled at by neck beards for painting your minis the wrong color in a video game!
The game will ship we three factions: US, Britain and German. As one might expect in a BA game, players will be able to customize their forces, but Slitherine has said very little about what those customization options include. Furthermore, it is strongly implied that this game will, at least initially, be set in Normandy. Bolt Action has had a large number of supplements over the years, and an entire world at war offers a dizzying number of settings, opponents and force structures. I fully expect many of these to show up as expansions or DLC, but it sounds like will have a relatively narrow set of offerings to start with.
All in all this should be an exciting development for Bolt Action fans! Slitherine and their subsidiaries and partners are workhorses that know their craft and their audience. They have scores of WW2 games, both turn based and real time, under their belt going back decades. Panzer Corps 2, a hex-based game was released in 2020 and just had its 16th DLC released in August of this year. Believe me, I am not jumping for joy at the idea of paying more money, but it’s good to know that the game will likely have a long life and that my weirdly specific army of choice (Aussies in North Africa, baby!) have a non-zero chance of making it into the game.
Are you excited for Bolt Action to make the jump from Tabletop Simulator tabletop game to video game? Let us know in the comments!
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Very good news. I’ll purchase it as soon as possible…