Dealing with problem units. Part I
This article is intended for people who have trouble dealing
with certain units. Whether you consider them overpowered or not is determined
by you gaming group. This is going to be the first article of what I hope
amounts to a bolt action tactics blog.
Flame Tank:
One of the most dreaded units in
Bolt Action. And for good reason. It can wipe out units in 1 turn and there’s
nothing you do about it. It does 2D6
automatic hits with extra pins and a morale check which you will likely because
of the pins. Not to mention some special flavors like the “Flamingo” tank which
has 2 flamethrowers or OT-34/85 which as an additional heavy AT gun. An 18”
range + a 9” means it has threat range of 27” inches. So how do you fight it?
Well that’s what I’m going to try and figure out!
There are essential 2 ways to use a
flame tank (from now on referred to as a FT). The first way is to deploy it
with the rest of your force. Then bum rush it toward enemy lines flaming
anything you can get your fiery hands on. The second way is to outflank the FT.
If you’re facing the bum rush FT,
you will have a much easier time getting rid of it. While the FT is charging up
the board put all your AT into it. At the very least try and put some pins on
it. Keep your force as far back as you
can. If you have you entire force in the last 8” of the table, the FT won’t be
able to fire on you until turn at the most. See diagram below. Try you best to
use your 1st turn to destroy it or put some pins. Turn 2 the FT will
be able to make contact with your force.
Facing an outflanking FT is much
harder to deal with. However there are things you can do to mitigate the
damage. First, outflanks don’t happen until turn 3. Use the first 2 turns to
try get rid of a few order dice from opponent. Concentrate on killing weaker
units like snipers, MMG teams, and inexperienced squads. If you can take order
dice from your opponent in those first turns, you will have a better chance of
getting the first dice on turn 3. Use your first dice to put your AT gun into
ambush. You can even do this at the end of turn 2, however that means you’re
not firing for a turn. If your AT gun is on a turret put the tank in a place
where it has LOS on both table edges. The other way you can deal with an
outflanking FT is by deploying outside its threat range. As said before FTs
have 18” range + a 9” means it has threat range of 27” inches. Since you don’t
know which side the FT is coming on, deploy your force in the middle. You have
an 18” safe bubble where, no matter which side he comes in on, he won’t be able
to hurt you. Once the FT comes on the board, do your best to destroy it. If you
can kill it with an ambushed AT gun, even better.
Recce:
Recce units are very dangerous. They pop out from cover,
shoot an AT gun, then if fired up, jump back into cover. A lot of Recce units
only have autocannons and MMGs, however there are some with medium or even
heavy AT guns. Here are some recce tanks to watch out for:
German Puma, turreted medium AT
German Sdkfz 234/4, forward facing heavy AT
British AEC mk III, turreted medium AT that can fire as
light howitzer
Italian L6/40, turreted flamethrower
American Chaffee, turreted medium AT that can fire as light howitzer
Dealing with recce means knowing where it will be moving.
Once you know or at least can guess, put your AT in ambush. Even it has LOS on
the recce. Once the recce unit moves, you can shoot it without it being able to
recce away.
