Bolt action American tactics

I'm not a competitive player, this guide has been created from the viewpoint of a casual player that enjoys bringing a mostly historical organizations

Color Code: Cyan is a great, Green is good, Orange is average or situational and Red is just bad

Army Special Rules:

Fire and Manoeuver: US infantry models equipped with M1 garands, M1 carbines and M1918A2 BARs don't suffer the -1 to hit when they advance and fire, this keeps your GI's mobile while still being able to lay down rifle fire effectively. One of the main combat mechanics in bolt action is the penalties to hit, so being able to ignore one of the most common penalties is a great boost for your infantrymen that sets the tone for how the americans play in bolt action. Also always worth remembering that this rule works on a per model basis, so your riflemen and BAR gunners always get to make use of it even if the squad has a light machinegun or some other weapon not covered by this rule.

Gyro-Stabilizers: Veteran vehicles with a gyro-stabilized gun (which is indicated in the weapon's profile) don't suffer the -1 to hit for moving and shooting said gun. The tank equivalent to the above rule but nowhere as good for two reasons. The first is that you only get the benefit if you expend the extra points to get a veteran crew, which might not be a good idea as the point scaling for vehicles sometimes lead to veteran tanks being overcosted for what they bring, specially for late war tanks. The second reason is that the benefit isn't universal for all US vehicles, per example US tank destroyers don't get stabilizers, so they can't make use of this rule.

Air Superiority: Your air observers can call 2 airstrikes per game instead of one, you must resolve the first airstrike before calling in the second. This rule in the best case scenario means your air observer is twice as effective and deletes 2 enemy units by himself, in the worst you get rookie pilot twice and delete 2 of your own units instead. Either way, this special rule means you are going to be bringing an air observer most of the time, as it's a pretty strong unit despite the randomness.

Modern Communications: Your units don't suffer the -1 penalty in the order test to move from reserve into the table. This is definitely a bonus that shouldn't be underestimated, as many scenarios force you to start with half or even your entire force in reserves, so being able to order units out of reserve more reliably than other nations will give you an edge in those cases. But even if you aren't required to have something in reserves having this rule gives you a bit more confidence in sending an unit or two to outflank the enemy, allowing some extra flexibility in your battleplan.

De facto Army Special Rules:

This section covers things like extra unit slots in platoons, unique equipment, unique units or any other rule that while isn't explicitly stated to be an Army Special Rule still gives the american player an advantage.

Extra medium machine guns teams: The US platoons can get up to 3 MMG teams as 1 selection to represent the US military having way more machineguns than anyone else. While MMGs aren't exactly powerhouses in Bolt Action they are cheap points wise, can put pins on enemy units reliably and give you extra activations, so having the option to get multiples of them doesn't hurt.

Bazooka teams: The iconic rocket launcher doesn't disappoint in bolt action, having access to a relatively cheap infantry portable AT weapon with 24" range, the shaped charge special rule and hitting as hard as medium AT gun in the slot most other nations have underpowered anti-tank rifles is a big boon to the US reinforced platoons, specially since some theater specific platoons have the option to take multiple bazooka teams which can make anything that isn't a super heavy tank thread very carefully around your infantry.

BAR M1918A2 Automatic rifle: John Browning does it again, the BAR in Bolt Action is point for point better than other nation's light machine guns (germany MG42's with their extra shot might be the sole exception), because it:

• Only costs 5 points a piece
• Can benefit from the Fire and Manoeuver army special rule while the LMG cannot
• Doesn't require a loader
• Fires 2 shots at a pretty respectable 30" range

Comparatively the lightmachinegun pays 15 extra points for:

• 2 extra shots over the BAR (in practice if you are within 24" it is only 1 extra shot, because one rifleman can't shoot his rifle as he has to act as a loader)
• An extra 6" of range
• One rifleman becomes a loader and can't fire if the LMG fires
• The model firing the LMG can't benefit from the Fire and Manoeuver army special rule so he gets the -1 penalty if the squads advances and shoots

So it is easy to see that as things stand, the highly mobile playstyle the US infantry rules heavily favours the BAR over the LMG.

Shotguns: US marines can bring the ol' trenchgun to teach the japanese the same lesson the germans learnt in 1918. Crunch wise this is a sidegrade to the SMG, still an assault weapon with the same points cost but trading the extra shot for 6 extra inches of range. Honestly you are bringing this because shotgun wielding models look sick.

HQs, Observers and Medic:

2nd Lieutenant: The (in)famous butterbar officer. The second LT is the HQ tax option as to say, the most basic junior officer option and the cheapest one at that. He gives a +1 morale to nearby units and can activate one extra unit with himself with his "You men snap into action" ability. Overall pretty basic, good if you want to save the points. One neat trick you can do with any officer is to activate them, use their special ability to activate then do leadership checks with the squads near him, resolve the action of said units, then run the officer closer to other pinned units so they can benefit from his aura.

1st Lieutenants: A better version of the second lieutenant, having a better morale bonus and being able to order one extra unit with "You men snap into action". The upgrade to first LT is generally worth the points if you can spare them. He can be green in lists that feature lots of inexperienced infantry units as his higher morale bonus can come pretty clutch for them.

Captains and Majors: The senior officers are better version of the lieutenants that can't be used to fulfill the compulsory officer slot and instead sits on it's own optional platoon slot. They give out huge morale bonuses (+3 for captains and +4 for majors), have double the range on their morale buff aura and their "You men snap into action" ability and can order extra units with said ability. But they are overcosted for what they do and their abilities overlap with the compulsory lieutenant you have to bring, so unless you have a pretty specific plan for them (like ordering and buffing the morale of lots of inexperienced units) it is probably better to give the senior officers a pass.

Forward Air Observer: This guy brings the might of american airpower against your enemies (and in 1 out of 6 times against yourself but we don't talk about that). Benefiting from the nearly unlimited supply of planes the USAAF has (the Air Superiority army special rule) this guy can call two airstrikes per game. While airstrikes are pretty random and have a chance to backfire spectacularly, they are so devastating that depending on where you place it they can single handledly win games, so they are worth the risk most of the time and if the first one is a bust you can use your american industrial capacity privileges to call in another one anyway, as long as the the observer didn't get himself killed that is.

Forward Artillery Observer: For the americans this is the black sheep of the forward observers. While not a bad unit per se (any british player can attest to that) he suffers from competing with the air observer for the same slot while not benefiting from the american army special rules, so just bring an air observer. But if you got tired of bringing air observers and want to try something new, he can be a viable pick for casual games. The arty observer can call in a artillery barrage that can pin large amounts of clustered enemy units while simultaneously being less dangerous to your own units, at the cost of being very unreliable when it comes to actually doing damage to the enemy as it only hits units directly on a 6+, alternatively you can fire a smoke barrage to obscure a huge area of the table and create soft cover.

Forward Naval Observer: A souped up artillery observer for a premium price. From the D-day book this guy is just weird... He operates the same way as the artillery observer but whenever the barrage drops, it drops with earth shattering might: having a larger area of effect, a better chance to hit individual units, doing more pin markers and dishing out way more damage to whoever is misfortunate enough to get blasted directly. A funny but very overcosted unit, he also will bring pleasant nostalgic memories to anyone that ever used comet of casandora in warhammer fantasy.

Medic: It is the standard medic, he gives units within 6" a 6+ save against small arms wounds for the cost of about 2 regulars and a smg. A very mediocre ability that also can't be used for heavy weapon wounds or exceptional damage, but he can be a pretty cheap extra activation and a way to spend leftover points in a list.

Chaplain: From the Battle of the Bulge book the chaplain is a cool thematic option that in actual play is just plain bad. The only ability chaplains have is that when activated they have a 50/50 chance of removing a single pin from a unit within 6", that chance goes to 2/3 for veterans and a measily 1/3 chance for inexperienced units, that isn't worth expending an activation for most of the time. The chaplain also suffers from being a non-combatant, which means he can't claim objectives, he also can't assault enemies nor fire his pistol (which btw is something he has to buy compared to the medic that gets his for free) for any reason, the only time he fights is to defend himself in close combat. Overall pretty bad and overcosted for what he does, so skip him unless you really like the idea of having your forces being accompained by a man of faith.

 Infantry squads of the US Army:

The ubiquitous GI's, equipped with their garands and M1 rifles they would go on to fight in every theater of the war the US found itself in. From North africa, western europe and the pacific.

Regular Infantry squad (early/mid): Max squad size: 12 Regulars. These are your standard dogfaced GI's, the ones that fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and on Normandy with their trusty M1 garands. Not a fancy squad by any means but there is elegance in that, their upgrade options are simple: An optional submachinegun for the NCO, 1 soldier can have a BAR and the entire squad can have anti-tank grenades. The prefered loadout for these guys is to just grab the BAR and keep the squad a mobile threat with their M1 rifles, you don't really need the smg unless you really want to expend a little extra to have your sarge armed with the iconic thompson, having 12 men in the squad they can also absorb a little more punishment compared to the usual 10 men squads and fight a bit better in close combat. Overall a simple reliable unit that can easily form the backbone of a rifle platoon style list.

Regular Infantry squad (late): Max squad size: 12 Regulars. Meant to represent the men that participated in the last few campaigns of the war. These guys are mostly the same as their earlier war counterparts, the only difference is that they now have more equipment options being able to have 2 BARs instead of just 1.

Inexperienced Infantry squad: Max squad size: 12 Inexperienced. GI's of the early war when the US army was made up mostly of inexperienced soldiers facing oponents that already had years of combat experience or replacements fresh out of the boat in the later periods. Pretty much the same squad as the regular infantry squad of the early and mid war but for a hefty discount for being inexperienced. In general they are worse than their regular counterparts because inexperienced infantrymen are fragile, have less offensive potential due to their -1 to hit and are very easy to pin down due to their lower morale. But if you want to use them anyway, they can be somehow effective if you stiff them up with an officer, plus the US special rules means that they aren't quite as useless if they advance and fire as other nation's inexperienced infantry.

Veteran Infantry squad (late): Max squad size: 12 Veterans. Added in the errata, these guys are here to represent the few US army units that were either particularly tenacious (like the nisei) or veteran formations of GI's that fought from north africa all the way to the heart of germany (like the 1st and 3rd infantry divisions). These guys are similar to their late war regular counterparts, but they get a few more options: they can have up to 4 SMGs (1 with the sarge and another 3 with the men), 2 BARs, anti-tank grenades and can become tough fighters for 1 point per model. Lots of options but they are veterans and already pretty expensive points wise so be careful to not overspent on upgrades.

Paratrooper squad: Max squad size: 12 Veterans. Of Band of brothers fame, these are quite obviously made to represent the paratroopers that jumped into Normandy. They are veteran infantry with the ability to buy stubborn for 1 Point Per Model. Crunch wise this particular paratrooper squad is the worst of all 3 versions of them because of their limited equipment options. Why that is? Well the paratroopers can have, AT grenades, 3 thompsons SMGs (1 with the sarge and 2 with the men) but only have a single LMG instead of a BAR, which while correct for the airborne 1944 TO&E kinda sucks for reasons outlined in the BAR section of the De facto Army Special Rules, meanwhile both of the two other paratrooper squads from the campaign books can have BARs and have extra equipment options compared to their army book counterparts. If you have the D-day book just use the Paratrooper squad (Normandy) instead of these guys.

Paratrooper squad (Normandy): Max squad size: 12 Veterans. From the D-Day book, compared to the army book squad they are always stubborn with the point costs to match that and they can get a single BAR or a single LMG (M1919A4/6), crunch wise getting the BAR is the better option but if you want to be historical the LMG is the more TO&E accurate one for when they jumped into normandy, with the BAR becoming an option later down the line when they were advancing into the Boccage and at Carentan.

Veteran Paratrooper squad: Max squad size: 12 Veterans. These are meant to be the survivors of D-Day that later fought in the Battle of the Bulge and at Market Garden. Same old veteran stubborn infantry as the previous 2 paratrooper squads, but equipment wise they are the most upgunned squad of all 3, as they can be upgraded to have: 5 Smgs, 1 M1918A2 BAR and 2 LMG (M1919A4/6) in the same squad, that is a lot of dice being rolled if every gun is in range. To avoid overspending in this squad 3 builds are recomended: 5 SMG squad for maximum close range firepower, a "cheap" squad with a single BAR and maybe a tommy gun on the sarge if you are so inclined or a long range base of fire squad with 2 LMGs and 1 BAR.

Pathfinder squad: Max squad size: 12 Veterans. The crazy bastards whose job was to drop in first to provide communication and signaling to try to increase the accuracy of the drops of the rest of the paratroopers. Pathfinders are a stubborn veteran squad with limited equipment options that cost an extra 1 ppm for their special rule, they are only being able to get SMGs, no BARs nor M1919A4s. Their special rule is LZ signals: If they are on the table at the start of the first turn then every other paratrooper and glider soldier can reroll their reserve order rolls, this can be golden or useless depending on the scenario as some of them require that every unit start off the table with some coming as first wave, in which case the rule doesn't work and you end up with a limited airborne squad that costed extra for absolutely no reason, bring for games with pre-planned scenarios and to play the missions in the D-Day book.

Regular Glider squad: Max squad size: 12 Regulars. The paratroopers less famous sibling unit, despite these guys doing mostly the same job they didn't get the same fame or pay (as it took a while for them to get the paratrooper bonus), just because flying (or more accurately gliding down) into danger in a wooden plane isn't as sexy as jumping feet first into it. In the crunch of Bolt Action these guys are just pretty much the same as the Regular Infantry Squad (early/mid) with the added option to buy stubborn for 1 ppm and to get 2 extra submachineguns. Not much to write as Regular Infantry Squad is a solid pick so these guys are also a solid pick.

Veteran Glider squad: Max squad size: 12 Veterans. The same as their regular counterparts but veterans for the added cost.

Airborne Engineer Squad: Max squad size: 12 Veterans. Paratrooper engineers from the D-Day book, they are veterans but despite being paratroopers they aren't stubborn and are -1 ppm because of it. They have the same equipment options as the bog standard Paratrooper squad (so unfortunately no BAR) with the added option of the bangalore torpedo and explosives. They are quite clearly meant for destroying fortifications in thematic D-Day scenarios and in that case are pretty cool, but for regular games their best use is to troll units hiding inside buildings as the explosives they bring can cause 3d6 HE hits to buildings which is more likely enough to collapse it and instantly kill anyone inside.

Infantry squads of the US Marine Corps:

The famous devildogs. The marine corps (pronounced kor rather than korps) was pretty much confined to the pacific theater in WW2, where as amphibious warfare specialists they fought in opposition to the japanese and were instrumental towards the success of the island hopping campaign that eventually brought the allied bombers within striking range of the japanese mainlands, ending the war in the pacific after 2 nuclear strikes.

Regular US Marine Squad (Mid/Late) 13 men strong, 3 BARs spread across 3x 4 marines strong fireteam with a squad leader with a SMG, this squad is ready to deal with any non-sense the japanese might attempt. A upgunned US infantry squad with the option for some extra goodies like shotguns, pistols, extra submachineguns and the option to become stubborn. Honestly this squad is probably the best basic infantry the US has to offer, just grab a full squad, 3 BARs, SMG on the sargent, maybe a few pistols, one or two SMGs a shotgun if you want a more close combat oriented squad (I do not recommend charging fanatic imperial japanese infantry, that is just a bad idea overall), add stubborn if you have the points left over and enjoy a squad that is extremely mobile while also having a lot of dice to throw at their enemies.

Infantry Teams:

Medium Machine Gun Team Like mentioned before the US can pack 3 of them in a single platoon slot, not that it helps a lot it still remains a fairly cheap, bu low impact unit with low survivability. Nice for historical lists (the US rifle companies had a weapons platoon that had 2 M1919s), but you can safely skip it for better similarly priced options.

Heavy Machine Gun Team The classic M2 Browning, not much to say it's service history speaks for itself. In bolt action the ma deuce is honestly a bit overcosted. It has a hefty point cost increase compared to the HMG while trading 2 shots for +1 AP and an extra dude, plus you don't even get the ability to upgrade with pintle mounts and gun shields like the soviets do.

Bazooka Team Probably the most famous rocket launcher in history (although the RPG-7 might've stolen that title due to recent history). The bazooka in bolt action is pretty much a man portable cheaper medium AT gun that trades a lot of range for mobility and the shaped charge rule. Bringing one is always a good insurance against vehicles of any type, just remember that with it's low range and relatively low survivability (it is just a 2 man team after all), the bazooka is better at supplementing other sources of AT rather than being your main source of AT.

• One cheesy but popular tactic with the bazooka is to use it as a suicide unit aboard a jeep transport. The jeep is cheap and fast, you can quickly advance it across the board and then disembark with an advance order, doing so gives a huge boost to the threat range of the bazooka team, just beware that I called this type employment "suicide unit" for a reason.

Sniper Team Your standard sniper team, which means they are still a great option for killing enemy weapon teams, artillery, spotters and officers.

Light mortar Team A weird unit, it has the same range as a rifle and needs LOS to fire, so it will be exposed to return fire more often than not and with HE 1" even if they hit their first shot they are unlikely to make the enemy unit combat ineffective by themselves. Plus given it's bad range they can't really fulfill the role of artillery supression that it's bigger counterparts do. Personally I would avoid them and go with one of their bigger bretheren.

Medium mortar Team The gold standard for mortars in bolt action: Cheap, doesn't eat an artillery slot, has indirect fire, the ability to take a spotter and HE 2". Great at countering enemy artillery (artillery is generally imobile, so they can't shake out your zero by relocating), forcing enemy units to move and countering enemy units inside buildings. As for troop quality, medium mortars should generally be taken at either regular with a spotter for indirect fire on a budget or inexperienced for a cheap ersatz howitzer (inexperienced mortars can't benefit from spotters), bringing them as veterans is generally discouraged as the extra points are wasted as mortars don't get a lot out of being veteran.

Heavy mortar Team The medium mortar bigger and badder brother. You can look at it as a better more expensive medium mortar. The decision of bringing the heavy vs the medium mortar should be down to the question of "would the extra points be better spent somewhere else?"