When we started talking about Bolt Action: Third Edition in detail (and our awesome community started getting very, very excited!), one of the first bits of information that really got people talking was the removal of the Exceptional Damage special rule, followed by the announcement of the introduction of cover saves. As part of all of that excitement, we hinted that snipers would no longer be the absolute weapons-teams-deleting killing machines they had been in Second Edition – particularly as you can more easily take multiples of them with the new platoon selectors.
That’s not to say, however, that it’s all bad news for sniper teams – they’re an iconic part of WWII combat and Bolt Action, after all. While one hand taketh away, the other hand giveth a bevy of new abilities – let’s look at the Sniper special rule in full:
So, there it is in all its glory. First, we’ll look at what stays the same – the 12″-36″ range, and the option to use either the sniper rifle, or any other weapons the team might be carrying… and that’s about it, really! Starting from the top with changes, we see that we’ve actually got quite a durable weapons system, as if you kill the sniper (and the survivor passes a morale check for taking 50% casualties!), the loader picks up the rifle and can still perform the role, albeit with some negatives.
So what is that role? Well, firstly we can see that snipers completely ignore cover, and receive a +1 to hit when using their special ability. This makes them perfectly placed to deal with units that have dug in, particularly smaller teams such as Bazookas, anti-tank rifles, and of course other snipers, as against two-man teams there’s a decent chance of causing them to flee after failing the 50% casualties morale check!
Speaking of damage, their +1 modifier against infantry and artillery means that your hits are far more likely to remove models – this is a huge bonus when dealing with Veterans, and makes Regular and Inexperienced troops an absolute doddle.
Finally, we come to the fact that if a sniper scores a hit and damage while using their ability, you get to pick the team leader as a casualty. Yes, you read that right – not the guy with the Panzerfaust, not the machine-gunner, but the bloke in the fancy hat yelling orders. Now, if you’re shooting at a standalone weapons team (for example, another sniper team), then the team leader is usually the man with the special weapon – his comrade(s) will pick up his kit and keep firing, albeit at reduced efficiency. Once again, for two-man teams, that’s if the survivor passes his morale check!
What this does is allow snipers to feel historically more appropriate, without being either too weak or too powerful on the tabletop. By and large, sniper doctrine has always focussed on “shoot the shouty ones first”, throwing the enemy into disarray by eliminating leaders – the new rule means snipers are first and foremost very good at this job in Bolt Action, but also reflects just how dangerous a single well-aimed shot can be in the heat of battle. With more snipers available in every army, these icons of Second Edition have evolved to carve a very similar niche in Third Edition, without becoming overwhelmingly (and unrealistically!) powerful!
Have you lined up your shot on Bolt Action: Third Edition yet? If not, there’s still time to infiltrate our webstore and pull the trigger before the end of September!
