Hot Fuzz! Operation Critical Hit & Redcap Special Miniature

Operation Critical Hit is launching soon – secure your gear and clean your weapon, it’s nearly time to move out! For those wondering what on earth I’m talking about, I’d suggest having a read of our announcement article, but in brief, it’s a global campaign beginning in August for Bolt Action, Blood Red Skies, and Victory at Sea, where your results dictate the overall outcome. You can play in participating stores, or register your own results online, fighting for the Axis or Allies over four theatre maps. In fact, we can show off one of them. Take note of the hexes; these will rotate in and out of ‘active’ action, and denote which areas of the map you’ll be fighting over each week.

Now, it wouldn’t be right to have such an august event (see what I did there?) without a special figure of some kind – enter the Redcap! This British Military Policeman is just what you need to control your forces, and ensure that the war is conducted in a gentlemanly fashion. Military police are considered something of a ‘necessary evil’ in all armies, although it must be said this is from the point of view of the average ‘squaddie’. Charged with maintaining discipline on campaign and in garrison, the MPs performed a necessary but unpopular duty, and would also be deployed to manage traffic, guard supplies, and deal with enemy prisoners of war. Equipped with a submachine gun, armband, and authoritarian moustache, our Redcap is the perfect choice to marshall your British soldiers – I’m planning to use mine as an Officer’s extra man!

“But how”, I hear you cry, “how do I get my hands on this magnificently moustachio’d man?” Well, there are actually a few ways! Stores that participate in Operation Critical Hit will receive a number of Redcap figures to distribute as they see fit, but for those of you playing club games or at home and recording your results, fear not – the Redcap miniature will be available as a free item with the purchase of selected World War Two starter sets until campaign’s end in September – let’s take a look at them!

Band of Brothers

This classic starter set is a fantastic way to get into the battles of North-West Europe, post D-Day, netting you a bunch of hard-bitten US Airborne to take on German Panzergrenadiers, as well as some fantastic plastic ruins and everything you’ll need to jump into the (Bolt) action! The Redcap is a great choice to deal with all those German prisoners the Allies are sure to take!

A Gentleman’s War

Focussing on the North African campaign, A Gentleman’s War pits the British 8th Army under Montgomery against Rommel’s Afrika Korps. A crucial and oft-underappreciated theatre of the war, control of North Africa and the Mediterranean will be equally-vital to the outcome of Operation Critical Hit!

Island Assault!

Take the fight to the Pacific with Island Assault! The perfect way to jump into that theatre, you get the die-hard US Marine Corps to take on the Imperial Japanese in the struggle for the world’s largest ocean. With war raging across a bitterly fought campaign of island hopping, can you turn the USMC from the beaches or will you opt instead to wrest the Japanese defenders from their island strongholds?

Battle of Midway

The skies over the Pacific played host to some of the greatest aerial battles of the Second World War, and now you can recreate them with Blood Red Skies. The Battle of Midway starter set gives you two squadrons, one US and one Japanese, ready to do battle, and makes for the perfect starting point for your Blood Red Skies journey. The Pacific theatre is certain to be hotly contested in Operation Critical Hit, so muster your pilots and take to the skies!

Battle for the Pacific

Bring out the big guns with Victory at Sea! While aircraft duel for dominance overhead, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers clash on the high seas. Take control of the US or Imperial Japanese navies, and tip the balance of the war in favour of the Axis or Allies. The two fleets included are fantastic entry points to Victory at Sea, both forming a great basis on which to build a larger fleet, and both capable of scoring great victories on the world’s oceans.

Combined Arms

Wanting even more worldwide campaign action? Combined Arms has you covered. Playable as both a fully-fledged, modular campaign system for Bolt Action, Blood Red Skies, Victory at Sea and Cruel Seas, and as a standalone board game, Combined Arms allows you to re-fight the entire war across four distinct maps each with their own unique challenges to overcome – either in an evening or as an epic sprawling campaign all of your own!

Operation Critical Hit is coming this August – make sure your forces are ready! We’ll be sharing more information about the website, and how to go about submitting game results, in the coming weeks.