Introducing: Armies of the British Commonwealth – Third Edition!

It’s a beautiful day here at Warlord HQ. Spring has sprung, Armies of Italy has hit shelves around the world, and that can only mean one thing – it’s time for Armies of the British Commonwealth to go on pre-order! This one is a completely unique book, so let’s dive in and see what makes it so special, and meet the new infantry accompanying it into the bargain. Can you say ‘Scary Blighters’?

Now on pre-order, Armies of the British Commonwealth is your comprehensive guide to fielding Commonwealth forces on the Bolt Action tabletop. Within its 128 full-colour pages, you’ll find not one, not two, but SIX army lists, allowing you to field Australian, Canadian, East African, Indian, New Zealand, and South African forces. These lists are put together a little differently to what we’ve done previously – let’s have a look at how, and why!

The armies covered in this book broadly used the British Army as their model for doctrine, organisation, and equipment. There were, however, significant variations which developed in all of these, particularly as the war went on. As such, this book has to cover a very unusual mixture of existing British units as well as units unique to each of the nations covered, plus the different ‘character’ of each nation. So, how did we do all of that?

STANDARD COMMONWEALTH UNITS

Unusually, we’ll start at the back of the book – here, you’ll find a huge list of unit profiles drawn from Armies of Great Britain. These allow you to represent the many units common across some or all of the Commonwealth forces, without needing to have the British book on hand. We were incredibly keen for Armies of the British Commonwealth to be a true standalone book, and this was the simplest way to achieve it! This commonality is also great news for existing players. If you’ve got a British collection, congratulations – now you’ve got the foundation of a Commonwealth one, too!

ONE BOOK – SIX ARMIES

So that’s the Standard Commonwealth Units list – but you aren’t reading this article to hear about what British units you can field. You want the good stuff – and here it is!

Each of the six nations has its own standalone army list section. This begins with a historical background setting to inform your hobbying and is packed with tons of great artwork and photography to get you inspired. Each includes a full list of national special rules (which replace the ones found in Armies of Great Britain), a roster of unique units only available to that nation, and a force selection guide which combines those unique units with the relevant units from the Standard Commonwealth Units list. The national special rules also allow you to theme your ‘standard’ units – yes, that does in fact mean you can field Gurkha sniper teams, mortars, and more in an Indian force! We told you they’d come back better than ever, and over the coming weeks we’ll be doing a deep dive into each army list, so you can find out more about them in detail!

It’s important to note that Armies of the British Commonwealth was chosen as the title because most of the nations in the book are part of the Commonwealth today – of course, during the Second World War this was not the case. Regardless of their political status during the war, all of the forces represented in this book made significant contributions to the eventual Allied victory, and no offense or implication is intended by grouping them under the Armies of the British Commonwealth title.

Of course, this wouldn’t be an Armies of… book without the…

BOOK SPECIAL FIGURE

Coming free when you purchase Armies of the British Commonwealth from us is Havildar Umrao Singh, VC. This legendary Sikh artilleryman won the Victoria Cross during the Burma campaign while manning a Bren gun. Fighting against overwhelming numbers of Japanese attackers, Singh’s weapon ran out of ammunition, and he was swarmed. Undaunted, he picked up a large piece of metal gun-handling equipment and began laying about himself with ferocity before finally being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers. When his body was recovered, he was astonishingly found still alive, albeit gravely wounded, surrounded by ten dead foes and many more wounded. Surviving the war, he served in the Indian Army after independence, finally dying in 2005.

Shown in the thick of fighting, Bren gun roaring, Singh is a perfect addition to any Indian force!

There’s something else coming alongside Armies of the British Commonwealth. Since we know how much you’ve missed them, let’s meet the…

NEW PLASTIC GURKHAS!

That’s right – the legendary Gurkhas are back in the rules, and even better, they’re back as a plastic infantry box! We’ll be diving into this newest sprue in detail soon, but for now, check out the painted prototypes! As you can see, these chaps are set up for jungle fighting, and pack plenty of lightweight firepower, including light mortars, PIATs, and the fearsome flamethrower – can you say ‘Gurkha Engineers’?! Naturally, no Gurkha would be without their iconic kukri knife, and these are well represented in this kit – perfect for a formation with a proud track record of getting stuck in. With Armies of the British Commonwealth allowing you to field entire armies of Gurkhas, courtesy of the Indian army list, this kit is the perfect way to get them on the table!