Back in September 2024 during the runup to Third Edition, Warlord Games published a Release Roadmap. We assumed the books on the Roadmap would be the only Bolt Action content published during the first year. I am happy to admit this assumption was wrong. A surprise release from Warlord Games – the Bolt Action Compendium collects articles, scenarios, force orgs, and units from the Warlord Community in a single volume – all updated for Third Edition.

What’s in the book?

The 84-page softback Compendium is divided into four sections. Each section is focused on a specific theater and contains a series of articles pertaining to that specific part of World War II. The included theaters are:

• The Mediterranean & Middle East
  • The Polish Army in Exile
  • Heroes Fight Like Greeks
  • Operation Rosselsprung
  • The Brazilian Expeditionary Force
• The Asian Pacific Theater
  • The Japanese SNLF in Combat
  • Operations Longcloth & Thursday
• The Eastern Front
  • The Polish People’s Army in Soviet Service
  • The Battles of Tomaszow Lubelski
  • Specters of the Forest
  • The Spanish Blue Division at Krasny Bor
• The Western Front
  • Resistance! – Partisans in France
  • Red Star-White Star

It’s a sweeping variety of Bolt Action content but the quality and applicability of each article varies quite a bit. Some entries are fantastic, packed with new units, Platoons and special rules. Others are a short collection of scenarios with suggestions on how to models a particular force using existing rules. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s take a look at each article in detail.

I. The Mediterranean & Middle East

The Polish Army in Exile

Unlike The Polish People’s Army in Soviet Service, there are no new units, no unique Force Selection options and no real flavor of any kind to run a Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade. It’s just a slight reflavoring of the British 8th Army (in the same uniforms and equipment). Additionally, the pictures are models from the stock 8th Army Infantry box with no modifications of any kind. The only thing saving this section is the five scenarios – each one is at least unique and interesting.

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Heroes Fight Like Greeks

One of the Infantry Units is an SOE Team that includes the Itelligence special rule giving Partisans an option that currently only the Germans have. There is even a note that an SOE Team could work as an addition to any Partisan force. I’m a big fan of this article. It’s not overthought it’s just three unique unit options that provide a whole bunch of flavor to anyone running Partisans.

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Operation Rosselsprung

Instead of running a force using the Platoon System, you have the option to use the 1944 Operation Rosselsprung German Force Selector. The Force Selector is built in style of a Rifle Platoon but includes a few additional options:

• 0-1 Flamethrower Team
• 0-1 MMG Team
• 0-2 Light/Medium Mortar Teams
• 0-2 Panzerschreck Teams
• 0-1 Panzerbuchse 41

Additionally, every unit taken must be Veteran and must be given Stubborn Fanatics for +3pts per model. This is exactly what I wanted to see in the Compendium: options to build a unique force that includes its own rules and a specialized Platoon structure. Love it. More of this please.

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The Brazilian Expeditionary Force

Don’t get me wrong, it’s fantastic when players bring a specific force to life on the tabletop, but why include pages of information on the FEB with no rules or options that will allow an FEB force to feel different? Not only that, all the model photos are stock US Army. They are not even painted to represent the FEB. No hobby inspiration whatsoever. Another missed opportunity.

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II. The Asian Pacific Theater

The Japanese SNLF in Combat

The first is an IJA attack on a Dutch KNIL airstrip with one simple objective – destroy the entire enemy force. The second scenario is a reverse amphibious assault where the SNLF player must load their wounded onto transport boats and escape off the table while the Australian player must stop them from escaping. The table is a full 6×4′ of jungle with an additional 1×4′ section added for the beach. I’ve never seen a scenario like this.

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Operations Longcloth & Thursday

There is a section of special rules for the scenarios; Hardened Jungle Fighters, Bad Country (Impenetrable Jungle and Limited Visibility), and Machine Gun Trouble. These are to be used in addition to the Optional Rules found in the Rulebook such as Exhaustion and Monsoon. All of this to say, this mini-campaign is going to have a unique feel to it.

It’s worth noting that of the 10 new units, 7 are single model “characters”, 2 are Infantry Squads and 1 is Flossie the Elephant. The characters replace Company Commanders, Platoon Commanders, or specific NCOs (and one is an upgrade to a Forward Air Observer). Outside of Campaign: Fortress Budapest, I never really played with “special characters” in Second Edition, but I am very interested in giving these a try during campaign play. For me, this article is the highlight of the Compendium.

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III. The Eastern Front

The Polish People’s Army in Soviet Service

As is often the case for super thematic army lists the Infantry Squad options a bit thin. We have three LWP Rifle Squads – Inexperienced, Regular and Vet – each with various equipment and weapon options. Additionally, every LWP unit in the army is Stubborn and the army has The Great Patriotic War special rule – these units are not going to flee the table. That’s for damn sure. It’s a great article that actually brings a new force to Bolt Action.

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The Battles of Tomaszow Lubelski

I’m very interested to give this version of Tank War a go. The rules for vehicles are more robust in Third Edition than they were in Second so playing an all AFV game would have some extra layers to it. The inclusion of Recce Infantry Platoons is not something I would have initially thought of and it’s a great fit.

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Specters of the Forest

The article may be brief with only new unit profiles, but each one will have a direct impact on the style or your Partisan force. Sure, a scenario would have been cool to see as well but there is more flavor and uniqueness in these three unit entries than the entire Polish Army in Exile and Brazilian Expeditionary Force sections.

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The Spanish Blue Division at Krasny Bor

Hitler’s Buzz-Saw remains the same, no complaints there. Until Extinction gives you the option of upgrading any Infantry and Artillery unit to Fanatics for +1pt per model (a significant discount for a strong special rule). And finally, “Spaniards die on their feet, not hiding in holes like rats”, every single Infantry and Artillery unit has a -1 penalty to their Cover Saves. The upside is they to re-roll failed Morale Tests. Man, I love a thematic rule, but this is wild.

As a companion to this entry in the Compendium there is a series of articles on Warlord Community that show Studio Painter Andres continuing progress on The Spanish Blue Division. I must say, these are easily some of the best painted and converted models that we’ve ever seen on Warlord Community. Truly impressive and inspiring. Why this section uses a couple stock photos instead of photos from Andres is beyond me.

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IV. The Western Front

Resistance! – Partisans in France

The scenario, The Vercors Uprising, looks like a blast to play. Due to the Germans vastly outnumbering the Partisans, any German unit under 250pts that is destroyed is added back into Reserves on the following turn. The Partisans are attempting to hold out in a truly desperate defense.

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Red Star-White Star

The two Potential Pershing Tanks are fun additions and a Soviet equivalent would have been nice to see. I suppose the IS-3 fits that role though. The Local Defense Volunteer Squad provides a Mixed Quality Inexperienced Infantry option that would not normally be seen in a US force.

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Total New Units	26
Total New Force Selectors	2
Total New Army Special Rules	3
Total New Scenarios	25

Overall Impressions

The Return of Theater Selectors – It may be called by a different name but the 1944 Operation Rosselsprung German Force Selector is 100% a Theater Selector. It has all the Theater Selector hallmarks – requirements for the units (Veteran and Stubborn Fanatics), it “breaks” the normal Platoon system (it includes both a Flamethrower and Artillery slot), it’s full of theme, and most importantly it is awesome. Warlord please, publish more of these! Especially for Airborne forces. Let us toss a single Artillery piece into a Rifle Platoon or bring a single vehicle. The Platoon System is awesome and gives the players full control and customization. But we also want the chance to run some unique forces with their own special rules and unit restrictions.

Tournament Play? – Great question. As with all Bolt Action supplements it’ll be up to individual TOs to decide if Compendium units will be allowed at events. There are suggestions within the book that at least provide a bit of guidance but, and we’ve seen this before, it’s often left purposefully ambiguous. A few examples:

• Greek Resistance Leader – “In scenarios set in the mountains of Greece, this unit could count as a Platoon Commander for your Greek partisan force.” Yeah … so this unit can only be used in that hyper-specific context?
• 1944 Operation Rosselsprung German Force Selector – “A German force for Operation Rosselsprung may be chosen from the Selector presented here, rather than using the normal Platoon System.” Again, ambiguous. I think we can all see the intent but far from clear.
• Operations Longcloth & Thursday – “These are specifically designed to be used with the Operations Longcloth and Thursday missions present earlier.” Now that’s some solid wording. These new units are not intended to be used outside those 10 specific missions.
• The Polish People’s Army in Soviet Service – I’m not seeing any reason why you couldn’t bring an LWP force to an event.
• Specters of the Forest – “We suggest including them as part of Partisan forces for games set on the Eastern Front.” Reads as scenario-only play to me.
• The Spanish Blue Division at Krasny Bor – As with the LWP, I’m not seeing a reason why a player couldn’t use these rules for their Army at an event.

All of that to say … it depends.

Armies of Italy – But wait! What is this now? There is a single bullet preceding the scenarios that states:

The Italian player should use Armies of Italy, the Early War force selection guide, and the information presented in the scenario to select their force.

Come again? “Armies of Italy“? Can it be? Is Italy going to finally receive their own Armies of book? They most certainly deserve one! Our prayers have been answered. I look forward to the new Italy-dominated meta.

The Return of “Special Characters” – Almost every Theater and Campaign book in First and Second Edition included “special characters”. These rules were usually for a single model (typically an Officer) based on the exploits of a real person who fought in WWII. The rules were often wildly out of step with the typical Bolt Action units and rarely, if ever, did these units see the table. I was surprised the see the inclusion of so many in the Compendium. Clearly Warlord has not moved away from this concept even with the rules remaining squarely in the optional category. Armies of Germany: Third Edition did not include any special characters and I’m curious to see if that will remain the case with the rest of the Armies of books. For narrative and campaign play adding a few of these personalities to your force can provide an extra dose of theme and flavor that you would otherwise miss.

Should You Buy This Book? – Maybe. There is some solid content here. But it comes with a big caveat. If you do not already own one of the forces discussed in these articles and do not have the desire to start one then there isn’t much here for you. Unless you either A) have Chindits/Partisans/etc, or B) want to start such a collection, you can pass on the Compendium. If those forces do not spark joy I can’t make a recommendation. However, for those that are interested in those forces the Compendium is a total win. With this book I have been given a bunch of new ways to play with my Chindits and Partisans. Although I don’t play SS/FJ the 1944 Operation Rosselsprung German Force Selector is exactly the kind of additional Bolt Action Third Edition support I want to see.

I am glad to own a copy because the content relates to my existing Bolt Action collection. But if you are not seeing a specific article that turns up the hobby hype for you, you aren’t missing anything by skipping this release.

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