Fallschirmjager for Bolt Action - Listing for Regiments of Renown

In my first article this month I posted up some reasons I wanted to do Fallschirmjager for Bolt Action as my Regiment of Renown. They're elite, they used some different equipment, and they had pretty awesome uniforms.


I'm going to focus this article on what type of army I want to build for them. Technically in Bolt Action you could just use one squad of elite troops and have the rest as Wehrmacht or something else... but on the small level we're using here it makes more sense for all the models on the board being from one outfit.

One of the first defining characteristics of a Fallschirmjager force that I build is that they are all veterans. Even the weapons teams I am taking are veterans. Many people save points by taking an inexperienced mortar but I can't really justify that. Veterans cost 13 points apiece while regulars cost 10. The survivability goes up, though - you're wounding on 5s vs 4s.

The list:

1,000 Points - German Generic Reinforced Platoon

Second Lieutenant + one infantry - veteran. 78 points
Fallschirmjager squad - NCO + 6 infantry. 3x assault rifles, 1 smg, 2 panzerfaust. 119 points
Fallschirmjager squad - NCO + 6 infantry. 3x assault rifles, 1 smg, 2 panzerfaust. 119 points
Fallschirmjager squad - NCO + 6 infantry. 3x assault rifles, 1 smg, 2 panzerfaust. 119 points
Fallschirmjager squad - NCO + 6 infantry. 3x assault rifles, 1 smg, 2 panzerfaust. 119 points
Medic. 30 points
Medium Machine Gun Team - veteran. 65 points
Medium Mortar Team - veteran + spotter. 75 points
Sniper team - veteran. 65 points
Hetzer (Jagdpanzer 38t) - regular. 210 points
Total 999 points

One HQ, two infantry are required, so I met that. It is not a super great idea to not take a tank, so I have that for AT. Each FJ squad can put out a ton of firepower with assault rifles and regular rifles. They have panzerfaust for optional hail-mary AT.

The weapons teams are what I've used a ton and I'm definitely comfortable with. Mortars are indirect fire only so it makes some people a little wary of using them, but I've had some pretty great success especially with a spotter. MMGs are always good.

Snipers are something that have been my bane. Joe uses a sniper regularly and takes out my important guys almost every game. I have started taking a sniper purely for anti-sniper tech, heh.

The Hetzer is in there mostly because I love the model but it is also cheaper than some other Panzers. One variation would be to just take a Puma since I have so many panzerfausts. In that case I'd have 50 more points to work with, maybe adding in an artillery piece or an extra weapon team, or filling out the FJ squads. I only have 10 order dice which is pretty low.

I also have the opportunity to use a Brummbar here. They were used in Italy and the retreat back so it gives me a cool historical bonus point. Tough FJ backed up by a heavily armored tank that can wipe out infantry sounds like a sweet idea.

I also really like the idea of a motorcycle (kradschutzen) in the armored car slot. They're super cheap and provide a mobile firebase with their MMG. They're harder to kill and allow you to react quickly to squad threats. Plus the model is really awesome - who doesn't like soldiers going to war on motorcycles?

The medic is there because he gives me a force multiplier. These dudes are already hard to wound and cost more points than most other infantry, so hopefully the medic can save a few. Plus it is a chance to make a sweet model.

The FJ have traditionally been modeled using tons of assault rifles - the STG44 and the FG42. These assault rifles were basically the precursors to the M16 and AK47. They're pretty awesome in game as they shoot twice instead of once and don't take a move and fire penalty. At five points they're not bad, but I felt like the history I've read says they weren't as prevalent maybe as gamer lore leads us to believe. So each squad has three, but if I needed to I could drop that to two or one and save some points.

I didn't take any LMGs. The FJ squads can take two, which would make them a beast in the shooting phase, but they're so expensive. I feel like LMGs should be 10 points to make them better on the field and more appropriately costed.

I'd definitely like to have more boots on the ground but I feel like it may just be enough to take and hold an objective for six turns. There are some points that could be cut out by removing a weapon team or two, or changing around veteran status, but this is where I'll start. There are also opportunities to mix in some regular Wehrmacht to save on some points.

Speaking of starting... I may have gone a little bonkers with the FJ models. More on model selection in my next post...