Fulda Gap - An Overview

One of the projects I like to work on from time to time is a Cold War-mod for Bolt Action. I call it "Fulda Gap", after the region in central Germany that would have been one of the most likely battlefields in a confrontation between NATO and the WarPac.

Here is my mission statement:

This supplement introduces Cold War technology into Bolt Action. It is focussed on the 80s and 90s of the last century. You will need the Bolt Action core rulebook to be able to use the army lists.

Included are lists for US Army, German Bundeswehr and British Army of the Rhine for NATO and Red Army, GDR Nationale Volksarmee and Czechoslovakian Forces for the WarPac.

These army lists are not 100% historically correct and not made for a specific year. Arms development was fast during this period and both new and upgraded equipment was constantly introduced on both sides. Additionally, a "hot" war would have most likely accelerated this process. On the other hand, obsolete equipment might be reactivated to fill gaps.

Furthermore, the lists are not based on a specific scenario. There were many potential ways to war (some are described in the “Close Call” boxes) and there is no intention to blame on side or the other.

The basic game mechanisms are mostly identical to the Bolt Action rules and several units like sniper teams work exactly the same. Those entries therefore refer to the Bolt Action core rulebook for stats and point costs.

In the end I hope to have a completely edited and ready to use pdf of all the rules and army lists, but this is still quite some time away. Nevertheless I would like to presents some of the new rules I have written in a series of articles on this blog. Just to give you a taste:
- Alternative weapon ranges
- Alternative platoon structure (see below)
- Armored Fighting Vehicles
- New squad options like fireteams and dedicated marksmen
- Off-board artillery
- ATGMs & SAMs

I also tried to streamline some of the rules and options. For example, squad size and options are mostly standardized, so there is no need for seperate entries for inexperienced, regular and veteran Rifle squads.

This is the (preliminary) structure of a platoon in Fulda Gap:

Compulsory:
1 Lieutnant
2 Squads

Optional:
0-1 Officer
0-1 FAC/FAO
0-4 additional Squads
0-1 MG Team
0-1 Mortar Team
0-1 Sniper Team
0-1 ATGM Team
0-1 SAM Team
0-1 Infantry Gun, AA Gun or AT Gun

0-2 Main Battle Tanks
0-3 Armored Carriers or Support Vehicles

0-1 Helicopter Gunship

0-1 Artillery Support

up to 1 transport per infantry unit

More vehicles, and more options to kill vehicles!

You might have noticed that I removed Medics:

Medics & Ambulances

The Red Cross, Red Crescent and Red Crystal emblems have special protection under the Geneva Convention. It was therefore decided to remove those units from the army lists to avoid the ethically questionable mechanic of attacking those units to deny the opponent a bonus.

I'll explain the other changes in the upcoming articles, but feel free to start commenting!