Lack of smoke – game design or mistake?

[Kar98k]

Smoke is weakly represented in the game. Contrary to popular believe, smoke was used in combat, and not only that, it was a common thing to see. However, not a lot of combat footage shows this because clouds of white smoke show little action.

Another fact that players seem to be surprised by is that almost every German tank could make smoke – the smoke doesn’t always come from those projectors mounted on the side of the turret. Panzer IIIs, for example, had chemical smoke generators on the back of the tank. Also, we can’t forget about smoke rounds that tanks carried, but mortars and howitzers had these too. Yes, even the Tiger I carried smoke ammunition for its 88mm KwK 36 L/56 main gun, and yes, this was in addition to those smoke projectors mounted on the turret.

Then there are smoke grenades carried by infantry. Yes, I agree in that some countries used smoke grenades more than others, but in Bolt Action, players get the impressing that infantry of any country just do not carry smoke grenades (could make for a dull game?). It was very common for American WWII infantry to carry smoke grenades for concealment and sometimes colored stuff for signaling; the M8 white smoke grenade or the M18 grenade for colored smoke.

Sorry for pulling the smoke over your eyes, but this is something that I would like to chat about.

• This topic was modified 3 weeks, 2 days ago by Kar98k.

[Mike]

I think because the game is only 6-7 turns long, smoke is discouraged in the rules, except perhaps in special scenarios.

[Peter]

Good and comprehensible rules are weakly represented in the game. 😀

[Author]

Posts