Senior NCOs

I hadn't spotted the rules for Senior NCOs when they first appeared in print for Bolt Action in The Battle of France Campaign Book. They were included in the Company Commander chapter near the end of the book that covered larger actions and protracted campaigns. Cut forward to the release of the latest D-Day, US Sectors book, however, and Senior NCOs appear as an add-on rule in the appendices and made me revisit them (& the campaign rules) for a second look.

I like how in Chain of Command, a senior NCO is an independent command figure for some nations who works alongside the lieutenant/ platoon commander. He can have just as much influence as an officer to the men in his platoon/ company and possibly even more so! I'm reminded of the calm and steady presence of Colour Sergeant Bourne in the film Zulu, or the grizzled experience of Sergeant Barnes that compensated for the bumbling Lieutenant Wolff in Platoon.

So, Senior NCOs have made an appearance in Bolt Action, and although I welcome the addition, I'm not completely sold on the rules attached to them. Rather than an additional figure with leadership that can be present on the table, a SNCO is a free upgrade for an officer's '+1 man' which essentially acts as an extra 'life' for said officer. Your lieutenant/ captain/ major gets killed, the SNCO takes over, operating at the same leadership bonus as the original officer. Fine. 

Thematically, now a sniper has targeted your HQ officer, this does allow you to have another leader to step up and take charge. I like that the platoon sergeant can now go, 'Right, lads, follow me...' and keep things going, so with this in mind, I chose to upgrade some of my '+1 men' to represent a more experienced looking SNCO type character.

The German SNCO was a '+1 man' already, and looks suitably gnarly and battle-hardened. I've given these SNCOs yellow base edges to depict their leadership providing qualities, like other officers, albeit in a replacement capacity.

The Britsh Para SNCO was a spare figure from Artizan that came in a command figure blister pack. He looks perfect with bristling moustaches and fierce expression so I knew he was right for my paras.

The Soviet SNCO was originally an NCO for one of my Tank Hunter teams. A recent reshuffle of that army due to new additions freed him up to be promoted to platoon sergeant, which I think he manages to do quite nicely.

I've yet to play using SNCOs, but I don't expect their rules to alter gameplay dramatically. They don't bring anything new that needs to be incorporated, just amend an existing rule.  Let's see how they perform in the near future?!