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Armies of France looms large on the horizon,

and we’ve only just begun looking at it. In last week’s reveal of the National Special Rules, we mentioned that the book also contains army lists and rules for Free French forces and the Vichy Armistice Army – let’s dive into them, see their special rules, and have a look at a couple of new units!

Free France

We’ll kick off with the Free French ‘Forces of Liberation’, a diverse force of Frenchmen in exile fighting to reclaim their homeland, both in France itself and across her colonies and beyond. It’s worth noting here that this is not intended to be a French Resistance army list – that’ll come in the Partisans section of Armies of Europe – although some Resistance units are of course included. A Free French force includes a large number of British and US units, reflecting the vast quantities of materiel provided and doctrinal realignment that took place, but is very much its own force, courtesy of its special rules:

We can see that these rules give us the foundation of a dogged, tactically flexible force. Massed Stubborn makes Free French infantry and artillery far more likely to stay in the fight to the bitter end, while Sacred Ground makes timely outflanking manoeuvres that little bit easier. La Resistance unlocks – what else? – the legendary French Resistance to support your troops, and the option to field certain units as Armée d’Afrique gives you even more flexibility of movement, courtesy of Fieldcraft.

We’ve mentioned the Resistance units a couple of times, so let’s have a look at one of the squads they can bring to a Free French army:

15-man Green infantry squads? You know ‘em and love ‘em, and Free France has ‘em! Perfect for swarming the table with bodies (although remember, these can’t be compulsory units in a Platoon), these chaps are great for occupying space and forcing your opponent to waste valuable shooting on them. In addition, Intelligence Gathering adds a fun little wrinkle if you want some dice bag control.

Now we’ve had a taste of the Free French, let’s take a look at their polar opposite:

Vichy France

Being the army permitted to the collaborationist Vichy state by the Germans, the Armistice Army is naturally lacking in the most modern technology and equipment, most notably tanks and heavy artillery. In many ways it resembles a sort of ‘toned down’ version of the early-war French army that preceded it, and it makes for a great challenge on the tabletop. It still makes use of Colmater, giving it access to the powerful outflanking tactics of its predecessor, as well as Lack of Radios, and can field dangerous Foreign Legion troops, but commanders may find their troops behaving a little… unpredictably when forced to make Morale tests. This isn’t always a bad thing, though!

Just like Free France, the Vichy army list also includes some new unique units, including a couple specifically designed to combat the Resistance. One of them is the:

The GMR section is a bit of a beast, and a powerful one at that! Bristling with SMGs and with the option for one section per Platoon to take Infiltrators or motorcycles, it’s an unusual example of a Regular squad boasting these options. The Counter-Partisan Tactics rule also gives it a massive 24” anti-Infiltrators bubble, giving you a potent counter to one of the most dangerous unit abilities in the game!

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It’s that time again! Armies of France is nearing its release, and we’re beginning our Intelligence Report series, taking you inside the covers of the newest Bolt Action book. As is traditional, we’re starting with the National Special Rules, which inform the army’s overall character and determine how it plays on the tabletop. En avant!

We’ll begin where we usually do, with the overarching rules which apply to your entire army, but this book is, like Armies of Italy, a little bit different. Armies of France includes not only rules for fielding French forces of 1939-40, but also the collaborationist Vichy ‘Armistice Army’, and the Free French forces who would continue to fight alongside the Allies for the liberation of their homeland. These latter two will be shown off in their own article, but for now we’re focussing on the core of the book!

As we can see, while Battaille Conduite rewards getting your troops to take up defensive positions in cover, a French force need not be a purely static entity! Colmater allows you to turn a single unit per platoon into an Outflanking machine, letting you build a small but incredibly flexible strike force within your army that can arrive exactly when and where it’s needed to wreak havoc on the enemy’s plans late in the game. Supporting this is Le Feu Tue, because while one artillery strike is nice, two is significantly nicer – unless you’re the enemy! Finally, Lack of Radios is a blessing in disguise for armour aficionados, letting you save a few points on your Command vehicles.

French forces with these rules naturally tend towards a ‘hold-and-counter’ style of play, blunting enemy thrusts on their defensive positions before launching a deadly counterattack (although of course as with any Bolt Action army you can build your list to play in an endless variety of ways!), and they aren’t doing it with just the basic troops in the army list. As with all our other Armies of… books, you can theme many of your units to represent the elite formations of the French army. Let’s meet Honneur et Patrie!

Whether you want the last word in defensive grit with the French Foreign Legion (and their snazzy new plastics!), an elite force of Chasseurs Alpins moving swiftly through cover courtesy of Fieldcraft, or fast-moving Dragons Portés driving headlong into the fray, you can do it with Armies of France. While these are some of the most important rules in the books, we’ve not even scratched the surface when it comes to the new and updated unit roster or the two new ways to field French forces – we’ve got plenty more to come!

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A fresh deck. A new Control Hand. One more chance to make the flip that changes the game.

This Malifaux Fourth Edition Fate Deck is now available through print on demand, bringing Malifaux artwork and its distinctive suits to your next game.

Four suits. Two Jokers. Plenty of trouble.

Rams, Crows, Masks, and Tomes. A Red Joker to celebrate and a Black Joker to blame. This is Malifaux, where every flip can become the moment, everyone remembers.

Pick up a deck for your first crew, refresh a well-loved favorite, or keep a spare ready for demo night. There's always room for one more hand of bad decisions.

Printed for your table.

This is a physical Fate Deck, available to order through print on demand from Wargame Vault. Get your printed copy and give your crew a fresh hand for Fourth Edition.

Get Your Fate Deck

https://www.wargamevault.com/en/product/585579/malifaux-fourth-edition-fate-deck

Explore Malifaux

https://www.wyrd-games.net/malifaux

The Global Event Is Live!

The Widow’s Toll is on the move!

Wyrd has kicked off The Widow’s Toll, the new global event for The Other Side, running October 14 through November 25 as part of Echoes of the Breach.

The Widow is on the move, and every battle counts! Choose an eligible Allegiance, bring the Walking Widow to the table, and report your results to help shape the outcome of this global campaign.

Claim the Titan! The eligible Allegiance with the most Event Points at the end of the event will permanently unlock the Walking Widow as a playable unit. Syndicates are not eligible to win.

The First Campaign Asset Is Here!

Meet Haunting Echo, the first asset unlocked for The Widow’s Toll!

Each week brings a new opportunity to unlock campaign assets, giving players more ways to bring the unfolding story of The Other Side to their tabletops. Haunting Echo is just the beginning!

Haunting Echo

Restricted: Walking Widow | Slot: Bell Tower

For Whom the Bell Tolls gives every Action taken by the Entered unit access to The Hour Chimes, a Margin Trigger that grants an Inspired or Shaken Token to another unit in line of sight. Useful to every Allegiance, it becomes more reliable on higher Acting Value Actions. Disable 2 also offers another way to blunt incoming damage.

Print Haunting Echo

Ready to join the fight?

Open the Event Page  |  Download the Rules

Visit the event page for standings, FAQs, resources, and the reporting form. Join the Widow’s Toll channel on the Play Wyrd Discord to share tactics, find games, and compare results with fellow players.

The campaign has begun, and this is only the first unlock. What will your Allegiance claim next?

Read this week’s Waldo’s Weekly