Anyone who has ever wrestled a lead PaK 40 out of the blister and watched it fall apart at the first knock will cheer this one. Warlord Games is moving Bolt Action's metal artillery and support weapons into plastic, in what the Nottingham publisher is calling its most significant production shake-up in years. The news dropped on 17 April 2026 and signals a long-term rebuild of how every nation's gun teams are made.
Stop juggling Meetup, WhatsApp, and spreadsheets. One platform for your gaming group's events, RSVPs, and member management.
See how it worksGermany goes first because it is Warlord's best-selling range. The opening wave is three sprues: a PaK 40 anti-tank gun, a support weapons frame that builds MG 34 or 42 teams, medium mortars and Panzerschrecks, and a shared crew sprue that snaps onto existing plastic Grenadier kits. Longer term, every nation with a plastic infantry line is set to get its own artillery piece, heavy weapons frame and crew sprue before the rest of the range follows.
The timing makes sense. Bolt Action first hit shelves in 2012 and Third Edition's platoon structure now pushes players towards bigger heavy weapon rosters, driving demand well past the point where metal casting pays. Plastic needs steep tooling costs up front, but once you are selling thousands of support teams, the price per sprue collapses. For hobbyists, it also means fewer fiddly metal joins, cleaner conversions and easier kitbashing between sprues. Existing metal Fallschirmjäger and Afrika Korps crews will stick around for now, often bundled with plastic weapons in hybrid kits.
Run game nights? Backseat Gamer handles RSVPs, waitlists, date polling, and game voting so you can focus on playing.
Start organising for freeWarlord was founded in 2007 by ex-Games Workshop hands John Stallard and Paul Sawyer, picked up Bolt Action in late 2008, and has been Britain's answer to the plastic miniatures question ever since. Hornby bought a 25 per cent stake back in 2023, and this looks like the fruits of that investment hitting the shelves.
If you have been eyeing a WWII project, plastic crews just made the barrier to entry a lot friendlier. Find a Bolt Action club near you.
Sources: Frontline Gaming | Warlord Community | Wikipedia | Wikipedia: Bolt Action
