Listing Building for Boltons – ASOIAF:TMG

Over the past few months we have had teasers for a major overhaul for ASOIAF:TMG coming in 2026. This showed off some changes to Starks as well as Boltons who desperately need an update. As a Halloween gift to the community, the developers have updated the Boltons for season 6, and in this article, myself and Pascha from Hits and Crits will be giving you some tips for list building. 

What’s Happening?

CMON have announced that they have delayed the mid-season update for season 6 until 2026, with the update being far bigger than usual and no longer just a mid-season tweaking of rules. In the meantime, the developers have updated the Boltons for season 6 based on some of these updates coming in the future of the game.

Rather than going over the rules in depth, I have decided to give some tips on how to build Bolton lists with the new rules. When I first saw the release I was ecstatic with how much creativity there was for building lists. Various playstyles were represented, with terrible characters and units improving enough to dust them off of the shelves. 

I am not doing this alone. Pascha from Hits and Crits is joining me so that we can bring you the best advice when you muster the forces of the Dreadfort. 

Hordes of Attachments

Since the introduction of the new attachment rules in season 6, attachments have been everywhere. For Boltons it has been a struggle to spend these points and on something usable due to the limited attachment pool. But the changes now make it a much harder decision to make. 

Ramsay was the only 2pts attachment and now Boltons have five 2pts attachments, and they are all very strong. You won’t be able to bring them all, and on top of that you have all the Bastard’s Boys. Instead of a free one in every list, they now ignore attachment limits resulting in each unit being able to take one of these fellas. I have found in the lists I have been building that I am now spending more than the four free points of attachments in an effort to get the most out of the amazing rules they bring. 

This will be the hardest decision you will make when building the lists. Start with the commander, then what compliments them like bringing Ramsay for some more panic tokens to help Vargo commanders’ morale damage card, or like Vargo in a Roose list who can use the weakened tokens generated by Roose to do more damage. 

Token Generation

The Bolton identity has changed from being all about panic tests to now being all about token generation. In some way shape or form, everything in the army will be working to generate and then utilise tokens as much as possible. If you build a list with few ways to generate tokens then you will set yourself up for failure. Consider where you are generating tokens and how, whilst also thinking about who can utilise them. 

As an example, Vargo Hoat wants weakened tokens, but can no longer generate them from order: threaten like his neutral version. He can only generate them when an engaged enemy fails a panic test. So you may want to pick up Dreadfort Spearmen, Roose Bolton attachment, or Shae, to produce weakened tokens for Vargo’s cards. Steelshanks wants tokens for extra attack dice, and Grunt wants tokens for better defence. The base tactics deck does give you some ways to generate tokens, but you will need your army to produce some to help maintain your factions’ rules. 

Roose Bolton Commander – Pascha

Roose is now a long range control and debuff commander. He supports his army by providing a lot of weakened tokens as well as potential card manipulation by making your enemy discard his cards. His attachment brings a strong ability by being able to deny abilities on the attacked unit and no potential tactic cards, all while generating the needed tokens by himself. Cold Regards gives him a strong finisher if you have played the token generation well. 

Golden Company Crossbowmen (7)

• Roose Bolton (c)

Dreadfort Flayed Men (8)

Bloody Mummer Skirmishers (6)

• Vargo Hoat (0*)

Dreadfort Blackguards (7)

• Dreadfort Flayer (0*)
• Skinner (0*)

Walda Frey (4)

Tybald (4)

Ramsay Snow (4)

The idea behind this list is to have weakened tokens on every unit all the time, in an effort to increase the survivability of your army whilst also increasing the damage output of your units. Vargo pairs very well with the Skirmishers and Roose commander – having weakened on the enemy all the time. The Blackguard can hold any objective and with the Flayer can spread their panic damage whilst Skinner utilises the weakened token to let them reroll their attack. With Ramsay NCU, you should be able to have enough rerolls for charges to get into the fray. Another option would be Damon in Skirmisher with Vargo, instead of Skinner, so you would have a very mobile unit that can engage and disengage easily. 

Carly Thoughts: This list has a lot of threats! The pressure you will be piling onto the opponent will be quite tough to handle. Roose will be baring down from ranged whilst Vargo and the Flayed Men are circling you like sharks. Add in the fact that Blackguards can hold their own in almost all situations and it becomes tough to figure out how you face this force. Especially when the NCUs can help medal with your cards like Roose with Tybalds ability, heal a lot of wounds through Walda, and ensure aggression with rerolling charges alongside morale damage (there are technically three spread fear abilities in the force). 

Ramsay Commander – Pascha

Ramsay is still a melee commander who wants to stay engaged. With this list, you should be able to take some hits with Ramsay, whilst being able to heal back thanks to his ability which heals two wounds every time an engaged unit gains a condition token. He should heal around 4-6 wounds at least each round! With the added benefit of being able to use all those tokens since it doesn’t take away from his abilities.  With 8 activations, you have a good amount of control for when you attack so that it really hurts. Even if Ramsay is only on his last rank, with sadistic exhilaration, you still get the highest attack die and rerolls, plus if you have spoils in flesh, flay them all, or fear keeps a man alive, you can heal up following that attack. 

Dreadfort Cutthroats (5)

• Ramsay Snow (c)
• Reek (0)

Dreadfort Archers (6)

• Damon Dance-For-Me (0*)

Dreadfort Spearmen (5)

• Grunt (0*)

Stormcrow Mercenaries (5)

• Roose Bolton (0*)

Bloody Mummer Skirmishers (6)

• Vargo Hoat (1*)

Tybald (4)

Walda Frey (4)

Lord Varys (4)

Carly Thoughts: Ramsay is familiar territory for Bolton players since his cards keep up the original theme of the faction; panic tests and healing from killing. He is the commander that focuses on panic tokens and bringing a panic list might not be the worst thing in the world. However, what Pascha has built is a list that utilises cheaper units whilst increasing their quality through the attachment choices. Mobility is strong here with Vargo and the Skirmishers, plus Damon and the Archers. Sneaking in Roose to get some more tokens, and to have another unit that strips abilities is great. Ramsay is going to have a great time in Cutthroats due to his healing. Before this change it would mostly be a death sentence with how quickly they would die, but now they are a perfect place. 

Vargo Hoat Commander – Carly

The new kid on the block has seen a slight glow up to his Neutral version. Vargo Hoat is terrifying if he can get the right combination within the right unit. Crippler’s Infamy is a renowned card for providing opportunities to one shot a unit off the board, and with the new Dreadfort units, this is no joke. Butcher’s Work increases the reliability of an attack whilst Savoured Suffering keeps you around for longer. 

The whole aim here is for Vargo to be a menace. Force as many weakened tokens as you can, and always be spending them, either for extra wounds or for Crippler’s Infamy. Go for the kill. 

Dreadfort Blackguard (7)

• Vargo Hoat (c)

Dreadfort Spearmen (5)

• Roose Bolton (0*)

Dreadfort Archers (6)

• Sour Alyn (0*)

Stormcrow Mercenaries (5)

• Rorge (0*)
• Biter (0)

Stormcrow Mercenaries (5)

• Daario Naharis (0)

Ramsay Bolton (4)

Tybald (4)

Walda Frey (4)

Since this Vargo Hoat does not have the order threaten, you have to set him up ahead of time to get use out of his sadistic mutilation. That being said,  weakened resolve pairs nicely with Blackguard since you can make the opponent weakened from your vicious attack, or if the opponent decides to attack you. A 7 dice attack, followed by a debuffed panic test, (which if you are already weakened could be further debuffed with some extra damage from Crippler’s infamy), could be devastating, and if they fail, they become weakened again, which results in two wounds with Vargo. Max damage is 14 wounds.

Butcher’s Work can be used to ensure all dice hit for Vargo or other units to make them just as much of a threat. Ramsay and Tybald NCUs are there to get as many panic tokens as you can, along with Roose to generate some weakened tokens. Almost everything is used to help Vargo become a menace. 

All of this is very strong so keeping Vargo alive is a high priority. Savoured Suffering and Walda Frey can do a bunch of healing. The Blackguard should be able to hold their own, but if he is ganged up on then the Archers can shoot in with some nice bonuses for the enemy being engaged. You could put Vargo in Bastard’s Girls trading out survival for more damage. 

The double Stormcrow Mercenaries is an odd choice, but I wanted to get as many of the amazing attachments in the list as I could. Rorge feels like a no-brainer inside of Stormcrow Mercs for a single point. You get Biter, who gives a keyword which Stormcrows desperately want but he also gives a better charge roll. Then you dish out panicked or vulnerable when you are attacked, and can spend weakened tokes as any token. ALL FOR A POINT. If you had the spare points, you could even add a Bastard Boy attachment. 

The other unit had a few options to pick from, but the only one I could fit with a keyword was Skinner for precision. Daario is precision and critical blow with some recoil damage on 1s, but for the same points. Both units can be threats on the field on their own, or swing in to back up Vargo especially if you have prevented the opponent from holding the coin zone. 

Roose is the weird unit. I knew he would be perfect for helping Vargo get some weakened tokens out, but finding the right unit, whilst also having enough points for everything else was tough. However, I do think he helps the spearmen shine in a different way. Think of this scenario. An enemy activates near Roose, they do the morale test from intimidating presence and become weakened, they charge in, you set for charge and spend the weakened for calculated cruelty so that the enemy has no abilities and cannot be targeted by friendly tactics cards until the end of the turn. If they then fail a vicious panic test from this attack they become weakened again thanks to the impaling spear. It is a nice defensive combo for dirt cheap. 

Vargo has finally been given a chance to shine in the competitive scene with his incarnation for the Bolton faction. I am very excited to play this list on the tabletop, whilst also seeing what others come up with for him. One thing is for sure though, I need to find a way to remove tokens in every list just to combat something like Vargo. 

Pascha Thoughts: For me, Vargo only belongs inside a Bloody Mummer Skirmisher unit. Many high level players say mobility is key, and the new skirmisher ability brings that to the table. Even on his own, he should be able to go head to head with most other units or commanders, since he can disable all defensive abilities and can guarantee an attachment kill or extra wounds (if you need them). With the free point, you could add Ben Bones into his unit for better damage and mobility, or Grunt, if you want to increase his survivability. 

Steelshanks Walton Commander – Carly

Steelshanks feels like a Neutral commander within the Bolton deck. He has a card to help with morale whilst also dishing out some tokens, another card that boosts the combat effects, then a final card that does a little bit of everything. He gives off a style that is to slightly boost everything when he can, like a jack of all trades, but not taking it too far. However, disciplined execution could be very powerful when used with Flayed Men to make the strongest unit in the Bolton roster.

Dreadfort Blackguard (7)

• Steelshanks (c)
• Ben Bones (0*)

Dreadfort Flayed Men (8)

Dreadfort Flayed Men (8)

Dreadfort Cutthroats (5)

• Ramsay Bolton (0*)
• Reek (0)
• Grunt (0*)

Shae (4)

Tybald (4)

Walda Frey (4)

This list began with me looking for a way to make Flayed Men work in the new Boltons. They have a very good attack profile with 8 dice, precision, vicious, with spread fear to help chip some more damage on the field. But that is about it. The biggest negative is that Boltons have no cavalry attachments so you would need to pay another point to give them some extra options. However, Steelshanks does have some great cards, all of which help the cavalry a lot. 

Disciplined Execution can give the Flayed Men the two other keyword abilities so that they have all four of them for their attack. It practically turns them into just as much of a threat as other heavy cavalry in the game. Add on a token and some movement from Steelshanks’s watch, or help their 6+ morale with fear is loyalty, and you should be able to use them well. Steelshanks feels at home in an elite force. 

Steelshanks is an incredible attachment, and just like most of the 2pts attachments in the roster, Blackguard are a very strong pairing for him. Steelshanks boosts every aspect of them in some way, with the cards able to take this further. Ramsay, Reek, and Grunt, turn the Cutthroats into a menace in their own right. Plenty of healing through prey on fear which could be triggered by the Flayed Men’s spread fear, but also Ramsay’s healing if they are engaged. Reek dishes out some tokens to help the Flayed Men, but these power up both Ramsay and Grunt. I do believe this will be a unit that can do anything, or more importantly what you need if you find yourself lacking with the Flayed Men. 

There is still a long journey ahead to finding the right cavalry list for Boltons, but Steelshanks is a good start. 

Pascha Thoughts: Double Flayed Men feel very strong on paper and with Steelshanks as their commander, they can easily roll over other units when they utilize Disciplined Execution. If you can’t play comfortably without ranged units, Bastard’s Girls are also a very nice option for Steelshanks, because you can guarantee the two tokens for your boosted attack, even if the defensive abilities won’t matter that much. Steelshank’s Watch also gives him a slight mobility boost, furthermore even if your Flayed Men get stuck, they should be able to grind it out.

In summary, think about your attachments due to your limited resources, each attachment is great and can be utilised in different ways across the faction. Consider your construction of token generation, especially if you have a commander/attachment that relies on specific tokens. Boltons can do sustained combat very well due to the quality of the units, the tokens dished out, and the healing, so don’t be afraid of a grind. 

We have made some example lists but I would love to see what other people have come up with. Join in on the discussion over on the A Song of Ice and Fire : Miniature Wargamers FaceBook page.

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