Box Contents

The Perry Miniatures US Infantry 1942-45 is a plastic kit containing:

• 42 US Infantry
• 42 Rifles
• 10 SMGs
• 6 BARs
• 2 LMGs/MMGs
• 2 Bazookas
• 2 Sniper Rifles
• 2 Radios (wonderful addition for a Spotter or Forward Observer)
• 3 Rifle Grenades

The List

Breakdown

Notes and Analysis

The objective of this list is two part – 1) use as many of the components from a single box of infantry as possible and 2) make a List that works at a competitive level. Please in mind, this List was written using only the content of a single box of infantry.

Ok so before we begin it occurs to me that this might be the first time some of you have encountered Perry Miniatures. Alan and Michael Perry are twin brothers who sculpted a huge number of Games Workshop models between the 1980s – 2010s. After which they went on to found their own miniature company. The Green Knight, classic Imperial Guard, Dwarfs, Lord of the Rings, these two men had their hands on all of it (and way more besides). One brother even lost his hand during a reenactment accident (involving a cannon) which makes what they do all the more impressive as he had to relearn how to sculpt and paint with his left hand.

Anyway these guys are amazing and they make a fantastic model line, the scale is a little slimmer and less heroic than Warlord but from five feet away you really won’t notice a difference and actually the Perry range fits better with any vehicles you care to add. The US Infantry box costs just £22 and comes with 42 hard plastic miniatures so it’s an amazing bargain and third party sites sell them for around £20 making it less than 50p a miniature (pretty unbeatable these days).

This force gives you three very mobile and flexible squads (use the Veterans for the most important work), two MMG Teams to throw down Pins at long range and a Sniper and Officer team to support the boys.

You also have seven men left over to expand into an even bigger force. It comes in at 7 Order Dice which is very competitive and has a reasonable amount of tactical flexibility.

Those eight and nine-man infantry units will be hard to shift and two machine guns at long range will be a constant irritation. Fire & Maneuver combined with BARs gives you so much mobility and range in all your infantry squads so you can run around the board and still throw shots down range.

The Snipers also have SMGs so if needed they can closely follow the boys for a bit more damage but it is a waste of a sniper rifle that way, so use them as a counter punch if anyone gets close.

What’s Next?

And regarding expanding this force can easily turn into a 750pt force without spending a single penny more. You can build:

Generic Reinforced Platoon
Officer
2nd Lt (SMG) – Vet – 65 x1 Buddy (SMG) – Vet – 13	78pts
Infantry
US Infantry Veteran Squad – 8 men – Vet – 104 x2 BAR – 10 Tough Fighters – 8	122pts
US Infantry Veteran Squad – 8 men – Vet – 104 x2 BAR – 10 Tough Fighters – 8	122pts
US Infantry Veteran Squad – 8 men – Vet – 104 x2 BAR – 10 Tough Fighters – 8	122pts
Ranger Squad – 6 men – Vet – 84 x3 SMGs – 9	93pts
MMG Team – Inexp. – 35	35pts
MMG Team – Inexp. – 35	35pts
Bazooka Team – Vet – 78	78pts
Sniper Team – Vet – 65	65pts
Total – 9 Order Dice	750pts

This force gives you almost all Veterans and a nice mobile firebase that can get up close and personal and do some damage or stay back and still do damage. The Bazooka can take out hard targets, the machine guns and Sniper Team can hit from a distance. The four Veteran squads can do some real damage up close or from afar with rifles, BARs, and Tough Fighters.

All for around £20…. Perry Brothers you magnificent bastards! Obviously, you’re missing Mortar support, Tanks, Artillery, Transports etc… But one box will only ever take you so far and this box does more than most. A solid alternative to Warlords’ offering and really worth having a think about if you want to start a new force or dip your toe into bolt action for as cheap as possible.

– Stephen