Guadalcanal. Tarawa. Iwo Jima. Okinawa. Just some of the legendary actions the US Marine Corps fought in – actions that have rightfully sent the USMC into legend.
There are few fighting forces that can rival the fearsome reputation of the United States Marine Corps. Indeed they can trace their ancestry back to the Revolutionary War in the 18th Century, serving all over the globe up to the present day.
During the Second World War the US Marines spearheaded the American response to Japanese aggression, leading to a ferocious island-hopping campaign. The technologically superior US forces made many amphibious assaults that wore down the Japanese and culminated in crushing American victories albeit with terrible loss of life on both sides.
US Marines in the Pacific Theatre of Operations were eager to get the job done be it with the bayonet, shotgun or their Thompson submachine guns. Their loyalty to their comrades and the Corps stood them in good stead as they faced a fanatical foe where no quarter was given no received.
For those looking to start playing the US Marine Corps in Bolt Action, we’ve put together a little primer…
A little light reading
Before you delve into the Warlord webstore and purchase three of everything – we thought we’d round-up a little contextual info – something to whet your appetite and give a little backstory…
History of the US Marine Corps
Basic Training
If you’re looking to enlist and take your place among the ranks of the Bolt Action US Marine Corps – your very first purchase (after the Bolt Action Rulebook, of course!) should be the ‘Armies of the United States‘ book – which give you all the information needed to field the military forces of the United States of America, and is your starting point when creating a USMC force!
Your optional second purchase would then be the ‘Empires in Flames‘ supplement – which gives a more in-depth study of the war in the Pacific and Far East. This book is a more specialist publication, which includes a handful more specialist US Marine units such as Attack Dogs and Marine Raiders – as well as a whole host of Marine-specific Theatre Lists to specifically tailor your Army List to reflect the forces of the Marines throughout the Second World War.
Semper Fidelis!
For the ultimate USMC package, pick-up one of our ‘Semper Fidelis’ Starter Army sets – we’ve packed this box with as much plastic and metal goodness as we can! We’ve included a suggested 1,000pt Army List, but you can customise the content to create your own unique starter force.
Initial Enlistments
If you’d rather build your army bit-by-bit, then your first purchase models-wise is an easy one… pick-up a box of our US Marine Corps Plastic Infantry. This box set contains enough components to make 30 – Yes, THIRTY! models…
…and we’re not just talking about riflemen here – we’ve packed these sprues with as many weapon options and extras as we could – so – without any conversion work, you have the options to field the likes of Officers, Medics, Forward Observers, Infantry Squads, Sniper Teams, Bazooka Teams, and more!
Straight from the box, you have access to the likes of…
– M3 trench knife
– M1A1 Bazooka
– Field Glasses
– Mk II fragmentation hand grenade
– Colt M1911 .45 pistol
– M3 ‘Grease Gun’ SMG
– M1 Carbine
– M1903 Springfield rifle (with and without bayonet)
– M1 Garand rifle (with and without bayonet)
– Thompson sub-machine gun
– M1918 Browning automatic rifle
– Scoped M1903 springfield rifle
– M1897 trench shotgun
– Map Case
– Winchester Shotgun
– USN Corpsman’s bag
– Combat Knife
– Machete
– Entrenching Tool
…and with a little chop here and a slice there, there’s a near-endless amount of units which you can represent on the tabletop battlefield using our USMC Sprues (which – of course, are available separately as well, in case you need just a few extra reinforcements!) – just take a look at this article, in which I showcase just a few of the various conversions I’ve undertaken using the USMC sprue as a basis…
Reinforcements
After your initial purchases, it’s time to give them some support in the form of some specialist kit, of course… so head on over to the US Marine Corps section of the Warlord webstore, and take a look at what’s on offer!
Here you’ll find many of the iconic and unmistakable pieces of equipment which allowed the Marines to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds time and again – such as the Water-cooled M1917 Machine Gun…
Flamethrowers were used extensively by the Marines during their brutal assaults on the heavily dug-in Japanese positions throughout the Pacific. When assaulting tunnels and bunkers, the Marines would initially use grenades to clear enemy positions – following-up with a gout of flame to clear a hole in the lines.
The M3A1 37mm anti-tank gun was infact based upon the German Pak36 design – and was largely outdated by the time the Americans joined the war – however, the relatively poor Japanese armour which they faced meant that the 37mm was a common sight amongst the Marine ranks.
Heavy Support
When it came to armoured fighting in the Pacific, it all (essentially) boiled-down to two tanks for the US forces – the Sherman and the Stuart – both of which proved more-than-a-match for the Japanese armour which they faced.
These two iconic tanks saw numerous modifications, up-gunning and up-armouring throughout the war – with the likes of the Sherman 105mm, the Zippo, the Stuart Satan, the M8 Scott all seeing action in the Pacific.
When looking at historical photographs of the Pacific conflict, you’ll soon notice that the Marine tanks were more often than not covered in stowage, packs, improvised armour, and all sorts of other weird and wonderful apparatus… here at Warlord, we sell the likes of the Sand Bag armoured Sherman – and Wooden Armoured Shermans (both the 75mm and 76mm) – and I’ve explored a number of the less-common field modifications in this article.
One of the more unusual-looking USMC apparatus (and something of a personal favourite of mine) was/is the LVT – the ‘Landing Vehicle, Tracked’ – a a fully amphibious troop transport designed specifically for beach assaults in the Pacific Theatre.
The most numerous of the LVT series was the LVT-4 ‘Buffalo’ – armed with machine guns and able to transport two fully equipped squads of Marines – it proved invaluable in the island-to-island fighting of the Pacific campaign.
After it’s introduction during the battle of Tarawa, new, armoured versions were developed alongside firesupport variants… again, I’ve shared some of my own experience in converting some of the less-common of the LVTs in this article
Also – speaking of further LVT variants… keep watching the Warlord Newsletter for news of some interesting impending releases…
Extras
There are a whole bundle of useful little extras in the Bolt Action Armoury which will prove invaluable – from additional firepower in the form of the Calliope Rocket Launcher or US Weapon Sprues – to waterside decals, stowage, tank crews, and all sorts of little extras to set your models apart…
We have – for example – gathered all of the key paints required to have your force battle-ready in next-to-no-time – and for helpful hints and tips, take a look both at this article by our very own studio painter, Andres – and at the US Painting Guide which is available via the Warlord webstore!
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy
Craig Nixon