JOD WW2 US MARINES

US Marines STL Miniatures: 28mm Pacific Theatre Forces for 3D Printing

Amphibious assault is the hardest thing an army can be asked to do. You arrive in daylight, in the open, against a defender who has had months to prepare, and the first hundred metres decide everything. The Marines did it repeatedly across the Pacific, and they built a force structure specifically for the problem.

Part of the Join or Die WW2 Pacific Theatre collection, sculpted at true 28mm and supplied as digital STL files.

Built for clearing bunkers

What makes a Marine force distinctive on a table is the assault kit. Engineers and flamethrower teams exist because Japanese defensive positions on the islands could not be dealt with by rifle fire, and no other Allied force fielded them in the same proportion at squad level.

That gives you a genuinely different tactical problem from a European scenario. You are not manoeuvring around a position, you are closing with it and destroying it, and the game becomes about getting the flamer within range before the defenders stop him. Against a dug-in Imperial Japanese Army force, that is the scenario.

Command and infantry

Three HQ options and two NCO variants give you a proper command structure rather than a generic officer marker, which matters in systems where leadership drives activation.

The core is riflemen in two variants, BAR and submachine gun teams, shotgun units and snipers. The shotgun is worth noting: the Marines used them extensively in jungle and bunker fighting where range was irrelevant and stopping power was everything, and few other forces did.

Medics, POW models, extra action poses and casualties round out the range. Casualties and POWs are scenario models rather than combat units, and they do more for a narrative game than another rifle squad would.

Assault and heavy weapons

• Engineers and flamethrower teams for bunker clearing
• Light machine guns
• Light and medium mortar teams
• Bazooka teams
• M1 and M3 anti-tank cannons

The anti-tank options matter less against Japanese armour, which was light by 1944 standards, and more as direct-fire weapons against fortified positions. That is broadly how they were used.

Vehicles

The Willys Jeep for mobility and the Stuart light tank for armoured support. The Stuart is the right vehicle for the theatre precisely because it was light: heavier tanks struggled on island terrain, and a Stuart that could actually get to the position was worth more than a Sherman that could not.

Rulesets these work with

Sculpted to true 28mm and compatible with the WW2 systems most groups play, including Bolt Action and Chain of Command. Neither publisher is affiliated with us and neither endorses these models. Compatibility is a matter of scale and basing, not licensing.

The range is designed to face our Imperial Japanese Army collection, and both share the same sculpting style. That matters more in the Pacific than in most theatres, because these scenarios frequently come down to two squads at very close range where any mismatch in scale is obvious.

Printing

Infantry is supplied with pre-supports, ready to slice and print. Vehicles and artillery come unsupported so you can orient them to suit your machine. Bases are not included.

Around 0.03mm layer height on resin covers gaming figures, tilted 30 to 45 degrees for drainage. Flamethrower hoses and mortar bipods are the fragile parts in this range, so check those before committing a plate.

Frequently asked questions

What colour should Marine uniforms be?
Green, and specifically greener than US Army olive drab, which is the distinction most people get wrong. The Marine herringbone twill utilities were a sage or forest green that reads noticeably cooler than the browner olive worn in Europe, and camouflage helmet covers in the frog-skin pattern were common from 1943 onwards. The contrast is worth getting right because it is what separates a Marine force from an Army one at a glance, and it becomes obvious when the two stand next to each other. Tropical conditions faded everything heavily, so a used, washed-out finish looks more authentic than fresh paint.

How do I use flamethrower teams effectively on the table?
Carefully, because they are short-ranged and fragile. Most rulesets give flame weapons devastating effect against troops in cover and buildings, which is exactly what they were for, but a very limited range and often a limited number of uses. That makes getting them into position the entire tactical problem: you need covering fire, you need terrain to move through, and you need to accept that losing the team to a lucky shot is part of the risk. Against a dug-in defender they are frequently the only tool that will shift a position, which is why the Marines carried them despite the cost.

Why are vehicles and artillery supplied unsupported?
Because larger pieces benefit from being oriented to suit your specific machine and build volume in a way infantry does not. A Stuart tank or an anti-tank gun has flat surfaces, overhangs and crew elements that different people will want to angle differently depending on plate size and whether they print the piece assembled or in sections. Supplying them unsupported gives you that freedom. Infantry is far more standardised, so pre-supports save you the work without costing flexibility. Automatic support generation in ChiTuBox or Lychee handles hulls and gun carriages well as a starting point.

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