Planning Bolt Action Purchases

Marines Landing on Iwo Jima

Cost conscious as I am, I decided to compare the cost for a few armies and manufacturers for Bolt Action.  Warlord Games, the co-publisher of the game, has a great range of WWII 28mm miniatures.  I am also considering figures from Wargames Factory, which makes late war Americans and Germans, and the Plastic Soldier Company's Russians.

Without going into every detail, the table below compares four 1000 point armies. The experience level of the majority of units is listed.  As you can see, the Soviets are able to field a lot of infantry, thanks to a points-free 11 man inexperienced squad, a national characteristic unique to the Russian army list.


Playing Bolt Action in the Pacific theater is appealing to me, but it will require a little more money than a European campaign.  Although I didn't estimate the cost for a Japanese force, the basic infantry box for both the Marines and the Japanese runs the same.   I could field a Russian and German army for the price of one Marine list by using a mix of manufacturers.  Because the Warlord USMC and Japanese units are a mix of metal and plastic figures, the boxes are also pricier than the Warlord US Army figures available for European campaigns.

Bolt Action 28mm Forces - Cost Estimates
Army	USMC	Russian	German	German
General Exp Level	Veteran	Regular	Veteran	Regular
Officers, Staff, Medic	3	2	2	2
Inf Squads	3	5	3	3
Total Infantrymen	27	55	27	27
LMG/MMG Teams	.30 LMG	MMG Maxim	MG42	MG42
Sniper Team	1	0	1	1
Mortar Team	60mm	81mm	0	0
Anti-tank Team	0	AT Rifle	0	0
Artillery	0	76mm FG	0	0
Tank	M4 75mm Sherman	T34/85	Panzer IV	Panzer IV
Other Vehicles	LVT4 Buffalo	0	1 Hanomag	2 Hanomag
Points	1010	1011	973	976
Cost Estimate	$162	$80	$82	$104
Manufacturers	Warlord	Inf - PSC Tank-Warlord	Inf-WarFact Veh-Warlord	Inf-WarFact Veh-Warlord

Figure cost is not the only factor.  It would be interesting to estimate time and cost to finish a Pacific battlefield versus a European one.  I could easily scratch-build the bunkers that would characterize a Pacific Island; building or buying numerous buildings for a burned-out town in France would undoubtedly be pricier.  How would the money and time investment balance out when the terrain is considered? Hmm...

While cost will be a consideration, I don't expect that will be the leading factor in my final decision.  Bolt Action is quite affordable to play considering the investment needed to field large horse & musket armies, at smaller scales, for Napoleonic gaming.

Welcome thoughts from any experienced WWII gamers on how the Russian and Veteran German lists would match up. They are quite different in composition.  I have a few points left on the German list, so I should be able to add a bit more firepower.