Alan and Michael Perry
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Alan and Michael Perry (born 1961) are former Citadel Miniatures designers, and two of the most renowned and prolific sculptors for the
miniature wargaming Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use ...
hobby. They worked for Games Workshop from 1978 until 2014, and during that time worked on most of the company's miniature ranges. In addition, they were former sculptors for
Wargames Foundry Bryan Ansell is a British role-playing and war game designer. In 1985, he became managing director of Games Workshop, and bought Games Workshop from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone.
, helped found Warhammer Historical Wargames and now run the relatively new company "Perry miniatures", for which they produce historical miniatures. They have also taken part in reenactments of historical battles and have illustrated a number of books on military history for Osprey Publishing. They currently live in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.


Life

Alan and Michael are twin brothers, sometimes referred to either as the Perry Brothers or the Perry Twins, who were born in 1961 and brought up in
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...
. They have played wargames since the age of 10, and are avid collectors of antique armour, weapons and other militaria. They studied art at
A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...
, and started sculpting freelance for Games Workshop in 1978, while still in school. They joined the company in 1980, and were the longest-serving members of the Games Workshop Design Studio. The pair have "a passion for Military History and love to recreate it;" they were members of ''Sir Marmadaduke Rawdon's Regiment of Foote'', which is a
Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
foot regiment of the King's Army, part of the British historical re-enactment group, the English Civil War Society. They have also belonged to other re-enactment groups. With the help of their friend John Stallard, they published an actual-size, full colour facsimile of a unique officer's handbook, ''The Art of Martial Discipline'', which had been in their collection for some years. Aside from facial hair they look virtually identical, except that Michael lost part of his right arm in 1996, following an accident loading a reproduction cannon during a re-enactment of the
Battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King EdwardIII. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France du ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. This was a very serious injury for a right-handed model sculptor and illustrator, but he learned to sculpt and paint with his left hand. They founded the company
Warhammer Historical ''Warhammer Historical Wargames'', also known as ''Warhammer Historical'', was the publisher of Warhammer Ancient Battles and other game systems. It was an imprint from the BL Publishing division of Games Workshop. From a leaked email from Rob B ...
with a number of colleagues from Games Workshop, collaborated on the first four books of Warhammer Historical with Jervis Johnson and
Rick Priestley Rick Priestley (born 29 March 1959) is a British game designerSlingshot, No279, Nov 2011, p1 and author mainly known as the creator of ''Warhammer'' miniature wargame. Career Rick Priestley, with Bryan Ansell and Richard Halliwell, designed t ...
, and have said that they "try and fit in a historical game when ever we can." Their own company, Perry Miniatures, currently produces 12 ranges on different historical themes:
Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...
, American War of Independence, Agincourt to Orleans, Border Reivers,
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
,
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
,
The Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
, etc. In all, their miniatures are covered by hundreds of commercial rulesets. They have also sculpted a range of 54mm
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
ANZACs for the Gallipoli Campaign for Peter Jackson's private collection. They have also served as illustrators for Osprey Publishing. Alan has illustrated books on
Rorke's Drift The Battle of Rorke's Drift (1879), also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an engagement in the Anglo-Zulu War. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the ...
and the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, while Michael has specialised in Chinese subjects such as the
Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...
of the 19th century. According to the Osprey website, Alan's interest in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
has led him recently to buy a Stuart Light Tank (M3A1). Both are now married and live in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.


The Lord of the Rings

They have described the illustrator John Howe as an "old friend", and share an interest in miniature wargaming and military history with ''The Lord of the Rings'' film director Peter Jackson. They also had a
cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in ''
The Return of the King ''The Return of the King'' is the third and final volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', following '' The Fellowship of the Ring'' and '' The Two Towers''. It was published in 1955. The story begins in the kingdom of Gondor, ...
'' film as
Rohirrim Rohan is a fictional kingdom of Men in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy setting of Middle-earth. Known for its horsemen, the Rohirrim, Rohan provides its ally Gondor with cavalry. Its territory is mainly grassland. The Rohirrim call their land the M ...
at the
Battle of the Pelennor Fields In J. R. R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings'', the Battle of the Pelennor Fields () was the defence of the city of Minas Tirith by the forces of Gondor and the cavalry of its ally Rohan, against the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron from ...
, alongside Games Workshop designers Alessio Cavatore and Brian Nelson. They can be seen near the Mumakil
Peregrin Took Peregrin Took, commonly known simply as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is closely tied with his friend and cousin, Merry Brandybuck, and the two are together during most of th ...
goes searching for
Meriadoc Brandybuck Meriadoc Brandybuck, usually called Merry, is a Hobbit, a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, featured throughout his most famous work, ''The Lord of the Rings''. Merry is described as one of the closest friends ...
among the debris from the battle, and are also on the base of Games Workshop's Mûmak miniature. Alan and Michael Perry were "heavily involved in every
The Lord of The Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
project that Games Workshop has undertaken". They expressed excitement when they were first asked, as it would allow them to "work on more true-to-life proportioned figures which is what we prefer." As with their sculpting for other miniature ranges, they always work on sculpting miniatures separately and "only occasionally combine on plastic projects."


Illustrated

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See also

* Miniature figure


Footnotes


External links


Perry Miniatures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Alan And Michael Games Workshop Miniature wargames Living people Sibling duos People from Enfield, London 1961 births Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game