20mm Vietnam North and South armies.

Before you all get bored and wander away in droves to find something more interesting to look at. And let's be blunt there is loads out there of interest. I thought I would finish off all that I have rebased for the Vietnam conflict. I am still working on some bits and bobs so there will be more at a later date, indeed I expect to have repainted and re-based some more Americans by next week.

But until then here are all my North Vietnamese army (NVA). Yes a massive amount, OK only 12. But there is an RPG and a LMG included there. I may at a later date get an additional 6 so I can field 2 squads even if they are diminished squads. As you know from the last couple of posts I am looking to do "Local Militia" and not the NVA so I expect these to be used sparingly. As I lay in bed this morning I did ponder the possibility of doing it from their point of view as opposed to the US troops. And while I still could and in doing so some of my players would be happy I also know that some would not be.

I have even less of the South Vietnam army. Just a mere 9 figures. And it is interesting to note they all have WW2 Vintage weapons including BARs, M1 Carbines and Garand rifles. Yes there is even one with a rifle grenade. I have not put the tall grass on these yet. That is a job for this afternoon. And I think it is a case that the tall "Elephant" grass does improve the bases. When you look at their uniforms you can see I have painted the green striped camouflage patterns on. Simply a green base colour, then a white stripe and a thinner black strip through the white. At this scale there is little point in over doing it and trying to get the uniforms totally 100% correct. As that would drive me doo-lally. And to be honest about it I just do not want or need the stress.

I see this last squad as being used even less regularly than any of the others which is bound to get them used in every game. Life is just like that.

Thanks for looking today. Take care and have a great Easter. And I hope you get a very nice chocolate egg.

Cheers Clint

20mm Local force Viet Mihn

 Yes continuing with the Vietnam conflict today we have local force Viet Mihn. These are all locals fighting for the communist faction. They are Viet Mihn as opposed to Viet Cong as there was no such thing as Viet Cong EXCEPT that the US forces called them Cong as it sounded more aggressive than "Mihn". But strictly speaking they should be called Viet Mihn and NOT Viet Cong!

Rant over, there are 26 in all with a wide variety of weapons. And 1 Casualty marker (I may have to buy a few more). The weapons range from rifles and carbines through sub machine guns and Ak47s all the way up to LNMGs and Rocket propelled grenades. Simply put they were using everything they could get their hands on including stuff from WW2 and the French Invasion a few years before up to and including the stuff supplied to them from China and Russia. I have very few LMGs or RPGs just one of each so they are very likely to get out gunned at most opportunities. But as Local force militia they will rely on ambush and evasion. Firing a few shots from cover and then disappearing rapidly and taking any dead and wounded with them if they are able.

All the figures are SHQ and 20mm for easy of use with vehicles and my US troops. There will be more of these to show soon, but also some NVA and some south Vietnamese army as well, but in lesser numbers as I want to keep the games manageable. And Games do get over complex sometimes with too many figures on the table. Dependant on the rules uses of course. But as I am looking for a squad level game more troops would be gilding the lily I suspect!

Thanks for looking, I hope/plan to post again on Saturday. But If I don't have a great Easter.

Take care Clint.

20mm Vietnam Platoon.

Well as mentioned a couple of days ago. Here are some 20mm Vietnam conflict figures. Typically I am starting with the US troops by which I mean no disrespect to any other nation involved.

I have 3 squads of 10 for your standard US Troops. Each of the soldiers has the 7th Cavalry shoulder patch on the left arm. Which if you look really closely you will see as a black and yellow triangle with an additional "Diagonal" black stripe.


Each squad consists of a Pig gunner (M60 LMG) and a Booper (M79) Grenade launcher. I do have sufficient Bloopers to go to 2 in each squad if need be, or enough M203 grenade launchers to swap them out if need be. I did select the M79 Booper in preference to the M203 as it did have a higher rate of fire and was more common in the earlier part of the conflict. Additionally 1 squad has a shotgun (I may buy a few more at the Salute show) and while they were used think of "Bunny" in the film Platoon, I already suspect that many players if given the choice will opt for an M16. It is just a case of knowing your players. And by that I know they will want one to start with just to try it out, but will most likely prefer an M16 as the game(s) progress.

Someone is bound to ask "What rules will you use?" Well currently I am reading "FNG" by 2 hour wargames and quite like them. Many players do like them for this conflict when dealing with few figures but prefer "Charlie Don't Surf!" by Too Fat Lardies for company actions. But as I want to keep to squad level actions I do not feel the need for there purchase. Plenty of other rule sets exist of course so it is all personal choice.

All these figures are SHQ miniatures and painted a long while ago so all I have done is to re-base them and to touch them up where needed so they were never going to make the Analogue painting challenge. The basing was done exactly the same as my WW2 US Paratroops so if you flick back a dozen posts or so you will find a walkthrough of how that was done. But the bristles were not cut as short this time as I wanted a Jungle feel and not a scrubland/marsh look.

In addition to swap out figures I also Have some LLRP and special forces but I do not intend to use them at this stage simply because they are not always carrying the weapons you would think of in a squad. Far too many telescopic sights for example. And while telescopic sights were issued to first platoon then squad level it would only really be 1 a squad at the END of the conflict. So not common at all for the 67-8 period I would choose to portray.

Next time either Viet Mihn or South Vietnamese troops.  But I only have a single squad of South Vietnamese troops so may have to include a vehicle to bolster the post. So the Salute shopping list may grow!!

Thanks for looking, have a great day and take care. All the best Clint

 

WW1 German Jaegers (28mm)

Yes Paint monkey has done it again. Here are some more Germans for Matt. Matt has said that hw wants to do some WW1 games in 28mm so I would imagine I will be painting some more bits for him soon, actually I think he'll give me some more to do next weekend as I think Scott at the club will also but Scott wants Malburians in 15mms done so that might be a nice change of pace.

Anyway before then here are some WW1 German Jaegers for Matt. First off 3 officer types. While 1 may not actually be an officer he is studying either some orders or a pamphlet or it could even be a map. But the other 2 are definitely officers.

I have also finished* two heavy machineguns. Each of 2 crew and each ready to bring a rain of fire down onto any British or French or even Russian should they need to. I am not looking forward to facing these! Not one little bit!

While the heavy Machineguns only have 2 crew they also have an extra one each either with binoculars or with pencil and paper. While I am not 100% sure what Matt will do with these he wanted them done and now done they are!

Lastly this week we have a few (OK 3) rank and file riflemen. These should make up the bulk of any units and not the officers and Heavy machineguns. Clearly they are all in early war uniforms before the trenches became so dominate on the Western front.  Sorry for the dullness of the pictures as it is raining here at the moment and that has left them a little darker that I would normally want. So When it dries up I will varnish them in the light.

* when I started taking the Photos I did notice that I had left the regimental number off of some of the hats so that will be added before I varnish them.

Thanks for looking today and I will most likely be repainting and rebasing my Vietnam 20mm figures this week. So expect the first of them by Close of light on Tuesday, if not earlier.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I hope to see you all soon.
All the best Clint