Ok that might be over doing it. (and It may be spelt wrong) but you get the idea. The figures are 20mm SHQ purchased at the recent Cavalier show (on Impulse). Personally I like 20mm figures and I like SHQ Miniatures and I like Cold war wargaming. Thus for me it is a shame they will possibly never get used.
I know the kind of wargame I want and have never found the correct rules. You can imagine what I wanted looking at the pic on the left. I have even looked into making and casting the "Iron Cow" Yes Bryan I know if I ever do you want one in 28mm scale. I know this. But I would be working in 20mm IF I ever did it, or maybe in 15mm depending on the other manufacturers and what they make to fit in as opposition. But my plan has always been 20mm. 
Anyway that will have to wait. Probably till I die and someone else does it! So hold your breathe if you want but I would not advise it!OKAY so why the Epiphany? Well while looking for some suitable "The Zone" rules I can across "Black Opps" by Osprey. Now I will admit they would be kind of suitable, but they would need a few tweaks to get the flavour right. What they would suit is Vietnam. Now the Vietnam conflict is just my thing and I have 2 forces ready to go. In fact they are itching to get going and have been for a LONG while. In a weeks time I do have a Veitnam game (Peter Pig rules) at a show. Personally I do not like these rules as I feel they are more about the game than the conflict. Yes I have looked at SEVERAL other sets of rules Including (but not limited to) FNG, Buckle for your dust, Body Count, Force on Force, Skirmish Sangin, Specte and even Flames of War. None of them quite give what I am after. FNG is closest but I do not like the mechanics as they come across as unwieldy. However "Black Opps" is the right scale (about a squad) easy to explain and use and should I hope, give a good Vietnam game. So that is my plan at this stage.
Thanks for reading my babble. next time some Vikings. (I hope)
Great-looking camo, Clint, especially on 20mm. Clearly you've lots of love for your periods, its just a shame you're struggling for a rule-set and (in Cold Wars case) opponents at your club.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon. I know If I built/painted it all people would be happy to play. I think "Black Opps" by Osprey may be suitable for Vietnam and that to me is a break through.
DeleteYou may well be sticking with 20mm for this project but it is still one I have a keen interest in. I really loved "The Zone" series of books. Like you, I collected a lot of 20mm scale figures for it but could never find a set of rules I liked to use for this project. I truly do hope you find the rule set you are looking for, and if you do, please let me know.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bryan. Should I ever get of my fat lazy ar*e and make an Iron Cow suitable for casting I will cast you one as a gift.
DeleteAs for rules I agree, but I guess it also come down to what you exactly want. For me it is a set of skirmish rules where each player has a single squad.
Nice, 20mm is the true scale for WW2 and modern wars however that's just my opion.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Ross
Thank you Ross. I agree anything post WW1 is best in 20mm until you get on to sci fi then other scales are best depending on what you play.
DeleteNice painted figures Clint, and what a great find on the ruleset if it covers at least one of the games you want to play
ReplyDeleteThank you Dave I think the Black Opps rules should (with very little adaption) work quite well for Vietnam, at least that is my hope.
DeleteNice painting Clint :)
ReplyDeleteBlack Ops seems to be a very versatile rules set and could be adapted to pretty much any conflict post WWI (I've seen a report of someone using it for gangsters gaming)
Thank you Tamsin, I have (so far) only seen the Black opps rules used for Sci Fi Games. But I see little reason they could not be used for a wide variety of periods. Vietnam being one.
DeleteGood luck and let us know how you go. The Viet Nam conflict has so much flavor but it is hard to get right in a set of rules.
ReplyDeleteThank you Warrior. I totally agree. Many have tried and all have strong points yet all (in my opinion) fail.
DeleteLove The Zone also - never got the circulation I thought it deserved personally
ReplyDeleteI too am considering a move to squad level Vietnam games later this year, so I'll be interested in how you adjust Black Ops to suit the genre. Great idea!
Than you Paul. With Black opps the weapons and troops should all be the same (or very close. the Exception being the M79 "Blooper" a single shot grenade launcher)So I do not see a change being a huge issue. Add rules for Short timers and FNG's and you are almost there.
DeleteWith reference to the zone. As long as you know I am interested we can take it from their.
I'm a big fan of 20mms, but wouldn't be able to pain them, I struggle enough to make 28mms acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that with a bit of poking around you can find other rules too - maybe even make your own ?
I'll be interested to see what 'cold war' type of game you settle for.
Thank you Joe. For most cold war games Force on force is pretty good if you want a platoon or more on each side. But I was looking for a squad level set of rules for Vietnam. As such I think Black Opps might be the way to go now.
DeleteNice job on them Clint. I know what you mean about modern rulesets. Look forward to seeing what tweaks you make to Black Ops.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon. I will not be using the vehicle rules. I spoke to my players over a year ago and they ALL would prefer helicopter to APC. So Vehicles hardly any at all.
DeleteThe next change will be to add the M79 "Blooper" to the weapons list. While Underslung grenade launchers were used they were not common and the M79 was common at squad level. Other than that, not very much at all will be changed as it all seems to work and work well.