Well there it is. The long night starved of reinforcements is over. The Head Shed has spoken.
But where does Phil start ?
Three things shape demand for modern figures . The first two are internal to Pendraken.
First, the demand created by existing figure ranges .
Secondly, demand created by existing AFVs , soft skins and APCs.
Thirdly, the demand stimulated by what is appearing in other manufacturer's ranges.
Based on this hypnosis I would suggest the following:
1. Finish off the Falklands with a nice senior officer command group. The squaddie with the binoculars from the mortar group has been promoted way beyond his ability. An OC looking at his watch perhaps ? I love that old Airfix Para command figure.
2. Thanks to Phil, Pendraken have the best range of Brits 1960s-1980s bar none. They could be well served with Warsaw Pact opponents from the same era, but just how popular is the Cold War ? The response to this thread will provide some market research.
3. Based on the existing AFVs , we could see sales soar in a Korean War infantry range. Especially if there were sculpted in a generic manner to allow other Third World applications. The Brits for example could double as late WW2 commandos in smocks and Denisons. North and South Koreans in summer gear with soft field caps. See IMEX set 530. Boy, just made for African bush wars and Latin American revolutions. There is always one such conflict somewhere.
4. And then we have the Arab- Israeli wars. Is the gap in the market is up to 1966- 1973 ? That's where the big actions were.
Arabs in soft caps, Russian helmets, AK47s and light equipment would be a dream. Israelis with FN and Uzi could moonlight as Brundeswehr - and no, its impossible to tell an FN from a H & K in 10mm.
I could dream on. But I still have a shed full of Paras to paint up in 1970 pattern Denison. The last true discrete para smock before everything went boring DPM.
Quote from: Sunray on 07 January 2016, 09:00:38 PM
Based on this hypnosis...
Either you are the victim of a beastly auto-correct feature or you are truly on to a way to influence the production on new figures! :D
@-) @-) @-)
You .........cannot ..........hypothesis........me....... @-) @-) @-) @-)
Cheers - Phil ;)
I heard it through the bassline he was moving to 18th century Ottomans...
Cheers
Ian
;D SORRY !!! Correction "Hypothesis " - lesson never type a thread whilst under the influence of Hennessy XO. Without spell check I would have spotted it.
Seriously...if that is possible - what's the forum's mind on Techno's modern infantry challenge ?
Quote from: Sunray on 07 January 2016, 11:57:08 PM
Seriously...if that is possible - what's the forum's mind on Techno's modern infantry challenge ?
That it should be postponed for as long as possible so he can get on and sculpt things I might actually buy?
OK, that's maybe not as serious as you were hoping for :)
The three obviousd ones are :
Correct the British Falkland's helmets - which were NOT the Brodie soup plate.....
Convert the Argtines to have M16's and M60's gives US up to 83/4
Warsaw pact, including womble suits....
IanS
Hmmm... Cold War is something I've always been interested in so that is definitely something worth considering; my area of interest would then be Warsaw-Pact versus Western European troops; preferably Germans/US but since that would mean a big increase in new vehicles I can understand it's not something that is going to happen soon...
Arab-Israeli; yes please! (wallet moans; 'no please...')
Cheers,
Rob
Do we define "Modern" as post 1945?
The major conflicts of time (as perceived in Western psyche) would be the Viet Nam war, the Arab-Israeli wars and the Iraq/Afghanistan debacles. I would also add the Korean War.
There is however, the imagination strand, for example the 1984 Soviet Invasion of West Germany and the 2nd Korean War.
Then there's those nastly little scraps fought at low level - bush wars in Africa, uprisings in Palestine, IRA, Malaya, Somalia.
Fortunately for Pendraken the big kit for the last 70 years can be divided into three major camps - Soviet, American and Western European. (No I'm not forgetting the Chinese, but most wars recently have been fought with the arms from the big 3.) Pendraken has made a good start on these. Yes, we can all point out some gaps, but as long as you're not in the "yeah, but the Egyptians used
square filler caps on their T62s not
round ones" camp, there's quite a lot to be going on with up to 1980 or so.
The infantry though, are a bit different. A British soldier in Korea 1952 is different from one in Suez 1956, and different again from Malaya, Falklands, Iraq, etc, etc.
So do we (the sultanas in the Pendraken curry sauce) have to be a little more forgiving? Could there be a generic Warsaw Pact figure that could serve 1960-1990? (I chose these dates randomly.) Could that figure, AK47 armed, be used for Egyptians in 1967, and dare I say it 1973? Could those figures (say with berets) be used as Iraqis from the Iran-Iraq war?
I'm definitely not going to pick up Pendraken because I can't use a generic WarPac figure for an Egyptian because the bayonet is too short. I'll make do with a paint job and if necessary, I'll do a bit of converting. I still have some banana oil around somewhere.
So for me the list would be:
- Korean War
- WarPac / Egyptians
- Israeli
I would also mentally stop at 1985 (or slightly before). There's some big stuff needed before we can think about more modern wars (Chieftain, Challenger, M1 etc)
Quote from: fsn on 08 January 2016, 08:41:37 AM
Do we define "Modern" as post 1945?
<snip>
So for me the list would be:
- Korean War
- WarPac / Egyptians
- Israeli
I would also mentally stop at 1985 (or slightly before). There's some big stuff needed before we can think about more modern wars (Chieftain, Challenger, M1 etc)
A well reasoned post FSN :o :-S :o :-S :o :-S :o :-S :o
or should I say Milord Oik ;D
Whatever they turn out to be...... (And I don't know exactly what Sir has in mind, yet.....So don't ask me ! ;))
I'm genuinely looking forward to making them. :)
(And I know a lot of you will help, as well.)
Cheers - Phil
FSN is right :D
Korean and Arab/Isreali wars for me.
Matt
(http://rs1019.pbsrc.com/albums/af314/irulan_87/Gifs/sheldon4.gif~c200)
;D ;D ;D
I must confess I'd do ultra-modern (post 2001).
But since I rarely buy any miniatures (said no wargamers ever), I don't think my voice should matter.
I'm less likely to do Ultra Modern, but my point was that I think Pendraken should round out the ranges they have now, rather than dive into a completely new (i.e. ultra modern) range.
Quote from: fsn on 08 January 2016, 08:42:13 PM
I'm less likely to do Ultra Modern, but my point was that I think Pendraken should round out the ranges they have now, rather than dive into a completely new (i.e. ultra modern) range.
Which is the point I was making when I opened this thread. No commercial sense in ultra modern figures when no ultra modern vehicles exist. So my wish list
1. Command groups for Falklands (both sides).
2. A Red Force for British BAOR (the Falklands Brit range + Centurions, Ferrets et al) to play with. We already have early Warsaw Pack AVFs and APCs so good to go for a 1960s/70s some figures.
3. Korea - most of the kit is WW2 but infantry would be useful . I love those IMEX sculpts of North and South Korean troops.
Quote from: fsn on 08 January 2016, 08:41:37 AM
So do we (the sultanas in the Pendraken curry sauce)
Milord Oik,
I had a Pakistani mentor when I was an apprentice. He had come over during WW2 and did the wiring on Spitfires. He was friends with chef at the famous Veerswarmys Indian restaurant in Regent street. He and the Chef were both adamant that "you should NEVER EVER" add sultanas to a curry sauce.
This came about from those dreadful dried Vesta meals.
My point exactly ... I think.
Quote from: Just a few Orcs on 09 January 2016, 09:34:09 AM
This came about from those dreadful dried Vesta meals.
I still have a hankering after those......Once every few years.....But not since I blamed one of those for causing an allergic reaction (?) and making the roof, and back, of my mouth 'blow up'.
Mrs T had to drive me to casualty, with
me with my head bent forward, because the swelling at the back of my throat was causing the uvula (the dangly bit in the roof of your mouth) to expand so much it was going down my throat and making me retch, all the time.
Scared the cr*p out of me !.......But.......All I had to do, was gargle with freezing cold water to take the swelling down.
At the time I didn't put it down to the Vesta meal......But when it happened again, after another...I thought that was too much of a coincidence, and haven't touched one since.
Cheers - Phil
I think there should be some sort of field kitchen (with curry on the menu obviously!) made for all the appropriate ranges :)
(http://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img/dynamic/11/285x214/70559_1.jpg)
Curreh! Curreh, everywah! ;D
I love curry me....
Lots of interest from me, for the 1950s - 1980s, e.g. Americans, West Germans, Cold War British (essentially the same as Falklands, though would like to see some prone troops), Danes, Soviets, East Germans, etc., etc.
Some of the above can just use US uniforms and helmets I suspect, but with different weapons, e.g. G3 rifle, MG3, and Panzerfaust 44 for the Bundeswehr; Danes, etc..
US kit, and helmets also work for many other nations too - sometimes with communist supplied weaponry.
US Vietnam troops can be used for much of the Cold War, though I'd like to see an expansion on the figs available for them.
See my Want List for prone troopers with various weapons. Appears the Falklands Argentine Prone Sapper can be modified for many of them, by ditching the bayonet and giving him a rifle, machine gun, or anti-tank weapon.