All,
Continuing my saga in 15mm skirmish gaming, I've really lost my mind and can't seem to stop. I've been working on a big Vietnam project (coming along VERY slowly, US Marine Corps vs North Vietnamese Army in the Battle of Dai Do), and I needed a few terrain bits, so I popped over to the Flashpoint Minis website (which is where my USMC troops are from). I perused a bit and spotted some stuff I needed, then I gave another look back at the figures and saw Flashpoint had put out a new rifle platoon, one for the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, commonly referred to as ARVN, or "Ahr-vinn." I looked at the pics of the figs and I just couldn't help myself, I had to have some! So I threw them in the cart and the rest is history.
Now, I have no project plans for these troops, I really was just tackled by a case of the 'ooh, shiny.' And so without having a project in mind, I didn't really know how to paint them up. I've seen early war pics of ARVN in plain green with dark green helmets, I've seen pics of ARVN in 'duck hunter' camouflage, I've seen ARVN Rangers with their crazy-ass yellow, striped helmets with the black panther on the front, I've seen ARVN Marines in woodland camo and tigerstripe camo. The possibilities are almost endless; as my buddy Jimmi (proprietor of Flashpoint Minis) said, ARVN troops were spotted in "...a bewildering array of different uniforms." I have sort of daydreamed about doing some ARVN stuff, usually Fall of Saigon, or the Laos incursion, or some Vietnamese Marine Corps during the Easter Offensive, and I figured, 'why limit myself?' So it might seem a little goofy, but I basically did all the above, painting the platoon up in a bewildering array of different uniforms. Hope you like'em, I do, I'm very happy with how they turned out.
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4ZZroHBt7N8/V3xUZ9mOo9I/AAAAAAAAWwA/Po0d4fdcsXgj76-2-_5apv2abjG8lmRwwCLcB/s1600/IMG_6638.JPG)
The LT (right) waving to the crowds while Big Sarge (left) tells the guys to bring the Cadillac convertible around, and the RTO (center) complains to his buddies on the company net. To see pics of all the poses in the force, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/07/flashpoint-minis-15mm-arvn-platoon.html
Please leave a comment somewhere to let me know what you think, and I'll see if I can't get them into action in the near future. I've got plenty of troops ready for The 'Nam, but I'm still lacking some vehicles and haven't got much further done on my terrain tiles...
And I spent all weekend painting these guys (and some others I'll post soon) up, so I didn't get any games in, though the boy and I did playtest Two-Hour Wargames' "Hell Hath No Fury" rules. We really liked them, so we plan on playing a co-op campaign following a German tank platoon from the 13th Panzer Division from Barbarossa to Berlin; we'll see how far we make it. I've recently become aware that I might have too many projects going on...
V/R,
Jack
Great work Jack!
Looking good, Jack.
Cheers - Phil
Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.
V/R,
Jack
Very nice indeed 8)
Thanks Nik. Certainly they're a bit out of the ordinary.
V/R,
Jack