All,

Well, it all started about a year ago now.  For some reason I'd decided to buy 'just a few' 15mm guys to do some skirmishing (actually, that's all Techno-Phil's fault: I wanted some 10mm Marines with M-14s but couldn't get them, so I looked to 15mm!).  As part of that I was on Brookhurst Hobbies' website and ordered a single pack of Peter Pig LRRPs (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, for the uninitiated) and VC (Viet Cong, or Varmint Cong if you listen to Bill Murray).  I painted and based both sets up, and a year later neither has seen the table.

But then I (virtually) met Jimmi over at Flashpoint Minis and, well, now I'm a Vietnam War gamer.  Previously you've seen me post my Flashpoint Minis US Marines (with M-14s, about 70 figures), then Peter Pig Viet Cong (about 30 guys), and then more Flashpoint Minis, this time ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam, AKA South Vietnamese, about 50 figures).  And then recently I went nuts and bought a bunch more stuff.

This post is simply to confirm to the world that I am, indeed, a Vietnam-era gamer, and to give a quick overview of all the stuff I recently purchased and finished up.  I will be doing my 'usual' separate blog post for each subset of troops/terrain/vehicles, but I'm quite proud of myself getting all this done and so wanted to show it off in one grand post.  So let's get to it.


Here's everything, all my recent purchases painted and based, ready to play.  What do we have?
-Peter Pig NVA Platoon
-Peter Pig NVA and VC Heavy Weapons (mortars, MGs, and recoiless rifles)
-Peter Pig VC casualty figures
-A Peter Pig T-55 (for Laos and Fall of the South)
-A Zvezda 122mm SPG (ditto)
-A Battlefront US 'leg' Infantry Platoon
-Two Battlefront OH-6s
-A Peter Pig M-48
-Two Peter Pig LVTP-5 Amtracs
-Flashpoint Minis US tank riders
-A Peter Pig PBR
-Three Flashpoint Minis Sampans
-A village from Flashpoint Minis (four thatch huts, a wooden hut, a corrugated tin shelter, a fish pond, a foot bridge, a Buddhist Shrine, an animal pen, two wooden-staked walls, various pots and containers
-Flashpoint Minis Palm Trees
-Pegasus Banana Trees
To see pics of all that, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/08/apparently-ive-become-vietnam-war-gamer.html

Not pictured: Flashpoint Minis Elephant Grass, and Flashpoint Minis ANZAC Task Force, which I'm still painting up.

Like I said, I'll be doing separate posts for the various troops, vehicles, and terrain posted here, so stand by for that.  And stand by for some Vietnam games!  So let me pontificate on that for a moment; I know a lot of you out there in the ether-land love the photos of stuff, but I also know a lot of you enjoy hearing (and/or making fun of me for) my project plans.  So here goes.

First, I'm very conflicted on two accounts:

1) I am absolutely committed to fighting out a campaign for the US battle of Dai Do, where 2nd Bn 4th Marines (reinforced by C/1/3) fought an entire NVA division to a standstill.  I originally planned on doing this in 15mm, but the overall battle seems to me to lend itself to a series of company-level actions, and that's pretty big for 15mm (for me at least).  So, my issue is whether to do Dai Do as company-level fights (about a dozen of them) in 6mm, or do it as a series of platoon-level fights (about 35 of them!) in 15mm.

2) (and this affects Dai Do as well) I have quite a few ideas for Vietnam projects, but I kind of don't want to play them as Vietnam campaigns, I want to work them into my existing Cuba Libre alt-history blog.  That is, I'd be playing Vietnam fights with Vietnam figures, vehicles, and terrain, but for my campaign purposes the troops would be Cuban Expeditionary Forces rather than US Marines, US Army, or ARVN.  This is pretty much solely in the interest of time; I've got too many projects, and so this is a means of sorting of killing two birds with one stone.  I get to play some Vietnam gaming AND advance my Cuba Libre stuff.

So, what all do I have in mind?  This is a list of stuff I will get to (someday):
-Dai Do, USMC vs NVA
-Operation Buffalo, USMC vs NVA
-Operation Starlite, USMC vs NVA
-Lam Son 719, ARVN vs NVA
-1972 Easter Offensive, ARVN vs NVA
-The movie "Platoon," USA vs NVA/VC
-Some "Apocalypse Now"-style Air Cav, USA vs VC
-I'd like to do some Phoenix stuff, though the troops aren't ready for this yet
-I'd like to do some SF w/Mike Force stuff, though I don't have troops for this yet

I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of for right now.

V/R,
Jack

Sounds good, Jack.

Cheers - Phil

Some nice stuff jack!

About the 6mm -15mm, i would choose to go with the 15mm, because you can get started straight away. Nothing as rewarding as using your nicely painted toys, would be a shame if you had to paint up another force before you could begin!

Looking good Jack.
Start 15mm for initial skirmishes, 6mm when the action gets bigger, focus back in for 15...

Thanks fellas, 'ppreciate ya!

Phil - That was just a joke, by the way

Peter - I actually have most of the stuff done for 6mm, just need to pick up a single pack each of M-48s and LVTP-5s, maybe buy an armored patrol boat. 

Lemmey - I get what you're saying, but Dai Do actually doesn't work out that way.  The Battle of Dai Do went full scale immediately; the whole thing was kicked off by an NVA ambush of some US Navy supply vessels moving up the Cua Viet River, ostensibly a rear area.  2nd Bn 4th Marines was ordered to take two companies into the area and clear it out, so right off the bat the very first contact was a USMC company-sized assault on an NVA held village, and pretty much everything that followed was a company-sized assault as well.

V/R,
Jack

Quote from: bigjackmac on 21 August 2016, 11:14:41 PM


Peter - I actually have most of the stuff done for 6mm, just need to pick up a single pack each of M-48s and LVTP-5s, maybe buy an armored patrol boat. 

Lemmey - I get what you're saying, but Dai Do actually doesn't work out that way.  The Battle of Dai Do went full scale immediately; the whole thing was kicked off by an NVA ambush of some US Navy supply vessels moving up the Cua Viet River, ostensibly a rear area.  2nd Bn 4th Marines was ordered to take two companies into the area and clear it out, so right off the bat the very first contact was a USMC company-sized assault on an NVA held village, and pretty much everything that followed was a company-sized assault as well.

V/R,
Jack

In thatcase, forget what i said 
You know what might be cool?(And would take forever so probably not do-able)

Do the games in 6mm and when things get close and personal, 'zoom in' and fight out close encounters using the 15mm's!

Peter,

That 6mm-15mm is a cool idea, but man that would be a lot of fights!  There's gotta be something workable in there though; I must meditate on this

V/R,
Jack

 

And it's very interesting; another gamer on another forum just recommended the same thing!

You, Peter, are apparently a genius, a man ahead of his time.  I wouldn't do this for Dai Do (it's just not how I want to do that particualr battle), but this is definitely sounding cool.

V/R,
Jack

Quote from: bigjackmac on 23 August 2016, 11:55:15 PM

You, Peter, are apparently a genius, a man ahead of his time.

Could i have a certificate for this? I'd like to get that laminated and attached to my desk at work! 

Now seriously, there was an online game i used to play where this sort of thing happened, called autumn war, and i have always liked the way that worked!

http://armorgames.com/play/189/autumn-war

All,

While Vietnam was largely an infantry war, there were, of course, vehicles present.  I've only got two helicopters, which you'll see later, but now you get to see what else I've got, and the cool thing is that I've got vehicles for both sides!  And I've got land and sea covered

The label says Peter Pig, which is a bit of a little white lie.  You see, it's almost all Peter Pig, but there is one lonely Zvezda vehicle in there.


Here's the group: a PBR (Patrol Boat, River), two LVTP-5 Amtracs, and M-48 Patton, a T-55, and a 122mm self-propelled gun (I believe the Soviet designation is 2S1?).  The T-55 and SPG are for the North Vietnamese, and will come in handy for some late war action, like the Fall of the South, the 1972 Easter Offensive, or Lam Son 719.  All the US stuff is in play for the entire war.

The 122mm SPG is the Zvezda model, all the rest is Peter Pig.  To see a bunch more pics, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/08/peter-pig-15mm-vehicles-for-vietnam.html

That's all my vehicles, and all I can see really needing in 15mm.  I'd like to have some more helos, some Hueys for the Army and some CH-34s for the Marines, but they're so big and expensive (and hard to find the -34s) that I'll probably live without them.  More troops and terrain to show ya, so stay tuned.

V/R,
Jack

All,

This is a platoon pack of Battlefront Vietnam-era US regular old 'leg' infantry, and a pack of two OH-6 light observation helicopters, or 'LOACHES.'  I'd picked the infantry up quite awhile ago and had them lying on the lead mountain; I'd also purchased the helos some time ago. I assembled them, finished up their flight stands, and primed them, but had them sitting around too.  Well, I finally finished both, and I'm glad I did.  Battlefront is a bit pricey, and my experience with their infantry has been a bit hit and miss, but these sculpts are really fantastic.

The helos are really good, but the infantry is truly great.  There are some flaws; some miscastings (missing rifle barrels and broken carrying handles), the grenadiers are missing pistols (I guess that's universal), and there was quite a bit of flash on some of the poses (some of which I missed in my clean up, unfortunately), but the poses are really fantastic.  I can't wait to get these on the table; I'm sure most of you have seen the movie 'Platoon,' and that's exactly what I'm thinking with these guys.  I've even been picking out poses for certain characters, and tired to paint the 'Electric Strawberry' patch of the 25th Infantry Division on them.


The whole mess, 44 troops and two helicopters.


A couple grenadiers with M-79s, crouched and moving forward.  But their Army, so going in different directions   To see a bunch more photos, please check the blog at:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2016/08/battlefront-vietnam-15mm-us-infantry.html

Well, that's the 'Platoon,' I can't wait to get them on the table.  But there's a lot of stuff I can't wait to get on the table.  Bear with me, I'm doing my best!  More to come.

V/R,
Jack

Some of your best work yet Jack.

+1 

Cheers - Phil

Great stuff jack!

Especially nice machine gun sculpts!!

On the Recoilles rifle:

"The 90 mm recoilless rifle, M67, was a lightweight, portable, crew-served weapon intended primarily as an antitank or antipersonnel weapon designed to be fired from the ground using the bipod, monopod, or metal frame shoulder stock. Its length was 53 inches (1.35 meters) and it weighed about 37 pounds (17 kg.) Its maximum range was about 2200 yards (meters) but effective in the range 450-800 yards (meters). The M67 was used extensively in Vietnam, especially against bunkers and other fortifications."

and a page from osprey's vietnam infantry tactics shows us that they used these in the 'army' but not with the marines

https://books.google.be/books?id=MTu3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=90mm+recoilless+rifle+vietnam&source=bl&ots=7Tqehtnodh&sig=rSAUgwgbwHdl007DKdah-hpfi6A&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwir1-S0juHOAhVDPBoKHR0DAfo4ChDoAQgjMAE#v=onepage&q=90mm%20recoilless%20rifle%20vietnam&f=false