Nam - ARVN infantry

 I have finished the ARVN infantry platoon . Some of the less favourite units for Nam . 

 

I still need to finish the unit insignia patches , I just haven’t made up my mind on which ones to do yet and will sort that when I add some support elements.

 

They have a mixed bag of weaponry from older Garands to M16’s . 2 M60s .  

As usual these are Gringo40 figures . I have some M113s to paint up for them coming up too . 

Next unit on the table is the Anzac infantry , a mix of Full Metal and Assault Group castings .

At least it feels like I’m into the home straight for this collection . The big game is booked for August 

Gaming - Necromunda

 Yesterday saw James and I meet up to give a couple of new gangs a run out . My Van Saar have had a few final items added after picking up a few Forgeworld resin pieces leader and champion and arachnids. 

The initial set up . 

James’s efforts on the terrain easily fills a 4x4 space , and the use of various Express paints has speeded up gang productions.

The Neotek on the grav cutter would suffer a glorious death from a height on his way to run down James’s long rifle armed sniper . 

 

The Van Saar were victorious with some seriously good incendiary charge throwing from the juves. This was backed up with some classic Van Saar ballistic skill from the higher gang members . So that’s these off on the campaign ladder - looking forward to going shopping for some more serious weapon art with newly earned credits . 

A few more shots in the proper terrain 

Nam - M88 ARV and M50 Ontos

 I have picked up a few more vehicles to add from Full Metal Miniatures . 

First up an M88 armoured recovery vehicle . I modelled it so the A frame jib could be deployed or down for moving . I used a Gringos figure wearing a baseball type cap for the commander . It’s carrying a large big box of local “33” beer on the back . I always like have engineering vehicles in the collection ss they are great for creating scenarios . 

 

Next is an M50 Ontos. Aka “the Thing! 

It’s a hell of a lot of firepower in a small package. Light enough to cross small bridges or be lifted under helicopter.

  

The BIG Vietnam game is now booked for 3 days in August - it will be epic .

Gaming - Bootleggers at Hammerhead

 It’s been the first show of the year . Myself , James and Martin went to Newark to the Hammerhead show - we last did this in 2019 . It’s usually a real busy show , and it was great to see it back to some post COVID normality . We enjoyed some beer and curry last night too . 

I had decided to just do something small and quick as the game was to be a participation one - as all the games at Hammerhead are . 

Martin and I had done a raid the still scenario last year and we decided to go with that . A bit different as it’s out in the sticks . I built a new barn building this week to use for it , Martin had sorted the still . 

 

The G Men and the cops would raid the farm .

 

 

The Cops would crash in , and all hell would break out 

 

The Boss , the moll and the banker 

That is gonna hurt 

  

Officer O’Mahoney takes his billy club to the still !

we played 4 games over the day - they were all brutal. Mind the one with two young lads playing the law was outstanding. The just couldn’t miss , it was over in 3 turns with 4 dead gangsters and 2 prisoners. 

We met up with old friends and new . The shopping was good, with some good bargains on the bring and buy for James . 

My stash 

 

A great weekend . 

Nam - B52 and Chickens !

 Yes this is a bonkers post . I spotted a B52 kit on eBay that had some bits missing so was cheaper than normal . I decided to pick this up and use it as scatter as a wrecked plane . It turned up with less missing than I thought so I decided to build it up as full as I can which would keep the paint job consistent. I recently found some scenarios for when the B52’s were  based in Thailand with commando raids . So I have the wheels to be able to add on now . 

This is a massive 1/72nd kit - and I thought it was actually a pretty poorly designed . But for what I want it for it was fine .

 

It’s a 32 in ch wingspan , 27 inches long and 6 inches high - blooming big 

 

For now it left whole.

Next up is some more set dressing for the village .

Pendraken do a great set of animals in various scales - I picked up 4 packs of chickens . So 40 chickens 

So a very random week on the paint table!

Gaming - 7 Days to the Rhine

 Today saw a first run out test game of 7DTTR . We had French versus East German . A basic table set up with buildings , woods , roads etc , and we just worked through the basic mechanics of initiative, reactions and shooting . It played pretty well . We have various referrals to the rule book and errata , but came through it ok. 

While the East German vehicles were knocked out fairly quickly the infantry was harder to deal with .in the end the French infantry was overwhelmed and bugged out .

So main thing to do is sort out some proper road sections and bases for the buildings. Looking forward to another game.

‘Nam - LVTs and Recoilless Rifles .

 A bit more for the Marine force . First up a pair of Landing Vehicle Tracked 5 and 6H . These were a 1950/60s iteration of the LVTs the Marines had used in WW2 , bigger and heavily armed . 

I picked these up as 3d resin prints from BPM - very good quality - they do lack a bit of track detail but that is from the STL. Easy enough coverable . 

Given they could carry 30+ guys inside I can understand why they would cover the top in sandbags and hide up there . I added a 50cal team and a guy with a M60 after using a whole pack of milliput to make the sandbags . I have a few other kneeling figures on order to add in too . 

I need a driver / command figure as well - just waiting for Full Metal to have them back in stock .

Next up is some extra firepower in the form of recoilless rifles . One is set up to fire with a pair of guys carrying the ammo box . The other is 4 guys struggling to move the damn thing ! Very nice sets from Full Metal Miniatures - just a bit of an epic putting them together as they all have separate arms - much swearing and sticking fingers together while doing these was had . They have however come out great .

 

Next Nam will be some ARVN I think .