10mm "Moderns"

So, I think this will be the last one for today (my first day!).  I'll seal this up then post to TMP regarding the wargaming community's newest blogger.  Here we have some photos of my "moderns," AKA from Vietnam forward to the present day.  It is of note that almost everyone of these 'armies' is from Minifigs, which is what I started with.  My first 10mm forces were Minifigs' Modern US Infantry and Modern Arab Insurgents from the 'old' GFI Minifigs in the US.  I built a USMC force and Iraqi Insurgent force that saw me through quite a few games of Ambush Alley's Force on Force rules.  It wasn't until later that I learned of Pendraken, which is where most of my stuff has come from since.  But I will say Minifigs has some great character, and there's nowhere else to go for modern forces.  Pendraken has moved forward with both Vietnam and Falkands ranges, which I have *in my possession* for the former and *ordered and on the way* for the latter :-)  I'd love to see them getting into modern US/Brit/French/various Insurgents, NATO vs. Warsaw Pact in mid-80's, etc...  I'm working on a special project in which I'll be morphing a bunch of current Pendraken stuff into...  well, whatever I need it to be.
    Without further adieu, here's some pics:

 First up, a couple Pendraken British Scimitars from their Falklands range, using Pendraken WW2 US tank crew (left) and WW2 US rooftop .50 cal. MG (right).

 Three Pendraken Panhards, also from their Falklands range, used by bad guys all over, but also for my modern French.  Center has crew member and outer two have .50 cal's, as above.

 A couple Minifigs HMMWVs, with Mk19 (left) and Ma Deuce (right).

 Three M-113s from the Pendraken Vietnam range, with Minifigs TOW gunner (front left), Minifigs Ma Deuce gunner (front right), and rooftop .50 cal from Pendraken (top).  Yes, taht's my attempt at MERDC, get over it, I like it!

 Two Minifigs LAV-25s, with Minifigs M-240 gunner (bottom).

 A couple Minifigs 'technicals,' with 12.7mm DshK (left) and 106mm recoil-less rifle (right).

 Three Minifigs BTR-60s.  I also liked the look of these.  Great for Third World Dictator's everywhere.

 Three Minifigs BMP-2s.  I painted them this way in an attempt to make them serve in desert or temperate climes, as dictated by the game scenario :-)  At the top right I took a door-gunner from a Minifigs UH-1, chopped his legs off, and stuck him on.

 These are actually Takara pre-painted T-72s, which I gave a paintjob to (and added the other Huey doorgunner).

 Here we go with some modern US infantry.  Love these guys.  In real life you can make out the SAWs and M-203s (my personal favorite).  I like the fact this color looks (to me) like the Army's ACU pattern, without spending time painting camo.  Of course I hate the Army, but that's a whole 'nother story.  I had to build an Army force, what would be the point of building a Marine force?  Not much of a game; "yep, the Marines whooped a$$ again, what I surprise.  I don't wanna play anymore."  (Oh, simmer down my doggie brethren, it's just a joke)

 US 60mm mortar, dismounted TOW, and a sniper.  I see I forgot to get a snap of a Stinger team...

 I love these guys!!!  These are from Minifigs' Vietnam range, and are Australians.  Who knew, right?  Oh, my Aussie brethren, it's just a joke, I've got nothing but respect; served with you guys in Afghanistan and made several visits for Tandem Thrust/Crocodile (love me some Gold Coast/Surfer's Paradise).  Anyway, ahem, back to wargaming...  These guys can, of course, be Aussies in Vietnam, or even US Rangers/LRRPs in Vietnam, or pretty much anything you want/need them to be from Vietnam onwards.  What I particularly love about them is the amount of gear they're carrying; finally a realistic portrayal of the amount of @#$% we had to hump!  Oh, and I know that's not a good color for the packs, but I wanted them to stand out from the figures and not blend in to the camo.

 Another cool Minifigs set from their modern range.  These are just special operations guys, to be used however, wherever, and whenever you need them.  I can see them as Special Ops from pretty much any modern country.  I don't know if you can make them out, but they are wearing baseball style caps, boonie covers, and dew rags.

 Here are Minifigs Israelis.  I love the Galils.

 Here are Minifigs Vietnam-era USMC.  Love the M-14s (only one in this photo, kneeling guy at bottom right).

 And here we go with some bad guys.  These are a mix of Russian and Arab modern infantry.

 Clockwise from top: Officer, 120mm mortar, AT-5 Spandrel, and SA-7 SAM.

 Minifigs NVA.  Meh.  Not bad, but nothing special.

 Minifigs VC (really just NVA painted black).

 Here's the Minifigs Arab Insurgents, useful for PLO, Hizbollah, Somali, FARC/drug cartel, etc...

 Minifigs Mountain Insurgents, AKA Taliban.  I also use them for Chechens and Wahabbist-types.

 Leader figures for the terrorists, Taliban (left) and PLO (right).

 And their reverse.

 Some Takara prepaints: 3 T-55s (left), 3 M-48s (center), 2 AAV7s (top right), and 1 M-1 Abrams (bottom right, w/Minifigs M-240 gunner on the wrong side).  The T-55s and M-48s have been great for 'what-if' fights.

 Okay, I shouldn't be showing you guys this stuff as it's not finished, but hey, what the hell...  Here are some modern French, fully painted and glued down but not flocked.  Good figures.

 Some heavy weapons for the French: Milan ATGM (left), Blowpipe (top), and MG (bottom right).  All the weapons figures are actually from the modern Brit heavy weapons pack.

 Here's some modern Brits.  Again, really great figures, can easily make out the various weapons.

 Here's modern Brit Weapons and Officer (bottom left) then clockwise: Milan, Blowpipe, 60mm mortar (I can't remember, but I may have stolen this from the US Heavy Weapons), and the GPMG, which is really a great model.

 Now here's some from the Pendraken Vietnam range.  You've got US 81mm mortar (top left), M-60 and kneeling rifleman (top right), and officer (pointing, bottom).

Lastly, a couple rifle stands complete with M-60s and M-79s.  Of course I need to get some flock on these.  I'm kind of holding off because these are likely to be needed for my upcoming special project.

    Well, I got a lot done today, my first day in the blogosphere.  I will pray for the strength and discipline to keep me going.  Heck, I still have a lot to do just in terms of getting photos of all my stuff in here, much less moving forward on my various projects.  I endeavor to persevere...

V/R,
Jack