Tuesday, August 29, 2017

6mm Vietnam Forces, AKA "Apocalypse Soon?"

All

I've been busy painting for awhile now but had been playing so many games I hadn't had time to post pics of recent projects I'd finished.  I'd had a hankering for some Vietnam gaming in 6mm, cavalry (both air and mechanized) style, company-sized fights on a 4' x 4' or even 6' x 4' table.  Previously I'd painted up some 6mm infantry for Vietnam (only used them in modern games so far), so I decided to add a bunch of vehicles, aircraft, and terrain.  Below documents the completed project (minus the infantry); all vehicles are 1/285 scale from GHQ.

The whole mess, ready to go.

Again.

From the front.

And from the other side.  Now let's get to the details, starting with the Army.

A platoon of Patton tanks; I think they're the wrong model, but close enough for me...

A platoon of Sheridans.

Three platoons of M-113 ACAVs.

Now on to the Navy, all of my watercraft.

From the front, you see a Monitor, two PBRs, and ten sampans (in two varieties).

Opposite.

Heading away.

Closer shot of the Navy.

And the sampans.

And the Air Force; okay, still mostly Army, but you get the picture.  I've got two OH-6 LOACHes, two UH-1 Hogs (gunships), six UH-1 Slicks (troop transports), a CH-47, and a very plainly painted F-4 Phantom.

From the front, slicks at left, guns at bottom right, LOACHes above them.

From the other direction.

The gunships.

The OH-6s (with miniguns).

The Chinook and Phantom.

Three of the slicks.

And the other three.

A "Pink" team (gunships were Red, LOACHes were White).

Slicks inbound.

And the giant Chinook.

And last but not least, the Marines.  A platoon of tracks (LVTP-5s) and a couple tanks (M-48s this time).

Again.

Off the port bow...

The other side.

Closeup of the tanks.

And the tracks.

Heading away.

And then we get to some very humble attempts at Vietnam terrain, specifically, villages.  I really don't enjoy making terrain, and I'm not good at it, and I hate paying out a bunch of money for it.  I needed the ability to form quite a few Vietnamese villages quickly and cheaply, and I had some Monopoly houses and hotels lying around, so...  I painted the sides of the houses brown and the roofs tan, like thatched huts.  Sure, if you look closely you can see the little chimneys on the roofs, can make out the fact they are Monopoly houses, but they work well enough for me.

Another look.

A little closer (man I went heavy on the wash!) view, with a tank and ACAV.

Well, that's it, and I'm hoping to get them on the table soon as part of my fictional "South Leon" campaign over on my Cuba Libre blog.  So, if you fancy seeing some 6mm Vietnam gaming in a very Hollywood-fashion (Hueys, tracks, and PBRs all over the place), and don't mind me calling it Cuban democratic forces in a fictional African country, stay tuned!

V/R,
Jack

13 comments:

  1. Great work, and I love the use of Monopoly houses, very clever idea. :)

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  2. Nice! Clever use of the monopoly houses too.

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  3. Very cool man! I have a ton of VN in 20mm, 15mm, and 3mm. We will need to break it out sometime! (And for genuine VN TO&E, the M-60 tank never made it there, they were kept in Germany, and the USMC M-103 heavy tanks were kept there as well as in the US, just in case those Ruskies got all upstarty)

    Good stuff!

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    1. Thanks Darby, I appreciate it, and I figured as much on the M-60, but it'll work as an M-48 (if I need it to, I may be able to stick with Sheridans and the Marine M-48s, we'll see).

      I don't have 20mm or 3mm, but I'm getting bigger in the 15mm department. I hope to get it on the table soon, but I've got so many damn projects in the wings I can't keep my head straight...

      V/R,
      Jack

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  4. "You smell that? You smell that? That's acrylic paint son! Nothin' in the world smells like that..."

    Particularly like the Loach and 'pink' team. Something with the 1/9th would be particularly entertaining. :)

    There are some very good books with scenario ideas out there - the Headhunters series by Matt Brennan springs to mind.

    "HOw come you guys sit on your helmets?"

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    1. Duc,

      Yeah man, that's my goal. Helos, tanks, tracks, boats, all of it, all swirling around the same battlefield at the same time. Even play some Flight of the Valkyries while it's happening ;)

      That sitting on your helmets thing ain't funny! I still recall sitting in the dark of an MH-47 and staring in bewilderment as little rays of moonlight began appearing in the troop compartment...

      V/R,
      Jack

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  5. Any infantry to be posted soon? I like your aircraft stands, though I am surprised that the Chinook doesn't topple over. I have that model and its a little on the hefty side!

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    1. Chris,

      I did up and posted the infantry quite awhile ago:
      http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/11/where-ive-been.html

      And yeah, the -47 is a beast, but I've got it centered up pretty well and it does okay as long as the flight stand is on level ground.

      V/R,
      Jack

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  6. yeeehaa ! Jacks' comin to the 'Nam ... this is awesome ! ... what a great collection . .. where's the Commies ? ... time for a beach holiday on Sth Leon ! hahaha!

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    1. Yeah man. I've got some more work to do on the para assault to crack back into South Leon, but then we'll be coming up some serious Vietnam-style gaming in 6mm and 15mm. Coming soon.

      V/R,
      Jack

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  7. Looking Great Jack! I know this is a few years ago now - but did you end up gaming with these? and if so, which ruleset did you use?

    This is Tom from Ostfront Publishing btw

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