All,
Continuing on my descent into Vietnam wargaming madness, I picked up some more minis from Flashpoint Miniatures 15mm range, the pack is called "ANZAC Task Force." I have nothing against our Australian and New Zealand allies, but they're just not something I'm interested in wargaming, at least right now. But I what I am interested in doing is some Vietnam special forces-type gaming, and so I wanted troops in bush hats, with light weapons, that could serve a multitude of roles, such as LRRPs, Rangers, Green Berets, SEALs, Marine Recon, MACV-SOG, covert Agency-types, Nungs, and Mike Force guys. So, looking at Jimmi's web catalog, I spotted these guys and they looked right up my alley.
The whole pack, thirty guys done up in Tiger Stripe camo and on temperate, grassy bases. There were actually 31 guys, but somehow I broke one of the troops (a grenadier) off at the ankles (my own carelessness I'm afraid)...
The troops are well proportioned, weapons look good, and there's an astounding number of different poses. I will also report there is some real size variation between figures; this may be a turnoff to some, but I don't mind as 1) real life troops aren't all the same size, and 2) it will help when I want to have US troops (I'll use the big'uns) and indigenous troops in the same unit (I'll use the smaller ones).
There's one guy who is a bit miscast, hand raised but missing, guess he got caught with a booby trap. Aside from that there were no issues, no real flash, lines are very clean and pronounced, making them very easy to paint up. I'm very happy to have these in my collection, they're perfect for some games I want to do, and I can't wait to get them on the table. Let's get to the poses.
First two up are two leader type poses, officers or NCOs. Guy at left has binos in his left hand, right has no hat and the ubiquitous jungle towel around his neck. Here you can see the guy on left has an SLR; they may be cast just a shade short of real life, but this doesn't bother me as I wanted all M-16s anyway, and simply painted black I think they work pretty well.
Reverse. I'm pretty happy with my quick and easy attempt at Tigerstripe camo; previously I'd tried it on some troops, kinda went crazy trying to get the right look with several different colors, but wasn't happy with it. This looks to me like a lot of the pics you see of Vietnam era troops in Tigerstripes.
Next two poses, an RTO at left and another officer/NCO at right.
Reverse, where you can see the PRC-25 on left, and the pack a lot of guys are carrying on right (you know I always like troops with big packs).
Two regular troops, these are some of the bigger figures. As I've been doing recently, I used three different skin tone colors to show different ethnicities.
Reverse.
One new pose at left, thrown up against one from the previous set to show the size disparity.
Two more poses of the larger figures, the guy at right has the miscast hand I spoke of earlier.
Reverse.
Two M-60 machine gun poses. The guy at right is one of the larger castings. I don't know if any of you have read Leonard B Scott's pair of novels on Rangers in the Vietnam War ("Charlie Mike," and "The Last Run,") but the machine gunner on the right looks just like "Ben" from "The Last Run."
Reverse.
Next to poses, a 'Doc' on left and a third machine gunner lying prone on right.
Reverse.
Next pose is two M-79 grenadiers.
Reverse. I like the pose, but where's the pistol, Jimmi!? ;)
Next pose, where we get two guys in the same pose. So far the grenadier was the only repeat pose, with two guys. I'm telling ya, it's pretty cool having so many different poses.
Fore and aft.
Two more unique poses, and I guess I missed another slight miscast, the barrel of the M-16 at right is missing. Despite this, the guy on the right is one of my favorite poses.
Poses.
Two more riflemen, though the guy at left we actually saw earlier in the comparison pic with the larger casting.
Reverse. Here you get a good look at the M-66 LAW strapped to the guy's pack.
Two lanky riflemen, slight miscast on the left-hand rifle. I like these poses too, reminds me of "Provo" from "The Green Berets."
Reverse.
Next two riflemen; guy on right apparently hears da choppa coming.
Reverse.
Next rifleman pose, actually three of this guy. Good look at the different skin tones.
Multiple angles of that last guy.
Three more guys from another pose. Maybe a little 'samey,' but like I said, hard to complain about so many different poses. I only wish there were a few more kneeling poses.
Different angles on that last pose.
And the last two rifleman poses, one moving up and one kneeling, either signalling a 'freeze' or about to throw a grenade. The guy on the right is one of the big ones.
And reverse.
Well, that's the new troops, whaddaya think? I really like them and can't wait to play some games with them, but I'm not sure where I'll squeeze them in with all the other projects I have going on right now. Not to mention I've got more troops I've finished and need to show you. I'll be posting them in the next few days.
V/R,
Jack
