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Author Topic: Vietnam Gaming  (Read 34147 times)

Offline gamer Mac

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Vietnam Gaming
« on: November 19, 2010, 12:47:43 AM »
I have always had the notion for doing Vietnam skirmish games especially after seeing this post.

http://wargamessociety.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/vietnam-tet-offensive-1968/

But I know very little about gaming in this period.
So a few questions for the people with more knowledge.

I have had a look for figures and I can’t find 28 mm ones I like for a decent price.
The nicest ones I could find were eureka but they seemed very expensive.
The Ebob ones look as if they are going to be very nice but not out yet?
Any nice ones I have missed?
Vehicles appear to be expensive in this scale as well and I would like to include some in my games. Helicopters are iconic for Vietnam so I would like some of them as well.
Where to get them?

I have been thinking about maybe 20 mm instead. Are there any nice figures out there? What would you suggest?
Same for 20 mm vehicles

And last but not least Rules
What do people use?
Which ones are best?


Offline Malamute

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2010, 08:45:55 AM »
Same with me always had a liking to do the period (its the only modern war I have ever been interested in.) I Even purchased some figures. :)

 I have the Chiltern Miniatures large 28s.  I think designed originally by Jim Bowen along with some hooches by Snapdragon.

 I also have a box load of OOP 20mm Qualitycast figures as well as some 1/72 helicopters and a load of buildings.

If you are interested in taking them off my hands PM me.
« Last Edit: November 19, 2010, 09:26:04 AM by Malamute »
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Offline Dan

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #2 on: November 19, 2010, 09:23:25 AM »
That series of photos rekindled my interest in Vietnam as well . :-*

I've made a start on my Vietnam project . So far I have done lots of trees and a platoon of US Infantry.
The US figures I have so far have come from (listed in order of favorites) TAG , FOA , Westwind and Baker Company. About a companys worth. I have a couple of sections of ARVN from FOA and some special forces which are a mix of FOA and Westwind.
The Vietnamese figures I have are from TAG and Westwind. Civillians are from Westwind and Baker Company.

I have a couple of Corgi M48's and a FOA M113 ACAV plus a Corgi T34/85 (Korea) with three T55's which were talked about here. I bought a Solido PT76 which I am not very pleased with so may not use. I also have a T34/85 from Hobby Boss which looks good in the box.

Helicopters so far are two Corgi Hueys , a Revell Huey , a Corgi AH1G plus a  New Ray CH47 . I have a spotter also which needs to be backdated. Cant find it at the moment though. :?

The rules I have looked at are Buckle for your Dust and Charlie dont Surf . CDS will need a bit of modifying to suit 28mm.
I did think at one stage that I should have gone for 20mm figures but its too late now I guess.

Offline Dr. The Viking

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #3 on: November 19, 2010, 10:08:51 AM »
I bought a swath of 20mm stuff some years back.

Platoon 20 (bad quality), RAFM (good) a lot of S-somthing-S miniatures also (which was also good).

I think 20mm is the perfect scale for vietnam, as you can have a dropzone and a target point on the same table without it looking silly.  lol




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Offline Westfalia Chris

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2010, 10:25:57 AM »
Quelle coincidence, messieurs!

I'm currently re-launching my Vietnam project in 28mm. I've ordered about a platoon's worth of infantry, two APCs and an ACAV from Force of Arms last week (and am quite giddy when they will arrive; I got a pack of the infantry at Fiasco), and started work on a 1/48 Revell Huey chopper.

My verdict so far: The FOA figures are very solid, maybe a bit chunky for some people's taste, but I really like them; the faces are expressive, and at 1 Pound per figure the pricing is excellent. I had seen the vehicles at Fiasco, and those were very well done, too. I will probably get a platoon's worth of NVA and VC from Parkfield; they don't look too bad on photos, I had good experience with Parkfield, at 80 pence per figure, the investment won't be too great, and any possible size difference (probably slightly smaller) would be okay since I usually tend to go for a slightly caricatured approach for most of my stuff.

The Revell chopper is awful, though. I consider myself an accomplished modeller with 20+ years of experience, and I was cursing and sweating on this one. It does, however, look very good in size next to the figures, and since I will paint it fully (no interior, and painted windows), I could fill the massive gaps. Overall, though, I must advise against it - even the 8.50 I paid for it is massively expensive. I've seen some Revell AH-1G kits at a local toy store, but at 15 quid each, I don't really plan on getting those anytime soon (not excessive, but I don't know about their quality, and if it's anywhere near that of the Huey Hog, the price is inappropriate.

I certainly hope the 28mm will make me follow the project more thoroughly than with the 20mm approach I tried some years ago.

You will certainly have more choice, especially for the choppers and aircraft, in 20mm or 1/72nd. But the plastic kits are at times quite fiddly, although after that Zep madness, you should be able to sneer at it in contempt. lol

Offline Arrigo

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2010, 11:12:24 AM »
I consider myself a bit of vietnam expert so I am required to chime in!

Anyway I have FoA, TAG, Baker Company, Eureka and  Westwind figures plus I saw the parkfield ones in the "lead".

Now I will quote myself from a previous post with some additions:

Force of Arms  range  is limited. Only US Army and Main Force 9th Division at the time of Junction City. Yet the range is probably the best one around. Of course the EBOB one will be really interesting, but it will be even more limited.

Then we have TAG and Baker Company (sadly no Piccies with me... I promise for xmas pictures a plenty maybe even a full game!) TAG cerainly are better sculpted than Baker company, but Baker company variation is simply awesome and they are the only 28mm manufacturer that has real marines and ARVN (yes M14 marines too).  So my best bet is Baker company. In the "lead" they are better than pictures and they have USMC with M14, the USMC uniforms are correct and different from Army.  I like them. My USMC force is Baker, my 1st Cav is TAG and the mechanized boys are FoA.

I think the TAG VC are pretty bad. Do not like the weapons exxageration and the poses are straight from comic books. another thing is that I have meet some vietnamese people and the TAG VC   do not seem to portray the real vietnamese an anatomy. Again they seems straight from a marvel comics... NVA on the other hand is better.

I have some westwind. uhm... plenty of variation, but the quality is hit or miss, nice peasant pack, there is no difference between Army and USMC and the montagnard pack is not 100% what I want. But I will say Westwind as average is not bad. I have some NVA from them and before seeing FoA VC I was thinking to get some of their VC for my Main Force platoon. Saw FoA and decided it was much better.

Saw Parkfield and I like some but not all of the poses. Some are a bit stiff for my tastes, but some are very good. The vehicles that are supposed to be out at Warfare also are on my buy list.




Then I have eureka australian and VC. I love the VC. The best VC I have, the anatomy is spot on.  The woman looks like a woman (I have three Vietnamese female friends so I can compare  lol ). Also the Aussies are pretty good. Better equipement than the poor one from TAG. The M60 is very well done. The down side is that they are a bit small. You cannot mix with TAG VC at all, but they do not seems out of place with Westwind, FoA and Baker.

I never use the ATF and the local VC from Eureka with other forces anyway.


Hope this help. Also I think that 20mm is not so perfect. It lacks the personality of 28mm (IMHO) even if the britannia range is pretty good and stuffed with all the vehicles you need. And it is not so compact to do real company operations for those I have 15mm.

Rules: I now use Charlie Do not surf from 15mm company actions and Ambush alley for 28mm smaller ones.

Arrigo "Blackhorse" Velicogna (my Vietnam gaming alias!)

"Put Grant straight in"

for pretty tanks and troops: http://forwardhq.blogspot.com

Offline revford

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #6 on: November 19, 2010, 11:18:47 AM »
We played our Tour of 'Nam using FNG from Two Hour Wargames, it's a bloodbath of a game without seriously dense terrain, has various missions with your Hero growing in skill along the way, while his buddies are slaughtered by Charlie.  Covers Choppers and other support nicely, Great fun game.  I think there is a second edition coming soon.

http://www.angelfire.com/az3/twohourwargames/modern.htm

1/72 plastic figures from Italeri for the US, NVA and VC, as well as the Hueys, Cobras and Loach, with some M113s from Airfix and Villagers from East Riding Miniatures.

That new range from ebob is very tempting though.  I'm just not sure I could start all over again in another scale with it, even if it is the one true scale.  :)
Gav Ford
revford@gmail.com

Offline joroas

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #7 on: November 19, 2010, 11:26:45 AM »
Quote
M113s from Airfix

 ???
'So do all who see such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that we are given.'

Offline Overlord

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Offline revford

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #9 on: November 19, 2010, 12:04:00 PM »
That's them, the ACAV.  :)

Offline Silent Invader

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #10 on: November 19, 2010, 12:55:22 PM »
Gaming the vietnam conflict is something that interests me also, especially as - at a push - I could double up some of my forest terrain.

The Ebob figures are beauties but I don't think my painting skills could give them the camo scheme they deserve so 20mm is an intriguing alternative.
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Offline gamer Mac

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #11 on: November 19, 2010, 01:25:08 PM »
Thanks for the insights guys.
I have went with the FNG rule from two hour wargames just ordered them in PDF.
Still not decided on figure scale. 28 mm normally have more character than 20 mm but I can't find any figures that I like in 28 mm.
I am starting to lean towards 20 mm as there seems to be more choice in both figures and vehicles and if niether scale has really good figures I would be as well going with the cheaper option!
Has anybody got any good photos of FOA figures.
or any other inspirational photos

Offline Westfalia Chris

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #12 on: November 19, 2010, 01:40:55 PM »
Thanks for the insights guys.
I have went with the FNG rule from two hour wargames just ordered them in PDF.
Still not decided on figure scale. 28 mm normally have more character than 20 mm but I can't find any figures that I like in 28 mm.
I am starting to lean towards 20 mm as there seems to be more choice in both figures and vehicles and if niether scale has really good figures I would be as well going with the cheaper option!
Has anybody got any good photos of FOA figures.
or any other inspirational photos

I've painted six of them (the pack I got at Fiasco) and will upload a pic later this afternoon, if you can wait for that long. Painted up very nicely, and just the right amount of detail, crispness and heft for my taste.

Also, you can find pictures of much of the range here:

http://www.greathallminis.com/Vietnam/viet_inf_foa.htm

Offline matakishi

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #13 on: November 19, 2010, 03:36:47 PM »
I use TAG and Corgi die cast vehicles with Crossfire rules.
These may or may not be inspirational photos...











http://www.matakishi.com/vietnam19651973.htm

Offline gamer Mac

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Re: Vietnam Gaming
« Reply #14 on: November 19, 2010, 05:08:38 PM »
great photos Paul
Thanks

 

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