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But will they be acceptable together, and if they are, why would you then buy the figures from Empress?
At the risk of upsetting people’s ‘professional opinions’ there were undoubtedly significant numbers of of PLAF/NLF (VC) troops deployed in the battle for Hue. They probably accounted for at least a third of the forces deployed and you don’t need to rely on Bowden to come up with that figure.
Bowden's book is historical crap, and I am not an isolated academic in saying this. I am not saying that all his books are bad, but this one is.
considering we are mixing figures together from the dawn of the hobby, especially in different units... I suspect plenty this habit is not dying soon despite the pearl of wisdom some business expert is throwing to pigs like me...I buy figures from Empress because:a) they fit in my collectionb) I like the sculpts and the attention to the detailc) I like the chaps and chapesses (no I did not invent this... it came from Professor Brian Holden Reid... I just got brainwashed into using it) running the company! I think a much bigger show stopper is the fact that there are plenty of ranges around (thanks god none from Empress...) that started giving you a couple of basic packs for the opposing sides and then got nowhere. The business' person approach that has been mentioned earlier is just one possibility. In countless forums the merit of bit and dribbles, vs fully fledged force for new ranges have been debated, and, knowing how different each one of us is, basically both sides could be right and wrong at the same time, without the need of being lectured about 'business' approaches. As the so called 'characters': you need officers, you need RTO, you need medics in games from squad to company size... And I am sufficiently old to remember posts here bemoaning the lack of decent and complete ARVN offerings in 28mm... in this same forum...sources would be nice... not something I am expecting from the poster too... <rant mode on>and I reiterate... Bowden's book is historical crap, and I am not an isolated academic in saying this. I am not saying that all his books are bad, but this one is. Actually I find axabrax comments rather insulting and condescending, while I offered a simple professional opinion. While I can give him some recognition for having sprung some nice new miniatures, I sincerely hope that his arrogant pile of shit will not shape the range (of course not... we have been teased Australians!). Said that we have gamed Hue before Bowden garnered money from it, and probably there will be more gamer doing it without even knowing about the book or the TV... I also doubt the book narrative will be such a driving force in the sales of a new Vietnam range... if it is... well probably I have to reconsider my idea of the intelligence of the average wargamer and bow to 'common wisdom' about our category (yes I read some of the usual comments on wargamers again...).<rant mode off>
To be honest I don't give a damn about the rest of your rant -it is personal with the other guy, so it's not my business- but this part of your comment got me curious. Why do you say that Bowden's book is crap? Would you point to a review that expands your criticism? I am not an expert in Vietnam War -read just a couple of books, besides Bowden's- so I am surely missing the problems in Bowden's book.
Hi allI’m, sadly, in no position to argue whether the Bowden book was good or bad (not knowing enough about the subject.... yet) , and it would make a really interesting seperate thread, but can we keep to the subject of the range? From what I have read this thankfully looks like it’s covering a lot more than just Hue (eg Australians?) so why not just let Empress have your wish list for the war? (A vote for Air Cav and NVA from me please!). Can I just add, Empress + Paul Hicks = fantastic long term project for me. Thanks to all involved! Hell - you bring them out in whatever order you want... just keep ‘em coming! “Happiness is a cool LZ”! Cheers all!