questions on modern insurgents and french troops in 20mm

[sundayhero]

Hi,

I'm currently thinking about playing modern warfare games, french army vs insurgents (Afghanistan, Mali), skirmish squad based action.

I already found french troops from Eureka, if you know other companies making 28mm french modern soldiers, please tell me


But I will also need a lot of insurgents minis. Is there a plastic kit, or something similar, to have a lot of 28mm figures for cheap ?



Concerning 15mm, I found some companies making french troops, but I didn't found any painted minis pictures. IF you collect this kind of minis, pictures would be appreciated


thanks

[Agis]

For 15mm try Peter Pig.

I do not have French, but my Syrians, IDF etc are mighty fine.

http://www.adpublishing.de/html/15mm_modern.html
Plese scroll down...

[Banderium]

Sgt. major miniatures bought the D&P modern range (french and italian troops, formerly sold by Venexia miniatures), but as far as I know, they aren't in production yet.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Not exactly what you asked for, but there are Modern French in 20mm from Elhiem miniatures as well as a couple of ranges of insugent types. Liberation miniatures do 1990's + French (in 'Other Nato') and lots of insurgent ranges. Platoon 20 (from East Riding Miniatures) does Gulf War French troops. Prices on all figures range from £0.50 to about £0.75. There are also sets of plastic (toy-soldier) insurgents from the likes of Ceaser which might be useful for bulking up forces... 
 

[sundayhero]

Thank you for the help.

In Eilhiem miniatures, I didn't find the modern french ?

Sgt. major miniatures bought the D&P modern range (french and italian troops, formerly sold by Venexia miniatures), but as far as I know, they aren't in production yet.

Sounds interesting, regarding some pics I found on google images, but not available. Seems that currently only the eureka range is available. But I don't know how much will be the shipping to france, and how much time the delievery will take.


Any ideas for modern cheap 28mm insurgents ?



The other solution would be 15mm scale. I like this scale, and found both peter pigs and QRF minis for french modern.



edit : I found the 20mm eliehm french :


http://elhiemfigures.com/european_moderns_91.html#


looks nice ! With plastic caesaer insurgents, it may do the job...


I will probably go for 20mm, since the insurgent soft plastic are cheap, and vehicules easily available in 1/72 kits.

Any pics of the RH modern french somewhere ?


Any advise on a simple rule for modern warfare, including french troops/SF ?


thanks

[sundayhero]

I made my own research, seems that "force on force" may be the game I'm searching for.

Are the french army represented in the game ?

Is it possible to play the game solitaire ?

Is this game playable for people not speaking english ? I mean, if no reference cards or tables are needed, and that I explain the game to someone not speaking english, would he be able to play ?


thanks

[v_lazy_dragon]

As far as I know, there aren't any particularly cheap insurgents in 28mm.

I don't know of any pics for RH Models/Liberation French I'm afraid.

I have a copy of force on Force, and will check later to confirm, but I think there are details for French forces. The rules are good, but not always laid out very clearly. There are quite a few reference charts and so on, but there might be other French players who have converted them across?

It depends how simple a rules set you want; but Warlord 2085 is free, can be used for moderns, plays easily and has very few charts (http://www.skankgame.com/).  You might also have some luck here: http://www.freewargamesrules.co.uk/modern.html

[sundayhero]

thank you for your answer,

Forget about 28mm, we'll go for 1/72-20mm minis, the choice is made. The problem now is to find a ruleset matching these points :


french modern army list included, with regular and SF troops
easy to learn and play (really easy, I will play with a complete noob)
good realism (the guy I will play with knows french army and special forces pretty well)
Not too much minis (squad level, a few vehicules like infantry carrier, jeep/humvee, etc...)
can be played without reading english once the game rules has been explained
"mainstream" ruleset so I will find some addons, support, easily

bonus : solo rules very welcome too

[v_lazy_dragon]

It shouldn't be too hard to find an order of battle for modern french forces. Worst case scenario, I can send you a copy of the Force on Force list.

The Skank game link is certainly very easy to learn and play, and doesn't need much referal once the rules have been learnt. They can happily deal with a couple of squads and a vehicle or two on each side. They aren't particularly realsitic as written, but I was working on a modification to make them more so. Sadly 'easy' and 'realism' don't tend to go together. Although they aren't particularly main stream for Moderns, they are used by a few people for Post apocalypse games, so there might be some stuff of interest available. I think I've got most of the fan written bits saved, so let me know what you are looking for in that respect.
 
At Close Quarters (by Chris Peers) doesn't have too many tables. They are dedicated moderns, and quite realistic. They should handle a couple fo squads and some vehicles very easily. But I don't know how easy they would be for a new player to pick up. They were popular about 10 years ago, and there were quite a few articles in WI, most of which have been incorperated into the 3rd edition rule-book. Although, when I mention them, no one has ever heard fo them! 

[sundayhero]

thanks


I just ordered OPEX, wich is a french game about modern french army 


So it should do the job for a while. If any interest, I'll make a review here.

[Conquistador]

A review would be nice.

Gracias,

Glenn

[sundayhero]

I'll do it ! Sadly the game is in french, so it will be not for everyone. I'm currently printing it (I ordered it on wargame vault, for 10euros). I'm happy I invested in a comb binding machine and good printer 

[Centaur_Seducer]

Force on Force are good rules since they rely on the soldiers training and experience, rather than their weapons

[Sgt. Scream]

First and foremost, yes - there is a list for modern French in Force on Force, but in the "Enduring Freedom" expansion, not the core rules.

20mm French modern soldiers are available by both, RH Liberation and Elhiem (under modern NATO / ISAF). Insurgents are available by Elhiem, RH Liberation and Stan Johansen Miniatures as well as Wartime Miniatures or cheap plastic made by Caesar.

Here are painted Insurgents (PLO) from RH Liberation on my blog:
http://smallscaleoperations.blogspot.de/2009/08/black-october-middle-eastern.html

Here are RH Liberation modern French:
http://www.guildwargamers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=6100&hilit=French+modern+french&start=75

If the forum asks to register to see the thread, do. You won't regret it! Most people from LAF are there, too. Plenty of Force On Force players also.

[sundayhero]

Thanks for the links for minis !

I'll start with OPEX, this french ruleset cost me 10euros, instead of having to buy Force on Force + addon to start playing. i'm currently printing the copy I bought on wargame vault.

Since OPEX and Force on Force seems to share some concepts (like the quality dice), I should be able to swap later quite easily.


I'll go for 20mm-1/72 too. As usual, I'll post results here.