People and terrain for Afghanistan (update Motorbikes 2018-07-23, p.7)

[Will Bailie]

As-Salaam alaykem, jorye, pochairye, tsanga ye!

I've decided to make a foray into modern Afghanistan.  I've started with a couple of compounds, one inspired by Matakishi's Tea House, and another just sort of cobbled together from the Renedra mud brick house and some Warlord ruins.




There's also a few local inhabitants:








The constabulary:



And finally, some local transport!



More details in my blog
http://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.ca/2015/10/modern-afghans-and-other-stuff.html
http://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.ca/2015/12/afghanistan-people-and-terrain.html

[Elbows]

Very cool, nicely done.  Eureka for the Afghan soldiers I presume?

[Will Bailie]

Eureka for almost everything, except the old lady and the kids.

[von Lucky]

Very nice (love the truck!) - reminds me I have to get my project back into gear.

[Will Bailie]

thanks for the comments.  Truck didn't live up to my aspirations - I quickly realised that I couldn't match the artwork on real jingle trucks so just went for garish instead.

[CarlLeyland]

Fantastic work

[jamesmanto]

Nicely done!

[6milPhil]

Very nice indeed - Matakishi is a hero for sharing that technique, I've made quite a few. The ANP look good too, Kosta is one of the best sculptors out there. Mine aren't quite so brave - they usually jump in a car and drive off, or have made a deal with the Taliban and they keep out of each other's way. Ezzat is pretty neat too, when I get that set I'll use him as a dicker.

Truck didn't live up to my aspirations - I quickly realised that I couldn't match the artwork on real jingle trucks so just went for garish instead.

Maybe not but it's neat, and how far has anyone else got with one? What was the base vehicle?

[Will Bailie]

Hi, Phil and thanks for taking the time to read and comment on Engineer Ezzat.  I had to smile when you said you'd use him as a dicker - my point in telling the story was to create an alternative narrative to the wargamer trope that every Afghan with a phone must be supporting the insurgency.

Afghanistan has practically no conventional (landline) telephone network, but since 2001 a comprehensive cellular network has been established.  There are now estimated to be around 18 million cell phones for a population of 30 million (in the poorest country in Asia).  Cellphones are everywhere, and mostly used for the same reasons we use phones (calling home, business communications, selfies, etc).  It takes more than a phone to positively identify someone as an agent of the Taliban!

Anyway, a group of Taliban have climbed onto my table and are demanding to be prepped for painting...

[6milPhil]

Hi, Phil and thanks for taking the time to read and comment on Engineer Ezzat.  I had to smile when you said you'd use him as a dicker - my point in telling the story was to create an alternative narrative to the wargamer trope that every Afghan with a phone must be supporting the insurgency...
It takes more than a phone to positively identify someone as an agent of the Taliban!

You've got me there, and quite right too. In my humble defence I've been after a suitable dicker for years, and badgered Nic at Eureka about it repeatedly, so it's a wish-lister sprung to life.

It's not just a wargaming trope, or cliche, though. In just about every documentary I've seen - and that's quite a few now, when British squaddies see a bloke with a phone they cry "dicker" too.

There's one Afghan with a phone in both of those sets so I may well get both and use one as a dicker and another as "Ezzat" just to confound and confuse. I might try to put one on a motorcycle, like the 20mm one which I'm envious of;


The origins of "Dicker" are quite interesting, it's derived from the slang "Dekko", which itself is derived from the Hindi "Dekh"...

Anyway, a group of Taliban have climbed onto my table and are demanding to be prepped for painting...

Excellent, Eureka?

[Will Bailie]

thanks for the background on "dicker" - I had assumed a slightly different etymology (based on my understanding of soldier language...)!

I appreciate that ISAF and OEF soldiers are trained to look for potential threats, but for my games I want to throw some confusion into the mix, where sometimes a guy with a phone is just a guy with a phone!  I supposed it's partly based on my own experience as a civilian in Kandahar, where I spent a lot of time talking to locals (and none at all talking to soldiers) - phones are very common.

[6milPhil]

Quite, it's much better to confuse the player than have a die-roll resulting in the announcement "this unit is confused".

Which rules are you using?

I'm very keen on hidden movement for the Taliban, and I nicked the idea of greater movement when hidden (from Skirmish Sangin I think) to add to confusion. Counters work well for that too, especially if there's some representing civvies, goats, and the like.

[Will Bailie]

I'm not using any rules yet.  I don't get much opportunity to play, so for now I'm having fun with the miniatures and terrain/

I've purchased Force on Force but haven;t played them yet.  Looking forward to picking up Fighting Season when it's ready.  I'm open to other suggestions, and am especially interested in rules that present challenges of asymmetric warfare.

[6milPhil]

Fair enough, I'm typically using Akula's AR:SE rules with bits tacked on to suit, keeps it quick. I did have Force on Force but it's too large a tome for me. I generally find rules too biblical in proportions, but unlike the bible new testaments keep turning up. 

[Will Bailie]

Added some wheels for the ANP:


http://willstoysoldiers.blogspot.ca/2015/12/anp-pickup.html