Bringing the Pig to the Nam - US M60 teams

Howdy folks, 

I hope all is well on your respective sides of the internets. Thanks to Mike's suggestion of doing a Vietnam Infantry Aces campaign, I've brought some momentum to bear on my lead mountain. So, I have for you: some M60 machinegun teams for my US forces.

Within 'The Nam' ruleset the M60, also called the Pig (thanks to its size, etc...), shows up throughout almost every American formation. Depending on your force (either US Army or Marines) it can be brought to the field as a machinegun platoon and/or individual teams can be added to your infantry combat platoons. Any teams that you would add to your platoon would be in addition, not as a replacement, to your platoon troops. If I remember correctly, the only case that jumps to mind that is different is for Special Forces troops who can add M60 teams at no extra cost (but then these are based 2 figs/small base) so they don't really fit the platoon or 'infantry team' standard base size (I think Battlefront calls it a medium base).

Regardless of where it fits in, the Pig is a Vietnam icon and US player staple!

My immediate plan for these beauties is to max out their option for my main infantry combat platoons and chop 2 teams per platoon. At the moment I plan to have 2 combat platoons, and am painting enough figs to go either Army or Marines...and that includes enough figures to max out the Marine combat platoons (10 x M16 teams + 2 optional M60 teams vice the Army...7 teams + 2 M60 teams...if I remember correctly).

Anyway, that is the latest from the table. Take care, enjoy the pics.

Lead Mountain 2021

Painted:

 

Large scale             3

28mm                   23

15mm                   24, +12

Bought                  24

Progress               +26

The Nam - Lurps Up

Howdy folks,

 

Hello last days of summer, here's to the coming Fall and all that fun. Today's post is just a quick one to show off some progress I made on a new/old project. Back some time ago, I was working on an Air Cavalry unit for Vietnam and Battlefront's The Nam. Admittedly I haven't painted any Nam figures let alone many 15mm in some time. So with Mike's recent push to have a Vietnam:Aces campaign I thought why the hell not...it was time to paint up some more.

The Aces campaign is a scale up mutli-round campaign where you can develop your infantry 'ace' as they gain more experience. Originally rolled out with Monte Cassino as the main battle, the Aces campaign also lets you select specific skills as your 'ace' develops. And concurrent to this, the size of your force similarly scales up...from 1-2 platoons, to company w/some support, to company and support options. In current game terms, this means the scale goes from about 20pts to 40 to 60...or even 80 I think...depending on the number of rounds you want to have I guess.

 

But I'll have to capture these thoughts in an aces dedicated post in the future. Anyhow, in prep for this, I already have my AirCav unit coming in around 20 points...so I'm good for the first round. But while I have plenty of chopper-goodness to add to the force, I wanted some actual boots to add...so I thought I'd start with some special forces troops. In this case, Battlefront does not distinguish between the options available to US Forces in Vietnam; depending on the theme of your force, they can be SEALs, Green Berets, Force Recon, or even Long Range Recon Patrols (LRRPs..lurps).

In tiger stripes and boonie hats, I thought I would field a 6 team Lurp team...with free upgrade for 2 of these teams from an M16 team to a M60 team. I don't think I had tried tiger stripe before, and like I said it had been some time since I painted 15mm...other than random crewmembers for vehicles, the last 'real' 15mm troops I painted was my 4CMBG mech infantry.

Anyway, they painted up ALOT quicker than my recent Marvel Crisis Protocol figures, go figure that...and it was fun to get back to the scale that got me into this hobby. Oh, and if you’re wondering where the figures come from or have guessed already…Yes, I used Battlefronts Aussie infantry for this unit so I could get the boonie hats.

Enjoy the pics.

 

Same troops, just a little natural light added as we head outside for a shot of clearcoat.

Lead Mountain 2021

Painted:

 

Large scale             3

28mm                    23

15mm                  +12

Bought                  24

Progress               +14

Cangames - Team Yankee, The Bear pushes West

Hello everyone,

Continuing on my Cangames theme...Saturday night I had the chance to help out a little and observe a Team Yankee inspired scenario that pitted a large Soviet force against a very thin US line.  For this scenario, the table layout was narrow on the deployment end and very long towards the final objectives.  There were 2-3 objectives aligned in depth with the ultimate objective being a stretch of the autobahn off in the distance.

There were 3 players per side with vehicle heavy forces...the US players were the only ones that actually had any infantry elements deployed. 

I elected to observe this game for the most part and help out where needed, so my photo coverage is not complete, however...I hope you enjoy the pics.

Cheers.

The view of the battlespace looking West from the Soviet edge...the border is represented by the chainlink fence in the foreground.  The first objective is an American CP near the centre wheatfields by the riverside.  There were 2-3 places to cross the river...the bridge layer was covered by US Mech Infantry with Dragon teams, a small M1 tank platoon; the ville and town centre were covered by a Vulcan Air Defence platoon; the Soviet right was covered by 2 x ITV launchers and a tank platoon.

The Soviets...as expected...were their usual horde of holy crap!! T72's with BMP-2's...just waiting for their chance to push.

The first thin blue line...Soviet left at the bottom of the shot...US infantry deployed in the treeline and forest edge.

The ultimate objective...the Autobahn...also the entry point for US reinforcements.

Battlespace from the US end looking east...power lines and autobahn...secondary line represented by the railway tracks cutting across the table...village before that, chain fence visible in the distance...various fields scattered throughout the table.

Little Villesburg is about to get busy...stone bridge and a road makes it a hot commodity...

Sov's arrayed, waiting for the signal...

The signal is given, balloon goes up...Sov's pour over the border, stampeding the fence...

Initial rolls do not go well on the US left...2 x M1's fall quickly to tank fire...return fire is mostly ineffective...the remaining 2 Abrams fall next turn...

ITV's and tank fire have minimal effect...only stopping a couple of tanks a turn...this will be quick...

Soviet Motor Infantry surge for the bridgelayer crossing...apparently someone forgot to demo that when the fence fell...BMP's enjoy the dry ride over the river...

T72 heavy forces hitting the US left and centre hard...enjoying good progress...the US keeps up TOW missile fire and pushes tanks onto the bridge...

With the first line and CP taken within 2-3 turns, the US immediately starts receiving reinforcements from the Autobahn...they start the long drive East at double time to stem the tide...the railway tracks become a natural second line of defence and base of fire.  BMP's on US right skirt Villesburg taking the fight to American VADS on the way...

The Soviet advance is slightly blunted and slows...

The US slugs it's way further East...pushing past the railway tracks and back towards Villesburg...burning Soviet hulls start to litter the field

It took the Soviets the better part of 3 1/2 hours of fighting to get to this point...the US was beginning to surge back, thanks in large part to extensive reinforcement...

Khurasan Miniatures - Special Ops

Hey folks,

As some of you who have followed my blamblings...you know, blog ramblings...m'eh, it was worth a shot...my chance to influence the English language...for worse.  Anyhow, some of you may know, I have a bit of a love-fest for Khurasan Miniatures...they are great figures, amazing detail, they come to the door clean...super clean, and are a lot of fun to paint <insert shameless, cheesy advertising jingle>.

I really like them! A while back I ordered up a couple of packs of the Special Ops troops for modern, near-modern, ultra-modern, and sci-fi...these are such great figs they can fit so many different categories.

The real issue for me was to make sure I painted them as well as I could...after all, the website pics by Piers Brand set an incredibly high standard, so I wanted to do the figures some justice.  The second issue was finding some great inspiration pics...thank you google...thanks to the airsoft forum, ctv news, and a few other places that I unfortunately cannot recall.

Because I had upwards of 20 figures to paint, I thought I'd try a few different schemes...in the end I copied some plain 'desert' uniforms, some Canadian Cadpat (desert and green), OCP, and a mix of many others.

At the moment, I still have to put the finishing touches on the bases, but I'm pretty happy with the results.

Feel free to offer any advice and comments...feedback is always appreciated.  I hope you enjoy the inspirational pics.

Cheers.

First group, CSOR inspired, green cadpat with some other mixed pieces... 

The inspiration...CSOR recruiting pic

Second group, mixed camouflage...

The inspiration...CSOR overseas

Third group...fairly plain jane type desert uniform...

 



The inspiration...JTF2 in Afghanistan at the beginning...

Final figure...my first attempt at OCP cam...very challenging...but worth the adventure

The Inspiration...CSOR troops on Parliament Hill last 9th of May for the Afghanistan Mission National Day of Honour...

I know I've missed a few of the troops due to my crappy picture taking, but I'll post a proper group photo when I'm completely done.

Take care.