Bravo Troop 1/9 Air Cavalry

I have always been a big fan of 1/9 Air Cavalry. My interest was greatly influenced by Matthew Brennan's books. His first was Brennan'a War, about his three years in Vietnam with the 1/9th.
https://www.amazon.com/Brennans-War-1965-1969-Matthew-Brennan/dp/0891412360/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1589580981&sr=1-2

I have read that three or four times. Recently, he updated and revised it under the title Flashing Saber: Three Years in Vietnam.
https://www.amazon.com/Flashing-Saber-Three-Years-Vietnam-ebook/dp/B00UTKELYC/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3T0FHZCR2PFTW&dchild=1&keywords=matthew+brennan&qid=1589581050&s=books&sprefix=matthew+brennan%2Caps%2C430&sr=1-3

He edited two other books on 1/9th. These are collections of experiences related by members of this elite air cavalry squadron. They are Headhunters and Hunter-Killer Squadron
https://www.amazon.com/Headhunters-Stories-Squadron-Cavalry-1965-1971/dp/0891413006/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3T0FHZCR2PFTW&dchild=1&keywords=matthew+brennan&qid=1589581050&s=books&sprefix=matthew+brennan%2Caps%2C430&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-killer-squadron-Aero-weapons-aero-scouts-aero-rifles/dp/0891413944/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1589581050&sr=1-6

So, I had to do 1/72 scale models of the helicopters they flew.  The 1/9 had three real air cavalry troops and one troop that was road bound. The three air troops were A, B and C. Each troop had three platoons. There were scouts, called the white platoon, who flew low and slow to locate the enemy, usually by drawing fire. However, they were so good and flew so low that they could track Charlie like an Indian scout in the old West. Early in the war they flew the  OH-13. Here is my model of that.







The scouts were famous for the weapons they carried. If you look at the second photo above, you will see I have added red smoke grenades, an M-79 and an M-16 between the two crew members.

As time went on the OH-13 was replaced by the OH-6, called the Loach, seen below.





The photos above of the OH-6 do not show these things, but I have the observer with a red smoke grenade in his hand. The back seat for the gunner has a row of smoke grenades hanging from a wire across the seat backs, and a home made bomb made from an ammo can filled with C-4 and whatever "shrapnel" they could find, with fuses coming out of the top of the can. You may be able to notice that the gunner is firing a cut off M-60 that is hanging from a bungee cord.

There was also a guns platoon, called the red platoon. For years I wanted a B-Model gunship like was used early in the war with the four M-60s on the skids. Revell had made a B model, but it was out of production. Of all miracles, I found one in the flea market at one of the HMGS conventions at the Host in Lancaster. But it did not have the neat ammo chutes that fed the guns. In fact, the guns themselves were not so red hot. I forget how I came up with the flex guns themselves, but I remember the real problem was going to be the ammo chutes. I ended up using slightly modified SHQ machine gun ammo belts. It was a very fiddly job that drove me nuts. Here is my B model gunship.













Of course, eventually they received the Cobra. Here is my Cobra. You will notice in both photos the red smoke from the grenade the scout observer dropped. If you look really closely in the first photo, just to the right of the smoke, you can see part of the earthworks protecting the 12.7mm NVA AA HMG that the scout was marking. You can also see the fire and smoke showing the bad guys hit the Loach.





The scout and the gunship often worked together as a pink team, one white ship and one red. This photo shows a Cobra and a Loach in that mode. In reality the Cobra would be up a good bit higher than the Loach until the red ship made his gun run, after the Loach marked the target with a smoke grenade.



If the pink team developed a situation that looked liked it warranted some troops on the ground, the aerorifles, the blue platoon, would be inserted. All of these assets helicopters and men, were organic to the  company commander of each troop of 1/9th. He did not have to beg any other officer for any of it. Here are my slicks bringing in the Blues. In the first photo, one slick has landed and you can see two more above the far left corner of the table, near the red drinking cup. The scout chopper is to the right of those slicks.









Tom

These look awesome! Great work!

Tom, is that your collection???

Thanks hayes.

Bravo 6, that’s part of my collection.

Tom

That is some seriously nice stuff Tom. Wowsah. Your table also looks amazing. And people wonder why I want airmobile elements in my games. This post right here!!

Nice work

Thanks again guys.

Obviously I agree with you about airmobile. After all it was known as the helicopter war.

Tom

excellent stuff

Those photos are really impressive and v inspirational!

I am SO. JEALOUS. that you can find an OH-13 in your scale and there is not one in 15mm. Grrrrrr.

Seriously though, that is some beautiful work. I have the Headhunters book.

Nice table with some good models. While we 'Nam gamers love our hardware (and why not) it has to be about the game and that looks fun.

John

Thanks guys. Your kind comments make the effort it takes to post these things worthwhile.

Tom

Congrats Tom! Your post was featured in the Newsletter Digest for the forum! I guess that's an automatic thing done by Forummotion as I had nothing to do with it. Still..... great showcase and it SHOULD be drawn attention to.

Thanks for telling me Todd. You know this site is addictive for me. I am spending beaucoup time here.

Yesterday I discovered some more photos of a game I posted about in the AAR section. I may try to add them as some were nice.

Tom

Garryowen wrote:Thanks for telling me Todd. You know this site is addictive for me. I am spending beaucoup time here.

Yesterday I discovered some more photos of a game I posted about in the AAR section. I may try to add them as some were nice.

Tom

tom where did you get your flight stands ?

GarryOwen wrote:Thanks for telling me Todd. You know this site is addictive for me. I am spending beaucoup time here.

Thanks Tom. I'm glad to hear! And I'm glad you guys have a place to hang out again. This group has always felt like a community, and now we have so many new and awesome members, it's been a great experience launching this again!

thomasmcc wrote:tom where did you get your flight stands ?

@ thomasmcc and BravoSix, I thought it might be better to describe the flight stands as a separate post. Here is the link:

https://fieldsoffire.forumotion.com/t150-flight-stands#1386

I only wish it would be as simple as getting them some place. But they are easy to do. Finding the telescoping pickup tool may be a problem.

Tom