OTB's Stuff

Grunts In Progress



For a rag-tag lead-assed bunch of disparate origins, they’re shaping up well. Platoon 1, mortars, LAW teams, dog handler, FO and company HQ are now in formation. The rest of the company and support units are about to be put into formation.

Air War Update



Well, the 10-page Air War Rules have been researched, written and printed out, but the North Vietnamese Airforce still needs a bit of work.....

Nice selection of books there.  Are you writing your own air combat rules?

Kind of a dumb question... do you trust the info in the Vietnamese book?

The Vietnamese book is very well-researched - the authors are scholars, and their references include various of the Osprey books on the air war, as well as memoirs by US pilots, and even Russian publications (regarding the MiGs and pilot training).

FlyinSquirrel wrote:Nice selection of books there.  Are you writing your own air combat rules?

Yes, the first draft is done - now I just have to see if they work.

OTB wrote:
Yes, the first draft is done - now I just have to see if they work.

Grunts Finished!

I bought these guys from a member of the Fields of Fire Reoladed forum in 2013. They arrived on penny bases, all jumbled up in the box, various with broken rifles. There were around 200 figures all up. They were a hodge-podge of different figures by different manufacturers, with some odd ringers thrown in. Some of the figures were WWII. Others were 1980s US infantry, including Airfix plastic figures. There were some strange-looking home castings. There were even a few that looked like VC - they have been set aside for a forthcoming project.

I had other units in progress, so I only got onto these figures late last year. These are the 126 figures that made the grade. Several months later, they are now done: 1 company of grunts, featuring 1 company HQ, 3 platoons, 1 Ranger squad, 3 mortar teams, 2 LAW teams, 1 dog team, and 1 forward observer, along with 1 helicopter crew, 2 pathfinders, 2 journalists, and 1 gunnery sergeant, plus an ARVN figure and 2 Australians.


General photo.


Company HQ


Platoon 1


Platoon 2


Platoon 3

Here are some more posts of the various figures. They are a mixture of Qualiticast, Platoon 20, Skytrex, and some other manufacturers that I am not familiar with.

A platoon HQ. The guy with the headset on his helmet is Qualiticast, the other figure is Platoon 20.

A squad. The lying down MG team are Skytrex, the kneeling rifleman in the 2nd photo is Platoon 20. I don't know what the chunkier figures are....

Platoon 20 squad leader, complete with additional broken barrel that I lost and suddenly refound during the photo shoot.



Platoon 20 MG team.



Platoon 20 rifleman, Qualiticast thumper man, and mystery casting.

A squad leader - another mystery casting.


Qualiticast M60 team.

A Platoon 20 figure (front) and two Qualiticast figures:

Qualiticast figure with boonie hat in foreground.



Nice backpack detailing on both figures.



Platoon 20 figure at front, Qualiticast figure in foreground at the rear.

Mystery M60 gunner with sandbags with Platoon 20 figure.



Qualiticast figure leading a Platoon 20 figure at the back and unknown figure in the foreground.


Qualiticast figure carrying M60 ammo with unknown M60 gunner.

Qualiticast M60 team.




Qualiticast dog team.

Skytrex forward observer.



LAW teams unit.

Mortar unit.


Ranger squad.


Photojournalists.

Gunnery sergeant.


1 ARVN and 2 Australians....


... who turned out to be a perfect match for my ANZAC figures.

2 pathfinders.



And a helicopter crew.

You don’t fool around. You must have about a full division on a one to one basis!!

A couple of the “mystery” figures with rucksacks looked like Liberation to me. Particularly so for the one with an M-16 in his left hand and motioning with his right while looking over his shoulder.

One or two firing figures looked line Liberation as well. Their fingers are somewhat distinctive.

You have some really neat pieces there.

Tom

Ahh, Liberation - thanks for that info Tom.

Wow OTB, you've been busy!  Looking good.  I really like the K-9 team and how you did the base.

Looking forward to seeing you put these guys in action.