Vietnam 'Personalities' Pack from the 28mm Back Sun Line

    The 'Personalities' pack of U.S. troops in Vietnam from Crucible Crush's Black Sun range

Hollywood movies about Vietnam seem to have larger than life personalities in them. From Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now to Sgt. Elias in Platoon (the nice sergeant), memorable characters are the "go to" for movies about this conflict. Even bit characters seem to have an outsized presence on the screen, such as R. Lee Ermey's drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. So, it is no surprise that Crucible Crush's 28mm Vietnam line has U.S. Army's Personalities #1. That said, I'd be happy if they added more characters and released a pack #2!

    One of my favorites from the pack, a bald, cigar-chomping soldier inspired by Col. Kurtz possibly?

I had to double-check with my friends on the Lead Adventure Forum to clarify exactly who these personalities were, though. I had some guesses, but wasn't 100% sure. I didn't want to mislead people and claim one figure represented someone when it was actually another character! Either way, this pack was a blast to paint. Each figure wears its own unique uniform (or lack of), and all five have their own look. I bought only one of these packs in my initial order because the figures are so unique. A duplicate on the tabletop would stick out like a sore thumb.

    I love this M-60 gunner pose - it has so much character with the sunglasses and shirtless uniform

I used essentially the same methods to paint these that I used for the other batches of U.S. infantry. If you haven't read the previous posts, check out this one for a detailed description of the process. That "process" is buzzing along, too. I have only three unopened packs of figures sitting on my desk now from the ones I bought from Crucible Crush. As usual, I have two other batches in progress right now, both Viet Cong. It looks like I will definitely make my goal of having all the Black Sun figures done by Historicon in July. With that in mind, I have also begun to mix in more other stuff besides Vietnam figures. Once I get those other three packs of miniatures going, I will probably begin working on the Vietnam buildings that I bought from Miniature Building Authority at Buckeye Game Fest last month.

    It's been awhile since I watched 'Platoon,' but I think this figure is inspired by one of the sergeants

Right now, I'm reading a novel set in the Vietnam war called Matterhorn. It is by Karl Marlantes and is really well done. It was written by a Bronze Star decorated marine who served in Vietnam, so I am trusting it is a fairly accurate portrayal of the experience of U.S. soldiers serving there. I know true historians would not necessarily use novels as a source, but I think wargamers can be a little more lenient on what they use as research for their scenarios or rules. First-person experiences of someone who witnessed the event are always a valuable source of information. It is only the second novel of the more than half dozen books I've been reading to prep for my games. Since I am writing my own rules (or at least attempting to), I want it to recreate the squad level experience of soldiers in Vietnam.

    I think this figure was meant to represent Charlie Sheen's character in the Vietnam movie 'Platoon'

I'm really happy with how this project is coming along, so far. That includes this batch of miniatures, which is definitely one of my favorites. It is hard to pick out a favorite from this batch as they all look so cool to me! The black M-60 machine gunner is definitely one of the ones I like the most, as is the bald headed one holding his helmet in his hand and chomping a cigar. I haven't started naming the individual poses, yet, but I will be tempted to name him "Jim" after one of my gaming friends, who is also a fellow Army veteran and cigar smoker. Or -- since I will probably go by nicknames or last names -- perhaps his last name will be "James"?

    I like how this pose looks completely different than the others, in t-shirt and floppy bush hat

So, who is who, of these personalities? There are only two that I felt I was pretty sure about, assuming they DO represent characters from Hollywood movies. The bald guy with the cigar is (my guess) Col. Kurtz from Apocalypse Now. The headband and towel wearing soldier that I painted with the blond hair is Charlie Sheen's character in Platoon. I am thinking that maybe the character with what appears to be an AK-47 and pointing is Staff Sgt. Barnes from Platoon, as well. Equally, it could be his rival, Willem Dafoe's character, Sgt. Elias. Otherwise, I would love to hear from my blog readers on who you think each personality was sculpted to resemble (without infringing on copyright, of course!).

    A look from above at the five figures from Black Sun's 'U.S. Army Personalities #1'

What else is on my desk at the moment? A lot! It is getting pretty cramped! The next batch of Vietnam figures in the pipeline is nearing completion. It is a batch of Viet Cong, as is the next batch in line, which has only just received a base coat. Coming along very nicely, though, is a group of a dozen 3-D printed miniatures from JS Wargamer Printing. They are Alien Grays, which I bought at some point last year when I was putting in an order with him. They were definitely an impulse purchase, as they are completely different in feel from the Sci-Fi miniatures I have been painting up. I am thinking I will sell them once they're done. Origins Game Fair is running a consignment store this year, and they charge only $1 per entry and the consignment fee itself is only 10%. I can easily build that into my asking price. If they don't sell there, I will take them to the Historicon flea market.

    The overgrown temples in the background are more of my scratch-built ones from my Pulp games

I have also assembled two 4 Ground Stalingrad ruined buildings. They can be used for World War II, of course, but also as any generic ruins, for post-apocalyptic or modern. Plus, there is a whole line of various other terrain or buildings ready to be painted up for my flea market booth. The more I have to sell, the more of my expenses (and dealer room purchases) they will cover! So, hopefully, I'll be cranking stuff out at a steady rate for at least the next couple months. We shall see, though...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 95 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

More 28mm Viet Cong & Some Jungle Scatter Terrain

    Five more of my 28mm Viet Cong figures begin to take fire near some tumbled ancient ruins

My morning painting sessions are becoming a bit like a juggler with three balls in the air. I tend to have one batch nearing completion, another midway through the painting process, and a third I've just begun. So, how to ramp up the challenge level? Add a fourth ball, of course! That fourth thing turned out to be 1.5" round wooden pieces with jungle vegetation on them. I have some of this already completed, but will likely need more for my battles for this project. 

    One of the poses armed with a sub-machine gun...see! I recognize types, but not which make/model

First, though, here's the latest batch of 28mm Black Sun miniatures from Crucible Crush. These are from Vietcong #3 pack, and feature the insurgents dressed in their trademark black pajamas while carrying a variety of small arms. I painted these identically to the first batch of VC, and they also were finished very quickly. Perhaps a bit too quickly? After resizing the photos in my Affinity Photo software, I noticed a mistake. I had missed that the bareheaded figure was actually wearing some kind of headband. The joy of extreme closeup photos -- they point out your mistakes! I did go back and paint the headband, but I did not set up my photo light box again and retake its photo. See if you can notice my error, as well...!

    I like the camouflage foliage affixed to this guy's helmet/hat -- nice variety in the five poses

Once again, I relied heavily on the photos that are on the Crucible Crush website for how to paint up these miniatures. I especially can use their help on the weapons. I am not the gun enthusiast that can tell differences between various forms of assault rifles, sub-machine guns, and so on. I recognize them by category or type, of course. Well, except for the M-16, -- which I was trained on while I was in the Army. I know that I mentioned in my last post on the VC that I would start to add in some irregularity to their clothing, but I will actually begin that with the third batch of VC. I'd kind of forgotten, and while juggling my three batches painted their pants and shirts all black. Once I remembered, I decided not to go back and paint over them. I still have half the VC packs to paint up, so plenty of time to mix in different clothing colors.

    I like this guy's hat -- very Chinese communist looking!

I do believe, though, that with this batch I am halfway through the figures I bought for this project. Of course, there's always a possibility that I will buy more after these are done and as I begin play testing my rules. Still, I reached the halfway point much sooner than I might have guessed. I am hoping to have all the packs finished by the time I am at Historicon this July 17-20, in Lancaster, PA. I'll have my greatest chance of finding manufacturer's stocking the Black Sun line there, or at least other 28mm Vietnam figures. I know that I would like to have some civilians painted up eventually, too. I'm sure some vendor there will have some figures that will work for that.

    This is a great pose, too, with the Non La - the traditional straw hat - on his back while marching

It was in response to the fact that this project is going quickly that I added my fourth juggler's ball in the air. I picked up a bag of 1.5" diameter round wooden discs from the local craft store. I have done similar terrain scatter like this and find the best method is to flock the base first before adding vegetation). I do this by gluing the wooden discs to nails with white glue. I have a piece of blue foam insulation I created long ago with 12 nails and slots for them to rest upright in. I affix each nail upside down in the center of the disc. Once dry, I paint the base completely with a 50/50 mix of brown paint and white glue. While still wet, I pressed it down into a tub of Woodland Scenics Fine Brown Ballast. I spin it in my finger to remove loose flocking and then place the nail into its slot to dry.

    This Vietnamese soldier's pith helmet I painted khaki, but some will done in OD green, as well

The next day -- after working on my Vietnam figures -- I painted the flocked base with a 50/50 mix of white glue and water. I then tamp the disc down into a tub of Woodland Scenics Blended Earth Turf. I spin the nail with my fingers again to get off excess flocking, then I let it dry overnight, again.

    A look at just the 12 scatter pieces (& the Aquarium decoration Khmer ruin) without the soldiers

The third day, I used full strength white glue and painted on three irregular shapes covering about 2/3's of each disc. I sprinkle on Woodland Scenics Blended Grass over the white glue and tamp off the excess. I let that dry, too. While the dozen discs were drying, I took some time and went through my selection of plastic plants leftover from the last time I had done something like this. I felt that I needed some more, so I made a trip to the craft store and picked out 4-5 other likely pieces that were fortunately on sale 40% off. I sat at the dining room table and pulled the plant pieces off of the brown plastic "stems," separating them by type. I then sat down and trimmed off various pieces from the collection that would be later be planted upright into the disc. My thoughts were to use about three pieces on each disc. One would go in the center and the other two spaced around it. Later on, I would add fallen leaves and such on top of the flocking.

    Looking at the pieces from above -- I used a variety of different types of plastic plants for the effect

The next day, I used a pin vice to drill a hole in the center of each of the 12 pieces. I then mixed up some two-part epoxy, dabbed a blob of it on the hole, pushing some down inside with the end of a paperclip. I then pushed the trimmed greenery's stem through the hole in the disc. I balanced the disc on something so the stem would not touch my cutting mat that I work on. Once dried, I drilled a second hole and placed a different type of trimmed greenery, and then a third. I let each new piece dry overnight so that it wouldn't tip or lean at some weird angle. The pin vice hole seemed about perfect for the width of the stems I was inserting in the discs. That stage took three days. Once all dry, I trimmed off the plant stems protruding through the bottom with a box cutter knife.

    Bunching the pieces together with a low angle shot gives the impression of dense foliage

For the next step, I cut off individual leaves from various pieces of greenery. I made a lot of them, knowing I wanted two to three pieces of fallen vegetation on each. I decided to not use epoxy for this, but instead Tacky Glue. It is a bit cheaper and I had a lot of gluing to do! Once I had the fallen vegetation affixed to the flocked ground of each piece, I let them sit overnight so that I could evaluate them with a fresh eye in the morning. Upon looking at my handiwork the next morning, I decided that the plastic plants were a bit too shiny. There was too much of a sheen on there for my liking. I sprayed them with acrylic clear matte next. That helped some, but it was still a bit bright. I decided to use my brown vehicle wash and quickly splashed it over the leaves of the standing pieces of vegetation as well as the fallen ones. For one final time, I let my jungle scatter pieces dry overnight, again.

    A close up of the fallen leaves and other vegetation on the flocked ground of each scatter piece

"Much better!", I said to myself in the morning. The final step was to add a couple pieces of the leaf flocking that I am putting on the bases of my soldiers. Once that was done, and the glue was dry, I did a final acrylic matte spray coat. I liked how they turned out, and since I had just finished this batch of Viet Cong, I decided to pose them with the jungle scatter pieces for my photos. For the next batch, though, I think I will try larger wooden disc. I plan to glue a palm tree to the center of each with the plastic greenery spaced around it. I think that a mix of sizes of jungle scatter will add to their look of the table and make a more attractive tabletop.

I won't be starting on those right away, though. I want to get some of these things I am painting up to sell at the flea market at Historicon completed. I am even thinking of putting some things in the Origins Game Fair consignment sale, too. So, expect more variety than just 28mm Vietnamese soon...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 90 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 72

Mesas or Rocky Outcrops from Diabolical Terrain

    A collection of 3-D printed rocky outcrops or mesas that I purchased from Diabolical Terrain

Last year, knowing that Star Wars skirmishes were in the future for our gaming, I picked up a set of mesas or rocky outcrops from Diabolical Terrain. These are 3-D printed and in a nice variety of sizes from their Desert Rock Formations collection. In fact, I would say that these would work easily for just about any scale. I have them posed with my 28mm 3-D printed Stormtroopers from JS Wargamer Printing, but I could easily see these prints being equally perfect for 15mm. It just depends on how big you want your rocky outcrops or mesa terrain to be!

    28mm Star Wars Stormtroopers search through the canyonland of Tatooine for 'rebel scum'

The first step to preparing these for the tabletop was to spray paint them with a can of khaki "camouflage"  paint that I picked up at Menards. It's the same base coat I used for my Diabolical Terrain Tatooine houses that I painted up back in December. Like with those buildings, I will likely pick up more of these mesas when I see Ron Weaver at his booth at Historicon. I purchased these rocky outcrops from him at last Historicon. They seemed like plenty of pieces for a nice desert tabletop. However, once I got them finished and set out on my desert terrain neoprene mat, they didn't cover up as much of it as I thought they would! 

    'Any signs of the rebels, Echo Six?' 'No, sir.' 'Keep looking -- Lord Vader says they're here...' 

Once the spray painting was done, I was able to skip my usual next step of applying watered down acrylic paint to make sure it gets in all the cracks and crevices. This spray did a thorough job of it, and after inspecting the pieces closely, I decided to go straight to dry brushing. I applied a dry brush of a craft paint called "Wild Rice" -- a very light colored tan that I typically use for highlighting khaki. This brought out the carved rock faces well.

    The 3-D printed pieces were easy to paint up and prepare for the tabletop in four steps

As much as I liked it, I feel a wash always does a great job "softening" and blending in the brush strokes of the highlighting step. There was a lot of surface area, though. Did I want to use my standard brown vehicle wash, which is fairly dark, as well? Hmmm. Then I remembered what project I bought the spray paint I'd used on them for -- my giant, 3-D printed bridge. I had mixed up a special batch of wash just for that bridge, knowing it would take a lot of liquid to cover its surface. I still had what was left over sitting, pre-mixed, on my tabletop. I would look at it from time to time, and shake it to ensure it hadn't dried up. Would it be enough, though? I figured that I would try it first on one of the smaller pieces.

    I really like how the different shades of brown I used on the various steps amplify the shadows

I really liked the effect it gave. Sometimes, if the wash is too dark, it almost erases the previous highlighting. This was a nice in between. You could see the lighter highlights, but it did a nice job of blending the brush strokes and giving a nice, brown color. I went ahead and finished the rest of the pieces and still have some more left over. So, it had definitely been plenty! Once dry, I inspected the pieces. I liked them, but felt that the recesses and cracks were still too light. Hmmm.

I decided to do one final step on the pieces. I took my dark brown vehicle wash and applied it with a small brush only to the cracks and crevices. Although in a few places you can see where this stops and starts too clearly, in my opinion, I was overall happy with how it turned out. I think on my next batch, though, I will swap the last two steps. I will do the brown vehicle wash in the crevices and recesses and then do the overall wash on it. I think it will blend the whole rocky surface together well. A final clear matte spray coat finished off the pieces.

    You can see how the size of these pieces would work for either 15mm or 28mm scale

You can see the 3-D print lines in some of the close up photos. However, since it is a sandstone like surface, this actually doesn't look bad. It gives the impression of even smaller details on the rock surfaces itself. I like how these turned out, and I said before, will likely be buying more of them from Diabolical Terrain. They will be used on the tabletop for sure in my next planned scenario in our Star Wars campaign using Space Weirdos rules.

    One final look at the rocky pieces from above to show you their variety in size and shape

So, what else is coming up or in progress? Lots! Too much!! Seriously, I will post tomorrow my next batch of 28mm Viet Cong. Posing with them will be my first dozen jungle scatter terrain pieces that I scratch built using plastic plants from the local craft store. I actually took the photos of those at the same time as these. I had finished the rocky outcrops first, though, so they get to be featured on the blog first! Fair is fair...ha, ha! Of course, there are more U.S. and Viet Cong figs in process. In addition, there are a LOT of terrain pieces that I am preparing for the sole purpose of selling at my flea market table at Historicon this July 17-20 in Lancaster, PA. Stay tuned for updates on those and other miscellaneous terrain or figures I am squeezing into my painting schedule.

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 32

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 60

'Loot' from Drums at the Rapids 2025 (mostly from RRB Minis & More)

    One of the prizes I won from RRB Minis & More - a very cool 3-D printed multistory urban building

I ran my Viking Raid game at Drums at the Rapids, but I was the one coming home with the loot! Normally, there were only a couple vendors at Drums, so I didn't really expect to come how with a lot of new stuff. However, I did take items to sell in the flea market at Fort Meigs. I did very well and sold most of what I took up -- more than enough to pay for my hotel, meals, and purchases. But even more significantly, most of what I was bringing home were prizes from RRB Minis & More. Owner Rich Brown had run a contest for scenarios for any of the rules sets he carries. Mine was the winner (my campaign rules for Zombie RV, which are a free download on his site). When he first told me that I won, I was surprised...even more so when I saw home much he gave me!

    The rear of the building -- I love the door upstairs to the rooftop...great sniper position for games!

As I said, Rich was very generous. He gifted me a huge amount of 3-D printed stuff from a new line he is carrying. It is all from the Kickstarter 20th Century Urban Environment. Check out the link -- this is some great stuff! If you like anything you see, feel free to contact him so he can print it out for you. Some of it was exactly what I was looking for. A few things I already have, but still, this was a very generous prize. The centerpiece was a multistory building with attached garage (I think it is meant to be attached, but it could also be a separate building). The doors open, roofs come off, and it is all very modular. I know I probably have enough urban buildings for now, but I'm going to be hard pressed to resist getting this one painted up and ready for the tabletop. I think my favorite part is the second story door leading to the flat rooftop with parapet. I can see this being a favorite "sniper position" in games using the building. It also game with some ladders which I will likely attach on the outside as a fire escape or another way up onto the roof. 

    The one story garage which I believe is made to be attached to the multistory building

The garage looks very much like a building you would see in an urban area. Maybe it is a "hole in the wall" automobile repair shop? I might paint it up that way. The garage could just as easily stand alone as its own building. It is modeled partially damaged on its sides, which gives it more versatility. If you sandwich it between two other intact buildings, though, you will never see the damage. Standing alone, it is a damaged building - perfect for post-apocalyptic or a city in ruins. One building, two uses. Although I will paint it up separately from the multistory building, it will be in a similar style so that it can be attached, if I choose. 

    The rear of the garage -- if you look through the left window, you can see the damaged side

The things I was really excited about when Rich showed me this kickstarter last year were the rooftop scatter items. The water tank, air conditioning ducts, skylights, and even doorway to the rooftop are all very generic and very useful. I had actually been looking for these types of items, so when Rich shared the Kickstarter website with me, they were the first thing I asked about. Likely, they will be the first things painted up, too. They should fit on any flat roofed building, which most of my Sarissa Precision city buildings are, thankfully. They should also paint up fairly quickly, too. I look forward to getting them finished and onto the tabletop in my next game of Mean Streets gang warfare or Zombie RV.

    3-D printed air conditioning ducts, skylights, water tank, etc., available from RRB Minis & More

If you have seen my games, you may have noticed that I don't have any stoplights in my urban setup. Initially, I had been going back and forth about how to scratch-build them. However, since then, I have picked up a couple varieties. Rich's prizes add in a third variety. I will have to set all three out and decided which ones I like better. One selling point for Rich's will be that I should be able to order as many as I want from him. I like the street lights, too -- a somewhat ornate, elongated globe. Very fancy! Of course, I would need a LOT more than two to replace my dozen or so scratch-built ones that I made a few years ago. The Stop, Yield, etc. signs are nice and will be useful, as well, as is the phone box. I already have a lot of plaster traffic cones already painted up, so I will likely not spend time on these soon. I'm not sure what the black cylindrical items are...they look familiar, but their purpose on a street is eluding me right now.

    Street scatter that Rich included in my gift box -- traffic lights & signs, streetlights, & even cones!

Rich also included some other trash -- literally! I love the collection of three garbage bags. I also like the dumpster with the separate working lids. The sawhorses are nice, as well, as are the barrels, trash cans, and even barrel fire. I already have some of these items painted up (same with the fire hydrants), but the manole covers or sewer access points are new to me and a great idea to paint up and throw onto a street on the tabletop for that little bit "extra." That's the awesome thing about scatter terrain like this. It makes your tabletop come alive. It is those little extras that draw people in and make them want to play a game on your tabletop. I highly recommend picking up some of this inexpensive scatter to take your display to the next level. 

    The goodies keep on coming -- love the collection of garbage bags, dumpster, and sawhorses!

Can you believe I'm still not done with what Rich included in the gift box? I was excited to see the three wooden pallets. I almost bought some at Cincycon this past March from A Critical Hit. However, my tub was already pretty full, so I decided to be frugal. Yes, I could make pallets with bass wood. Why, though? For a wargamer, time is money, too. These will take next to no time to get onto the table. Plus, they will be far less fiddly than cutting pieces of bass wood, arranging them, and gluing them together. I'll happily spend a small amount for 3-D printed ones. Along with the traffic lights, they will likely be my first order of additional stuff from the samples he sent me. The park bench is nice, as is the dead tree (it will join my growing dead forest). I have to admit that I have no idea what the four tiny red things are...hopefully Rich Brown will see my post and comment on what they are supposed to be. The brick rubble is good -- post-apocalyptic gamers can always use more rubble!

    Pallets! I regretted not buying these from A Critical Hit at Cincycon...now I have a source for them

I actually did buy some things from RRB Minis & More, too. He didn't bring his store, but did bring along some stuff to add in the flea market. GMs attending Drums at the Rapids are encouraged to bring flea market items to set on one of the tables or shelves along the outer wall of the main gaming area. I've been doing it for years, so I was glad to see Rich brought some things I could purchase to pay him back some. I bought printed copies of three of the rules sets he carries. I already had the PDF of Mice-at-Arms, but always like having a printed copy when I play a game. I had been meaning to download Frogs of the Fen (supplement to go along with the rules), but hadn't gotten around to it. Rich has been running his Sci-Fi rules, Fictioneers: Legacy Fantastic Sci-Fi Warriors rules for a few years at various conventions. My friends who have played them all have enjoyed the games, so I figured I would pick them up.

Rich told me he wasn't aware he could have brought his store and been a vendor. Doug of the Colby Street Irregulars usually recruits a couple for each show. So, there was a communication breakdown there, as I'm sure others would liked to have picked up some stuff from RRB Minis & More. The one vendor who was there were my friends James & Rusty from Fireland Games. They brought their collection of Saga, Bolt Action, and more figures, as well as various other items. One thing that they do that is a great service for gamers is they open up the plastic boxes and sell individual sprues. Sometimes, you don't need 30 of a figure type and five or six fit your needs perfectly. James says it has been a successful marketing strategy for them.

    Picture from the Gripping Beast website of one of the two trolls I bought from Fireland Games

Readers of my blog know I actually prefer metal miniatures, but am willing to paint plastic or 3-D printed figures, too. When I saw these 28mm metal trolls from Gripping Beast online, I knew I wanted to have a couple. I asked James at DayCon if they could get them and he said yes, and ordered the two for me. So, my purchase form Fireland Games was already "set" when I arrived. I am looking forward to the second edition of Dragon Rampant to be released in October. Fireland Games will be ordering me a copy (contact them if you want one, too). Our Sunday night gaming group enjoys the Rampant series of games. They are quick, easy-to-learn, and provide a great multiplayer game that can be finished in a couple hours. Just to give you an idea how quickly the system moves, my friend John L (owner of JS Wargamer Printing) recently ran a six player Xenos Rampant game (the Sci-Fi version). Each player controlled 40-50 points ("normal" size is 25) and it finished in a little more than two hours. If you haven't played any of the Rampant games, I highly recommend them!

    Meet my second 28mm Gripping Beast troll I got from Fireland Games -- his name is Gorka

I am telling everyone that 28mm Fantasy will be next year's project. My 28mm Vietnam is this year's, and I am adamant about not making a major purchase to start a new one before next year. Two trolls are not a major purchase. And um...neither is the box of Gripping Beast metal Orcs I'll buy when Fireland Games puts in their next Gripping Beast order. Nope, nope -- no new project! "Move along, folks, nothing to see here...!" The final picture is of three cups worth of Hirst Arts plaster pieces that Rusty brought along to get out of his basement (his wife's instructions). He wanted to give me everything he brought, which would have been about 50 of these cup's worth -- not just the three I filled up. I did not need that much, though, but there were some pieces I could use. Rusty refused to accept money for them, which just goes to show how good of guys they are (or how much he wanted to get rid of it all...ha, ha!).

    My three cups worth of Hirst Arts plaster blocks -- the doors were nice, and I can always use stone

So, how do I count all of this to add to my tallies, below? The two buildings are easy -- they're "Terrain." The scatter...wow. Do I really count each individual traffic cone? That seems excessive. And I certainlyi can't count each Hirst Arts block! Maybe the traffic cones should count those as one, to quote Gimli the Dwarf? Either way, I'm about to go seriously in the "red" on my Scatter counts of Painted vs. Acquired. And I was doing sooo well!! Luckily, I am catching up on miniatures as my Vietnam figures are going quickly. Still, it is only May. I have more than seven months to make up these totals! And who can look an amazing gift horse in the mouth, like what Rich gave me? Still, I think I need to start working some of these scatter pieces in fairly quickly...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 145
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 21
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 93
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 60

More U.S. Soldier in Vietnam & Some Misc. Scatter

    A fire team of soldiers of 'The Big Red One' take a breather next to an abandoned Buddhist stupa

With this batch completed, I'm up to 20 U.S. soldiers finished. I'm having fun painting these guys. Each figure in each pack of five is different. Plus, there are enough packs in the Black Sun range that I have minimal duplication. These five soldiers are the same as one of the previous batches, so I decided to mix up their skin colors a bit. The soldiers I painted as white are now black or Hispanic, and vice versa. The Crucible Crush sculpts are detailed enough you can see that some poses are meant to be a particular ethnicity. However, I figure that on the tabletop, players will see the pose first, then skin color. So, I doubt someone will be picking up a miniature in my games and saying, "Heyyy...!"

    This is my 4th batch of U.S. infantry from the "Black Sun" range - I love the poses & details!

Anyway, no point in going over how I painted these guys. I've done that in the first post and previous one sharing my U.S. soldiers.  Once again, these are painted for the First Infantry Division, aka "The Big Red One." I'm reading a publication by The Nafziger Collection right now to give me ideas for scenarios for my games. I plan to base as many of them as possible off of actual engagements by this unit's soldiers. There will be some others, of course, that I took inspiration from the actions of other units, but if possible, I'd love to reproduce the unit's tour through Vietnam in my games. I think that would be neat.

    Details like the pack of cigarettes in the helmet band & my added tattoos help bring them to life

I'm also reading Mark Bowden's Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam. Bowden is an amazing storyteller and puts you right in the head of the people who lived through History.  Perhaps you've read his Black Hawk Down novel that the Hollywood movie was made from? Anyway, it is a thrilling account of the intense urban warfare that took place in Vietnam's second largest city during the Tet Offensive. I'm about halfway through it and have a hard time putting it down when it is time to go to bed at night!

   Hispanic (or my attempt at that skintone) trooper stalks through the jungle keeping an eye out for VC

I have also been working more on the rules that I will use for my games. I will definitely be making modifications to the core Sellswords & Spellslingers system. For example, I am thinking each figure will be permitted to roll for two actions per turn instead of three. I will also have a separate system for the player's movements before contact, too. I don't want to worry about soldiers in line having to leapfrog a buddy ahead of him because that one failed its actions. Once the shooting begins, though, it will be more chaotic and some players may freeze while others do their duty more efficiently.

    From the streets to the jungle of Vietnam -- an African-American trooper sweats it out in the bush

You may have noticed that I am showing each trooper individually in my photos with this post, instead of in pairs. I really liked the single photo from the Viet Cong batch, so decided to keep that up. With only five figures per group, it is not like it makes the posts that much longer, right? Plus, I like seeing both the front and back of the miniatures. There are all kinds of subtle details on these excellently-cast miniatures, and this format does a better way of showing that off.

    With 25 Vietnam figures done, I estimate that I am just under halfway through the project

Also included in this post are some scatter pieces that I finished up more than a week ago. I kept waiting to get a few more things done so that I could do a more substantial post. However, once I began working on pieces of jungle scatter for Vietnam, it meant the other scatter was sidelined for the moment. Two of the pieces are 3-D ones from A Critical Hit that I actually purchased last year, at Cincycon 2024. It is pretty crazy to have something that takes only a handful of minutes to spruce up for the tabletop to sit unused in your closet for more than a year. Both of these fit into that category. The other is a toy semi-tractor trailer I picked up from Menards.

    This towering scaffolding metal construct is actually 2 pieces 3-D printed from A Critical Hit

This giant, Sci-Fi scaffolding thingie is actually two pieces that I bought from A Critical Hit. The more I looked at them, the more they looked like they should be stacked on top of each other. They even had little pegs on top (?), although there was no corresponding hole on the bottoms. That was solved easily with a pin vice and some superglue to attach the two structures together. Once I looked at the piece even more closely, I noticed all the bolt and hexagonal nut heads along the structure. I decided to paint those Iron Wind Metals Steel. I also did two black vehicle washes on it to give it more definition in the recessed areas and a dirtier look than the bright bronze color it was printed in. I like the way it looks, though I'm still really not sure what it is supposed to be...!

    This 3-D printed iron brazier with flame needed just a black wash and the flames painted to be done

Another Critical Hit piece that had sat in my unpainted terrain/scatter closet for a year was this iron brazier with flames. Like most critical hit pieces, it was printed in a silver for the brazier and a deep red for the flames. I decided to do a black vehicle wash on the brazier to give it more definition and darken it a bit more. While I was at it, I pulled out the flame piece and painted it, as well. Even though my red, orange, and yellow may not be expertly done, I think it will stick out more on the tabletop than the deep red. You can still see that red in the open flame shaped spaces near the bottom of the brazier. Of course, this little thing may not see the tabletop that often because I have all my Bad Goblin Games LED flame scatter! As nice as this looks, they look better...

Menards toy semi-tractor trailer made of plastic and 'dirtied up' with rust coloring and black washes

I have been looking for a semi-tractor trailer in die cast for awhile, now, but had been unsuccessful. However, one day while in Menards, I found a bunch of toy trucks for only $4.99. One of them was a tractor-trailer, so I snapped it up. It is plastic rather than die cast, and a step down in quality from most die cast vehicles you see in various stores. However, beggars can't be choosers, so I bought it and also a dump truck.

    Did I put too much black wash on the tractor trailer? Perhaps - it certainly looks dirty & abandoned!

One thing I am still not confident or sure how to do is weather and "dirty up" the many die cast vehicles I have bought over the years. I have about a dozen sitting in my terrain/scatter closet waiting for me to figure out a way to do it. When I purchased the Menards trucks, I wanted to get it ready for the tabletop as soon as possible. I think that -- if nothing else -- it would look good sitting in a trailer part or post-apocalyptic cityscape. My first idea is to simply do a black wash on their exterior. However, the truck would likely need more than that. The chrome is simply to bright and toy-like. So, I painted the chrome pieces with Iron Wind Metals Steel. Some parts even required a second coat. 

    One of my post-apocalyptic survivors checks out the area before investigating the tractor trailer

I did have to put glue underneath onto to the wheels rods to keep them from moving. I should probably have done a gray dry brush on the rubber wheels. And maybe some more dark wash into the wheel wells and hubs. Honestly, this was my first real weathering attempt and I wasn't sure what was "too much" and what was just right. I still have the dump truck to do, so maybe I'll do better on it! So, what else is on my painting desk? Two batches of Viet Cong and one of U.S. infantry, of course. And for scatter, I have 12 circular wooden disks that I flocked and am putting various plastic plants on for jungle scatter. The plants are glued down, but I probably want to dull them up a bit to take off that plastic sheen. Of course, forecast says rain here for the next three days in the monsoon season of Columbus, Ohio! We'll see when I get chance to spray them with a matte clear coat...!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 143
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 85 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 19
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 23

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 54
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 60

Star Wars with Space Weirdos: Imperial Boarding Action

    Allen's Star Wars rebel soldiers prepare to defend themselves as they hear the Stormtroopers advance

My friend Keith had a taste for some Sci-Fi skirmish, and wanted to get his Starship Vengeance 3-D printed cardboard terrain onto the table. The "box terrain" set from Gale Force 9 is pre-printed and cleverly goes back together like a Russian matryoska doll, with each slightly smaller box fitting inside a larger one. We decided to use Space Weirdos rules again, since we had just used them and they would be fresher in our head. I suggested a very Star Wars-like scenario with stormtroopers boarding a rebel cruiser looking for a high value target (in this case, "the Princess"). Keith brought along his Wizards of the Coast prepainted Star Wars figs, and we set up a simple, shoot-'em up scenario.

    Keith's very clever 3-D printed cardboard spaceship interior was our battlefield for the evening

We had three Empire players and three Rebels. Each controlled a sergeant leader and three troopers. The profiles were identical for both sides except that the rebels had laser pistols and the Stormtroopers had laser rifles. Of course, in the heat of the moment we promptly forgot to apply the weapon bonuses and restrictions until the very end of the game. We also forgot about our grenade's +1 on the damage chart, and our armor's +1 to Defense rolls. I have an idea on how to redesign the character sheets to make it less easy to forget all those fun things. It didn't imbalance the game as both sides completely forgot those modifiers until the very end of the game!

    My entry point was the bottom of the picture - but as we advance, Keith's rebels move to flank us

Keith laid out the very cool looking cardboard terrain to form the sprawling interior of a rebel cruiser. First, I had the Empire players discuss and then choose three breach points, one for each player, where they would board the ship. Next, the Rebel players returned to the room and deployed their figures. Jenny and I had chose to breach into rooms that led to corridors that essentially bisected the ship. Tom chose to breach into a perpendicular corridor that led left and right, so to speak. We figured we would come in the middle of the interior, so to speak, and then march right or left once we saw where the Rebels (and more importantly, the Princess) were. All three Empire players had a silent chuckle when they saw Joel deploy his four Rebels soldiers in the hallway Tom would breach into. To one side of the central axis, Keith had deployed his guys and the Princess in Engineering. To the opposite side, Allen had deployed his in the Control room. 

    Tom's Stormtroopers burst in through their breach point and quickly gunfire & blasts erupt

Crucially for me, there was another corridor that led from my access point to the back of Engineering. So, I feinted forward to look like I was going to reinforce Tom in the central hallway battle. Keith sent one of his soldiers to reinforce Joel, but the other three began moving towards the corridor, possibly to outflank me. This decided matters for me, as I would throw all four of my stormtroopers at his position. Before we engaged though, the battle was raging in the central hallway. We later nicknamed it the Hallway of Death for the Out of Action soldiers sprawled about the corridor. 

   Early look at the 'Hallway of Death', with two of Jenny's Stormtroopers at the bottom ready to join in

Tom raced through the breach point and immediately engaged the rebels in melee. I'd given each figure a grenade, in addition to their blaster, and the players were not shy about using them at all. Soon, shock grenades were going off all over the ship. Stormtroopers fell, Rebels went down -- anywhere that figures were bunched up within the half stick blast radius, a grenade would be tossed. Even with forgetting the +1 on the damage chart, grenades rolled 2d10 on attack vs. the laser pistol or rifle's 2d8. We debated whether it was possible to use one of your two Command Points each turn to "power up" the grenade to 2d12. It is possible to spend one point to power up your attack one dice level. We decided that it was possible, which made throwing grenades even more attractive. The sounds of booms soon rang through the hallways as men screamed and fell to the floor.

    Fortune was on the Empire's side as my Stormtroopers clear the corridor leading to Engineering

Tom pushed his attacks aggressively, drawing all of the attention of Joel and Allen. Jenny advanced to support him, keeping most of her troopers in the corridor leading to the Hallway of Death, though. While the battle raged there, it was mainly a distraction. It kept 2/3's of the rebels away from protecting the princess. All I would need to do would be to defeat Keith's three troopers with my four, grab the princess, and get out, and we would win.

    Unfortunately for the Princess, Allen's troopers remained pinned down inside the control room

Keith won the Initiative though and started turn 2 off with a bang. He threw a grenade which would catch three of my troopers in the blast. I used one of my two command points to have one Stormtrooper dodge out of the blast area. Only one of the other two was hit, and he was still up. I decided to use the movie tactics of the Stormtroopers and advanced to the attack, moving into his hallway and shooting with all of my Stormtroopers. We also tossed our share of grenades, too. It was a bloody battle, but my Stormtroopers were slowly getting the upper hand.

    My grenade tossed into the doorway leading to the Engineering knocked out a rebel & the princess

Keith's rebels began to fall back from the corridor. One of my men tossed a grenade in the open doorway leading to engineering. In the blast radius were three of his rebels AND (unfortunately, maybe) the Princess. The princess and two of the rebel soldiers were knocked out of action. He counterattacked knocking out one of my guys. Still, the doorway remained open at the start of the next turn. I had one of my Stormtroopers run in, pick up the princess, and dart back out into the corridor. I made sure I hung onto one of my command points, though, waiting for his rebels to pursue into the corridor and shoot my Stormtrooper carrying the princess. When he did, I played it, Dodging out of the corridor back towards my entry point.

    Bodies continue to pile up in the Hallway of Death, and amazingly Tom's Stormtroopers fight on!

Meanwhile, bodies continued to fall in the Hallway of Death. Allen's rebels, who'd been relatively content to hold the command center, finally came out to take on Tom and Jenny's stormtroopers. More grenades went off, more figures were either Knocked Down, Staggered, or put Out of Action. The Hallway's floor grew slick with the blood from wounded lying on the metallic floor. 

    Three of my Stormtroopers exfiltrating back towards our breach point with the princess' body

When we decided to call the game, my troopers were within one move of their exfiltration point and Keith did not have enough rebel soldiers left to stop them. He kept insisting the princess was dead, though I pointed out the rules say only "Out of Action," which doesn't mean dead. It was an imperial victory, especially considering the Sci-Fi medical advancements which could revive or heal the princess, we argued. Everyone had a great time, laughing as we made Star Wars movie references or comical dice failures beset us all. I think everyone is enjoying Space Weirdos. It is easy to pick up the concepts. There are a few questions that have arisen in our games, but we tend to be able to agree on the intent of the rules. If you're looking for a fast Sci-Fi skirmish game (they also have Sword Weirdos for Fantasy), with easy to learn rules, you may consider downloading the rules from Wargame Vault and trying them out. At only $5, how wrong can you go?

    For only $5, how wrong can you go picking up & checking out a copy of Space Weirdos?

Meanwhile, my painting of 28mm Vietnam figures continues to roll along, as does my work on jungle vegetation scatter terrain pieces. Look for pics of those soon!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 143
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 80 

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 19
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 22

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 54
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 57