First Playtest: Surviving 'Nam - A Year In-Country with Mr. Charles...

    Viet Cong have an ambush ready for the soldiers of the Big Red One in my first play test of the rules

Well, the system worked! And boy, was it bloody for my soldiers from the Big Red One (1st Infantry Division)!! 2nd Lt. Cooper was tasked with leading two squads with an attached M60 light machine gun (LMG) team and medic, to check out a small, Vietnamese hamlet, taking place as part of a company-wide sweep. Each squad was led by a veteran sergeant with three riflemen and an M79 bloop gunner (grenade launcher). A total of 15 soldiers, recently arrived in Vietnam, were humping single-file on a trail through the bush heading towards the hooches of Su Khoi Dau Khong Vui. From the distant sounds of firing from where the other platoons in the company likely were, they could expect contact at any moment. If it happened, it would be their first significant firefight of their 12-month tour of duty. The troopers were nervous, but confident in their sergeants, old timers Sgt. Hayes and Sgt. Bruce. However, they still were not 100% sure about their brand new second lieutenant, Cooper, who'd just been placed in charge of their platoon shortly after arriving in Vietnam.  

    Layout of my fictional Vietnamese hamlet & the hooches the soldiers have been tasked to investigate

My system is an adaption of Ganesha Games' cooperative or solo miniatures game, Sellswords & Spellslingers.  The intention is for players to each control a squad of American soldiers trying to survive their year-long tour in Vietnam. The enemy, in this battle the Viet Cong (VC), are controlled by the Event Cards and the game's mechanics. I played it as if I were two separate players, though, each controlling a squad and splitting the attached elements up between them. My imaginary two players would alternate activating a soldier until all soldiers had acted, and then a new turn would begin. 

The game lasted 11 turns, with the final group of soldiers exiting the table, assisting their wounded comrades to safety. They left behind 21 dead or wounded VC at the hamlet, but suffered grievous wounds in the process. Luckily, that included only one American Killed in Action (KIA). After the battle, I rolled on the chart for recovery from wounds to see who would be available next month (Mission #2), who would still be recuperating in the rear, and who had the misfortune to make a quick full recovery and be available for the next scenario...ha, ha! The ranks will be considerably thinned for that game, with each squad down from five to four and three new replacements assigned to fill the void. I'm getting ahead of myself, though! How about a battle report?

    The Big Red One in column as it marches past fields & patches of woods as it nears the hamlet

In the lead, Sgt. Hayes motioned his point man and slack man towards the hooches, as they came into view. Things seemed peaceful, with about a dozen Vietnamese farmers and villagers going about their business in the fields, leading animals, or stopping to stare at the approaching G.I.'s. For my rules, I've created a new pre-battle sequence called Countdown to Contact. Instead of players rolling for each soldier individually for their actions, and then moving them like normal, each player rolls two dice per soldier under their command all at once. He then assigns the dice to figures and moves them. Any failures to activate do NOT result in the draw of an Event Card. This pre-battle sequence is meant to reflect that players nott really know when the you-know-what is going to hit the fan. So, Sgt. Hayes gave his lead three soldiers two moves towards the hooches, hoping to get them checked out before any enemy appeared, while the rest of his squad followed up with one move. Sgt. Bruce moved his squad up behind, some beginning to fan out into the woods to the left of the trail.

    Sgt. Bruce's 2nd Squad begins to deploy into the woods to cover 1st Squad's search of the hamlet

At the end of each turn of Countdown to Contact, a single d6 is rolled. You add +1 for each elapsed turn, plus any scenario modifiers to the roll (I gave this scenario, "Check out the Hooches!", a +2, meaning I was adding three total to the die roll). If a "6" or higher is rolled, Countdown to Contact ends and the normal activation procedure begins. Players then roll one or two 20-sided dice (their choice) for each of their characters -- called PCs. I've changed it from the three dice of Sellswords to two dice to make for fewer wild swings in events. Veterans activate on a roll of 7+ (Sgt. Hayes and Sgt. Bruce were the only veterans, having seen combat in Korea). Most troops are "Grunts," and activate on an 8+, while FNGs on a 9+ (the N&G stand for "New Guy" -- can you figure out what the "F" is for?). Wouldn't you know it, but I rolled to end Countdown to Contact after only one turn! That was only the first of many unexpected things to occur for my newly-arrived troops!

    Even before the shooting started, some of the villagers wisely decided to flee for safety

I had also created a chart for civilian movement, with results ranging from Freeze to moving away from U.S. troops, moving away from any VC, double moving towards the nearest board edge, and even "transforming" into a VC, revealing a weapon, and opening fire or throwing a grenade. I rolled at the end of each turn, with most civilians having escaped off-table by turns 4 or 5. Only one doughty old mamasan, just as she neared the table edge, pulled out a sub-machine gun from under her black pajamas and joined the VC in the woods. Meanwhile, Pvt. Parker and Pfc. Taum reached the stairs of the two hooches by the end of their moves. The rest of the two squads were moving up to cover them, expecting gunfire at any moment.

    First VC enemy appears - a light machine gun team opens fire on the U.S. soldiers in the hamlet

I jotted down on a notepad any thing I encountered during the play test that I thought needed clarified or changed. One of the first changes I feel I will make was prompted by the sequence of Event Cards I flipped for each activation failure of my soldiers. The first four or five would have activated enemy troops (called "Foes" in the rules) if any had been present. However, since none began on the table, I was skating by with no ill effect from some pretty nasty cards, such as "All Hell Breaking Loose" (which activates all foes on the table). So, my first change will be that once Countdown to Contact ends, scenarios will dictate a certain number of foes be placed on the table immediately. The first one that eventually did show up was an enemy LMG team in the woods along the left hand board edge. It opened fire, pinning several soldiers, but not taking anyone "Down." One of the effects of an LMG in my game is that, even if its roll to hit is unsuccessful, it "Pins" its target and any other enemies within 2". Everything I have read about Vietnam indicated the M60 was the killing weapon in close combat on the battlefields of Vietnam. I found this to be true in my play test, as well. The American's M60 and the VC's RPD (and also the U.S. grenade launchers), wreaked the most havoc on the enemy.

    The first U.S. casualty -- Cpl. Kern is hit by LMG fire while Pvt. Cassidy and a villager look on

Not all Event Cards activate or bring foes onto the table, though. One that didn't bring new enemy hit me on the first turn of normal activation procedure (technically Turn 2). "Colonel on the Horn" has several possible outcomes listed on the card, requiring a further die roll to see what the battalion commander wants. My roll was "Mission Scrubbed - get off table with your wounded ASAP." I reasoned that one of the other companies had walked into a nasty ambush and Cooper's squads were needed to reinforce them. That was the last thing poor privates Tatum and Parker wanted to hear, though! Now they had to double time back across the open ground with VC popping up in the woods all around the ville. This mission was FUBAR before it had barely begun! Another change I'm making is to add a few more outcomes to "Colonel on the Horn." I included ones that don't scrub the mission, including an insistent colonel requiring a detailed Situation Report right away, dammit! This will cause the C.O. and radioman to lose their next turn. 

    Pvt. Janowicz lobs a perfect 'bloop gun' shot amidst a VC squad that just opened fire on his buddies

"All Hell" was truly breaking loose as more and more VC opened fire on my guys. Turn 2 saw the first Americans going "Down." One of the key concepts of Sellswords & Spellslingers, thus also in my "Surviving 'Nam" rules, is the Danger Level (DL) of a foe. It is used when the foe shoots at a PC (the PC must roll higher than the DL to be unscathed), or when a PC is shooting AT a foe. The tricky part for that is modifiers for cover and distance must be listed as "+ / -". That thick Medium Cover is subtracted from the Danger Level of the foe when he's shooting at you, making it easier to roll. However, it has the opposite effect when your PC is shooting at an enemy tucked away behind the trees, making the number you need to roll to hit higher. The first of my troops to go Down (fail to roll over the enemy's DL) was Cpl. Kern, who had moved to the edge of the field and was drawing a bead on the enemy LMG. 

    Another squad of VC shoot from ambush downing Pfc. Griffin, but missing the medic, Cpl. Spellman

I say "Down" instead of wounded because of something peculiar I had read in numerous memoirs by soldiers who served in Vietnam. A soldier would be struck and go down. More than once, they wrote the impact of the bullet felt like they were hit by a truck. However, when someone went to check on them, they found that a piece of equipment had deflected or stopped the force of the round, and the soldier was unharmed. Or sometimes the soldier was only lightly wounded, but the sight of their blood and knowing they'd been shot was keeping them from functioning. I represent this in my rules by a roll below the DL meaning the PC goes "Down." Tip the figure over. Another friendly figure has to go and spend an action checking on him. Once that action has been spent, players roll on the chart to see how badly hurt the soldier was, in fact. A full range of possibilities from unhurt like above, lightly wounded, seriously hurt, or "Messed Up" -- out of action. 

    Having almost begun the search of the hooches, Pvt. Tatum & Pvt. Parker are hurriedly recalled

I began the play test scenario later in the evening, and was surprised when Jenny came downstairs to tell me it was 10:30pm already. Time went by fast while playing! I finished the turn, and resolved to finish the game after lunch tomorrow. My troops were in the process of falling back to our entry point, and things were looking fairly good. Cpl. Spellman, the medic, was Johnny on the spot, bouncing from one downed soldier to another. He had been targeted himself numerous times, but seemed to be leading a charmed life. Every time, he rolled above the foe's DL and came away unscathed. A shout to Spellman's rear distracted him, though, as he was checking on Pfc. Griffin. Sgt. Hayes had been hit! After patching up Griffin's flesh wound and ordering him back into the fight, he jogged off to check on his sergeant. 

    Medic & Pvt. Janowicz check on Pfc. Griffin, while behind them veteran Sgt. Hayes goes down

It was at this moment, that the wheels came off the Big Red jalopy! Spellman was Downed himself by fire from a squad of VC that had popped up to his right. Pfc. Tatum, panting from his hair-raising run through the center of the ville, stopped to help Hayes and Spellman. Another burst of fire, and Tatum went down, too. What was truly turning the tide in favor of the VC was a horrible run of my die rolling for activation. First Squad's M79 gunner, Pvt. Cassidy, failed on both his activation rolls for two turns in a row. I kept a log of what each soldier did to help me analyze the game afterwards. Turn 4 reads "x2 Failures" over and over. Plus, cards like "All Hell Breaks Loose" came up back to back. 

    One mamasan fleeing off-board changes course, pulls out a weapon, and join the VC in the woods

Sgt. Bruce was doing his best, though, to pick up the slack when his counterpart went down. He kept the M60 gunner, Pfc. George, hammering away at the VC. One ability of the squad leader is to give a free activation to any soldier within 6" -- even if they've already acted. Pfc. George and his assistant gunner Pvt. Boston, fed belt after belt through the M60. George was quick to pin and silence enemy LMGs as they opened up on the squads. However, the problem facing the Big Red One was that the guys who were Down were back out in the open, in the center of the village. Plus, it didn't help that Lt. Cooper and his radioman, back on Turn 3 when things looked smooth, extracted themselves off-table. So, no Fire Missions to lay smoke or bail out the troops with the radio gone! Nice job, "Butterbar!"

I wrote my mechanics to encourage players to do what U.S. troops would do when their buddies went down. They risk their own lives to check on them and recover their wounded. The Down mechanic rewards players for doing this. You're not really sure how badly they're hit. This encourages players to check on their buddies, like troops actually would, and help them get off the table to Medevac. 

    Pvt. Janowicz continues to "get some" with his M79 grenade launcher & another great shot!

Things continued to go downhill as the turn count rose. Sgt. Bruce went down on Turn 5. Now, both squad leaders and the lieutenant were unable to help their command. At one point, I counted that I had only five guys standing and seven laying Down or otherwise out of action. Luckily, Pvt. Carter was able to help patch up Sgt. Hayes. Once on his feet, Hayes immediately began to make a difference. His extra action motivated the soldiers to gather up their wounded buddies and begin hobbling with them to the rear. Potential disaster struck when M60 gunner Pfc. George went Down, too. Hayes pulled him to his feet, though, and the two began limping to the rear. 

    Another VC LMG team fires at Cpl. Frey as he moves to rescue Kern, who has been down for awhile

Finally, a lull in new arrivals gave the soldiers some breathing space. Using the woods as cover, the remnants of both squads pulled back and finally were able to withdraw from the field. They weren't exactly in any shape to reinforce another platoon, but they could get their seriously wounded to Medevac, which would hopefully save their lives. At the start of Turn 12, when I noticed no VC had any of the pairs of survivors hobbling together towards the rear in line of sight, I called the game. All were within one move of the board edge, so it was obvious they'd get off. Whew! What a rush, though! At one point, I thought for sure both squads were going to be completely wiped out. Well, except for lucky Lt. Cooper and his radioman Pvt. Byers, doubtless wondering where everyone else was, and why they were lagging behind on the trail! 

    Things looked bleak with both Sgt. Hayes & Sgt. Bruce, the medic, and Pvt. Tatum down in a heap

After the battle was over, I carefully recorded each soldier's status at the end of the game. Luckily, all wounded had been helped off board by their fellow soldiers. This is important because each injured soldiers requires a roll on a Recovery Chart. There are positive modifiers if a soldier has been helped off board, or if the wounds were light. I pulled up the chart, snagged a likely 20-sided die, and wished for the best. So, here are the results of the Big Red One's first action in Vietnam:

    Near the end, I began to wonder if we'd have enough uninjured soldiers to carry all the wounded!

 

1ST SQUAD

• Squad Leader Sgt. Hayes = (Lost Limb - his war is over!) This was a frustratingly bad, post-game die roll. I had a +4 for him being only Lightly Wounded, and +1 for making it off-board. My roll? A "1" on 1d20! Apparently, the old Korean War veteran toughed out that serious leg wound at the end game, but once at the hospital it turned out much worse than it looked.
• Cpl. Kern = fit for duty (Roll was "Bad Luck - soldier returned to unit after a few days of medical care"...ha, ha!). 
• Pfc. Tatum = out for 1 month, recuperating from wounds.
• Pvt. Parker = Killed In Action - the unit's only fatality.
• Pvt. Cassidy = fit for duty. 

2ND SQUAD

• Squad Leader Sgt. Bruce = Lost Limb - his war is over! Wow - I lost both of my squad leaders on the very first mission. Will anyone survive their 12-month tour? 
• Cpl. Frey =  out for 1 month, recuperating from wounds.
• Pfc. Griffin = fit for duty.
• Pvt. Carter = fit for duty (injured, but also with the "Bad Luck" roll).
• Pvt. Janowicz = fit for duty.   

ATTACHED ELEMENTS 

• Command Officer 2nd Lt. Cooper = fit for duty.
• Radioman Pfc. Byars = fit for duty.
• Medic Cpl. Spellman = Million Dollar Wound (returning to the States for treatment -- his war is over!).
• M60 Machine Gunner Pfc. George = Lost Limb - his war is over!
• M60 Asst. Gunner Pvt. Boston = fit for duty.

    My card deck - first play test went well, though casualties were high among the two squads!

That's one KIA and four so badly wounded their tour of duty is over. An additional two won't be back in time for the next mission. So, the ranks will be a little thin for Mission #2! Reflecting on the casualties, that's seven of 15 who reported for duty that will not be there next time. It looks like Lt. Cooper is going to have to take over 2nd Squad himself, while Cpl. Kern is promoted to promoted to lead 1st Squad. He's going to be thrilled by that outcome, I'm sure! And likely, just as thrilled that he's getting two new replacements. Actually, there IS a slim chance with each Replacement roll that you don't get a FNG, but actually get someone more experienced. In the attached elements, there will be a new assistant gunner, as Pvt. Boston is promoted and moves up to take George's place on the M60. There will also be a new medic. I'll do all the rolls to see what type of replacement they get prior to the next post.

After my first play test, I am very encouraged. It was bloody, but I had some awful luck in the mid-going of the game. I want to do at least one more game before I open it up to others giving it a run with their group or by themselves. If you're interested in play testing, send me an email (mike.demana.wwm@gmail.com). I will need to type up rules more properly than I have it now, with sections scattered here and there. Thanks for any comments on the battle report, and I hope to present Mission #2 next week sometime!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 161

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 57

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150

3-D Printed Canyon Rocks & Stacks from Diabolical Terrain

    Battle droids prowl the canyon lands of Tatooine among 3-D printed pieces from Diabolical Terrain

A big part of my advance purchase that I picked up at Historicon from Diabolical Terrain were these desert terrain pieces from his Canyon Rocks & Stacks range. I wanted them to supplement the Desert Rock Formations that I had painted up awhile back. I now have 17 of these printed in 32mm scale, so should be set for any of my Star Wars skirmishes that I set out in the outback of Tatooine! 

    These canyon rocks and stacks certainly evoke desert terrain out west, such as Arches National Park

They are incredibly easy to get ready for the tabletop, too. I began -- as I did with the first batch -- with sand-colored Camouflage spray prime from Menards. I must not have sprayed it on as thick as I did with the first batch, because I did have to go back and do a base coat on top of the priming in a craft paint khaki color. Or maybe there are more grooves and crevices in this batch than the first. Who knows?

    I love how the erosion lines paint up quickly with a simple base coat, dry brush, and wash

Either way, I let them dry overnight after that. Next, I did a white dry brush highlight with a wide, stiff-bristled brush. If this is sounding familiar, it is exactly the same recipe as for my Tatooine buildings! Some of these are fairly big pieces, so I had to be careful to not smudge the areas I'd already dry brushed as I went all the way around each piece. Once again, I let them dry overnight before the next step.

    The contrast between the two styles of pieces -- stacked rocked look and eroded look

The final step besides a clear coat spray was to go over them completely with my Vallejo brown vehicle wash. I was worried that the massive surface area of the eight pieces would deplete my bottle completely and force me to mix up a new batch with the restock I picked up at Historicon. However, it did not -- there is still some left in the pre-mixed (watered down) bottle I made last summer. Now, the problem is that I don't actually remember what my ratio or formula was for Vehicle Wash to Water. Maybe I'll go back and read some of my blog posts to see if I mention it? I looked on the bottle cap (where I usually write these things down in Sharpie), but there's nothing there. 

    Few things are more Star Wars iconic than creatures riding huge beasties -- so this fig was a natural

Anyway, I really like the effect this dark brown wash gives on these pieces. It gives  the surface a nice kind of glow that you sometimes see in photographs of the desert southwest. Speaking of which, some of these are dead ringers for the terrain you see in Arches National Park. I'm sure that is intentional, so these pieces would also look great in a Western game set in the appropriate desert lands. The pieces actually break down into two types of surfaces. One is very craggy and like piled rocks (stacks?). The other is smooth and eroded with parallel lines carved into them by wind or water. Geologically, I'm not sure which it is -- I just know I've seen some amazing photos of these types of rocks out West!

    These battle droids are on the hunt for the Empire's enemies, tirelessly trekking the sandy planet

I really like how these turned out, and now I'm wishing my next Star Wars scenario was set in Tusken Raider land or something. Instead, it is a city scenario using the additional "Tatooie" (as the website calls them) buildings I bought from Diabolical at Historicon. Oh well...next game! Still, if you are currently doing Star Wars skirmishes with your group, you can definitely use some of theses for your games! They are reasonably priced and you can scale up or down what size you want them printed in (with the price going up or down, too, of course!).

    No sign of the Rebels here! Terrain pieces like these are where 3-D printing excels, I feel...

So, what's next on my paint desk? Well, speaking of Star Wars, I'm working on a batch of six civilians that I pieced together from the various Stargrave plastic sets I've purchased. They're about half done and will be needed for the upcoming game near the end of the month for our next game of Space Weirdos. The resin bunkers and sniper positions from Miniature Building Authority are still primed and awaiting their first coat. After that, I would like to polish off those five additional fishmen I primed up awhile back. Otherwise, if I jump from here into painting my Dragon Rampant fantasy troops, they'll be giving me the stink eye the whole time: "Hey, Bub! What about us? Youse said we's was next...!"

    A final look at the atmospheric 8 Canyon Rocks and Stacks that I just painted up

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 161

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 57

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150

Ninjas Escape With the Treasure in 28mm 'Test of Honor' Samurai Game

    Tom's mounted noble charges into the village center in his game-long attempt to save his bride

  We gave Test of Honor Samurai rules a try out yesterday evening at our regular Sunday evening gaming get-together. It was a kind of free-for-all scenario with eight players. It is a tribute to the rules that the game actually flowed well and there wasn't a lot of waiting around for your turn. My friend Mike S was running it, and was using some modifications that he'd seen at a sprawling game at Historicon. He had to adapt on the fly when players on the same side of the table decided to attack each other. It worked out, though.  

    One of the clans gets ready to cross the stream to join the fray in the village center

 

I was playing the Ninja force, which doesn't begin the game deployed ontable. My mission was to hijack a payment going from one clan to another. We didn't know which clans were involved in the transaction, nor the form of the payment it would be. Everyone else had similarly vague missions, which he intended to make each player not trust the other, including their neighbor. It worked like a charm for Mike W, who promptly attacked Keith's force in the early stages of the game. To be specific, he sent two of his samurai over to kill the draft ox pulling the cart containing Keith's two female samurai. The ox proved to be made of sterner stuff than expected, resisting two swings of the sword by two separate warriors. 

    Hilarity ensues as 8 factions tussle near the village in the center of the board

Tom also charged into the fray early, when he saw someone upend a palanquin containing his noble's bride. The fact that the bride jumped out, armed with a sword, didn't deter him from shouting to any and all in the area "hands off" his bride. He was the only mounted figure in the game, and he was still swinging his sword and upholding his bride's honor (or avenging her after she was slain) at the end of the game. I seized upon this confusion in the village center to have my ninjas bolt from inside one of the houses and search the inside of the palanquin. Mike confirmed it contained the treasure I was looking for, announcing it to the table at large. This meant that slowly many other players shifted from their local feud to attack my black-robed thieves trying to abscond with the treasure.

    'Ha, haaa!!' My Ninjas reveal themselves and then discover the treasure in the overturned palanquin

The ninjas darted back into the house from which they'd came, and my other ninjas emerged to fight off the attacks of the other players. As the ninjas, I could remove any civilian figure and replace it with my own undeployed troops, representing us uncloaking our disguise. I was rolling fairly well and was able to fight off Mike S's mercenaries who, unbeknownst to me, were also hiding in the very same house on the second floor. I sent the trio of archers holding the treasure out the back door, hoping to bolt for the board edge. Joel's clan raced to cut off my retreat, but I was able to beat back his attacks, for the most part. Opposite Joel, Keith and Mike W's clans ceased their battle, perking their heads up, "Treasure...?" They also moved forward, trying to close the jaws I was attempting to escape from. 

    Escaping our the back door with the treasure, we are immediately beset by Mike S & Joel's forces

There was lots of laughter around the table as we mocked each other's vague missions. We began pulling up Google Translate and typing in our taunts to each other, to read aloud in Japanese by the female voice on the app.  Just when it looked like the last of my archers carrying the treasure was going to go down, the games was called on account of time. The 4th quarter reprieve by the clock meant we had possession of our objective at game's end. Of course, I declared my victory to the jeers of the other players.

    My ninjas cut down one of Keith's samurai who attempt to waylay us and steal our seized treasure

I'm sure there were numerous things we did wrong in our first Test of Honor game. Still, the game flowed well and eventually the various factions came to blows. I would probably tweak the scenario to give incentive to factions on the opposite sides of the table to attack each other. Maybe victory points for killing members of rival clans (who are the ones opposite you)? There can also be secondary objectives for each player, like Tom's protecting/rescuing his bride, my hunt for treasure, etc..

    'The Affair of the Ox Cart' sparks a clash between Mike W and Keith's clans

I'm sure we'll play more Test of Honor soon since most seemed to have a good time in the game. My friend Abel D runs the game regularly at HMGS Great Lakes and regional conventions. I'd never got a chance to play in one, but everyone seemed to be having a good time at his table. Now I can see why, and look forward to the next time Mike breaks out his samurais, ronin, ashigaru, and ninjas!

    The palanquin moments before it is overturned and the donnybrook in the village begins...

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 161

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 50

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150

I'm Liking My 28mm Empress Vietnamese Civilians

    A dozen 28mm Empress Miniatures civilians I picked up from Age of Glory at Historicon 2025

I know in my last post, I pronounced myself not so enamored of the 28mm Empress Miniatures LMG-armed miniatures I bought at Historicon. I feel the exact opposite about these three packs of Vietnamese civilians I bought at the same time. First of all, the size difference for a Vietnamese civilian vs. a U.S. soldier should be pretty marked. Every memoir I've read by veterans talks about how both Americans and Vietnamese noticed how much bigger we were than the locals. The other reason is I think they did a wonderful job sculpting personality and better faces onto these figures. The features seem much sharper detailed. The variety of interesting poses makes these an easy buy for someone doing 28mm Vietnam. 

    Youth at left & his older sister in the 'Ao Dai' dress are examples of very simple but effective poses

Many of these are very simple figures and poses, I admit. For example, the walking Vietnamese youth has no equipment to note and is just simply sauntering along. Same with the one that could be his older sister -- the Vietnamese lady in the flowing "ao dai" dress, as they're called. And perhaps their grandmother, the old mamasan squatting in the dirt? Somehow, these simple poses look natural for a villager. Since about half of the figures were relatively equipment-free (we're talking hoes, baskets, and bundles here), I decided to paint all 12 at once. Normally, I would split these into two groups of six. However, I had a feeling they would paint up very quickly, and they did.

    Rural Vietnamese villagers in their traditional black costume with 'Non La' palm & bamboo hat

I reverted back to my normal method of painting for these civilians. I primed them with Liquitex white Gesso, then did their skin first, followed by clothes and equipment (if any). Since most of my Vietnam games will take place in the countryside, not in Saigon or another bigger city, I wanted a more rural look. So, after painting their flesh, I got out my black paint the next day and added black to most of the figures, reflecting traditional dress in the countryside of Vietnam. About a quarter were done in all black. The rest might receive a black shirt, but then a different color of trousers, or vice versa. Some got no black at all, such as the one that appeared to be an ethnic Hmong, with her much more elaborate traditional costume. 

    The middle pose resembled Hmong tribal costume so I painted the woman up like that - a bit fancier!

Since these are 28mm figs, though, most would receive a dry brush highlight on their clothing and whatever they were holding or carrying. This meant painting the base color one morning during my usual AM paint session, and then letting it dry overnight. The next morning, I would dry brush a highlight color, and then do the base color for either another article of clothing or their basket or whatever. This meant it took about 4-5 days to get all 12 completely done. 

    A few stoic looking 'mamasans' hardened by an agricultural life in Vietnam's climate & conditions

I am very happy with how these country folk turned out. The poses are very natural and believable, and they look like they belong out in the "boonies," as U.S. troops would call it. Many wear the traditional Non La conical hat made of palm leaves and bamboo. It is the iconic look for Vietnam, and rather than do them in a variety of colors, I made them look relatively identical. I'm sure newer ones would be brighter and older ones a little darker, but I honestly didn't bother with that. I painted them a base coat of Iron Wind Metals "Dun Yellow," and dry brushed them a very light tan craft paint called "Wild Rice." Finally, i did a dark brown wash over them with my Vallejo vehicle wash.

    Another look at the group of villagers from above, alongside two of my scratch-built jungle huts

I went for a simpler flocking system for these, too -- at least compared to the troops. I am assuming that these civilians will be hanging around villages, not out in the jungle.  As with the Empress LMG-armed figures, I based them on the raised plastic bases that came which my Crucible Crush Black Sun American and VC troops. Since I substituted the soldiers onto flat bases, I hoped this little bit of extra height would make them look more natural next to the U.S. or Vietnamese troops on the tabletop. I flocked the lip of the base, too, so that it wasn't obvious they were on a different shaped base. Hopefully, they'll look great next to my Crucible Crush figures on the tabletop.

    Tight shot showing the range of poses in just three of a dozen packs Empress Miniatures makes

What else is on my painting desk, at the moment? Well, since the weather in Congo-lumbus, OH, finally broke and it is much cooler and less humid, I was finally able to spray paint yesterday! So, I have the Miniature Building Authority bunkers and sniper positions black primed. One step ahead are the Canyon Rocks and Stacks I bought from Diabolical Terrain -- they have their tan base coat on, and await only a dry brush and brown wash. For miniatures, I have a group of six Sci-Fi civilians that I assembled from my various Stargrave boxes. I need them for my next Star Wars scenario using Space Weirdos rules. Oh, and I did finish off another batch of those movement markers that I featured in the last post. I didn't bother photographing them since they are identical to the first ones. So, stay tuned for more soon...! 

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 161

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 50

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150