Last one Folks!
For my 'East' submission I've returned to a project I started a few years ago: the French war in Indochina.
From
1945 to 1954 the French fought a bitter struggle to regain control of
their colonial possessions in Indochina. During the struggle, the French and their allies lost over 134,000 in dead or missing in battles across Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. This sacrifice was for nought as the Vietnamese people had tasted independence and would not be assuaged from it.
The
climatic battle of the period was fought in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, a
small mountain valley hamlet, where a large, well-equiped French force
was encircled and destroyed by the Viet Mihn. The Vietnamese victory
shocked the world and allowed Ho Chi Mihn to negotiate from a position
of strength at the Geneva Conference later that year.
Unfortunately, even though the French were compelled to withdraw from the region, their ally, the
United States, refused to allow the Vietnamese their
self-determination. American interference escalated to police action and
then to undeclared war, plunging Vietnam into another 10 years of
conflict which cost billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of
lives. In the end, America withdrew, the Vietnam was united and the Vietnamese achieved what they had set out to do: gain their independence from foreign control.
These 28mm figures were sculpted by Paul Hicks and are excellent models. They are armed in a variety of weapons, reflecting the ad hoc supply structure of the Viet Mihn at that time. Some are armed with Mosin Nagant rifles while others have variants of PPSh and PPS submachine guns
The different shaped bases denote, officers/NCOs, infantrymen and specialists. I do this so we can spot them easier on the tabletop.
This range is available from FNG Miniatures and Empress Miniatures.
Flag from Empress.
Thanks everyone for touring the gallery. Please don't forget to take some time to vote for your favourite entries. The results of the voting will be announced next Sunday.
Excellent work Curt and nice to see you return to this project :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Tamsin.
DeleteLovely work dude, great to see more stuff from this project.
ReplyDeleteAlmost enough to have an actual game...
DeleteWonderful entry Curt! Besides the excellent paint jobs, it always amazes me how you find some of the most off beat, obscure timeframes and conflicts to game in. It's almost like you find joy in finding things to do that "almost" no one else even knows about! Obviously some others do, or there wouldn't be figures, but you certainly find some different stuff out there.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's a sickness, really.
DeleteDelighted you like them Byron. :)
Excellent work, Curt - the victory at Dien Bien Phu remains one of the most astonishing in military history.
ReplyDeleteYour painting and basing of these figs is as always, top shelf. Well done!
Thanks very much Evan, I was re-reading Bernard Fall's 'Hell in a Very Small Place' and couldn't resist getting some of these done.
DeleteExcellent addition Curt ..
ReplyDeleteCheers Dave!
DeleteVery nice. Lovely painting. Cheers
ReplyDeleteCheers Brendon!
DeleteVery nice painting and basing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Barks!
Deletenice job boss
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteIt's so great you always find time to participate in the rounds yourself since this gives us your view on the theme. Also great is you always manage to create the most wonderful vignettes. Although these figures are all separate they instinctively feel like they should be grouped together just like you did! Grand stuff!
ReplyDeleteYes, it's fun to try my hand at the themes with the rest of you fine lot. When I dream them up I usually have no idea of what I would do, so sometimes I even surprise myself with what comes of the hobby desk.
DeleteThey look very sharp, Curt! I have to agree with Sander as the thick foliage bases do make the group seem like a diorama when bunched up with is very cool!
ReplyDeleteThe flag really sets them off nicely too!
Thanks David. I love doing the groundwork.
DeleteLovely looking chaps and more 20th century flag carrying!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
As you can tell I love flags...
DeleteCracking entry Curt, beautifully realised.
ReplyDeleteThank you Michael.
DeleteAnother sterling entry Curt! This period is still on my to do list and this is yet another reminder!
ReplyDeleteChristopher
You'd do a great job with it, Christopher.
DeleteLovely work Curt! The basing and war-torn flag really add a lot of flavour!
ReplyDeleteCheers Steve. Glad you like them.
DeleteWonderful work Curt! You know your Indochina stuff inspired me to give it a go myself and seeing you getting back to this project might give me the incentive to finally get on with mine. Really love what you did with the basing. One can almost feel the humidity in the air, the insects buzzing around the men stealthily sneaking up on an as yet unsuspecting enemy.
ReplyDeleteAh, thank you Nick! I love your sepia-toned approach to these but so much labour with the groundwork - hat's off to you!
DeleteBeautiful brushwork Curt. I have contemplated doing Indochine so many times. So far it's ended up as a stack of research books!
ReplyDeleteHa!! Thank goodness it wasn't just me buying all those books and board games. Yeah..THANKS CURT.....sheeeessshhh ;)
DeleteI take no credit for other people's mania. I'm embarrassed to say how many stacks of books I have in preparation of unrealized projects. :)
DeleteI love these guys, Curt. They're terrific. I particularly like the flag (yeah, naturally), but also the extreme ground work (figures hiding in the reeds and long grass) and the clever way you've not only gone for octagons (hmmm....why did I never think of that...) but also squares for the NCO. That really works well, and always helps on the tabletop. Top work, Sir!
ReplyDeleteYes, I give complete credit to you for the base shape mechanic - I just took it another step forward with octagons for special weapons and squares for NCOs. Thanks so much!
DeleteAs everybody else has said, spectacular groundwork. It really makes the figures come together. How do you do it?
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all the posts in this theme and this is an excellent one to end up viewing / reading.
ReplyDeleteAnother flag! Wonderful tribute to these tenacious and heroic troops, perhaps the finest fighting men and women of the 20th century.
ReplyDelete