CP Models - On Their Way!

Recently I made a trade with Just Jack from The Wargames Website...he received some Flytrap figures from me, in turn he painted up a batch of my CP Models PMCs and CIA operatives.  He has done some crackin' work, and I just couldn't wait to receive the figures to share the glorious brusk job he crafted for me, so HERE is Jack's blog post with a slew of the goodies on their way to my door.  Thanks, Jack!

Adding to the Vietnam Terrain

I recently took advantage of a deal on The Miniatures Page for some Flames of War terrain that was 33% off retail.  I needed to step up my game a bit for my Vietnam project, knowing that while I had some trees and scrub from my modern desert projects I could use that is wasn't enough to make a full and nice looking table.  So, I snagged two boxes of jungle bushes and two boxes of island palms.  The Flames of War terrain is nearly ready to use right out of the box...for the bushes I simply needed to pop them off of a sprue and push them onto a peg on the finished base piece, but for the trees I needed to chopped down the stem so that they would fit into the pre-drilled holes on their bases. 

I am also working on a box of Pegasus banana trees that I have owned for probably ten years.  These are a bit more labor intensive, needing the pieces cut from the sprues and then having the leaf pieces mounted on the trunk.  These trees are vastly smaller than the palm trees from Flames of War, but I still think they add a bit more "ummphf" to the visual display.

Lastly, some bamboo pieces I picked up on an eBay shop based in China.  These were from a recommendation by Garryowen over on the Fields of Fire Vietnam gaming forum.  Very cheap (just a few bucks), I am taking the various lengths and creating bamboo groupings.

Banana Wars - More Factions

I finished up mounting the remaining troops for the Banana Wars project.  This time we have the Eureka World War Two Filipinos and U.S. Sailors. Just a couple of small forces to add a bit of multi-factional flavor.  I thought initially that I would have the Filipino figures mesh in with the rebel forces, but the size difference between the Khurasan Chaco War Paraguayans and the Eureka figures is enough for me to place them on opposing sides. 

As for the sailors, they can be used to defend the gunboat or as a small shore party.

Front row - SMGs and officers.  Rear row - riflemen

Adding Terrain - Novus Design Studio

There was a post from the owner of Novus Design Studio on The Wargames Website offering a Cyber Monday sale, so on November 29th I took advantage of the 30% and free shipping in the U.S. and ordered a ready to play 15mm Old World fountain.  While probably more suited for a European setting, it will still go rather nicely with my Middle Eastern terrain.  Novus offers one other 15mm and three 28mm fountains in their ready to play range.  They also carry unpainted terrain (buildings and such) in three sizes.  

I received the fountain, boxed with plenty of packing peanuts for safety, on December 5th.  The fountain measures 3.25" by nearly 3.5", and is nearly 2" tall.  The quality of the resin is high, with no bubbles or holes.  Clear resin appears to have been used to create a water effect in the holding pools.  It makes for a nice center piece for any tabletop village.

Figures are Khurasan's DEVGRU

Banana Wars - The Rebel Forces

While I still have some other assorted figures to mount (the Eureka sailors and Filipinos), I wanted to get the rebel forces on bases.  I am going to need more bad guys and having a couple of squads supported by two heavy machineguns and two mortars just isn't going to be enough.  Placing an order for some more basic infantry types should make the owner at Khurasan happy as I am sure he hasn't sold a ton of his Chaco War range.

Each squad has six riflemen with Mausers and machetes, a Madsen light machinegunner, and a leader.  They are supported by two heavy machineguns (one a Berthier and the other a Colt), and two light mortars.  I'll need to order at least two more infantry squads to beef up the rebels.

Infantry squads supported by machineguns and light mortars

Since I have been on a mounting frenzy of late, I am also going to have to order more bases from Litko, of all sizes.  On the drive home from work tonight I started thinking about how to base the Blue Moon Great War Americans I have still in packs and perhaps it is time to consider skirmish rules for that project as well, meaning individually based figures.