VC activity detected!

I reckon that Vietnam has traditionally being a somewaht alien period for me and have been comnpletley unattracted by it. As many wargamers that I know, we are reluctant to game on periods that we feel are too close in time to us, and I'm no exception. Furthermore the most modern period I have always wanted to play was WW II.

But then, TFL published another excellent ruleset last summer called  Charlie Don't Surf and I could not resist the temptatiom of buying the rules and have a read... a very bad idea.

The rules were probably one of the best product that Richard Clarke (TFL's mastermind) have publised so far and I really got hooked.  True, initially I reacted promising myself not to start a new period, also in consideration of the height of the WW I and WW II lead, resin and plastic pile that I was facing just before the summer holidays. But as the end of 2010 was closing in, I had surprisingly made very good progress in reducing my stock of minis and then I thought that it would nice to have a new project for 2011, and... presto! why not taking a new look to CDS?.

The end of the story is that I convinced a small group of my club mates to jointly dip our toes  into the muddy waters of Sout East Asia, agreed on how to share the painting and the scenary construction among us and, finally, I got a few blisters of Vietcong figures as part of my Christmas presents.

So, ladies & gentleman, I have the pleasure to introduce you my first Vietcong squad today!

The figures are from The Assault Group "Up Country" Vietnam range. The quality of the sculpting is not bad although they do not match the Great War WW I standards that I'm used to, after painting my WW I armies over the last two years (and still expanding... more Stoostruppen arriving soon!). Also I mised some command (Big Man) figures in this range, although I already have detected another manufacturer (Force of Arms) to cover that gap.

Having said this, the painting of Vietcong figures is really easy and  fast.

• The basic uniform colour (all references are Vallejo by the way) is black, highlighted with a semi-dry brush of German Panzer Grey (except the guy with the white shirt, intending to add some contrast to a dull black-grey bunch).
• Webbing and belts were painted randomly USA (sic) Tan Earth and USA (sic) Dark Green.
• Exposed body parts were painted Flat Flesh and washed with a Citadel Ogryn Flesh; once dried I painted some eyes.
• Weapons' metal parts were painted black and highlighted with dark grey, while for the wooden sections I used Magohany Brown highlighted with Orange Brown.

As you would probably have noticed, now I need to work on the bases. I'm considering placing these guys in a flooded rice field. I will probably cover the feet with plaster, use gloss varnish to simulate water and  cut some cheap-brush bristles to simulate the rice plants (any suggestions are more than welcome).

Next bunch of figures on my painting table:  supporting weapons (rocket launchers, LMGs, etc...)