Monday 1 January 2018

From Curt: Viet Minh Reinforcements, French Indochina 1954 (55 Points)



First, Happy New Year everyone!!

I thought I'd put Sid through his paces today by sending him a final post before he turned in for the evening.

Here is another small addition to my French Indochina collection, eleven Viet Minh infantrymen dressed and equipped as they would have been during the titanic battles along 'The Street without Joy' in 1953, and Dien Bien Phu the following year.

A popular western misconception is that the Viet Minh were poorly armed, while in fact they were often better equipped than their French adversaries, being well supplied by both Communist China and the USSR.


These soldiers were the precursors of the Viet Cong and NVA, and so were armed with many WWII era weapons. The Mosin Nagant rifle, the DP light machine gun and the PPSh/PPS series submachine guns would've been very common fixtures within the Viet Minh ranks. The assault units would have had a very high proportion of automatic weapons, reflecting their aggressive close combat doctrine.  




The heavy machine gun on the low-slung wheeled carriage is a Soviet DSHK-38. The assistant/loader is providing supporting fire with a captured French MAT49 SMG and the flank guard has a Chinese made PPS.







I really liked this model as it brings a little sobering reality to our wee tabletop battlefields.



Finally, a shot of them with the rest of their platoon (really, a thinly veiled excuse to get the banner, with its bit of vibrant colour amongst the earth tones, in there somewhere).



Thanks for dropping in!


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Happy New Year, Curt!!


Wow, these are terrific and so well worth the wait this evening.  What a terrific addition to your force.  There is so much to love about these troops, and the general "feel" of the Viet Minh figures in your submission.  They've got a really attractive combination of being tooled up to the eyeballs, while retaining a very different feel, theme and fighting style to Soviet WW2 forces, or even Japanese troops in Burma.  I love the Viet Minh officer and bugler, and the Soviet DSHK-38 with the automatic weapon armed crew member - those guys are guaranteed to make a mess of any of the Legion Etranger New Year's celebrations.

Wonderful painting and basing on all of these guys, Curt - with your trademark muted palette and ferocious jungle growth simply oozing off the bases.  They really are a great addition to the forces you're collecting.  And a thoroughly well-deserved 55 points, Sir!


33 comments:

  1. Lovely work as always Curt! Love the crouched poses and the under growth. Well done!

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  2. "They're not just IN the jungle; they ARE the jungle!"

    Enough of the corny misquotes, these are amazing. Well painted, Sir!

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    1. Haha! Yes, these guys do soak up the tufts and flock.

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  3. Brilliant work dude - excellent painting, they look outstanding!

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  4. Very atmospheric indeed Curt! Love the thick jungle basing.

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    1. Thanks Millsy. I went through a good bit of my Tajima stocks on this lot. :)

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  5. Lovely colours! I particularly like the casualty being retrieved.

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    1. Thanks Barks. That's my favourite as well.

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  6. As you know I love this litte project of yours and was eagerly awaiting your return to te jungles of Indochina. It was well worth the wait I‘d say. These fellows look as if stalking through the high grass, having the unsuspecting French in their sights already, ready to spring the surprise.
    As ever very evocative choice of color and excellent brushwork!

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    1. Thanks for your kind words, Nick. I think I need a vehicle or two for this period next.

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  7. Yet another stunning addition to your collection Curt! You've even managed the look of Asian vegetation excellently as well!

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    1. Thanks Sander. This entry seemed like one where there was vegetation with a few figures thrown in to help. :)

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  8. Nice figures and excellent wokr on the bases.

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  9. Lovely Viet Minh, great muted colours.
    Best Iain

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  10. Excellent work yet again Curt! I think it would make another fun period for Chain of command.

    Christopher

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    1. Thank you Christopher. Yes, CoC will work nicely for this, with perhaps a few of the unit blind rules from Charlie Don't Surf.

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  11. What a lovely set of figures. I had no idea they were this well equipped but it does make sense with such generous backers... I can just see them raiding the small fort you made last year!

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    1. Good memory Jamie. Yes, I think that may be a future scenario now that I've finally accumulated enough figures.

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  12. Very original figures and excellent paint work!

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  13. Excellent work, Curt! Besides the brushwork I like the foliage on the bases. I do agree they are a force to take or hold your bunker too!
    I'd like to see the terrain for that game as well. I'd also bet it be sweet to have some bases of foliage just for some counters to indicate"something move over there?" ;)

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