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http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=2462



Interesting!

I have such an unhealthy obsession with helicopters that I may simply get into this game.

What the? They said this was a re-release? I didn't know they did Vietnam! That stuff looks great.

AgeOfEgos wrote:What the? They said this was a re-release? I didn't know they did Vietnam! That stuff looks great.

I think the rules are a re-release from Wargames Illustrated, but the models are new.

OO gosh Age these have been out for over year now. they just weren't that public about them.

Well crap. I'd just gotten out of Flames and they go and pull this stunt to pull me back in...

The name of the book also makes me rofl. Les Grossman approves.

Platuan4th wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:What the? They said this was a re-release? I didn't know they did Vietnam! That stuff looks great.

I think the rules are a re-release from Wargames Illustrated, but the models are new.

They did some Vietnam models as a tie-in to the WI rules a couple years ago, I believe. I thought it was described as being a game devoted to a single specific battle, not covering the entire war.

First release was around the battle that "We Were Soldiers" was based, right?

Hmm... if Battlefront boosts support for FoW: Vietnam, this may cause problems for me... If I can play w/ Hinds on the table... well hot damn... (except that they weren't really used until 1972, but I can overlook that...), on the other hand... if I have the option to play around with M60 MBTs and call in air support from F-4s... I may well cream myself.

12thRonin wrote:
The name of the book also makes me rofl. Les Grossman approves.

Explain? Tropical Lightning is the name of the 25th ID that was extremely heavily involved in Vietnam... and my Division that I served with at that (iraq not vietnam). In fact the symbol they have is the same (minus the tooka leaf).

It also plays off Tropic Thunder, the movie.

Looks good, shame the skipped Korea.

notprop wrote:Looks good, shame the skipped Korea.

Korea has always been the "Forgotten War".

Oh feth, so much for not starting a new game so soon.

notprop wrote:Looks good, shame the skipped Korea.

And the Pacific Theater..

Cyporiean wrote:

notprop wrote:Looks good, shame the skipped Korea.

And the Pacific Theater..

I thought there was talk last year of Pacific action in FoW coming at some point?

Platuan4th wrote:

Cyporiean wrote:

notprop wrote:Looks good, shame the skipped Korea.

And the Pacific Theater..

I thought there was talk last year of Pacific action in FoW coming at some point?

All i've seen was the April Fools 'Enola Gay'

Korea would have made more sense, as their main business seems to be selling tanks and rulebooks, and Vietnam seems limited in that regard.

Pacific war would of course be interesting too, but again, not much in the way of tank battles.

Gosh! I already own a full company of AirCav, and now they pull of this?!

I guess I'll have to make a mechinf company as well...

12thRonin wrote:It also plays off Tropic Thunder, the movie.

Wouldn't it be the other way around?

malfred wrote:

12thRonin wrote:It also plays off Tropic Thunder, the movie.

Wouldn't it be the other way around?

Yes, unless the guy who founded the regiment watched the movie and then traveled back in time.

They look like very good models. I dunno about trying to wargame the Vietnam War as an armoured conflict. It was very one-sided - there weren't many significant armour engagements until 1972, when the US had handed over most of the ground war to the ARVN. And US airpower was overwhelming.

If you follow the link in the OP's post there are photos of some excellent plastic scenic infantry bases for FoW. They are themed to match different campaigns, and really add a lot of flavour to the units. I think GW should do something like this.

Pacific wrote:

malfred wrote:

12thRonin wrote:It also plays off Tropic Thunder, the movie.

Wouldn't it be the other way around?

Yes, unless the guy who founded the regiment watched the movie and then traveled back in time.

I would say it's more like a phenomenon I've noticed with my generation (I'm in my early 30s) and younger with regards to the older Warner Brothers cartoons: Those cartoons had a lot of references to pop culture from the era when they were made, but to people like myself, the cartoon was our first exposure to it. Some of those jokes and references were very effective and people from my era think of them as a "Bugs Bunny Joke" not a reference an actor or public figure from the 40s or 50s.

Or for another example, "Also Spracht Zarusthra" (Or however it's spelled) and monkeys * Monoliths. it's a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey but a lot of people know it even if they've never sat through the admittedly slow-paced movie.

TLDR: The name Tropic Thunder was probably inspired by the Tropic Monsoon stuff. It's just that Tropic Thunder has a bigger share of pop culture today, while Tropic Monsoon is only really known to people who are into Vietnam history.

Actually, it was because I will admit I am not a historical expert on Vietnam on the level of what units fought in what battles. I am not as versed on it as I am at that level in WW2. And up to the time I quit Flames (Market Garden-ish), they had not named a book after a specific unit but more the theater and time period.

So sorry, no pop culture psychology to be found in this example.

That is a poor choice of time period, IMO. Battlefront should develop the Pacific Threatre first.

Empchild wrote:

12thRonin wrote:
The name of the book also makes me rofl. Les Grossman approves.

Explain? Tropical Lightning is the name of the 25th ID that was extremely heavily involved in Vietnam... and my Division that I served with at that (iraq not vietnam). In fact the symbol they have is the same (minus the tooka leaf).

You guys have one of the goofiest patches ever haha. Of course, I'm one to speak with the Four LTs Pointing North patch.

Balance wrote:Or for another example, "Also Spracht Zarusthra" (Or however it's spelled) and monkeys * Monoliths. it's a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey but a lot of people know it even if they've never sat through the admittedly slow-paced movie.

Reference is from Friedrich Nietzsche, actually. I've never read it, but the first time
I had heard of it was Warren Ellis using it for a super-powered villain in Stormwatch.

The musical piece is inspired by the philosophical book.

Or so wikipedia tells me.

Looking foward to this as I have been wanting to play a vietnam wargame for a while.

This has some good potential.

I just want enough M113's and associated infantry to fill a table.

Is that 4 different types of box on tracks there? Are M113 variants so very different they couldn't have been supported by a single or maybe two kits with a variety of parts?

(Yes, I'm well aware of the desire to sell sell sell but they don't even try to hide it any more.)

ON that note, time to start looking at the other manufacturers who already do 15mil Vietnam gear without trying to gouge a hole in my wallet. I believe WI even carried an advert for one, though the name escapes me.

On the Pacific Theatre (or its absence) and the Korean war...given the cross-over between kit to a great degree, its not all that unlikely that the latter will come after the Pacific. Late War Europe releases already cover a large amount of Korean-era equipment, and any book that covers "The Battle of the Bulge" will no doubt support Foul Weather European equipment (trench-coats etc) so what's missing? Newer tank marques and a "horde o'[see forum posting rules]."

Personally, I just want a 14th army to play with. I've been picking up Grants and Vickers here and there for a while, in order to get a head start.

Edit: Flashpoint. That's what the ones in WI were called. God Bless the Internetz