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I am mulling over the idea of making an IG/AM army modeled after the US military in Vietnam in the 1960s/1970s. I want it to be as competitive as possible while adhering to the theme. I am talking about standard US military forces, such as cadians without armor, not the stylized catachans. I have an idea of what I want but havn't played in a while and don't know if what I am thinking of is at all competitive.

So far I am thinking of:
Valkyrie that I will model into a huey
Valkyrie that I will keep as a gunship
Lots of cadians without their armor to imitate the normal US army soldier
Cadian heavy weapons team (mortars, heavy bolters, etc)
Basilisk modeled after a mobile howitzer

Thats all I have so far, would love to know if you guys have anything else that you think would fit and would love to know how competitive the models I have selected thus far are in today's 40k field.

Thanks in advance!

Go third party.

http://madrobotminiatures.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_19&products_id=97

 Lukash_ wrote:
Go third party.

http://madrobotminiatures.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_19&products_id=97

Not into the cinemized jungle-fighters. I want just normal US troops.

I thought those looked pretty good for Vietnam minis. Much better than Rambo catachans. I venture to say those might be the closest you will come up with. Other than that, look into an Elysian list and play air cav. Very fluffy with the Valks/huey analogues with vendetta/Vulture gunships.

Pretty much anything would fit. While the popular image of the war was it was all aircav. There was actually a lot of conventional fighting, even tank battles.

IIRC US troops did have some form of armor with the the flak jacket. Third party is your best bet for realistic looking vietnam era guys. Even if you don't want to use the Mad Robot guys, they have some great bits you could use. You could also mix and match cadian and catachan minis to get something good. Maybe cadian torsos and heads with catachan arms and legs?

Gamewise, Crimson is right you could pretty much do anything except maybe deathstrikes, commissars and ogyrn. If you are okay with forge world you could use a m2 155mm as a heavy artillery carriage.

 Ryan_A wrote:

 Lukash_ wrote:
Go third party.

http://madrobotminiatures.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_19&products_id=97

Not into the cinemized jungle-fighters. I want just normal US troops.

Those guys are literally Vietnam era GI's, you even have options for regular uniform or flak vest (both of which were standard issue, so you can't go wrong). The only way you could get more Vietnam era infantry than that would be to buy actual vietnam infantry from a historicals manufacturer, and I guarantee you those won't have modular arms so you can take your 40k weapons (or even be in scale, most historical companies make their infantry a lot more true scale than 40k, making plasmas and meltas look bigger than the guy holding it) I've met guys who actually considered using these models for Vietnam skirmish games. Yeah, the details aren't perfect for historicals, but they're darn close.

If Mad Robot's LITERAL Vietnam G.I.s in space ain't doing it for you, what on earth do you want exactly? Because it doesn't appear to be 1960-1970's era US GI's in Vietnam.

Are you worried they're imperfectly scaled or something? Because I can take some pics of my original GW catachans and Cadians next to these guys and you'll be amazed how much better Mad Robot's stuff looks.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
.

Taking another look at the link, that is what I want with the exception of the arms. I didn't like the bare arms or the fact they didn't have arms totally covered. I was being a bit too picky.

Take a look at the arms section.
http://madrobotminiatures.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_18&products_id=46
Fully covered.

To be fair, the US soldiers in Vietnam weren't exactly a competitive army list... there's a reason it was known as a hellhole and one of the worst wars ever fought.

I can't really comment on the competitive aspect but.

- Griffon Mortar. I'm pretty sure this is a direct analog to a US vehicle used in Vietnam. I think it was an APC with the mortar firing out of the top hatches.
- Thunderbolts fighters. Lots of close air support. Think Skyhawk. Paint you Thunderbolt silver with red detailing
- Tanks with Dozer Blades.
- Scions. Use Cadian bodies with Vic Lamb arms or Catachan arms. Tool them up and make them look mean as hell and paint their berets green.

Personally I would add in Scout Sentinels with heavy flamers
. I know there is no direct analog but they ooze jungle fight, heavy weapon platforms.

Cheers Vim

The Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol was one of the most iconic aspects of the Vietnam war.

My regiment is based around this principle, and that of Long Range Penetration.




I use a lot of sentinels, buggies, and aircraft. Mortars will be added in the future, and I hope to include some way of integrating long range artillery support. My troops are all veterans.

This list is probably one of the least competitive ways of running guard though.

You're going to want a squadron or two of Wyverns.

Mortars were kind of a BID DEAL in Vietnam, so it even makes sense.

Hellhounds would also be a good choice: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M67_Flame_Thrower_Tank

As stated before the Valkyrie is a damn good analogue for Huey helos.

I'd still mix in some Catachan command squad (you know, the good Catachan kit) bits just for flavor. A few heads with bandanas and some bare arms here and there will give your army a bit more of the Vietnam feel without having everyone come from Planet Rambo.

And yeah, lots of mortars and aircraft.

 Ryan_A wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
.

Taking another look at the link, that is what I want with the exception of the arms. I didn't like the bare arms or the fact they didn't have arms totally covered. I was being a bit too picky.

You know that bare arms are still accurate? U.S. uniforms for Vietnam didn't come with any sort of arm / elbow guard, so while it is a little 'movie esque' to run around with bare arms.. Soldiers would roll up / remove the sleeves of their uniforms at times to help cope with the humid heat.

Every single of of your guys running around with a bandanna, torn sleeves, and a bare chest is silly (Catachans) and unrealistic.. There is nothing inherently historically inaccurate with a few guys looking that way. Particularly vets.

You're absolutely entitled not to like them, but what you seen in the MadRobot guys is about as accurate as you'll get without going single-pose historical. That includes the bare arms and bare heads.

So far as what type of army to run, Elysians initially come to mind, but actually the formations in that new IG book would be alright, at least a few of them. The air-cav option provided in the book would be a great non-forgeworld way of representing hellies and such, whilst the arty company option (complete with a rule for spotters) would also be a great way to represent arty / mortars being called in, and artillery was a huge player in Vietnam despite it being frequently downplayed.

 Ryan_A wrote:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
.

Taking another look at the link, that is what I want with the exception of the arms. I didn't like the bare arms or the fact they didn't have arms totally covered. I was being a bit too picky.

Bare arms is one of the most iconic features of Vietnam combat troops as the GI's often stripped down due to Jungle heat and humidity.

Thanks, you guys have helped me change my mind and make my army that much better! Thanks again!