Home Forums Modern 20mm Elhiem Special Forces and Insurgents

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  • #34285
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    All,

    First up, Happy Veteran’s Day, and Happy (belated) Birthday to my beloved Corps. So, being a holiday, I was home and needed something to do, so I sat down at the painting table to work on some beautiful 20mm figures from Elhiem, then figured I’d go ahead and post the results. I’m pretty proud of these; they won’t win any awards, but I’m getting better at this stuff, or at least I feel like I am 😉


    Taking up a good kneeling position and sighting in…


    Probably on these guys. To see a whole lot more photos, and see some thoughts on my upcoming campaign(s), please check the blog at:
    http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2015/11/20mm-elhiem-special-forces-and.html

    Well, lots more 15mm stuff to post, coming up soon, but that’s all my 20mm figures until I receive my latest order. Thanks for looking, please let me know what you think.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #34288
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    They look great Just Jack….but 20mm !!!!!!!

    #34297
    Avatar photoEarther
    Participant

    Great camo on the operator! 

    #34311
    Avatar photoRod Robertson
    Participant

    Very cool figures, Jack! Nicely painted and based. Looking forward to whatever you have got planned for them.

    Cheers and good gaming.

    Rod Robertson.

    #34348
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Thanks fellers.

    See there? Rod doesn’t know what to do with the fact the militia will represent both sides 😉

    V/R,

    Jack

    #34366
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    I’ll look forwards to seeing them on a table.

    #34374
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Kyote – Me too.  I’m hoping to have some more 20mm terrain and troops by 21 Nov, so perhaps a new campaign begins that weekend, possibly the next.  I need to come up with my background.  Did you read my concept(s)?  Whaddaya think?

    V/R,
    Jack

    #34377
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    With Alcovia you have a ready made back round for some one off games or a campaign. Or you can go after Bongo Harim in The Sultanate of Ifat.

    #34379
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    I’d love to do some games in Alcovia, but the civil war there doesn’t start until 2010, and for Cuba Libre it’s currently Feb 1990.

    Someday I may end up in the Sultanate, but right now I want to use my 20mm forces, and they are all clothed/based for temperate, not desert.  Besides, you don’t have a blog supporting the environment with background data and hosting batreps (hint hint) 😉  If you can do Facebook you can do a blog.

    Oh, and I’ll mail the Rebel Minis US troops on Saturday, I received your address.
    V/R,
    Jack

    #34380
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Look I have facebook not a blog !!!!!! Besides…um I don’t know how to blog or stuff like that…and NO I don’t really want a blog. The Sultanate of Ifat has mountains and stuff…maybe. And the fighting has been on going for 10,000 plus years in Ifat !!!!!

    #34381
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Mountains aren’t the issue; I need green landscape, not brown.

    And blogs are easy, quit listening to Rod 😉

    V/R,
    Jack

    #34382
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    It is green in the Mountains of Ifat….and I’m also lazy….er about doing computer stuff.

    #34388
    Avatar photoRod Robertson
    Participant

     

     

    #34389
    Avatar photoRod Robertson
    Participant

    Just Jack:

    There is plenty of “green” terrain in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, the Caucuses and Iran. You don’t have to use Alcovia if the timing is wrong. What about clashing Western vs. Russian interests in the Caucuses or Georgia or Turkey? You could use Cuban proxies for Western involvement in the region during the collapse of the USSR to liberate the Caucuses from Soviet/Russian control c. 1991.

    You really must stop laying the blame for blog resistance at my feet. The vast majority of humanity does not blog and a minuscule fraction of those which do blog, blog about table-top wargames. So you’re special Jack, very, very special!

    As to confusion over militias and their role on both sides, only time will tell! I am intrigued to see how things go.

    Cheers and good gaming.

    Rod Robertson.

     

    #34407
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Sorry John, in my mind’s eye the mountains of Ifat are brown.  Don’t worry, we’ll get there someday.

    Rod – “There is plenty of “green” terrain in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, the Caucuses and Iran.”
    Certainly, but I’m not going to Afghanistan, Iraq (Cuba Libre will be in Kuwait soon enough), or Iran in 1990.  The Caucuses is intriguing and something I’ve been thinking about.  Last night I was pondering the breakup of Yugoslavia, possibly the small state of Cronistria (on the Adriatic) declaring independence, having to deal with Serbia and pro-FRY elements within their own borders.  As a brand new state, they reach out to the brand new state of Cuba, who sends “advisers.”   Whaddaya think?  Supporting ideas, concerns, problems?

    And you’re right about a minuscule fraction of the earth’s population being wargaming bloggers; imagine what two more could to.  You’re on the the internet, so you already possess all the skills needed.

    V/R,
    Jack

    #34414
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Sure go fight in Alcovia…..That is where Col. Sokolove is from…..wink wink.

    #34433
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    You should be getting the troops today Just Jack. Enjoy…

    #34447
    Avatar photoRod Robertson
    Participant

    Just Jack:

    Very interesting! A Yugoslavian campaign might be very interesting but would also be rich in danger for your Cuban forces. For example who is Cronistria breaking away from? Yugoslavia? Croatia? Bosnia? Who is backing the Cuban expeditionary force and how much influence will the USA have on their activities. The US decided that in the wake of the softening of Soviet foreign policy and the the impending end of the USSR that a bulwark Yugoslavia was no longer needed in the Balkans and that efforts should be made to undermine it and remove communists from power. (NSDD 133). The plan was to use Croatia and Slovenia as springboards to rip the country apart. It had heavy German and European support. The process was begun in 1989 but quickly escalated out of control and the rest as they say is history.

    So the first thing you must decide is what the leaders of Cronistria want. If they are on the Adriatic coast then they will not only have to fight the Yugoslav army but also the forces of Franjo Tudjman’s Croatia. Now the Croatians committed some some of the worst war crimes and crimes against humanity of the whole Yugoslavian conflict (See the fate of the Serbian region of Krajina) so if your Cubans are going up against them, be prepared for no-quarter fighting and lots of flak from Washington. However you might get tacit support from the USSR if the Cubans play their cards right. If they are there to win Cronistria for the Croatians then expect the Yugoslav army and the locals to be very hostile. Your Cubans will be in a viper’s den of intrigue, betrayal and savagery the likes of which they will never forget.

    Supporting Ideas:

    A great opportunity for Machiavellian schemes and betrayal! The Cubans could end up having to fight many more than just the Yugoslav army.

    You can use your existing kit and can also justify the purchase of some T-62 in 1/144 now that they are available! I don’t know if anyone makes Yugoslav kit in 1/144 but if you do this in 6mm I know that kit is available. Either way you will have to buy more kit which will give you more flexibility for future campaigns.

    Everyone will be using Soviet kit which will make things as confusing as possible! OK, soldiers uniforms will be different but heavy kit will be almost all Russian made.

     

    Concerns:

    Good idea but as mentioned above you must decide who the Cubans are supporting and whom they are fighting. Good luck with that as local politics shifted regularly and dramatically as events on the ground changed.

    Who are the backers of the Cuban expeditionary force? Cuba? America? Certainly not the USSR! This will be an important decision for you to make as it will colour the events on the ground.

    How will you deal with Croatian aspirations to control the whole Dalmatian coast from Slovenia to Albania? How will you deal with the Albanian minorities all along the lower Dalmatian coast?

    Problems:

    Kit demands – do you have enough models of all types to do this? If no, then Buy!

    Supply – How are the Cubans going to maintain their lines of supply and communications unless they are working as proxies for the Gringos? And if they are how will they defend Cronistria from Croatian aggression?

    Terrain – The Dalmatian coast is very hilly and has many mountains. Do you have enough carpet for this?

    I like this idea immensely but you will be spinning your head in circles with the shifting politics and alliances swirling around the Cubans. Angola will seem like a walk in the park by comparison.

    Alas I am in the midst of writing report card comments and have been diverted by your request. I’ll get back to you when I have more time, likely next weekend.

    Cheers and good gaming.

    Rod Robertson.

     

     

    #34507
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Kyote- I’m so sorry man, the weekend got away from me and I didn’t get the Rebel Minis shipped yesterday. I’m now looking at shipping Tursday, reason being, I got your package and that’s a fantastic idea the way you glued the guys in. So the wife is going to pick up a box tomorrow, I’ll glue the guys in, and ship them Tuesday.  Sorry for the delay man…

     

    Rod – lots of great points, and I appreciate the lengthy and well thought out response.  Regarding equipment/vehicles, this is going to be very small scale, skirmish fights in 20mm, probably won’t see a vehicle in the whole campaign.

    Regarding geography, I don’t want to nail it down perfectly, which would only serve to limit my options and big me down with detail unnecessary for the prosecution of the campaign, but I’m thinking Cronistria is up Slovenia-ways.

    What I’m looking at is very small in scope: the Cuban Liberation Expeditionary Force (CLEF) is probably going to deploy a single Special Operations team, whose mission will be to infiltrate, establish a base of operations, and effect linkup with the folks that asked for help.

    From there, the team will carry out unconventional warfare tasks (assist in training and organizing the host nation folks, carrying out raids/sabotage, and Intel collection), and direct action missions to eliminate high value targets.

    The whole point of the mission is for the CLEF to assist these Cronistrians in establishing their own sovereign state, a budding little democracy, without getting dragged into a quagmire or starting WW3. Ergo the limited assets being deployed; the campaign will procees based off of what happens on the tabletop, and so it will definitely be possible for me to lose this campaign.  Indeed, characters’ careers are made or broke in such ways 😉

    So my CLEF guys will fight on the table in teams of 4-5 Cubans or 1-2 Cubans and 5-6 friendly Cronistrians, vs bad guys made up of 4-9 bad guy militia, border police/paramilitaries, regulars, or elites.  The bad guys will be comprised of military/paramilitary  Cronistrians, FRY military, and Cronistrian militia.

    What I need to firm up is the exact situation; in my head we have Cronistria breaking away, but the military (or part of the military) refusing, militias popping up on both sides, and the ‘legitimate’ Cronistrians govt pleading for hel and Cuba being the only want to pony up.

    Superpowers are sitting this out: the Wall just came down, so Russia has its own problems.  Serbia will no doubt throw in, but those will be larger, conventional fights the CLEF isn’t involved in, and will be handled in a ‘representative ‘ manner, I.e., if things go well for me on the tabletop then things will go well in those larger fights, if not, well, the CLEF will be R filtrating back home 😉  the U.S. is busy watching the end of history, and soon will be preoccupied with Kuwait.  So this will strictly be small potatoes.

    I love the idea of betrayal and intrigue, but I’m not sure how to pull that off in my solo campaign. I’ll do my best, but I’m all ears for help on that sort of stuff, to include ‘injects’ during the campaign, I.e., you read a batrep and, prior to the next fight, message me that now is a good time for ‘X’ to change sides, and the reason is ‘Y’.

    Thanks man, and good luck with report cards.

     

    V/R,

    Jack

     

    #34508
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Oh it’s ok Just Jack, I just didn’t want the troops to get all banged up in the mail.

    #34515
    Avatar photoRod Robertson
    Participant

    Just Jack:

    When you say a single special operations team, do you mean a four to eight-man team or a company-sized combat team from which smaller ‘teams’ can be drawn? If the entirety of the Cuban intervention is 4-5 guys then this is not so much an intervention but more an insertion.

    So, if Cronistria is up north near the Slovenian frontier, then the likely adversaries are Croatians and Slovenes. The Yugoslavian Army will be further to the southeast and likely no where in sight. In addition you could be up against mercenary forces, paramilitary forces, paramilitary death squads/Ethnic cleansing teams, mauraders and maybe a Yugoslavian Army special operations team.

    Possible missions:

    • The Cubans have to destroy a little-used railway bridge which could be used by the enemies to attack Cronistria from. This is the only way to secure this part of the Cronistrian frontier. Alas an armed paramilitary force of either Croatians or Slovenians is holding the bridge as it is a key smuggling route for the locals.
    • An OCED team must be escorted and protected from the Cronistrian frontier to the new Capital city of Cronistria. enemy forces are determined to kill or capture the OCED team to prove that Cronistria does not exert effective control over its declared territory.
    • The Cubans must stiffen the morale and resolve of some Cronistrian militia who are tasked with guarding the approaches to the only major coal-fire electrical energy generating station in Cronistria; Croatian, Slovenian or mercenary troops are encounter to destroy the station to make Cronistria defendant upon her larger neighbours for power.
    • An enemy OP/FOO team is operating clandestinely in the heavy wooded hills just outside of Cronistria’s second city and is calling in sporadic harassing mortar fire which is both lethal to the town’ population and is shutting down the local economy. The spotters must be found and stopped.
    • The Cubans have been asked to cross into Croatia or Slovenia to attack and neutralize several mortar and BM rocket sites being used to attack Cronistria to give plausible denial to the Cronistrian state.
    • The Cubans have been sent far south to find, capture and return an Albanian arms dealer and racketeer who has been funding attacks on Cronistria for interrogation and public prosecution. The Albanian is well guarded by ex-US trained Albanians who were living stateside and served in various branches of the US military.
    • The Cubans have been tasked with a hostage rescue mission. A local warlord who opposes Cronistrian independence, has kidnapped Cronistrians and is using them as human shields to protect his arms cache and petrol supplies. The hostages must be rescued and the dump destroyed if possible.

    I hope these scenario hooks are of some use to you Jack.

    Cheers and good gaming.

    Rod Robertson.

    #34549
    Avatar photoJust Jack
    Participant

    Rod,

    I’m thinking a team of maybe twenty guys from the CLEF, but they’re steely-eyed killers, so they’ll have an impact much larger than their meager numbers.

    Regarding enemies, the Sloveniens are simply the Cronistrians that don’t want to be a democracy, while there will be some low-motivation FRY conscripts, and elite “FRY” – read Serb – teams, as well as militia on each side.  I’ve got Talibs for militia (this is not a political statement, simply some easily recognizable and good looking figures), but now I’m starting to wish I had some guys that look more the Eastern European-gangster part.  But I cant; I don’t want to wait, and I camt spend any more money!

    Regarding scenarios: blow a bridge? Really?  Perhaps the CLEF contingent could be “Force Diez de Navarone”? 😉

    I do like your concepts, though. I hadn’t thought of protecting/knocking out power/ water infrastructure, hunting FOs, or cross border stuff. Very interesting, so thanks!

    V/R,

    Jack

    #34550
    Avatar photokyoteblue
    Participant

    Good ideas.

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