To round off my Indonesian Confrontation 28mm skirmish project, I've ordered a small selection of the Indonesian para-commando figures from Warbases. I have bundled together a two man command group, two small arms groups of four figures each and a couple of BAR gunners, so enough for a decent sized squad. I'm sure they will be fun to paint as they have very distinctive USMC style camouflage one piece fatigues, which will look great if I can get the shades right. There's no rush with these yet, however, so I'll stash them away for a rainy weekend later in the year.
Showing posts with label Jungle Green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jungle Green. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 July 2022
Wednesday, 13 July 2022
The Gurkha Museum
The official museum of the Gurkha Regiment is only a fifteen minute walk from my front door but I haven't visited it for years, the last time being when I went there for a work experience visit when a Nepali student at school had a placement. I don't know why I haven't been back since but I'm going to rectify that oversight by a trip at the weekend, with a focus on the exhibits relating to the Indonesian Confrontation, which are a highlight of the displays. These include this reconstruction of a jungle 'basha', which is a great inspiration for some modelling. I'll report back after the trip!
The Brunei Revolt and The Borneo Confrontation - The Gurkha Museum - Winchester
Commando Miniatures Gurkha Patrol
I ordered some Commando Miniatures Gurkhas from Warbases the other day, as I liked the other figures that I bought for Aden and thought the Gurkhas looked even better. This is two packs worth from the range, one a patrol of four men and the other a command group of an officer, a radio op, a Bren gunner and an Iban scout, which is a really great figure. I'll add one of the dog handlers I got the other day and possibly some more Armalite armed squaddies, then have a think about the Indonesian para-commando opposition.
Thursday, 29 October 2020
Jungle Green
A few years ago I bought some of the Commando Miniatures 28mm British infantry for skirmish wargaming the Malayan Counfrontation or Aden. I was disappointed with the figures, which seemed a bit chunky and lacking in detail, so put them to one side in favour of the 15mm alternative of Peter Pig for my Sandbox Skirmish platoon level project.
I've recently discovered that the Commando Miniatures range, which includes Indonesian para-commandos, Gurkhas and SAS for the Confrontation, has been acquired by Warbases and is now available once again. The painted figures on the website look pretty good too.
I'm thinking of dusting off the figures I already have and ordered a squad worth of the para-commandos or the Arab regulars to do a small post colonial skirmish project in 28mm, alongside my 15mm efforts. The rules would probably be either Fivecore or Danger Close.
I'm leaning toward the Indonesian Confontation, as I have some jungle buildings I've never used and a small amount of jungle terrain that I can expand upon. It's just a possibility at the moment but worth some thought, as it wouldn't be very expensive or time consuming.
If I do decide to go for it, I think it'll need a proper project title, so what better then 'Jungle Green':
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00hhrf6/jungle-green-borneo
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
Malayan Emergency Inspiration
There's a really good article by Steve Blease in this month's Wargames Illustrated on the Malayan Emergency. I'd thought about skirmish wargaming this way back in 2010 but then switched focus to the Indonesian Confrontation and Aden. I originally planned to use the Commando Miniatures 28mm range for both of these but, having ordered a few sample figures, I was disappointed by the chunky sculpting so moved on to Peter Pig in 15mm. This 15mm platoon level post colonial project is still definitely in the pipeline, once I've finally decided between the desert and the jungle!
However, the WI article got me thinking again about Malaya in 28mm as another 'pre-baked' project, in other words a scheme that I could pull off without a massive investment of time or treasure. This time, it is the terrain that I have already assembled that would make this relatively quick and cheap to wrap up. I made a jungle outpost for my now abandoned WW2 28mm Japanese army, which has been sitting in a plastic box doing nothing for years. This would be the focus for some jungle terrain scratchbuilding using the stash of plastic aquarium plants that I've stockpiled for Darkest Africa and other jungle themed project.
All I'd need to do then is get two section sized units of the Brittania Miniatures 28mm British and CT figures, perhaps twenty or so figures in total at a cost of less than thirty quid. These look like simple figures to paint and wouldn't take long to complete, ready for some squad level skirmish gaming. I already have a 28mm Saracen APC kit, which I bought to use with the Commando Miniatures figures, so that's an added bonus. The only thing I'd need to decide upon is a suitable set of rules, perhaps Danger Close, Force on Force or Fivecore?
Again, just another random train of thought but worth exploring nonetheless and definitely better than starting something new, shiny or expensive!
Tuesday, 28 March 2017
All You Need To Know
This is a really concise but very useful guide to both the Aden Insurgency and the Indonesian Confrontation including a brief historical overview, information on tactics, weapon and organisation plus some suggestions for rules and figures. Although I'm now going down the 15mm route for this project, there are some excellent 28mm ranges available from both Commando Miniatures and Eureka, which are well worth a look, as well as the obvious choices in 20mm.
You can get your own digital copy of this booklet for free by sending an email to the nice people at Commando Miniatures:
info@commandominiatures.com
While you are about it, why not take a look at their 28mm range of figures, vehicles and terrain, all of which have potential uses for not just Aden and Borneo.
Friday, 21 October 2016
After Limbang
I popped into town for a pre-holiday haircut this afternoon, so had a look in the Oxfam bookshop for something to read at my leisure during the rest of the week. Sure enough, I found a copy of this anthology of first hand experiences by former Royal Marines who served in the Indonesian Confrontation. Very interesting and great inspiration for my 15mm post-colonial skirmish plans.
Wednesday, 1 June 2016
Borneo Boys
I'm reading this now and it's really rather good, full of first hand accounts of helicopter operations in Borneo and Sarawak during the Indonesian Confrontation of the early 1960's. It reminded me that one of the first model kits that I was given as a present when I was a kid was a Revell 1/48th scale kit of a Sikorsky H55, all the way from the USA where my US Marine godfather lived.
At the time he had completed three tours of duty in Vietnam, although I had no ideas about any of that being only eight years old. The model was, however, really cool as you could open the engine doors at the front! I'll have to see if I can find one on eBay, as it would be great for use in a skirmish game either as table top decoration or as a scenario element of some sort.
Monday, 30 May 2016
Commando Miniatures
I was looking for some 28mm modern figures, specifically for Britain's Small Wars in the Middle East in the 1960's, when I re-discovered the Commando Miniatures range yesterday. I had seen these when they first came out a couple of years ago but, at that point they only had the British, so I moved on in my search to 15mm, using Peter Pig AK47 professional figures as a starting point but with a bit of a blank for the bad guys.
Now, the range has expanded to include Indonesian para-commandos, generic Middle Eastern Arab irregulars and also South Arabian tribesmen for Aden and the Radfan. They also look like they might match up quite well with the old Inkerman Castings range (ooh, that Saracen!!). The range also includes a very neat little Ferret scout car and a FLOB, Forward Locality Base, complete with bunkers and sandbag walls.
This has opened up all sorts of possibilities for 28mm skirmish gaming using both my growing collection of desert terrain and the jungle village that I built last year using the Sarrissa Precision kits, which has been sitting in a box ever since. I could do both the Indonesian Confrontation and Aden, although I really fancy scratch building some jungle after all the desert stuff I've been doing, so Borneo would be a refreshing change!
Brilliant!
Sunday, 25 January 2015
Jungle Green
A 1960's 'fly on the wall' documentary on the Royal Marines in Borneo during the Indonesian Confrontation. It makes you think about the way some things have changed beyond recognition but how others, including the front line experience of the soldier on the ground, really haven't changed that much at all. It's all heavily sanitised but there's something tangible there, especially in the commentary by the soldiers themselves, which could be from 2014 rather than 1964.
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