A Beginner's Guide to Gaming Vietnam in 28mm

TAG's Vietnam range is probably the newest on the market. Their range is quite large, now numbering 40 packs of assorted US Army, US special Forces, Viet Cong, NVA and Anzacs.

The sculpting and detail of the figures is of a very good standard and the posing is very dynamic, although there have been some complaints that the US troops appear to have their legs too short - an argument which does have a point, as the anatomy does look a little strange sometimes - this is probably a fault due to assuming that the bottom of the tunic is the waist, rather than the thigh.

On the Viet Cong / NVA front, troops are available with weapon selections that are not available from other manufacturers: such as the MAT49 and the type 56 Carbine.
The US have a .50 cal team, whilst both US and VC have snipers available, which again, are currenly unique to this range.

The great extra of this range is that most of the equipment is available as seperate packs, so whether you want weapons, packs or helmets, it's all available to use as stowage, litter for diaroma's or as conversion material.

Overall, a good range of figures, with some nice packs for use with other ranges.

Before I start, I should say that I own most of Baker Company figures, and that they are my favourite range of figures.

Baker Company's range of figures is probably the largest on the market. The US Army, USMC and NVA packs have enough variety to field virtually an entire platoon of unique figures (almost, but not quite - a little short on some US special weapons, for example). The sheer variety and detail on the figures make them a joy to paint.

Overall, the sculpting and details on the range is very good. The US equipment being particularly well done. The poses on the figures are generally realistic and dynamic, with a few minor exceptions. The US Army, for example, are shown in fatigue uniforms, whilst many of the USMC are sculpted wearing flak Jackets and T-Shirts. It's a bit like 'Platoon' vs 'Full Metal Jacket'.

There are exceptions - generally, the facial detail on the figures is a little lacking, especially when compared to the Force of Arms figures, for example. Particular packs are not very well done - I think the two worst are probably the Local Force VC and the Vietnamese civilians - although the tunnel rats aren't great either.

Whilst the larger pack size is good in most ways (typically 8 figures a pack) it does cause some problems. For example, the USMC typically had 9 M14s in a rifle platoon - which means that if you only buy one pack, you are a figure short, but these are minor issue in an otherwise excellent range.

Although they now have stiff competition, I believe these figures to be overall the still the best 28mm Vietam range on the market. This, along with the fact that any holes can easily be filled by the odd pack from TAG or Force of Arms, makes them an excellent range of figures.

As with most of the '28mm' ranges from Chiltern, big is beautiful, and these figures are no exception. The first part of the range was sculpted by Jim Bowen - who has a well known and distinctive style of scultping, whilst the latter packs were done by Martin Baker. I'm not a great fan of many of Chiltern's figures, but I do like these figures - they have a certain charm and character about them which is quite appealling.

The figures are sculpted well, but have large heads, large weapons and an altogether 'chunky' feel to the anatomy - which is not to everyone's taste. Their sheer size is also an issue. They stand approx. 34mm tall to the top of the head, and so dwarf any other manufacturer's figures, so you can't use them to mix'n'match with other ranges. This is unfortunate, as they do have several glaring ommissions in the range, as well as several nice packs of figures, which would be nice in amongst other figures if they were only compatible in scale.

The US packs include Downed Pilots, Casualties and a Mortar team, as well as a good selection of Grunts - although there are very few Marine packs.
The Viet Cong packs are not as many, and do not have much in the way of Heavy weapons (no mortars, for example). They do contain a villager set, which is quite useful.
The major drawback is the existence of but a single pack of 4 NVA - which is a glaring ommission to the range.
On the plus side, there is a nice three pack set of figures based on the Olive Stone film 'Platoon', so if this floats your boat...

If I was starting from scratch, then I would be very tempted to collect these figures. Although they are not compatible with any other range, they are well sculpted and full of character - I bet they would be a joy to paint.

The range of figures produced by Force of Arms is currently pretty small, totalling 16 packs at time of writing, covering the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 9th Viet Cong Division. The figures are a little bigger than those of Baker Company, West Wind and TAG, but not overly so, which means that you should be able to use them happily side by side with the figures of those other manufacturers.
That said, there is enough selection of figures available to make up a platoon of American or VC Infantry.

So, given that the size of the range is not great, the quality of what is available is first class. All the figures are well sculpted, with good, accurate detail and a nice selection of poses. The casting is clean, with very little flash present.

Whilst the Americans are good, and include a couple of packs not available elsewhere, the most noteable being a pack or LRRP Tiger Scouts, the VC packs are superb - in my opinion the best VC figures currently available - and are a must for any 28mm Vietnam gamer.

This range of figures has the potential to be the best out there - but needs major expansion before it can be classed as such, as there are simply too many gaps to fill (No NVA, USMC, pilots, heavy weapons etc).

West Wind were the first company to have a complete 28mm range of Vietnam miniatures on the market with their Fire Team Vietnam range. The company has a certain angle on selling their figures, so you can only buy their figures in platoon packs - be it an infantry platoon, a heavy weapons platoon etc. Whilst this is, on the surface, a great way of buying figures, it all depends upon the quality of figures that you are buying.

Having looked at several packs of figures, I have to say that my impression of the quality of the figures is mixed at best, and I definately wasn't impressed with the heavy weapons squads. They are also the only company that seem to think that US Army and US Marines look the same, as they state that their US packs are Army/Marine. Sorry guys, but they ARE different.

I only actually own four packs of West Wind Vietnam figures: Downed Pilots, Door Gunners and Camera crew, Special Forces with Berets and Vietnamese civilians. The figures are OK, but not outstanding. Some of the clothing detail on the Downed Pilots is a little crude, and some of the poses in the Special Forces pack look a little awkward. The kit looks accurate on the US troops, but again, the quality of the casting lets the figures down a little.

So, you may have noticed - i don't rate these figures particularly highly - not in comparison with the other figures on the market. However, their villager pack is the most useful of those available, and they are the only company that are producing Montgnards in this scale. This, in conjunction with the fact that they fit in easily with most other figures, are this ranges saving grace.

In conclusion, there are a couple of packs that I would recommend to fill the gaps from other ranges, but otherwise you can do a lot better elsewhere.

There are two other manufacturers of Vietnam figures in the scale that I know of. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get hold of any of their figures for a 'hands on' review. These are London War Room and Eureka Miniatues.

The London War Room provides a total of 46 US figures (alhough 11 are M60 gunners) with a choice of 7 different heads, 25 different VC with 5 different heads and 10 NVA plus HMG Crew.

NVA Infantry

US Infantry

VC RPG'

I've only seen these figures on the website, but I'm not overly impressed - they appear to be a little 2D, and not well detailed. They certainly don't seem to compare well with other ranges.

When it comes to scenery their are several selections of resin and metal scenery available.

Mainly Military do a range of Hooches and sandbagged positions/bunkers in their 20mm range, which fits Baker Company figures really well.

Mainly Military Bunker