If You Ain't Cav...

The 'Blues' or Aerorifles

If you can't tell by my recent posts, I've fully signed up for Flames Of War: Vietnam. It took me a few tours to find my interest, but Tour Of Duty has introduced some pretty awesome forces to field, chiefly the Air Cav. This unit is a full helicopter unit with a troop each of Aeroscouts (in OH-6 Loaches), Aeroweapons (UH-1B Hogs and AH-1 Cobras), and the Aerorifles (dedicated UH-1 mounted infantry). I've spent a good deal of time reading memoirs of the pilots and troopers of the 1st Cavalry Division and its been a rewarding experience.

So, to that end I've been doing a lot of secret squirrel painting that I can now finally talk about with the imminent release of Tour Of Duty, a full Flames Of War book covering many of the major forces in the war from 1965-71. Obviously, there's still a lot more to cover, but all in good time!

So, here's some of my helicopters for my Air Cav. I don't have much to say on painting them, but keep your eye out for my upcoming article in Wargames Illustrated (#307) covering my decent into madness in greater detail that I've done here.

'Cobra King'

'Big Gee' aka 'Counter Attack All For You!'

'Sloppy Joe'

'Alley Oop II'

'Thunderbolt VI'

So, in closing, FoW: Vietnam is here to stay and its a real product. After reading so many memoirs, I feel that Phil has done an excellent job capturing the nature of the war for wargaming, despite the many detractors and misinformed opinions out there that believe that the war was one of endless patrolling and one-sided fights. Simply put, it wasn't. The battles these men faced were fierce and I'm sure they'll tell you that they anything but certain.

"If you ain't Cav,... you ain't SHIT!"

So, to all of those Flames Of War-Vietnam nay-sayers (including past-Mike), I say don't be a dumbass and have a look at Tour of Duty. You just might be surprised what you'll find. I, for one, was startled with the realization that I've got a VC force to paint next!

(Not my minis, but I want them)