Monday, June 8, 2020

Unboxing Empress Miniatures Vietnam Marine Recon

Now, for something moderately different....

The Vietnam conflict is not nearly as prevalent in wargaming as most of the wars that preceded it, and as such, finding figures, vehicles, and other materials to use requires a bit more searching, but they're out there.
One such manufacturer is Empress Miniatures in the UK, whose US stockists include Age Of Glory Historical Miniatures in Baltimore,  MD, the source for these being reviewed. I placed my order for "NAM16 Marine RECCE Team" (as pictured on AOG website)
described as follows:
"Marine RECCE Team
This pack represents a standard recce 

Marine unit....Figures contain a leader, scout,

corpsman, radio, with a mix of weapons M16, 

Sawn off shotgun, M14 and Grenade launcher.

M1 carbine. as well as side arms and

personal weapons and equipment"

Huzzah! Mail delivery. Let me run out and

get....


Opening the box reveals...
and then...
a bag of 6 white metal figures. You can tell

these are closer to true 28mm than the

common "heroically sized" WWII figures.

For comparison: Empress grunt (left) and

Warlord Waffen SS (right)

Let's take a look at each sculpt.
Separate arm with m-16 (damaged but

repairable). All figures appear to be in Jungle

Fatigues with m-56 or m-67 web gear and

Tropical rucksacks with multiple canteens.

This is a reasonable outfit to cover

US Marine or Army forces for the mid to

late part of the conflict.


This grunt appears to be our medic, carrying

the extra bag on his left shoulder.

This m-16 equipped GI looks to be the radio

man, given the long antenna bag on the

right side of his ruck, and a hole to

insert the antenna on top. In this rig,

the radio is inside his ruck rather than

exposed on a separate carrier.

This Marine has a separate arm holding

his m-16, and what appears to be a

shotgun with a sawed-off stock through

his ruck.


This kneeling/firing m-16 equipped grunt

is aiming downrange, his boonie hat brim

up and out of his sight.

This Marine carries an M-14 and wears a

Marine fatigue cap rather than a boonie.


The final man in the squad carries a

slung m-16 in his left hand and (best guess)

an m-79 blooper (grenade launcher) in his

right.

The casting have little flash and should

clean up well. I'll get them on 25mm

bases, straightened and primed, and report

back. Stay tuned!

Under way....

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