Wargaming Recon recently received a review copy of the new book by Michael Farnworth, titled Modeling and Painting Vietnam Wargames published by Military Miniature Press. They appear to be a relatively new company and based on the quality of this book, it will be worth seeing what they have releasing in the future.
Overview
This book is broken down into 4 chapters and an Appendix. The book says that it is designed for experienced wargamers and modelers. I may agree, but I found it a good resource for getting into the Vietnam War era of gaming. There are numerous pictures of miniatures on the tabletop and actual photos located throughout the book. Many of the figures pictured have a caption citing the manufacturer and painter. This makes it much easier to find a particular figure if you see one you really like.
One feature of the appendix that stood out are links to all the manufacturers mentioned in the book. The PDF version allows you to click the links and go straight to the website to get hands on specific figures even quicker. The softcover of the book does not have the embedded links, but you can still get the web addresses and contact information for the companies.
Introduction
The first section of the books starts simply enough with with a history of the people and region. It gives a good introduction to the Vietnam War era. This is very useful for those unfamiliar with that time and place. The author spends some time covering what wargames in this era felt like and how they should be fought on the tabletop. At this point they are mostly details and will covered in later sections. The book’s introduction devotes almost 5 pages covering what rules and figures are currently available; they are even broken by size and scale of both figures and forces. It can be difficult to start an era for the first time. This section is a great addition since it it makes it easier for wargamers to try out this era.
Soldiers
In chapter two most of the time is spent on getting the figures ready for the tabletop. This includes everything from assembly to painting and basing. I liked how they had the painting portion setup. There is a chart showing all the colors and what things get painted that color. The book has step by step guides, with pictures, for everything from the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in 1968 to the French troops in 1954 to how to paint a Water Buffalo.
Vehicles
The third chapter covers the vehicles used during the war. This chapter also starts out with covering the techniques needed to get a vehicle ready for the table. This can be for anything from a die-cast vehicle to a 3D printed model. The painting portion is not as in depth but it does have a chart showing the base color of vehicles on both sides of the conflict. The coolest part of this chapter is how they cover the different types of vehicles used. The book has a picture and a short description covering nearly every tank, armored personnel carrier (APC), helicopter, truck or jeep used in the warzone.
Fear not! The book does include the brown water navy, sampans and fishing boats. There is not as much depth but it does help building and modeling generic versions of small wooden boats or patrol boats.
Terrain
The final chapter covers everything that the figures covered in the prior sections will be fighting over. It starts off small and slowly grows as the chapter progresses. It helps with everything from bamboo stands to rice paddies. Most of us have probably used resin or MDF buildings in the past, but it is always good to have everything in one spot. You may skip over those last two, but it is always useful to read over someone’s tips on scratch building. Especially if they walk you through how to build the Hue Citadel at 1/56 scale. I think the table of key dimensions might be invaluable to someone building it themselves.
There is a lot of information that some people might already have from building terrain for other games; but much of it is new to someone. There is a section on working with extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam and that is actually something I have not really done yet.
Final Thoughts
I found this book to be a treasure trove for anyone picking up wargaming in the Vietnam era; with the disclaimer that you should have some understanding of wargaming in general. The painting charts for the soldiers is probably the most useful section of the book to me. Though, I am sure almost anyone can open to a random page and learn something useful or interesting.
The only real worry I have about this book is that the company links and game overviews might not remain relevant or useful if companies close, or books go out of print. Other than that this is a great guide to getting started with a period that is gaining ground and picking up more players.
The book is available in both PDF and Softcover through the publisher at Military Miniatures Press for $22.49 or $34.95 (USD) via Amazon (affiliate link).
