Best Tank

As the Americans were moving to prepare the Army for service in WWI, several companies put forth designs for new war materials, including tanks.

This tank served with the California National Guard for training and recruiting.  There is one site that says the Army ordered 50, but I can find no actual evidence of that.

This is a paper mock up of that tank, in 1/72nd scale.  I did this just to get an idea of the size.

I can't find any kits of this tank and so I am considering making one out of styrene plastic.

1938 US Army Update

These US Army vehicles are part of my 1938 US Army.  They are all very old models, some are perhaps as much as 80 years old.  I got most of them from hobby shows and eBay.  Many were in very bad condition, dented, mis-molded and most were missing a lot of their paint.

These are 37mm anti-aircraft guns.  I am priming them.

Their original paint was in very poor condition.  I soaked them in Simple Green to remove the old paint.

Now I am using a white primer to start bringing them back into service.  Most were missing some or all of their wheels.

Today is 9/11.  Be sure to remember those who were killed and those who continue to defend our liberties, including our allies from the UK, Japan, Australia, NZ, Canada, NATO, and many other nations!

Indians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_American_Civil_War

When I was a kid I used to read comic books all the time.  Mostly they were war, historical or science fiction.  One of the things they would do is make the characters look like a particular group that they represented.  For example, a World War Two American Army squad might include one or more American Indians.  So to show who the Indian was, they would give him a weapon or article of clothing that would be typical of that ethnic group as part of his uniform.

 

Of course, most American Indians would dress just like white Americans if they participated directly in the war because everyone wore a uniform.  In the stress of combat over a prolonged period, it is not unusual to find troops have customized their uniforms to suit either their needs or their desires.  I have done this a few times and I intend to do it more.

 

For the American Civil War you could take some ACW soldiers and do a few head swaps and weapons exchanges on the soldiers with Native Americans to give some Indian flavor to a regular ACW unit. I have done this for WWII figures in 1/72nd scale.  Actually, I took American Indian figures and made them into WWII US Army troops by giving one an M-1 rifle to go with his full Indian attire.  Certainly doing a few head swaps would work well too, for several eras.  Native Americans fought in all American wars and have a proud heritage of service.

 

 

The Profession

The Profession, by Steven Pressfield is now out in paperback.  I got a free review copy.  I reviewed it before in hard cover.

"This is a novel about modern day mercenaries fighting about 20 years from now in the Middle East, mostly in Iraq. Much of both the fighting and equipment is like todays armies, but with more drones.

There are countless wargaming scenarios in the book, for small unit modern actions up to about battalion level. If you play modern or near future wargames, this would be a good book to read for tips on how to set up a game scenario.

The book draws some logical conclusions about the nature of modern warfare, technology and politics. While I don't agree with all of them I certainly found the book a good read."

The new Halo Micro vehicles might work for some of the vehicles in this book.