Sahel Conflicts: Civilian Vehicles

To provide additional scatter terrain and also some potential objectives for our modern wargaming in Mali, I opted to buy some civilian vehicle for the tabletop.  These were all 3D prints obtained from Etsy.  Since most of these vehicles would be found in urban centers or traveling major roads, I opted to drybrush with just a bit of desert dust rather than the more extensive weathering on my military vehicles.

My first vehicle was a Mercedes-inspired sedan that could be used for driving diplomats and dictators around.  It has the green and black license plate and “CD” designation Mali uses for diplomatic corps vehicles.  I figured it would be a great target for a convoy ambush.  Though sold as a 28mm vehicle, it seemed a bit oversized when you compared the roof height to a 28mm miniature. I also wasn’t super thrilled with the utilitarian wheel rims on what was supposed to be a luxury vehicle. That said, it will get the job done.

The second car seemed to be based on a mid-1980’s Toyoto Corolla. I picked a color appropriate for the period and opted to give it a weathered paintjob to reflect 20+ years in the desert sun before Operations Serval and Barkhane. It has the standard white and black Malian license plate with the MD designating that it was registered in the capital district. 

My third vehicle was a Toyoto minivian inspired by the Société des transports du Mali (Sotrama) taxis of Bamako.  These green, privately owned vehicles are often customized by their owners and provide cheap transportation across the capital following semi-fixed routes. They and other commercial vehicles get red and white license plates in Mali.

My "Oasis" Sotrama was directly inspired by this taxi photograph by Louise Bretten and available on Alamy. It even has the same license number. I wonder what the driver would think if he knew a version of his taxi was driving around some American's miniature battlefield. 

The last vehicle I prepared was a UN World Food Programme (WFP) truck. Though smaller than the trucks you see in the convoys crossing Mali, it was a good fit for both my storage box and the 4x6 and smaller tables I usually play on. These have been attacked by insurgents, so it could be another objective in our games.  It has the yellow and black license plates with the “NU” designation given to UN vehicles.  WFP trucks often ID themselves with white and blue tarps draped over their cargo areas, and I opted to do the same on mine. This was created using a double layer of printer paper glued together with white glue.  The tarp was then glued to the truck body and I used bits of brown thread for the tiedowns. I accidentally stuck it down a little lopsided on the truck, but I figured  that could happen in real life as well, and it wasn’t worth trying to rip everything apart. 

If anyone else is interested in a WFP tarp for you vehicle, I’ve added two variants below.  These are free for personal use. 

 I’m hoping to get another modern game in before the end of the year, so hopefully these will seem some action soon.

Sahel Conflicts: Toytoa Technicals

Another set of vehicles that were part of the unpainted pile of shame.  I received these two Toyota techincals as part of Miska Miniatures North African Kickstarter back in 2022. I didn't (and still don't) have a 3D printer, so I opted for the physical copies rather than the STL files.

The physical prints had some issues. It appeared that the printing supports were not robust enough for the prints, so the vehicles sagged as they were created.  This caused stress cracks in both models. For the crew cab truck, it also caused the truck bed to noticeably bend and the roof rack to peel up in a few spots. The bent truck bed could be explained in game as a bent frame from rough use in the desert, but everything else looked unacceptable. I debated requesting new prints but decided I'd try my hand at repairs first. The roof rack was reassembled with superglue and clamps, and the cracks were filled with putty and sanded down. Luckily the end results were good enough for the table.

Painting the technicals was a bit tricky.  While the figures and machine guns were sperate pieces, all the gear was printed in place. This made it very hard to get the brushes into the tight spaces. To compensate, I used a liberal amount of dark wash in those areas to hide the bare areas. Weathering was done with a bit of drybrushing and the Mig pigments (a mix of brick dust and North African dust) applied with solvent.

Both figures were a bit fiddly to position in the trucks, but the Tuareg with the DShK machine gun was especially problematic. His left hand was printed as part of the truck bed rather than on the fighter, and I couldn’t get it to connect to his body properly when aligning him to hold the machine gun and sit flat on his seat. I have no idea why they chose this poor assembly option rather than having the hand attached to his arm, but the 2mm gap looked awful.  I ended up filling the gap with thick superglue. It looked wonky at eye level since the hand and arm connected at a strange angle, but fortunately it didn’t stand out when looking from above. 

The trucks were listed as being 1/56 scale and were very close in size to an old Footsore/SASM truck in my collection (I believe now out of production). The Empress technical (the least favorite modern vehicle I own) remained the squat oddball of my collection.

Despite the issues I had with the print quality, fit, and ease of painting, these Toyota technicals became my favorites out of the four I own. They had more detailing than the resin/metal models, and all the gear piled on them resulted in added character and a real life feel.  I look forward to having a chance to put them on the table.

Sahel Conflicts: BTR-60 and VAB

After my recent Haywire game with Steve, it got my juices flowing to paint modern forces. I didn't need any new figures, but I still had some unassembled vehicles sitting in the hobby closet. To start, I decided to tackle a couple of armored personnel carriers: The Soviet produced BTR-60PB and the French Véhicule de l'Avant Blindé (VAB).

Looking online, I managed to find find photos of two Malian BTR-60s from the Operation Serval/ Operation Barkhane timeframe. One showed a green/brown/tan camo pattern with spray painted black squiggles, and the other was the below image from the Associated Press taken in 2012 after a coup.  The camo pattern looked like it would be a challenge to paint accurately, so I opted for the all green vehicle. Plus, seeing some whitewall parade tires in use gave me a chuckle and I thought it would be a fun quirk on the table.

The BTR-60 I obtained was the 1/56 Rubicon Models plastic kit from their Vietnam range, which gave you the option to build either the A or B versions. I don't know how accurate the kit is, but the final result gave you a nice wargaming vehicle. The assembly was a a bit fiddly at times, particularly the handrails, but I was able to build it in an evening.  

I didn't have the recommended Vallejo Russian Green 70.894 paint (I'm assuming the Malians left this stock), so did my best to hand mix the color. I think it came out slightly darker and more bluish than it should, particularly after weathering, but not to the point that it was worth repainting.  The Woodland Scenics rub on decals I used for for the vehicle ID were a little too big to get the full 5-digit number (and the wrong font), but I think it captured the overall feel of the real vehicle. I had no photo reference for the other side of the BTR-60, but opted to throw on another whitewall.  For part of the underside weathering, I continued to work on my skills with the AK pigments and solvent. It wasn't perfect, but I think I'm improving.

I bought a 3D print from jjgprint3d.com for the French VAB armored transport. They sell both a 1/56 and 1/50 version of the vehicle for 28mm, and I went with the later larger size.  In addition the size options, you could choose between the machine gun, ambulance and T20 turret models. The kit came as two main body halves (front and back), plus the wheels and turret. It took a little bit of sanding and putty to fill the gaps and hide the worst of the print lines, but nothing too serious.  The detailing wasn't as strong as a plastic model kit, but still very reasonable for a wargaming vehicle.

For the camo pattern application, it appeared to be standardized for all VABs.  I was able to find good photo references for the front and sides,  but I had to make some guesses for the back and top.  The intensity for the green seemed to vary in the photos depending on the lighting conditions, but I stuck with the lighter tone as it appeared in sunnier photos (and my other French vehicles). As with the BTR-60, Woodland Scenics rub on decals were used for the vehicle ID numbers, along with some freehand detailing. I didn't know if the unit markings were correct for the Mali deployment,  but I figured most gamers here in the US wouldn't know one way or the other.

Being in two different scales, there were some size discrepancies between the two vehicles: In reality, the BTR-60 is approximately 0.3 meters taller and wider than the VAB.  Even considering that 12% scale difference, measuring the the BTR-60 model showed it was a little undersized at 1/56 and the VAB as being slightly too tall for 1/50. However, those are nitpicky points and I think both vehicles can de be deployed together without it looking awkward in a game.

Haywire Modern Test Game: Operation Barkhane in the Sahel

My gaming buddy Steve passed through town and asked if I'd be interested in trying a new co-op modern ruleset called Haywire Modern. It's been quite a while since I had a chance to use my modern figures and terrain, so of course I jumped at the chance. 

This scenario took place in the Sahel during Operation Barkhane and pitted the French against Islamic jihadists. We had two 4-man Commandos Marine teams conducting a search an destroy mission for a BRDM-2 armored vehicle hidden in a village sympathetic to the jihadists. They were dropped remotely and hiked into the village.

The villagers went about their day as jihadist guards kept a lookout.

My team entered from the southwest, while Steve’s came in from the northeast.

My sniper climbed the rocks and spotted a few jihadist patrols, but not the BRDM-2. The rest of the team did their best to avoid being spotted by the patrols and a shepherd boy with his goats.

One jihadist patrol failed to see Steve's team.

However, a group of rooftop spotters saw movement in the rocks opened fire on Steve's leader.  The element of surprise had been lost.

As the civilians scrambled for cover, the shepherd boy also ran right into my team.

The jihadists managed to score a shot on Steve's leader.

My team had better luck, eliminating 3 jihadists before they realized I was there. 

With their positions now exposed, Steve called in two drone strikes, killing the rooftop shooters and the patrol on the north end of the village.

In the south of town, the jihadists returned fire and wounded my team leader. 

Steve's team entered the village and spotted the BRDM-2, but the first marine through was ambushed and started bleeding out from his wounds.

My team leader finished off the southern patrol, while another marine and the demolitions expert entered the village. 

Steven's corner devolved into a bloody shootout.

My demolitions expert was also spotted lurking amongst some crates and was severely wounded.  His support comrade moved up to kill one of his shooters with his light machinegun.

Luckily my sniper was able to reach the demolitions expert before he bled out, keeping him active on the mission.

The jihadists received reinforcements in the form of a drone operator and gunman.  

Steve managed to wipe out his attackers and start patching up his wounded marine.

Luckily the drone operator was pretty unskilled, with the first attack impacting the side of the building.

Both French teams began moving in to secure the BRDM-2, but would need the demolitionist to complete the mission. 

The jihadists tried another drone attack against the sniper, but it again ended in failure.

More jihadists started sneaking out of the buildings. The resulting firefight killed one of Steve's marines.

The demolitionist began wiring up the BRDM-2 while one of Steve's team breached the eastern wall. The French were looking to exit in a hurry and Steve also wanted to make sure the body of his dead marine wasn't left behind.

Islamic fanatics arrived and began pursuing the French.  The big question was if the wounded demolitionist could escape in time.  

The light machine gunner prepared to supply covering fire. 

Luckily the team were able to get behind cover and detonated the BRDM-2 just as the fanatics were passing by, wiping them out.

For a first game, I think things went relatively smoothly and we didn't spot any glaring issues in the rules. Neither of us had ever played a co-op game before and we enjoyed having the opportunity to fight on the same side. The enemy reveal and activation system was straightforward and provided enough surprise and danger to keep the game entertaining.  This was also promising for solo games, as we often don't have other players regularly available for modern wargaming.  One thing that would be interesting is to see if the rules have enough flexibility to allow another player to command the terrorist side and play head to head.   The rules are not currently  in stock at Modiphius (I believe Steve got his digital rules through a preorder), so I'll have to check back in later this year for a possible Christmas order.