April 2010 New Releases

[ltcconard]

I ordered some of the new irregular infantry. I think they will work well with my other "3rd World" forces which are a mix of Soviet WW2, Russian modern, and brushfire warriors. I'm looking forward to them!! Thanks, GHQ! Now, when do we get a MiG 15 and an F86 Saber Jet

Bruce

[Gridley]

I'd like to thank GHQ for actually giving detailed pack listings for their new infantry!

[GHQ]

There is really only one way to address this situation: you are correct, these are not irregular infantry. We made a mistake. Occasionally things slip through, and when you look back, you don't have an explanation for how things came to be and you just have to admit that you made a mistake. TW-12 and TW-13 are what we would call 3rd World Regulars that can be used to represent a huge number of different forces all over the world. We do feel that these are very important infantry that fill a niche, and they are something that we had planned to release in the near future.

Irregular infantry are what we had in mind when these packs were planned, and when we listed them in our catalog. Unfortunately some wires got crossed in the discussions with the designer who worked on these. Multiple third world infantry ranges were discussed, and the irregulars were supposed to come for the April 30th releases. These came instead. The people working in production either are not military people, or knew that the regulars were coming in the near future, and didn't mention anything. The person who did the painting painted what he got, etc. Regrettably it is too late for the irregulars until the August releases (when the Regulars were supposed to be released), but that is when they will be out. They will be sub-Saharan irregulars.

The listing in our upcoming catalog has already been changed to correct this error, and our website listing has been changed as well. As previously mentioned, the current TW-12 and TW-13 fill an essential niche. Many countries around the world from the Cold War era to the present wear US WWII style helmets and use a mixture of European/Russian weapons. That is the niche that we have filled with these figures.

We are sorry for the confusion.

Thank you for your support,
GHQ

[Donald M. Scheef]

Good on you, GHQ, for responding to the comments on the irregulars/third world regulars. Do you intend to change the name in the catalog?
Now we can look forward to TW-14 & TW-15 (real irregulars) in August.

Don S.

[GHQ]

Thank you! The website listing has already been changed, and it has already been changed in our catalog layout.

GHQ

[Panzerleader71]

Excellent! This is why I like this company so much. They respond to the customers.

Though my only question is how many will be upset that the Irregulars cover Sub-Saharan regions, and not North-West Splatistani Irregulars?

[Ben]

Hi all,

just saw the news.

I really like the N534 Berliot GBC 6x6 but have two things to say about this item:

At first, from my knowledge the firm is written Berliet.
The other issue is, this is not a Berliet (GBC 6x6 / GBC 8KT) but a Renault GBC 180. From what I know these are Berliet GBC 8KT which were refurbished by Renault. The result looks rather different to the original, the most noticable difference being the new hardtop cab (with a Renault badge).

Kind regards,
Ben

[Theodore]

The 'regulars' are fine, the subsaharan troops are fine, the more troops GHQ produces the better. I might even use the regulars for Iranians for my Iran/Iraq War forces.

But the same problems remains, there are no forces available to play any of the forces that have fought Israel since 1983. The US has been involved in Iraq for over 7 years with only one month of fighting versus regulars. There is not a single item in the entire GHQ figure that represents enemy forces in either of those wars.

GHQ produces a line of buildings and civilians for fighting in the middle east, they produce US and Israeli forces that have only ever seen action against jihadi irregulars. So over 100 packs of GHQ figures, vehicles, buildings, and aircraft cannot be used in a historical wargame because GHQ does not produce a single figure for them to fight against. So GHQ has invested tens of thousands of dollars (if not more) producing packs that are absolutely worthless to historical wargames, simply because they ahve not invested a few thousand dollars to produce a single figure for them to fight against. I am sure they do not see the need for the figures since there other middle eastern items don't sell as expected. But they have to soon realize that the reason their middle eastern items don't fly off the shelf is that they have absolutley no reasons to buy scenery and figures to fight in the middle east until they produce an enemy to fight.

People have been abandoning microarmor for a long time, primarily because since the collapse of the Soviet Union, no microarmor manufacturer has actually produced any figures that would allow anyone to fight the conflicts of our era. Or more accurately they have produced one side and then not been able to sell it because they did not make the other side.

How well would all of that cold war microarmor have sold if GHQ and their competitors had refused to make a single soviet tank.

Plenty of looks to go for:
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&sour ... =&gs_rfai=

[GHQ]

As much as we would love to continue to be flogged for our error, at some point we need to say "we have had enough". As we see it, the difference between insurgents and irregular deals more with the organization, and political situation, than the look of the people involved. In an earlier post someone included a link that shows an image search of "insurgents". When you see a photo of someone on a street, armed with an AK-47/RPG/etc. and he is wearing local street clothes, maybe has his face covered with a keffiyeh or a hood, is he an irregular, or is he an insurgent? Likewise, if you see a figure of the same person, what is he? Our "Irregulars" are people in civilian clothing armed with weapons that they got from the local arms bazaar. The dress of the people, and the weapons that they carry, do not follow any pattern of regular issue. The weapons could be of European, US, Russian, or any other origin. Unfortunately we don't have any photos of our figures at this point, and we may not post them until the release date. Now we have admitted our error, explained that we have no idea how it got through, and are doing what we can to get the "irregulars" that we announced a year ago on the market as quickly as possible given the circumstances.

Thank you for your support,
GHQ

[Panzerleader71]

"When you see a photo of someone on a street, armed with an AK-47/RPG/etc. and he is wearing local street clothes, maybe has his face covered with a keffiyeh or a hood, is he an irregular, or is he an insurgent?"

Or just some bloke going to market.

I'm just waiting for some one to suggest GHQ make a mini of a Palistinian "rock thrower".

[Panzerleader71]

I'm just waiting for some one to suggest GHQ make a mini of a Palistinian "rock thrower".

"But the same problems remains, there are no forces available to play any of the forces that have fought Israel since 1983."

Guess I don't have to wait any longer.

[Panzerleader71]

I'm not really sure where you guys are going with this discussion. To me 6mm figs are to game large battles (ie A/I War, Cold War, etc.), the exact oppositie of modern "asymetrical" war. Unless you are gaming a BHD in The Mog I really don't see any realistic wargame situation can be gamed out with 6mm irregulars. By definition they fight small scale skirmishes. Which are better gamed out at a larger scale, IMO, like Ambush Alley stuff.

[Nazgul]

First off let me say that I'm glad I'm not GHQ. They have to dance this fine line to satisfy both collectors and gamers. I personally think they're doing a great job keeping the variety they have and still they continue add more. I don't think any one will argue that the quality is bar none. Remember, they're just like us with families to feed and bills to pay. Would you risk a sizable chunk of cash on developing miniatures that only four or five individuals might buy? Think about it.

Second, I'm old school. Its just a game people. I played for years using the wooden blocks from my Risk game for tanks and soft skins. Pennies were my infantry squads (or counters scrounged from board games) and we had fun. I can understand that people want the correct figures, but can't you just make due until some one makes them or modify some yourself? I was going to modify the Bush Warrior figures for irregulars until I heard that GHQ was going to release them. At this scale a small file or sharp knife can remove most of the offending details you don't want. Which brings to mind what an English gentleman wrote about another company's lesser quality miniatures, "A good paint job can make the most miserable casting tolerable." He is right. Improvise. I had planned to paint the straps on the Bush Warriors as folded over jackets with a contrasting shirt underneath. Using the 3 foot rule they would have looked just right.

Lastly, before some one complains that the irregulars don't have baseball caps, life vests, baggy pants, 44 magnums, scarfs, 2 x 4s, or whatever . . . try to live by the Golden Rule I go by: If you can't make it, don't complain. Or better yet . . start your own company.

I shall now retire to my bunker before the barrage begins.

[suisse6]

Panzerleader, I couldn't agree more. From a gaming standpoint, at this scale I don't see the benefit of "irregulars". THose sorts of skirmishes tend to be shoot n scoot with very small groups of armed bozos, even in Iraq and Afghanistan. They rarely hang around long enough to be pummeled by superior firepower in the case of the US. In the case of Al-Shabaab type groups vs. the Somali "government", it is a lot of empty your mag and run. If you want to game that, throw on the cammies, grab your paintball gun and go ambush your buddies.

I actually didn't care one way or the other about these guys, but now that I've seen them I'm considering putting some Argentines together. Are they exact, heck no, but they're better than we've had before.

I look at this way, I asked for an Admiral Scheer for years. I finally got one, but until that happened I had three Graf Spee's painted three different schemes. Were they 100% accurate, of course not, but they were better than using a Bismark for the other two ships.

[Timothy OConnor]

Lastly, before some one complains that the irregulars don't have baseball caps, life vests, baggy pants, 44 magnums, scarfs, 2 x 4s, or whatever . . . try to live by the Golden Rule I go by: If you can't make it, don't complain. Or better yet . . start your own company.

If one can't build a car or start an auto company one can't complain about their Toyota accelerating out of control?

If one doesn't have access to land to grow food one shouldn't complain about their lettuce being contaminated by salmonella?



In that sort of world products would never improve. I've seen that sentiment expressed about wargame products, wargame rules, and video games. And it makes no sense.

As one who has managed product development my best current (and prospective) customers were those who provided extensive feedback. Sometimes that feedback looked like compliments, other times suggestions, and sometimes complaints. But they were all valuable.