Flashpoint Miniatures (third tour) is five years old !
In late 2012, we purchased Flashpoint Miniatures from previous owners who had let the range decline and it may have been lost altogether. From a relatively disorganised situation five years ago, we have taken this small range of 15mm Vietnam figures, a few vehicles, and even a few Ultramodern subjects , and expanded and improved, and expanded some more, … with more coming.
We can now offer a relatively comprehensive range of relevant Vietnam miniatures, terrain, and a few more vehicles.
We are long-time Vietnam wargamers, and are aiming to offer innovative subjects not offered by other manufacturers such as Green Berets, Montagnards, “RuffPuffs”, ARVN Rangers, NVA medics, Mechanical Mules, Light Seal Support Craft (LSSC), and even a (recently reworked) LVTP5 and LVTH6 which are designed to “lift-off” for waterline versions. Tabletop experience has also revealed the need for other relatively uncommon figures such as Minesweepers, Dog handlers, Snipers, Casualty figures, and one of my favourites ; an innocent looking clump of bamboo… …is it a booby trap ? … is it a cache ? … is it a hidden unit or ambush ? … is it an objective marker ? … is it a lone water buffalo ? ….or is it just a clump of bamboo ? .. there is only one way to find out … this the nature of the best Vietnam gaming.
We have also developed our range of terrain pieces from a few hooches and sandbag walls to a comprehensive selection of fortifications for establishing a firebase, …or a strategic hamlet , …or a VC basecamp , …or just a rural civilian Ville ; complete with all the ‘clutter’ you’d expect to see in an Asian village, and the largest range of Vietnamese civilians (including livestock) in any wargaming scale.
We have also done our homework with commercially available “vegetation” (eg. plastic palm trees , … for starters) and offer a few combinations of the best available items we have found for 15mm tropical terrain-making, and offer these at the best prices I have seen on the internet.
We made the decision a year or so ago to sell our products directly, instead of through resellers. This might mean you pay relatively more for postage from Australia (where we are based; in the forested mountains behind Byron Bay), but it also means we can offer a lower, more competitive base price for items, respond to specific requests, and keep pack contents up-to-date with the best items we can offer. We can often be clever with postage and packing to minimise costs as we can, and can and do advise on the best shopping strategies to maximise value for money.
We have also made the effort to source (and prepare ourselves) the cleanest lead-free pewter which casts beautifully well, and results in a tough, durable, metal wargaming figure (without missing or fragile weapon barrels) that will also cope with gentle adjusting or conversion. We also cast our terrain pieces out of polyurethane for maximum durability and minimum weight. No fillers are added.
We have more new, innovative ideas in the pipeline ! … We are expanding and improving our terrain offerings in collaboration with other Vietnam gamers. We are expanding our range of Riverine Craft in collaboration with Gomi Designs (the original source of the largest selection of Riverine craft in 15mm), and have found enthusiastic figure sculptors who complete fantastic original work with a knowledgeable eye for detail. Our immediately soon-arriving projects include a Vietnamese cemetery ‘set’ and reworked sampans from our friend ‘Sunihanble’ (who is well known in Vietnam gaming circles for his beautiful terrain ideas), plus a few V100 armoured-car versions from our friend ‘Uncle Les’ (who is a legendary award-winning modeller Down-Under), plus (on the suggestion of our friend ‘Jack’ , a prolific gamer) a selection of squad-sized packs for skirmish-game players, or just more economical when a Platoon-sized force increase is not required.
Thankyou to our friends and customers who have made this last five years of work with a great range of 15mm figures from my personal favourite genre such a joy, despite the work involved.
By way of saying a wider thankyou , and marking our 5th Birthday at the helm of Flashpoint Miniatures, and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive;
I’d like to offer a 20% discount on orders over $100.00 USD AUD for the next week. (!..except for the plastic tree items which are already v good value!)
Enter the code TET18 on the way through the checkout process.
Happy Vietnam gaming 2018 !
Jimmi at Flashpoint Miniatures
