The Domino Theory Lives on…

Domino Theory was a political tool used by Cold War America to justify its intervention on behalf of the capitalist, free world in countries where it was feared that the influence of communism would take hold. Its proponents aimed to prove that one event would lead to another and that through the fall of domino's and cause and effect communism and conflict would spread from one nation to another, however; as the Cold War progressed Domino Theory was largely thought to be debunked after the events of the Korean and Vietnam wars when neighbouring nations failed to topple as domino's as predicted…

Depiction of the Domino Effect
Picture copied from: http://apmodels.wikispaces.com/Political+Geography

However…

We have to report that Domino Theory lives on and continues, albeit in a much smaller form! The penultimate domino to fall and provide cause for effect was the publication of an article by Phil at Battlefront! The People’sLiberators article and enclosed pdf covering PAVN Local Forces Battalions was read at a unique time when available funds, keen and enthusiasm and a love of the new models sparked great interest in communist forces.

The ensuing effect seemed innocuous at first but when combined with a casual line dropped into an email conversation between myself and Ben about planned games… the domino dropped...

“I keep being tempted by a local forces battalion for Vietnam too for painting.”

Literal moments later, escalation had occurred and fingers were hovered over online purchase buttons on both sides. The Ho Chi Minh Trail had been opened for the Tiểu Đoàn Địa Phương Quân and the U.S. had authorised funding for intervention in Vietnam. The dice were cast and clashes are now inevitable!

Picture Copied From: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/vietnam_35_years_later.html

 It’s time for a Tour of Duty!

This is the first post in a series about our first foray into Flames of War Vietnam. We intend to build forces and paint them one platoon at a time with month by month progress updates and after action reports on our battles. We’re aiming for 1000 points to start off with and the first platoons are winning their way towards the front line right now. If you’d like to be involved and are inspired then why not do the same? We’d love to see more projects and have more opponents for games.

For all those anti-war (New Year’s) resolution naysayers, no one has broken their resolutions yet as any new armies were started before the start of 2014

Thanks for reading

Jersey James and Ben.