"I" have a personal interest in both N scale and Africa. (Been there about 30 times (various places) in the last 4 years. In scope, N scale is growing. Right now, there is plenty to start with.
This theatre has been long neglected, but for a few manufacturers, in any scale! Indeed, proper buildings and scenery do not abound. I started to address this with my first building, in N scale, that "I" call "African (insert a US brand "stellar-dollar" name)", complete with the trash piles, concrete pad over the drainage ditch and spare piece of corrigated steel on the roof.
Space wise, "I" feel that N scale allows for more! They remain small yet I have been mounting singles on 1/2 inch round bases for skirmish. Modelling a "proper" checkpoint; operations for flushing out insurgents/bandits is possible because we even have unarmed civilians to deal with, makes for some interesting scenarios. Yet, with multiple figure bases, organized armies can face off.
With the cost being low, you can afford to have a wide variety of special purpose vehicles to select for your scenarios. Don't forget that model railroad shops usually stock N scale cars and trucks. Escorting an NGO convoy makes for yet another interesting scenario.
Regardless of the scale you finally go with, folks like Ambush Alley are puttting out some decent rules that try to capture the "feel" for conflict on the continent. Hope you will enjoy the possibilities.
The scenario I am working on now is in a fictional country where a German mech battalion is tasked (under UN auspices) to regain security by use of UN's "Chapter 7" operations. These poor guys have little chance of receiving reinforcement other than supplies due to a ficticious muslim uprising in Germany at the same time. Luckily, the resistance is not quite organized and consists of several splintered bandit factions…..more interested in themselves than in any concerted effort to take power in the country. (Can we say, "Firefighting detail"?)
Have spun some African insurgents up today and will spend the weekend preparing them for photos for the site.
Best
Tom Dye
GFI
experiments at 11x.
