"15mm Japan Ground SDF models? gaming "Gate" anime" Topic

Been re-reading the Gate manga, really want to do a 3rd Recon Team for Hordes of the Things.

3rd Recon (the protagonists) cruise around in a Komatsu LAV, a Japanese Humvee (Toyota Megacruiser, but it looks almost identical to the early Humvee), and a not-Jeep (Mitsubishi Type 73 Light Truck, not an actual Jeep).

I can get 15mm Humvees almost anywhere. QRF has a nice one with the soft top.

But I can't find any of the Japan-specific vehicles like the LAV or the Mitsubishi.

Could probably use British infantry with FALs for the infantry.

Even found a source for 1/100 scale JSDF helos on Hobbylink Japan, the Deagostini JSDF Model collection ( hlj.com/product/DIGWJ-19/Mil for an example )

But Google has been unable to find Komatsu LAVs, Type 74 tanks, or anything else from the Japan Ground Self Defense Force.

For all the crap the JSDF takes in monster movies, Gate is one of the few times that they aren't getting their ass kicked by the invaders!

For the LAV, some of these might be suitable:-

Rebel Miniatures:

MATV Comanche – link

Some from QRF:

MBRV04 Panther CLV – link

PBP02 Humber Pig – link

MFIV01 VAB VCI 4×4 -totalsystemscenic.com/product/mfiv01-vab-vci-4x4

Unfortunately your going to have to find approximations for those I think. JSDF is something that is frequently neglected in this hobby with the exception of 1/35,1/72 and some 1/48 scale kits as well as 1/285 (and that only just recently happened). For 1/100th there's really nothing available. For a Type 74 you might want to see if you could find a AMX-30 to start a conversion. Likewise the Leopard II can make for a pretty decent Type 90 with some slight conversions depending on how absolutely accurate you want to be.

Wrong type 74, its the light truck not the tank type 74.

Type 73 not-jeep:

Type 74 tank:

I could probably make the Komatsu LAV out of a pair of Panhard VBLs (the LAV has 4 doors, VBL has 2). Komatsu LAV:

The SDF "Mission to the Special Area" has at least one company of Type 74 tanks (heavily modified with TUSK kits from the US) plus the Type 96 wheeled APCs; an airmobile force with OH6 and OH1s, Hueys and Cobras, and CH47s; an Air element with at least 2x F4EJs.

Basically, almost everything is old and on the "write-off" pile, so there's no great loss if it's broken/destroyed.

I'll be honest, at 15mm, you could probably get away with using team yankee american mech infantry for your ground pounders and that type 74 looks an awful lot like an american M-60, which is much easier to find in 15mm

EDIT: wait, I just remembered, they are using FAL's so yes, 1980s British infantry would be the best option.

Yeah, the plain M60 isn't too far away from the Type 74 in size, and the side skirts on the Special Area mod will hide the return rollers on the tracks. Hull still won't quite be right, as the M60 doesn't really have any hull above the tracks while the Type 74 has a hull more like the Leopard 1.

A little GS to flatten the turret sides will help there.

Actually, I think my best bet would be to get some Leopard 1 hulls with M60 turrets…

yeah, I can see that, but then you'd have a bunch of M-60 hulls and leopard 1 turrets laying about. I am intrested in seeing how your conversions work out. and to how the unit fairs against the hordes of things

Well, I think I can ask Geoff from QRF nicely to do a special order for me with Leo1 hulls and M60 turrets, along with the Cold War British infantry.

Interesting thing will be getting the Panzerfaust 3s.

It would be really tough to balance the unit against hordes of the things, since there are a total of 12 troopers in vehicles, call it 6 or 7 dismounts (not counting Rory the Reaper, Lelei the Sorceress, or Tuka the elf. Or Yao the dark elf). Could put one JSDF trooper on each stand, and give each one a ranged attack. That'd give me 9 or 10 stands total: the not-Jeep, the Humvee, and the LAV, plus the dismounts. The not-Jeep would be pretty much unarmed if I went with 7 dismounts, but the LAV and Humvee would have their pintle weapons (.50cal on the LAV and I think a Minimi on the Humvee).

Having AH1s for the flyers will be just wicked, terrifying amount of firepower. Might have to go to a smaller scale model to have it fit better on the base, though, 1/100 AH1s are huge.

But putting one trooper per base as the element will let me customize each trooper easily. Kuribayashi will definitely need to be some scary CC monster.

Reminds me, I need to figure out what I'm going to upload to Scribd to get HoTT2.0. Got too much stuff that's not supposed to be re-uploaded, so sorting though all that to find something legal to share is a pain.

Hrmmm… Now that I'm looking at HoTT2.0, I'm having a terrible time making the JSDF troops work out. They should be artillery in terms of their firing range, but they don't have the mobility issues that Arty does.

I could just make them Shooters (and the trucks Riders), which at least gets my AP down, but then I lose the range advantage. One Hero (Itami) who doubles as the General (4AP), 3 Riders (the trucks) (6AP), 4 Shooters (dismounts) (8AP), 1 Blade (Kuribayashi) (2AP), call Rory a Paladin (4AP), Lelei a Magician (4AP), Tuka and Yao could be Lurkers (2AP). That's 30 AP, and doesn't really reflect the terror that is the JSDF troops.

I think I'd need to double up to 48 AP to really do the JSDF justice, and that's just a minimum guess!

heh sounds like a fun match, I'd be intrested in seeing that play out

The more I look at HotT, the less I think it will be able to handle a fight between forces with that big a magic/tech mismatch.

Does anyone have other suggestions for a game that can handle both massed, medieval-type combat and modern firearms?

Would saying "Warhammer 40K" get me kicked out?

You'd have to invent troop stats of course but that's basically 40K in a nutshell.

No, I still have some of the older rules. But one of the big things about Gate is the massive range disparity between the JSDF and the locals. JSDF plots final defensive fire at about 300m, which is the limits of bow range.

Basically, the JSDF gets multiple shooting phases to blow the hell out of incoming formations, long before the locals get within range.

Forgot to mention: Looks like I could get all the models I need in 1/144 scale… Except for the Type 96 wheeled APC!

I'm doing something similar (Kobayashi Motofumi's Raid on Tokyo) at 15mm scale, thinking about hiring a 3D printing studio to get some Type 74s (if the price could be at under BF price).