the Little bird

[Mr Evil]

ok little while back some one posted a pic of a little bird, i was thinking this would be the perfect heli copter for our MEA

so with help from those on playtest group can we try work out soem rules for the little bird please.

with them little roket lainchers on the side as well

 

[Eryx]

Shouldn't it be American?

 

[britneyfan97]

Hmm, not wanting to give them my beloved Little Bird. Isnt there some French/Russian rival?

The North Koreans had something like that too allegedly.

In the meantime I found some interesting ones...


Iranian forces deploy from what looks like a Chinook.

I had seen some of their propaganda videos on Google or something and they had some of the older Cobras showing off in them.

Here is an Iranian Chinook which went down in Iraq during a special forces incursion into Iraqi territory.It was later discovered by US troops in 2002.

 

[Aegis]

That's hilarious timing, I just bought one of those in 1:48 scale from Wal-mart (in in the US) yesterday! Got a Littlebird and a Humvee with a TOW on the roof in a two-pack for a little less than ten bucks.

 

[Armchair_Marine]

Why should the Little Bird go to the MEA instead of a US faction? Look I know this game is not supposed to be a hard core war simulation but each faction should still remain unique from one another. And the MEA's uniquness is in it's ability to wage war with low tech weapons.

Still, Mid-East countries such as Iran does have US tech like f-16s and Cobras. So maybe things like these should be regulated to the upcoming MEA government troops. But IMO, the armored/air hardware for the MEA should be kept to a minimum. As much as possible the MEA should remain a rag tag group of militiamen and gurreillas supported by several countries.

But I do welcome the idea of a high tech terrorist organisation such the fictional NOD from Command & Conquer or Cobra from GI JOE. A group like that should be a completely new fact and not the MEA.

 

[Aegis]

I would bet that Little Birds are an old enough design that you could say the MEA bought old Vietnam versions off the black market or some other source.

To a small guerilla force, even a Little Bird would be like the US fielding a Cobra or two, so you'd have to keep the availability small.

 

[Mr Evil]

the little bird, i see it is just a good example of a small helicopter with guns

you could call it the little eagle if it made you feel better.

thing is i remember seeing themor something like them in the A-Team / Airwolf / bluethunder the list goese on, its what the badguys always fly. and is used around the world.

all im sugesting is work out some stats for it, so we can use stuff like this for fun games at home,

 

[britneyfan97]

Still, Mid-East countries such as Iran does have US tech like f-16s and Cobras.

As well as the Chinooks - the F14's - Sea Stallions.

And only recently have we stopped selling them certain spare parts for their F14s.

 

[Dorb]

Ageis - I've been hitting all the local Wally-Worlds for these. I think the scale is fine(Evil disagrees) They have them packaged as 1-M1025 and 1-M998 or 1- of them and 1- Little Bird. Great price and look great! (all this for around $60.00, metal pre-painted and doors open gun rotates!)

I figure the Little bird Moves 24" per move, while the M1025/M998 move 12".
Been using the rules on the M1025 as the same ones for the Chinese PF-89-80mm LAW.

 

[Helstrom]

So YOU'RE the one who has been swiping all these kits :shock:

I've been hitting up the internet (eBay, as well as contacts in the US) for these for months now and only managed to come up with a handful. If you have some to spare - or if you'd be so kind as to pick up a few extra the next time you raid Wally-World - I'd love to take some off your hands

Here's what I've done with the ones I received:

 

[Mr Evil]

nice find though, and not to far of on size, definatly passable under most peoples radar.

now i whant some !!!

 

[fluffy05]

That looks pretty good to me

Nice painting too!

 

[Dorb]

LoL... Helstom, wish I could paint. Thats the look I want.(might have to try it) I'm heading out this weekend for more. Have about 6 Walmarts in a 40mile radius and will check them out. My local one across town has restocked them twice(need to give them more time). I really dont want anymore Little birds though but want a few more Hummers. They also have these in a Police Blue - Thought they would be cool for Iraqi police forces.
You guys use paypal? Not sure what the freight would be across the pond but we could look into it. For $10.00 you really cant go wrong.
I tried to find this company on the net to see if they have anymore in the works, but have been unable to find anything.

 

[Dorb]

Oh, sorry got off topic. You can kinda get a feel for Helo rules right here at Mongoose.

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/bfepre2.pdf

 

[Aegis]

All I could find was the pack with a dark green little bird(not the US one), and a blue camo hummer with a TOW. Not too keen on the hummer, but hey. They also had some WWII stuff.

Was really tempted to buy a WWII Mustang (the plane), it was 1:48 scale and would make for a cool terrain piece.

 

[rjandron]

I'd say the MEA should be using Mi-24Hind-Fs (Mi-35s?), but then again, I've got a soft spot for the Hind.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/row/mi-24.htm

Used by:

Armenia, Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, CIS, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, North Korea, Peru, Poland, Slovakia, South Yemen, Syria, Ukraine, Vietnam.

 

[Aegis]

I'm not really sure that the MEA would normally have the cash it would take for the upkeep of full-on combat choppers.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

Recall that the MEA is an EU-style alliance of many Middle East countries - so anywhere like Iran or Syria could be providing combat choppers.

 

[Mr Evil]

I'm not really sure that the MEA would normally have the cash it would take for the upkeep of full-on combat choppers.

if they can build necluer powerplants and some of the largest hydroelectric plants in the world im sure a few heli copters isnt out of the question.

the middle east produces the least carbon to power output in the world, something the west could learn from.

 

[Helstrom]

LoL... Helstom, wish I could paint. Thats the look I want.(might have to try it) I'm heading out this weekend for more. Have about 6 Walmarts in a 40mile radius and will check them out. My local one across town has restocked them twice(need to give them more time). I really dont want anymore Little birds though but want a few more Hummers. They also have these in a Police Blue - Thought they would be cool for Iraqi police forces.
You guys use paypal? Not sure what the freight would be across the pond but we could look into it. For $10.00 you really cant go wrong.
I tried to find this company on the net to see if they have anymore in the works, but have been unable to find anything.

Glad you like them :wink: They're pretty easy to paint, I spent more time converting them. I screwed the bottom out, removed the interior detail bit, removed the transparant windows and then glued cardstock inside all the windows to close the vehicle up. The TOW came off with a quick snip of a wire cutter (though you should probably keep it on if you're going to use it as a Shadow - for mine, I have some gunners and fifty-cals on order). Then put it back together, glued the doors and the rear hatch down - the top hatch was left alone so it can still open and close which, oddly, it wouldn't while the TOW was mounted on.

Then undercoat, paint a sand colour, give a good lick of watered-down brown ink (with a little bit of washing-up liquid so it won't pool too much) and drybrush with progressively lighter versions of your sand colour. Finish up with a light drybrush of pure white. Big brushes are your friend here! After that I painted the windows, tires, and the little box bit on the turret a very dark grey (Vallejo German Grey), put some lighter grey stripes on the windows, drybrushed a sand colour over the tires, and presto! The decals came off a 40K Imperial tank transfer sheet.


If you pick up any more of these, I would really love to have some more. I'm looking for two more M1025s and another M998. They come boxed with the littlebirds, which I'm not particularly interested in, but I'll take them off your hands too if you don't want to be stuck with them.

Yes, I can do PayPal, and I'd be happy to pay in advance if you don't want to run any risk. Shipping by USPS Global Priority, with insurance, should come to about $22 - making these puppies still a bargain

The manufacturer is 21st Century Toys:

http://www.21stcenturytoys.com/

I've emailed them and these kits are going to stay WalMart exclusive for a while, but should appear in other stores - including online retail - later in the year.

Again, if you could help me out here I'd be most grateful!

All I could find was the pack with a dark green little bird(not the US one), and a blue camo hummer with a TOW. Not too keen on the hummer, but hey. They also had some WWII stuff.

Want to swap the hummer for another green littlebird? I don't have any plans to actually use mine.