Empress Bolster Their Vietnam ANZACs With More SASR Troops

August 30, 2022 by brennon

Empress Miniatures has been expanding their ANZAC range for the Vietnam War with a new selection of SASR Troops. Two new packs have been made available offering up a chance to add some new soldiers into the mix when trudging through the jungle.

SASR Troops Pack 7 // Empress Miniatures

Learning from the folks at Empress, the SASR and their involvement in the Vietnam War is pretty fascinating. They were deployed in 1966 and were there in some capacity all the way through to 1971.

These soldiers are absurdly good in their reconnaissance role and were known to their enemies as the "phantoms of the jungle" due to their fieldcraft and how they could move through the warzone. They ended up (between the Australians and New Zealanders) killing between 492 and 598 soldiers for the loss of two men killed in action and three fatalities from friendly fire. A pretty staggering kill-to-death ratio.

The SASR would wear whatever they wanted when it came to getting the job done and whilst they had plenty of standard issue kit, they would also modify things based on whatever they felt comfortable fighting in. That means you get some really awesome miniatures that come packed with character and personality.

The first kit (above) comes with soldiers using an SLR with UGL (underslung grenade launcher), a cut-down M60 LMG, two M16s with UGL and then finally another SLR without the UGL. Fascinatingly, as Empress has noted, the cut-down gun meant that it would fire REALLY loudly and with a ball of flame meaning it could be mistaken for a deadly 50 cal! It earned the weapon modification the name "The Bitch".

We also have a second set complete with more SASR members...

SASR Troops Pack 8 // Empress Miniatures

This gets you up close and personal with the addition of a British Stirling SMG that was fitted with a suppressor for quietly taking out targets. You will also find the SLRs that we mentioned above plus a soldier carrying an AN/PRC25 "Prick 25" Radio. There is also another M60 that has been cut down and an M16 with jungle mags and an M79 Grenade Launcher known as the "Blooper" or "Wombat Gun".

The Vietnam War period is pretty fascinating and it's nice to see that companies like Empress are expanding the options for the period beyond just the US and Vietnamese combatants. I had no idea that so many of the Commonwealth forces were so involved in the conflict.

Make sure to read more about the SASR over on the Empress Miniatures Facebook Page.

Are you tempted to snap up these new miniatures?