Toyota Technicals

Good day to you fellow Military Wargamers!

 Today, I bring to you the most widely used modern combat vehicle in the world: "The Toyota Technicals". From every corner of every third world country in raging civil war, there is a Toyota Technical in active combat. From the Libyan rebels to African Warlords, the Toyota Technicals are there to provide heavy machine gun support and mobility for their forces. I hope you enjoy the setup of my GHQ Toyota Technicals and troops.

Toyota Technicals in the desert.

According to an article by Ronnie Schreiber from the website, "The Truth about Cars", it is interesting to know that these Toyota trucks got their nickname "Technical" due to the war in Somalia in which NGO practice of hiring local gunmen to protect their employees, and paying them with funds earmarked as “technical assistance grants”.

Toyota Technical and 3rd World Regular Infantry.

The greatest things about these vehicles is their ability to mount many variable weapons. As long as the weapon can be practically mounted on the truck and fired at a target without destroying the vehicle, you would see it on these Technicals. Overall, the most common weapon you would see these Toyota Technicals armed with would be the DsHK MG as seen in these pictures.

A Trooper scouts ahead as these Toyota Technicals wait behind.

The reason for many third world warlords and dictators acquiring such trucks as mobile light armored vehicles with heavy weaponry is because of the durability, cheap price and mobility of the Toyota Technicals. It is no wonder that we would see them in Afghanistan, Africa and Syria.

Technicals and a Squad of Soldiers in the desert.

As long as there is no professional army or there are lack of funds to develop a modern army, you would see these technicals as part of one's military arm. It is by far the most suited vehicle for a militia group. In a post apocalyptic America or any other developed nation, when the Modern Military goes out of commission, I can imagine these mean machines prowling the highways in which normal people have to fend themselves by becoming militia men and protecting their towns.

Two Technicals in the Desert as the Sunsets.

Ironically, the infamous Toyota Technicals are facing new competition as stated on an article by Rob Schreiber. As these Toyota trucks evolved into more luxurious vehicles with a more preppy reputation, Chinese manufacturers are making a push into the Middle East markets with their far more cheaper version of these trucks. Priced at USD$10k or less, these Chinese trucks have the potential of taking out the Toyota Technicals from the scene. Below is a Youtube vid of many variations of these Toyota Technicals with a background voice over of a Toyota commercial. Evidently, I sense some trolling in the video.

For those who are in the 1/285 scale wargaming scene, I recommend this vehicles from GHQ's catalog. The Toyota Technicals come with or without the MGs. You can click the link here for the ones with MG. These guys would make perfect pieces for you Modern Warfare game involving a civil war of the third world country. So go get some!

Speaking of 1/285 Wargaming stuff, I am still in the midst of painting the Type 98 Chinese MBT. It's been slow and trying. So many tasks on hand. Got lots to do, blog posts to be written, pictures to be taken, games to be completed and reviewed and many summer movies to catch. Apart from these leisurely stuff, Work has taken much of my week along with certain academic stuff and Aikido.

Nevertheless, I will continue to feature many posts from all genres and I will show you the Type 98 real soon.

Till then, Happy Wargaming!