10mm Vietnam Game: Take That Village Playtest

Something in the pipeline, play tested once with a friend and it was good, then lots of other interesting things got in the way, but it is about to be picked up again (see below, the jungles of Vietnam created on Kallistra terrain): 

A Vietnam game without a Huey? Never! (see below, which a chemistry see through paperweight, hurriedly pressed into (very effective) service as a flying stand): 

The wide expanse of the "jungle table" means that the figures seem lost in its midst. which feels about right (see below, it it only possible to spot the troops, because of the camouflage, with teh aid of counters - which again seems about right): 

The Pendrakon 10mm figures although small are beautifully sculped (see below, US Blue - NVA/VC Red, naturally): 

Looking forwards to play testing this home-brew rule set of a friend ;) 

10mm Vietnam Game

The objective, pacification of a Vietnam village that has been reported as "taken over" by teh NVA and VC but still has "friendlies" inside it or so what the precursory Huey overflight can tell us (see below, Kallistra terrain again serving up the goodies - water = paddy fields no cover; Orange with scatter = broken ground which offers partial cover;  green = dense jungle counting as cover; huts = hard cover; brown tracks = roads or raised bridge over paddy fields; grey = secret tunnels): 

Each hex in the set up is scaled to represent 50m across and each figure represents approximately five men. Two figures to a squad and four squads to a platoon with a heavy weapons squad assigned to each ans a light mortar tagged along for the ride with the Company Commander (see below, first and second platoon cover ten hexes of the baseline to give the US the maximum amount of fire support - to give back plenty if they took any "incoming fire"):  

The "blue" counters represent what Charlie see, a lot of US strung out in a continuous skirmish line and opens opens up, also revealing "his" position. First blood went to Charlie but the intense retaliatory fire cleared the dense jungle outpost and the VC/NVA threw forces forward to bolster their 'point position' (see below, there were no clever scouting rules but recon by contact): 

This VC/NVA tactic ran into a stream of American firepower as the US MGs hard a beaten zone cutting down and pinning any visible "enemy". The exchange cost the US too, especially as the VC/NVA brought some mortars down (see below, a 10:3 ratio was within the 3:1 (min) to 4:1 (preferred) trade the US were prepared to pay as per their Victory Condition [although the term "victory" in itself seemed a trifle dubious for this scenario]): 

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The VC/NVA resistance stiffened as they received an additional two platoons of infantry - as the America testified to higher level of incoming fire coming in from around the flanks. The US Commander at first engaged in the fire fight but then pulled back and informed the umpire of his intention to assume a more defensive position and let the VC/NVA come to him. Either than or until he received reinforcements. To go forward would be to court disaster. In the meantime he requested and plotted an artillery strike on the VC/NVA positions outside the village. The umpire announced battalion had committed a platoon of M113s to help push towards the village and a Huey Gunship was "on call" (see below, the M113's were a huge morale boast to the US having MGs and effectively gaving hard cover to US troops behind them - the left flank received one M113 to "pin" the enemy, while two M113s were allocated to the right flank along with the artillery strike and Huey with the intention to punch through to the village on the right): 

The concentration of force on the tight flank played dividends as the defending VC/NVA troops were wiped out by the unexpected artillery "stonk", followed up by the Huey and armoured infantry assault (see below, the track/path to the village was now open):  

The quiet village itself lay dormant in the background (see below, no signs of any activity as nothing above ground was spotted but in Vietnam appearances can be very deceptive):

The Huey took incoming fire from two HMGs hidden in the village (see below, the AA fire missed but spooked the chopper to call the "on call" Phantom to eradicate this threat): 

"The Air don't care" about friendlies when heavy weapons are being fired at fellow "fliers" and the bomb run came down with sadly a bit of drift variation missing the HMG nests (see below, one tunnel complex was taken out which included some friendly prisoners and a luckier hit on the NVA/VC mortar positions):     

The final line of VC/NVA resistance was a series of poorly constructed booby-traps was "driven through" by the M113s leaving the remaining VC/NVA troops to disappear back into the jungle (see below, all that remaining was to take a tally of casualties to ascertain the "winners" in this chaotic mayhem):  

In total the US took seven squad hits, but that Phantom killed four poor civilians rather than VC/NVA - although it did convince the VC/NVA it was time to "bug out". This was a total of eleven, to forty seven NVA/VC casualties. 11: 37 was a greater than 3:1 so no US loss (of face) but below the desired/preferred 4:1 required by Westmoreland. The only thing to add would be that the war was getting attritional for the US as one thing was for sure, "Charlie would be back" and the US platoons would have less or be filled out with rookies learning their trade.

It did feel like Vietnam although the rule mechanisms lacked patrol/cover nuances it did play well with a "flip-flop" rather than IGOUGO sequence of play. The rules were a home set that was ad-libbed and in development but showed really good promise. I think I will take another look at Peter Pigs "Men of Company B" rules and "Buckle for your Dust" by the late Paddy Griffith. Many thanks to Ian for putting the game on and Adrian who was a worth VC/NVA opponent.  

Vietnam - Tour of Duty: Major Robinson's Challenge

Covid-19 social distancing rules are a game changer fro the tabletop wargaming experience, but where there is a will there is a way (see below, weather permitting you can always go outdoors - note hand sanitiser for the post figure/dice exchanges - each player having "their own" side's set of dice): 

The venue is Vietnam and a beautifully modeled A3 terrain piece to model a Firebase and three "friendly" villages [from Pendrakon] - (see below, the jungle mat and trees courtesy of the  https://www.themodeltreeshop.co.uk/ with the trails made with the assistance of an electric razor, I kid you not): 

The figures were from Prendrakon's 10mm Vietnam Range (https://pendraken.co.uk/post-war/vietnam/) range and enhanced with flags denoting nationality and factions (see below, red VC and NVA and blue US):

The ubiquitous Huey .. essential for any Vietnam game, transporting the troops from Firebase to village and adding additional support fire (see below, not sure what manufacturer, I just remember it was a very heavy piece of metal): 

The big thing about the helicopter is that it gets the troops there and back in the same turn, not one turn out and one turn back with the constant danger of a VC/NVA ambush (see below, it certainly looks neat):  

The final touch was the playing cards, a normal deck but with nicely styled decals (see below, the game itself is based on Wayne Thomas' Small Wars, in particular .. "Six months in the Sahara" courtesy of the History of Wargaming Project https://wargamingco.blogspot.com/2018/01/small-wars-new-perspectives-on.html (see below, I can highly recommend the book which is available at https://www.amazon.com/Small-Wars-Perspectives-Wargaming-Insurgency-ebook/dp/B079QRN5QV): 

The game is ready to start, the US safely in their Firebase and the friendly villages with orange intelligence counters for the US to collect (see below, oops one of the villages already does not seem to be so friendly with VC and NVA "educating the villagers", so much for a quiet start): 

The Americans have the advantage in the firepower department, hitting on 4, 5, or 6; the NVA on 5 or 6 and the poor old VC needing a six. To the US Player's horror "Charlie" (VC) should never be underestimated in his ability to throw sixes at the most awkward of moments (see below, the US Player gets a nasty wake-up call early on, two boys not going home - also note the flags denoting ownership of the villages, "all bells and whistles" for this game): 

Mid-game action shot, VC and NVA presence in all three villages, the US Player has to clear them out while the garrison is small and before they "grow" too big [the US Player does not want to be drawn into a sucking firefight] and the twist is that only "cleared villages" can start generating the vital intelligence (see below, the game is very attritional for the US Player - intelligence helps generate reinforcements [a positive reinforcement mechanic])

The Huey is not guaranteed (a six being required at the start of each turn) but when it comes it is a good safe way of getting to a village and adds an additional firepower punch (3d6) which is a welcome to the grunts intrinsic squad firepower (see below, "fun-time" here is over quick-time for Charlie): 

As the game progresses the danger is that the US Player gets drawn into "sucking firefights" that draw in resources and linger over several turns. This means that the VC/NVA Player gets stronger elsewhere and the US Players finds himself running from firefight to firefight (see below, the US Player prefers 2:1 odds in his favour .. it just takes one lucky dice throw to upset the balance):   

Night time falls, in character to the setting jungle midges appear in swarms (my bite count was close to twenty [a bald head was a killer here] akin to the tally of US casualties but nowhere near the NVA/VC losses) and the game is lit by an atmospheric "false moon" on the table (see below, the game sequence "pack of cards" has almost run its course and the last turn "Tet Offensive" is about to start): 

After the last normal card is turned "The Tet Offensive" begins in earnest. All on table VC and NVA attack the fire-base, US troops on patrol cannot assist. That caught the US Player with six defenders against ten [4 VC and 6 NVA] attackers, but the attackers needed a natural six to hit, the VC are the first wave and hence are killed first. The dice is rolled and all go down by of the ten NVA/VC dice three natural sixes are rolled. Four more round follow, with shamefully poor US combat dice. Major Robinson and his staff are captured by the remaining three NVA (see below, epic ending to a great game [yes, I was the VC/NVA Player]):  

A great start back to face-to-face wargaming, with hopefully much more to come as normality slowly resumes!