Surviving Nam - New Skirmish Rules for Vietnam - A first tryout

 

For a couple of months I've been following Posts to the Vietnam Wargaming Group on Facebook by Mike Demena from the leadlegionaries blog as he play tested and demoed his set of Solo/Co-Op play skirmish rules for Vietnam. So when they dropped a couple of weeks ago I had to pick up a digital copy to check them out.

The aim of the game is simple guide your section/team of characters through a tour of Vietnam carrying out monthly missions. The enemy VC are controlled by a stack of event cards that player must draw from when a character fails an activation. The cards range from harmless time wasters through extra VC appearing on the board to full on assaults against the players characters.What they all do is add friction and flavour to the game.

I rolled up a full squad and it's command section to represent an in country unit ending up with a even mix of Vets, Grunts and FNG's . For my first mission I chose to do the Search the hootches mission As this scenario includes Civilians whose action can affect the game play.

The US fire teams and command enter from the jungle and will need to cross the open fields to the enter the village and carry out a search of the buildings. Villagers are going about their day tending the fields and other work around the village.

The Game begins with a Close to Contact phase. During this phase no enemy forces are deployed on the table and the player characters can move freely. At the end of each turn a  D6 is rolled and on a score of six Contact begins and VC forces as defined in the scenario are deployed on the table . Each turn adds a +1 modifier to the roll maxing out the number of turns before contact but this variable can greatly affect how the game progresses as I was to find out.

Using their first moves the US troops swiftly moved to cross the fields reaching the field edges on their first turn. In this scenario we roll for each civilian against a civillian actions table. doing this saw one civillian run off into the Jungle while the others drew back from the advancing US troops except for the last one who ran into the nearest hootch and opened fire on the platton Lt. while the shoots missed it did mean the Close to Contact phase ended immediatly and the US forces start to detect movement in the jungle surrounding the village as VC units moved into position.

Starting the second turn the Vet on the M60 tries to activate to return fire but fails one of his rolls, Players can choose to roll for one or two activations, Drawing the first Event card we pull the "All Hell Breaks Loose" Card and every VC unit with LOS on tjhe US unit opens fire! The US advance come to an abrupt halt as fire pours in and men go down.

By the end of the turn the US squad has numerous men down and wounded but thanks to the drawing of a "colonel on the horn" event card the unit are ordered to withdraw. 

While the able members of the squad stay engaged, successfully suppressing some of the VC fire, the rest begin withdrawing to the jungle edge.

With the VC moving in to secure the Village the US troops make it back to their extraction point beaten and bruised but all present. 

So an exciting , tense game that went very badly for the US Troops as a series of Bad Luck events and die rolls overwhelmed them. For this alone I've fallen in love with this game over a couple of turns i had quickly picked up the basics of the rules and was playing with just the QRS sheet.

But it's after the action that this game really shines as you campaign with your force. 
After action wound checks have seen one Vet trade his light wound for a Ticket back to world , another had wounds serious enough that they are inJapan receiving treatment and will be out of action for a number of months, more are in the local medical facilities and will be unavailable for a month. This means that replacements will be required which I'll roll for before reorganising the section fire teams. It dawned on me as well that a couple of months into the campaign I'll lose my Vet commanders as they complete their tours and will have to promote others into squad leadeship roles and train up a FNG Lt.  

The game comes with twelve full scenarios each representing a different part of a typical infantryman's  tour but it also includes a nice amount of advice on designing your own scenarios and event cards to customise your play. 

Right back to the rosters and figure out how I'm gonna disperse these replacements before the tops send us back out into the boonies

CoC2 + SID Italy 1944

 It is the Summer of 1944 , Cassino has fallen, Rome has been liberated and the Allies are pursuing the retreating German forces that are falling back to the Gothic line.

Elements of the British 8th Army are being forced to fight for every river crossing be it dry or wet against the rag tag rearguard German units seeking to delay them at every opportunity.

The British are advancing up the road that crosses a dry river bed over a small stone bridge that has been destroyed by the retreating German forces. Across the dry river a small farming hamlet sits beside the road which continues up between two small rises topped with forests. 

I played this battle using Chain of Command v2 alongside the SID solo rules by Geoff Bond. Before the game started I assigned cards to a variety of German units based around a Panzer Grenadier Platoon.

 

The cards are used in the SID system to determine if a certain unit will enter the game and take action as LOS happens between the British units and the Major and Minor Jump off areas defined for the German forces.When Playing against SID we ignore the usual points allowance and give SID a number of extra units thus increasing tension in the game. You just don't know if that Tiger is going to show up and spoil your day.

The British are advancing with a standard rifle platoon whose CO has upgraded his Pistol for an SMG with a couple of M4 Shermans to provide some extra punch. At the end of the patrol phase the Brits have two jump off points setup to allow deployment of units either side of the main road.

The German jump off areas are setup with a major area in the woods on the rises each side of the road with two minor points in behind the buildings across the river and  behind some under growth on the western flank.

The engagement started with the British deploying their 2" Mortar team right on the left flank JOP behind the cover of some undergrowth.

The first section also deploy's onto the road running parallel to the dry river but were spotted by a German Panzer Grenadier section who along with a second section opened fire causing shock and casualties on the British section.

Over on the right flank a second British section deployed into the wheat field in an arrowhead formation

They manage to do this without being spotted from the German Major JOP on the top of the hill.

The British Mortar succeeds in laying down a smoke screen.

And with the Platoon Sgt joining them the survivors of the first section are able to pull back into cover by the bridge house.

Over on the right flank the second British section have been slowly advancing into the farm yard establishing themselves in cover as one of the attached Sherman tanks begins to advance through the wheat field.

Over on the left flank a "What would SID do?" result saw one squad of the German Panzer Grenadiers advance forward to cover in front of the British smoke screen allowing them to resume shooting at the beleaguered British section again. 

They do however attract the attention of the British Sherman which has reached the edge of the dry river but the shell causes little damage.

The British section hunkered down in the bridge house again come under German fire.

On the right flank the British begin to advance over the dry river bed but come under fire from a third Panzer Grenadier section on the rise above the orchard.

Now committed to the right flank the third British section moves up through the wheat field and into the farm to provide Fire Support to the Second section in the orchard.

The Sherman moving out to cross the dry river attracts the attention of the German Commander mounted in hs SdKfz 251/10. An ineffective shoot at the Sherman is soon answered with the German Commander narrowly escaping from his vehicle before it blows

Sadly at this point I ran out of time and had to call the game.
Hard to say how this would have continued. The British have lost a section on the left flank but still have a Sherman in reserve that could deploy to anchor that flank alongside the mortar while the remaining two section roll up the right flank. However although all the German Panzer Grenadier Platoon are deployed and are being whittled down there is still the opportunity from the Major JOP's that German Armour including a Tiger 1 could be deployed .There are also still infantry assets available to the Germans. Ultimately the German mission was to delay the allied advance and cause casualties and in this respect they have succeeded. 

While the outcome was inconclusive the game again proved that CoC v2 combined with the SID solo system can result in a tense , challenging game and after months of not being able to get a game in due to some health issues it was an absolute joy to field the new British platoon I'd been painting up while i recuperated. on a side note I really need to try out the ASID varient that puts the Player in the defensive role. 

 

Fireball Forward - Slims defeat, East African 1940

 It's been months since I got a game on table due to the intrusions of life. I managed to line the ducks up however and get the planets aligned and made it over to the SWWG Xmas all-dayer for an afternoon of gaming with my long time gaming buddy Nye. 

Nye had received the Fireball Forward Rules for his birthday and invested in some of the scenario supplements and we were both keen to give these rules a run as they would fill a gap in our rosta for a mid sized company level WW2  game to sit between the Battalion sized O Group and the Platoon Level games of Chain of Command. 

Our first game is from the The East African Campaign of 1940-41 and represents an action that took place on 6 Nov. 1940 at Gallaba Fort, in Sudan. The border crossing fort had been taken by Italian forces who had built a defensive wall outside the fort to form a secure perimeter.  It was decided that British offensive operations would begin here with the aim of opening a supply route

Initial Deployment 

The British start the game with One Company of infantry and a Platoon of MK VI vickers tanks deployed in the scrub to the west of the fort, A second British Company can arrive on Turn 2 or 3 .  The Italian forces are all deployed within or on the walls of the perimeter. As we had no  referee available we deployed using blinds which would require successful spotting rolls to expose. 

As the British begin to advance they are spotted moving out of the scrub,  A firefight with an Italian MMG see's the British  MMG silenced temporarily. 

Having been spotted the British Armour dashes forward to establish a supporting firing line.

The British MMG recovers and is able to put some ineffective fire into the italian MMG

The wall means it's very hard to spot the Italian forces as they move around it takes the arrival of the British 2nd Company on the flank to finally force the Italians to reveal themselves.

2nd Platoon of 1st Company attempt to lay down covering fire,

as the 1st Platoon of the British 1st Company try to advance to the wire

On the flank 2nd Company succeed in cutting the wire and one section makes it into close combat with the italians at the wall.

Withering fire from the emplaced Italians drives the Britishadvance to the wire back

The battle concludes with the British failing to achieve any of their victory conditions within the time limit for the operation.

The bit at the end.

So for a first game with a new ruleset that went well, I think we may have missed a few bits but it's a really fluid fast ruleset in play . The card activation keeps you on your toes deciding who to activate and in what order. We'll be playing a lot more of this I'm sure (I'll take notes next time for a proper AAR), 

I'm already starting to put together a British Army force for this to go with the Soviet and German forces I use for O Group whose basing is compatible with Fireball Forward.  

Chain of Command 2 - First game

After months of anticipation the Two Fat Lardies released the second edition of their popular WW2 Platoon level rules Chain of Command. Rich Clarke said at the time that the new version would be more a bringing together of elements introduced in the 1940's and Far East supplements along with some streamlining  of the rules that years of play under version one had highlighted rather than a whole new game.  The new version would also benefit from a better layout making it easier to learn and use.

The rules have been in hand for a number of weeks now but time for a game has eluded me until Nye and my own commitments finally allowed us to get a game in at South Wight Wargamers.

We choose to play the Delaying Action Scenario with a German rifle Platoon seeking to hold up an advancing US  rifle Platoon in Italy. This would allow us to explore the new Objective rules.

The Forces

The defending German Rifle Platoon with a PAK 40 AT gun and Tripod mounted MG in support.

The attacking US Rifle Platoon with a sniper, .30 cal MMG, Medic and an M4 Sherman in support. With the new army lists in version 2 the US Squads we're a rifleman short each due to a lack of painted miniatures.

The Patrol Phase

Nye always tells me that he doesn't really get the Patrol Phase but he put his extra marker to good use in this game quickly locking down my central marker that allowed him the freedom to establish a solid Jump of Point far down the flank. 

The Battle.

The US made good use of their forward jump off point and quickly deploy forces into the fields near to the objective. 

 
The Germans responded bt deploying a tripod mounted MG in the upper story of the objective building.

  

The US responded in the next phase by deploying the.30 cal and returning fire.

Up the road the US Sherman appears to support the infantry moving up into the adjacent fields

But the Germans have the road covered with their PAK 40 deployed into cover on the rise over looking the farm and road.

With a roar a round slams into the side of the Sherman causing it to explode.

However back at the objective building the German tripod MG squad has been whittled down by overwhelming US firepower  and finally breaks out the back of the building and heads to hills

US forces swiftly move in to occupy the objective but also to shutdown the German seconf JOP.

Meanwhile US forces have continued to deploy from the rear and are advancing accross the fields towards the farm

 

With only on JOP remaing the German Senior Leader is forced to deploy to the table bringing a section with him. /thet deploy on the brow of the hill between the the PAK and the broken MG team. 

They open fire at the advancing US troops with some sucess.

Return US fire is more succesful as they wound the Senior leader and inflict shock on the LMG team

With the US holding the Objective and the Final Countdown running the leaderless German forces concede the field and withdraw.

The Bit at the End

The original Chain of Command has been a staple over the last few years , We've fought in 28mm & 15mm in a variety of theatres, I've used it for a number of solo games as well and I've been looking at using it as the base for some Vietnam games at Platoon level. So the bar is already high! 

Rich's stated ambition was to not replace the rules but rather to tweak, improve and streamline then to provide a core for moving forwards with further expansions. He also wanted to improve the presentation of the rules to make then easier to learn and to reference. Has he succeeded? That's a yes on both counts.

We spent a good deal of time looking up and double checking things to make sure we weren't assuming things hadn't changed. The new book is far better organised, each chapter dealing with one topic and the index makes it easy to jump straight to the information you want. 

It's all easy on the eye with clear illustrations and lovely images, Important tables of information are clearly separated from the the body text. 

For the rule changes, well we're still exploring those but the new objective and final countdown mechanism we liked. 

Your opponent gaining CoC dice points when you start rolling multiple sixes is great as well and we liked the ability to activate the different positions in a vehicle crew using rolls of 1 on the command dice making armour a bit more flexible and unpredictable.  

Being able to spend CoC Dice Points to carry out actions rather than having to accumulate a full dice before you can use is going to be interesting as we play more games.