Monday, 25 November 2024

A walk in the sun

 

This was a Vietnam skirmish-level game I ran over Zoom a few weeks ago. Half a dozen or so players joined me, each commanding small units, and I moved the toys around and resolved combat using A Fistful of Lead rules. The figures are all 54mm - a mix of MARS and TSSD. For most, this was their first deployment. 
The field of battle - a mere 30x40 inches!  The trees were purely representative - the whole area was horrible jungle - but added considerably to the look and feel of the thing. 

The US squad leader’s team - complete with radio man and medic.  The latter was kept very busy. 
Small detachments of NVA soon emerged from their hidey holes - the rotters!  Hello markers are shaken, red are wounds. See what I meant about that medic?
The US M60 team went off the the left of the track - would they avoid the baddies?



View from the NVA end. This fellow has just emptied a mag into the US point man. 
The view that none of the players had! The ground rises nearer the camera - this was the US objective. 
Remember the M60 team?  Here they are under fire from a sniper. 

Soon RPGs and grenades were adding to the fun. But the front of the US squad was almost atop the ridge.  What could go wrong?


This could!  An NVA controlled Claymore mine takes down the lead pair of Americans. It was agreed that my party popper was an excellent way of simulating this.  
A very entertaining game to run and  - so I am told - play. We’ll return to Vietnam in the coming months.  

12 comments:

Geordie an Exiled FoG said...

You need to do it in 54mm to begripped by the full terror of Nam .. over a telecast not knowing what the hell was happening ,, brilliant, I am still getting flashbacks

MGB said...

Hello Tim. Nice to see the 54mm on the table. Looks like an exciting game. I recently repainted a toy helicopter that works with this scale, it made me wonder about Indo-China wargames.
Michael

Martin Rapier said...

That was a great game Tim, very enjoyable. Not being able to see anything in the "jungle" really added to the atmosphere and command chaos.

jhnptrqn said...

Great game, I especially the "claymore mine"! I played a solo Vietnam Wargame I found in Lone Warrior magazine. Two patrols were moving down two separate paths towards the same targets. Random events quickly slowed down the patrols and wore them down.if I remember, you never even saw the enemy! I must try to find those rules again.

Maudlin Jack Tar said...

Nice looking game Tim.

John Y said...

This looks fantastic! Love the popper idea and that it was a small footprint game. Glad to see you post again, too. (and i owe you an email!)

Tim Gow said...

Any game which traumatises the players can be classed as a success!

Tim Gow said...

Lots of players and very few figures certainly made it exciting.

Tim Gow said...

Thanks. I think this is an area where a Zoom game is actually better than all sitting round the table.

Tim Gow said...

Not seeing the enemy sounds very appropriate!

Tim Gow said...

Thanks - it capture the 'feel' of the thing very well.

Tim Gow said...

The party popper is a much underrated piece of wargames kit!