Search & Destroy Mission with Surviving 'Nam at Buckeye Game Fest

    The squads' point men advance through the elephant grass in another game of "Surviving 'Nam"

I decided to take a risk and play test one of my scenarios for Surviving 'Nam at a local gaming convention this past weekend. Typically, I will have play tested it solo before springing it on players. However, I think most game masters (especially those who wrote the rules) get a good feel for play balance once they've run a number of games and created a good handful of scenarios. As this would be Mission #8 that I'd designed, I decided to take the risk.

    The heavily wooded board where the squad would conduct their 'Search & Destroy' mission

In this mission, the players began at one corner of the board and are attempting to cross to the opposite corner. They are on a Search & Destroy mission with the goal of killing as many Viet Cong as possible. Additionally, they must search five bodies for intelligence. They can't exit from the board until there are six or less enemy figures on table. The battalion commander wants "body count" and it is up to the players and their reinforced squad to provide it for him.

    Three U.S. fire teams advance onto the board, probing for contact with enemy Viet Cong

I had three players for the game, so each controlled a five-person fire team led by a veteran sergeant. They were also given platoon headquarters elements of an M60 gunner and his assistant, the platoon commanding officer and his radioman, and a medic. They split these five figures up among their teams. The scenario calls for the U.S. soldiers to march onto the board. One fire team begins on the board in the corner. Another marches on during the first Countdown to Contact phase, and the final one on the second. During Countdown to Contact, there are no enemy figures on the board. Each figure receives one action, which is typically used to move. My players also took the opportunity to begin to fan out, with the second team heading right to cover one of the squad's flanks, while the other began to move towards a patch of bamboo that would be on their left.

    My players march their forces onto the board, uncertain of when contact with the V.C. will occur

After turn 2 of Countdown to Contact, one of the players rolls 1d6. If they roll a "6", the V.C. spring their ambush and appear on the board. If not, they get another turn of movement and the V.C. will show up on a 5-6, or 4-6 on the next turn, and so on. Do you want to guess what the designated player rolled? Yep! A "6" on the very first turn possible. We then randomly rolled placement for the ambushing V.C., with two large squads of riflemen appearing in patches of jungle just within line of sight of the squad's advance scouts. Another very small squad and a number of individual V.C. riflemen also popped up on board. Once all the figures were on the board, it was time for the shooting to start!

    Contact is made very early in the maneuver phase of the game - a large squad of V.C. pop up

Like the fire team moving into the jungle to guard their right, the team on point decided to move their lead soldiers into cover. However, they chose the lightest cover on the table, a patch of elephant grass along their proposed line of march. They chose not to veer into any of the medium or heavy vegetation nearby. What's more, the player had also put the FNG on point, accompanied by the assistant machine gunner (also an FNG). For those who don't know, the "N" and "G" stand for "New Guy." I'll leave you to guess what the "F" stands for in the terminology of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam! There are three levels of troops under my rules, Veterans, Grunts, and FNGs.

   The early springing of the ambush kept many of the U.S. soldiers bottled up in their entry area

These two unfortunate newbie soldiers were targeted by numerous V.C., who typically fire at the closest soldier. It took a number of shots, but eventually both FNGs were "Down." In my rules, once a friendly soldier is hit and "Down," it can't take any actions until another comes and checks on it. This reinformces historical behavior of troops in Vietnam. They would check on their buddies when hit. Once the friendly figure moves into contact and spends an action, a roll is made on a chart to see how badly hit they were. There are about a half dozen results, ranging from "Messed Up" (out of action) to the soldier having been knocked down by the force of the bullet, but unharmed. Perhaps his equipment absorbed the blow. "Hey buddy, you're okay -- it hit your canteen! That's not blood all over your leg...it's water!"

I warned them to spread out because they were vulnerable -- V.C. mortar fire barely misses

So, it became paramount for the squad to rescue those two Down soldiers. Unfortunately, V.C. were popping up all around the squad. A light machine gun team opened up on them from the heavy cover of a tumbled down, ruined stone temple. Anyone who ventured into the elephant grass to check on those two privates would be prime targets for the deadliest V.C. weapon in the game. Initially, the players were bottle necked into their deployment corner, too. I suggested a few times they needed to spread out and move forward. There were enemy mortar round cards in the event deck! As if to punctuate my advice, one of the next players failed an activation roll, resulting in the draw of an event card. Sure enough, it was "Incoming!" The players got very lucky, as it landed in a perfect spot where no U.S. soldiers were. The blast radius was almost completely surrounded by Americans, though!

    More V.C. arrive & advance to firing positions where they can easily target the Americans

Bit by bit, the U.S. soldiers moved up. Just as a couple soldiers ventured into the elephant grass to help the Downed guys, though, they rolled and sprang the "Bunker!" card. This brought another enemy machine gun into play in a reinforced log bunker. All of those in the elephant grass not already Down were immediately Pinned by its fire. Luckily for the players, the bunker was not on the far edge of the board, like the one in the temple. Instead, it was close by in another patch of elephant grass in range on their left flank. They all breathed a sigh of relief when an M79 gunner placed a perfect shot through the firing slot of the bunker and killed or wounded all of the occupants. Whew!

    C.O. advances boldly on the right to get within line of sight of the enemy LMG pinning them down

The lieutenant in charge was a bit of a fire eater. He chose not to relay to his sergeants that, after reporting contact with the enemy on the radio, the colonel had called back to say he should withdraw his soldiers. The lieutenant chose to inflict some damage on the enemy first before withdrawing. The "Colonel on the Horn" card can cause up to half a dozen different outcomes, and fortunately for them, they had rolled "Mission Scrubbed." What's more, the lieutenant began moving up on the right with his radioman in front of all of his soldiers. He wanted to get where he could draw line of sight on the temple. Once there, the player then had to wait for one of the two "Fire Mission" cards in the deck to show up, though. The two cards weren't cooperating, though! Fire was directed at the him and his radioman. They were Pinned, too. Another of his squad showed up to put fire on the enemy LMG team, but it was ineffective. So far, the enemy were simply in too good of cover. 

    Spotting a squad of V.C., the C.O. calls down a fire mission on the black clad guerrillas

"Where the Hell is the M60?" the lieutenant shouted back. Unknown to the C.O., the player controlling the M60 rolled a natural one on his first 1d20 roll to shoot. His gun fired a few rounds and promptly jammed. He looked for his assistant to help him clear it, but the newbie was currently pinned down in the elephant grass way ahead. It wasn't till late in the game that the squad's heavy weapon finally cleared the jam and got off a few shots. By then, battalion artillery had FINALLY answered the radio. Heavy mortar rounds screamed down into the temple complex. Rock and brick shattered and deadly fragments flew everywhere. When the rounds ceased and the dust cleared, there was no sign of the LMG team. "Outstanding!" He turned and shouted to his sergeants. "Grab the wounded and let's get the Hell out of here. Battalion is pulling us back!"

    An enemy bunker opens up on the squad from their left, concealed in the elephant grass

The squad medic was the first to make it to one of the wounded troopers. He patched him up, and sent the soldier limping to the rear. The assistant gunner -- way out of place on the battlefield -- reached the injured point man. He began bandaging him, too. Another grunt arrived to help him, and together they helped the man struggle back out of the elephant grass. The sergeants directed their more experienced soldiers to toss a few smoke grenades to cover their exit, and the wedge of troops contracted backwards on itself and exfiltrated the battlefield. 

    Luckily, the battalion colonel scrubbed the mission and the squad didn't have to fight its way through

At the loss of only two wounded, the lieutenant considered it a successful action. He directed his sergeants to tabulate an estimated body count, and mentally began composing his after action report. He checked on the wounded -- the medic assured him both would make it, but they needed Medevac soon. He got back on the horn and reported the successful contact to battalion, and called for the bird to come pick up the two wounded privates. Meanwhile, his soldiers were thankful that another mission In Country had been completed and they were another day closer to that big metal bird ride home!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 60

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48 

Gang Rumbles on the 'Mean Streets' of Buckeye Game Fest 2026

    The Mohawks spot the Santanas crossing the street towards the park -- are they looking to rumble?

It had been way too long since we broke out my Mean Streets gang warfare rules and set up some rumbles at an area convention. Jenny volunteered to run a couple games of it at Buckeye Game Fest 2026, primarily a board gaming convention, that HMGS Great Lakes has demoed minis at the last couple years. We had a table full of four players on both Friday and Saturday evening eager to prove their street gang was the toughest. All the players said they had a lot of fun as fists flew, chains were swung, knives and broken bottles slashed, and various crimes were committed!

    Jenny gives a quick rules briefing to the Saturday morning players at Buckeye Game Fest 2026

Each player controlled a gang of five uniquely-garbed street fighters, containing a Gang Boss, Warchief, and three ordinary "Punks." The Mean Streets rules are quick, simple, and easy-to-teach. All the players picked them up quickly and were soon dashing about the table representing downtown Columbus on various missions of larceny, revenge, and mayhem. Each player's gang has a unique mission they can try to accomplish, such as stealing a car from the service garage of the Shell Station, roughing up a factory owner to convince him to pay you protection. money, and so on. They also owe payback to a specific one of the three other gangs on the tabletop who gave them a "beat down" last weekend. And finally, they want to plaster the buildings with their gang logo, getting points for "tagging" each structure.

    The clown-masked Franklinton Flippos set out onto the streets of Columbus looking for mayhem

I like to give players a number of options on what to do, and players consistently take different approaches. Some like dart about the board tagging as many buildings as possible. Some like to split their gang and send part to complete their evening's mission, while others like to keep all five together and simply "jump" other gangs and duke it out. When assigning the missions to the various gangs, I ensure that they have to cross paths with the other gangs, providing a temptation to them to get in fights. My evil plan almost always works and before long there is usually a big scrum as two rival gangs are going at it when suddenly a third (or even fourth) joins in. 

    The Linden Daos make their way past the market & Wallace's Brew Pub, 'tagging' buildings along

This weekend was no different. Everyone who played got into rumbles, some losing only one or two members, while others lost most of their gang. The Hispanic Santanas eked out a narrow victory by one point on Friday night, while the Linden Daos, a black martial arts gang, claimed victory on Saturday. It was fun to see the different approaches the players controlling each gang took on Friday and Saturday. Friday evening saw two gangs battling it out at the top of a stairway inside a stairway of one of the apartment buildings -- first time that has ever happened! Jenny decided to keep things simply and not allow carjacking and attempted vehicular homicide in this particular running of Mean Streets...haha! At least one of the players always ask, though, if their gang can steal a car and use it to run over their rivals!

    Boss of the Indianola Mohawks, Sid, leads Julius & Kira through the Shell Station, ready for trouble

Everyone who stopped by commented on the table setup, enjoying the urban panorama of streets lined with diners, convenience marts, a city park, motel, and more. I made sure to make it come to life with various scatter, including dumpsters, street lights, fire hydrants, gas pumps, and lots of terrified civilians. It was fun to get all the various urban terrain I'd created out onto the table, from the heavily modified MDF kiosks to the buildings named after my friends, including Swingle's Shawarma and Wallace's Brewpub!

    Daring ICE or any gang to stop them, the Santanas walk down the main street, ready for a fight

I'll have to make sure Mean Streets makes it onto the tabletop more often. Thank you, Jenny, for taking the time to run the game at Buckeye Game Fest. Interestingly, when I recently asked on a thread on Lead Adventure Forum for suggestions of a good, free-for-all skirmish system that can take up to six players, I was gratified to see someone respond with "Mean Streets." That comment made me think about a way to use the mechanics of the game, with its simple command & control and combat, in other periods. This actually lead to the game our Sunday Evening group will be playing tonight! So, expect another Mean Streets-"ish" report later this week!

    Friday's players move their gangs forward, each with their own unique mission or mayhem in mind

In the meantime, I have finished the ABC Robot Warriors (post very soon on that), and have begun my next batch of 28mm Elves for Dragon Rampant. I'm also working on one of my 3-D printed medieval buildings, too. So, I have a feeling the second half of March is going to have LOTS of posts here on Lead Legionaries. So, stay tuned, as always...!

    The Mohawks shout across the street to the Flippos, who quietly continue their creepy clown advance

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 60

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

    As the Mohawks & Flippos are trading blows, the Santanas approach and get ready to join the fight

 

    Blood is spilled (my wound markers) as a 3-way rumble breaks out in the middle of the street

Flippo Canuck swings his sledgehammer & down goes Julius! For just a 'Punk,' Canuck did very well

 

    Despite 2 wounds on him, Canuck takes down Manana, taunting him, "Wake up tomorrow, hippie!"

    Bleeding from his wounds, Gang Boss Julio of the Santanas desperately faces off against 4 Daos

   Linden Daos show discipline with the whole gang sticking together...the Flippos ain't scared, though!

    'Hey! That's my shawarma...hands off, punk!' A rumble breaks out between the Mohawks & Daos

 

    Pissed they tagged a building in 'their turf,' the Santanas wade into the clown-masked Flippos

Cincycon 2016 Purchases

    One of my Cincycon purchases, the Catrine House, from RRB Minis & More

Cincycon is usually my first convention of the year. Fortunately for me, it falls near my birthday, so I can rationalize some "birthday presents" to myself when I visit the various vendors at the show. I showed up with a number of things on my shopping list, which I duly typed into the Notes section of my iPhone. And then promptly forgot to check it...!

    These excellent 3-D printed buildings from RRB Minis & More are STLs from Dadi Dungeon

The biggest purchases in both size and money spent were the 3-D printed buildings I was picking up from Rich of RRB Minis & More. I ended up coming home with three new medieval town buildings -- two roughly 3-4 story ones and another that was 1-story. Rich's prints are always nice and his prices simply can't be beat. The first building was the Catrine House, which is the sister of the Duncan House that I painted up earlier this year. If anything, it is even more cool and elaborately designed. I also picked up a building titled simply "Merchant's House" by Dadi Dungeon & Dintorni. Like the Duncan House, it is from the Ferisia City line. If you check out that line and see something that you like, Rich has the STLs and can sell you any of the buildings from the line. Merchant's House is also a 3-4-story one with window galleries and other cool features.

    Rich talked me into buying this 'Merchant House' from the Ferisia line - a gorgeous model!

The final building of the three was called Merchant Store B. It is a simpler, one-story building but with a unique feature. It has an attached outdoor, roofed section with long counters for the family to sell their wares from the exterior of the home. I don't want every building in my medieval town to be 4-story medieval skyscrapers. This one still fits in well with the others, but is simpler. I actually ordered two more buildings from him, but through no fault of his own, he did not receive the STLs from the Kickstarter until the day he was leaving for Cincycon. I'll likely pick them up in April from him at either DayCon or Little Wars. I look forward to painting up all three of these buildings.

    Winged Insectoid alien & heavy weapons pack I'll use for Sci-Fi terrain from JS Wargamer Printing

The next "big thing" I was looking to pick up at Cincycon were big alien monsters for use with the Majestic 13 solo/coop rules from Snarling Badger Studios. One of these I found at JS Wargamer Printing that was in his line of movie monsters. It is a very large, insectoid creature (Megagirus) that will fit perfectly as an opponent for my Critter Control team. I also picked up a pack of some miscellaneous Sci-Fi heavy weapons which I will make turrets or other scenery with for my Star Wars games. The pack is meant as an add-on pack for his 3-D printed mechs or futuristic tanks, but the guns and such will work perfectly as installation defenses in my skirmish games. 

    3-D printed Jawas from Big Mr Tong that John at JS Wargamer Printing had waiting for me...

I had also pre-ordered a pack of Star Wars Jawas from him. They are STLs from Big Mr Tong and will be fun to paint up. They will also likely find their way into a scenario for our skirmishes using Space Weirdos rules. Jawas are one of those iconic Star Wars races that are part comic, part atmospheric. Not as cartoonish as the Teddy Bear-like Ewoks, but still instantly recognizable with their hooded faces and somewhat sinister appearance. If there are any Big Mr Tong or other Star Wars figures you need, John at JS Wargamer Printing can print them off for you very affordably.

    From one of the Star Wars games, these pre-printed plastic figures will work fine as big, nasty aliens!

In my search for big alien monsters, I found about a half dozen more, some in flea markets, others in the bargain bins of vendors. Two that I picked up from the flea market are actually pre-painted plastic models from one of the various Star Wars lines issued through the years. One is called a "Reek" and the other an "Acklay" -- whatever those are. I am not as steeped in the "Lore" as the folks at Wookiepedia or anything! Bing already painted fairly well, all that I will have to do is perhaps a wash and then flock the base. They'll be ready to take on Boone MacDonald and his buddies defending Earth from alien invasion.

    3 aliens that I will have to paint up to be monsters for Critter Control to fight in 'Majestic 13' games

Some others I picked up will require painting and even conversion work, but I'm happy that I now have them. I think that counting the stuff I already have, I can more than cover any other missions I game out this year with Majestic 13. One of the vendors I picked them up from also carried Iron Wind Metals paints. I am almost completely out of their Steel color, and I was able to snag two bottles of it! That should cover me for at least the rest of the year, and hopefully more!

    I wanted more wagons as scatter for my medieval town from A Critical Hit & picked up these three

Inevitably, I made some purchases of 3-D printed scatter from A Critical Hit. Talking to the owner, I was happy to hear that the family's possible move to Seattle did not happen and they will stay in the Midwest area (they're from Indianapolis). So, I can look forward to seeing them at least a couple times a year at various conventions. On my list of purchases were more of the two wheeled carts that I painted awhile back. She had only two in stock, but I also picked up a four wheel wagon to go along with it. I was actually VERY restrained at her booth this time around. I think that the only other things I purchased were 8 tiny rats (real scale -- not giant ones), and a wheelbarrow to have laying around in my cityscape near a market, perhaps. Somehow, though, a tiny bin full of carpenter's tools also found its way into my purchases, though I have no memory of putting it in there!

    I was VERY restrained at A Critical Hit's booth and picked up a fraction of what I usually do!

In addition, I found a couple bigger pieces in A Critical Hit's bins that I felt could be used for aliens for Majestic 13. One is of a spider like creature with crystals growing from its abdomen. This was printed in colored material so won't need to be painted at all. Its legs are multiple pieces and are secured and strung by a string or something so are flexible. It has bright eyes and is meant to look "cute," I think. However, that is genetically impossible for any spider-like creature! Ha, ha!! The final piece is printed in a dark green material and is honestly hard to figure out. I probably will need to paint some of it black so that the green parts "pop" a bit more. Either way, two more aliens for Critter Control to hopefully defeat!

    More aliens for Majestic 13 -- the spider-thi8ng on the left is pretty much ready for the tabletop

The last thing I purchased at Cincycon was from my friend Dave E. He had a box that I eyeballed half a dozen times at World at War 2025, but decided not to pull the trigger, so to speak. It contained three packs of unpainted Splintered Light Miniatures anthropomorphic animals. They were three, bigger "hero" packs, I believe, and would fit in well with the Splintered Light figs that I already have painted up. Actually, some I actually likely already have! As part of the package deal, he threw in a 3-D printed 28mm orc village (I believe), consisting of one more elaborate chieftain's hut and four others. Finally, he included the Ganesha Games Song of the Splintered Land stand-alone supplement to Song of Blades and Heroes. I don't have that one in my collection, and since the package deal was a bargain even without the rules, decided to finally pick them all up from him this time...haha! The sheer number of essentially 15mm-sized figs skews my Acquired vs. Painted totals to Hell and back, but I really do enjoy their anthropomorphic animals.

    Pics from the Splintered Light website of some of the figs I bought from Dave -- unpainted, though!

I've updated my statistics below, with the unpainted miniatures taking the biggest hit, as I mentioned. I had begun to climb back closer to even after my Gringo 40s and Warhost Elves purchases, but that goal is receding even further from sight! I have no doubt that I will eventually draw even by the end of the year. However, convention season is always the worse time for my totals. I like to support the vendors who show up to support our hobby. I figure as long as my totals balance out by the end of the year, I can splurge a little once in awhile. Besides, in the famous words of Gollum, "It's my birthday present...!"

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 52

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

Running Surviving 'Nam at Cincycon

    A rural village in Vietnam is about to have its peace shattered as U.S. soldiers arrive at left 

I signed up to run my 28mm Vietnam miniatures game, Surviving 'Nam, twice at Cincycon -- a yearly all-genre game convention in Cincinnati. Both games filled up, so I had a full table on Friday night and Saturday morning. All of my players said they enjoyed themselves and felt the rules worked well. I was also really happy with how the terrain looked and I got lots of nice comments from passers by about it.

My setup at Cincycon 2026 with stat cards for each soldier & table set up for 'Check out the Hooches'

I had adjusted the setup for the scenario slightly to incorporate some of my new terrain. Still, the mission for the three U.S. fire teams and command element remained the same: proceed from their board edge to a pair of huts about three quarters of the way across the table. They would "Search the Hooches" (scenario name) elevated huts on stilts for signs of Viet Cong contraband. Then they would continue and exit off the closest board edge. There is always a chance the "Colonel on the Horn" event card could be drawn and alter the mission. If it comes up, players roll 1d6 to determine which of the six possible orders comes down. These can either help or hinder their mission. On Friday night, the battalion colonel told the lieutenant in charge that another squad being hit was priority and and he'd just have to suck it up without artillery fire missions for awhile. On Saturday, the colonel told them to abort the mission and withdraw off their entry edge with all of their wounded. 

    Another look at the village & jungle huts that would have to be searched by the U.S. soldiers

Both times the card had an effect on play, in one case hindering the players, and on Saturday helping them as they were getting quite bogged down with no progress towards the huts. One of the things I like about the use of event cards and 20-sided dice to activate the player's forces is the randomness it provides to missions. Many of the event cards call for an immediate reshuffle of the deck, which means some cards may never appear in the game and others may come up more often. For example, on Friday the "Bunker!" card never was drawn as a result of player's failures to activate. So, that group never had to face the most deadly and hardest-to-kill V.C. weapon in the game. On Saturday, it came up early and took a considerable effort on the part of the Americans to finally reduce the bunker and kill the machine gun team inside.

    U.S. soldiers approach the village while staying in cover of the surrounding jungle

Both groups of Americans suffered losses, but not devastating ones. They both completed their missions, albeit Saturday's mission was altered by the colonel to be significantly easier! The players picked up the rules quickly on both days and were able to calculate the rolls they needed to hit V.C. or avoid their return fire. The spiraling activation system, with each player activating one figure in turn until all five of their soldiers had gone, kept things moving along and engaged all the players. In Surviving 'Nam, the V.C. don't technically have a "turn." An event card is flipped for each failed activation roll by the players. That is when V.C. on table will activate or new ones will arrive. The random shuffling of the deck and the player's streaky success (or lack of) gives each scenario a unique flow. Sometimes, all Hell seems to be breaking loose and their are multiple enemies popping up and firing at them all across the board. At other times, the guerrillas' attacks are less coordinated, and they appear and fire in a more piecemeal (and easier to deal with) fashion.

    My Friday night players move onto the board in the 'Countdown to Contact' phase before VC arrival

I'm encouraged that many of my players inquire about when the rules will be available for purchase, with one on Saturday even offering to pay in advance! I do have occasional players comment that their particular game or mission felt "easy" and they were able to deal with the threats. Typically, I point point out the losses their squad suffered are very similar to patrols that made contact with the enemy. The V.C. losses are somewhat abstracted, though. Even though I may say during a game that a V.C. figure is "dead," the Out of Action result can represent several things. Perhaps that V.C. was wounded, and is then carried off board by a comrade? For game effects, those two are "out of action" and won't return to the fight. Perhaps a V.C. lost his nerve and fled the fight? Along with actual killed enemy, these are all things being represented by the Out of Action result. You can even think of the number of "dead" V.C. laying around on the tabletop may also represent the inflated body counts that U.S. soldiers sometimes claimed!

    One fire team moves up past the pig pen while another stays under the trees to provide cover fire 

The difficulty level of the game can also be easily scaled up, as well. When I first began my play tests of the rules, the Americans were taking grievous losses. The things I tweaked (Danger Level of the enemy, inserting less lethal cards in the event deck) brought the bloodiness down to what I felt was a more historical level. Also, the game is meant to be played as a continuing campaign. Players are attempting to usher their fire team or squad through their 12 months in Vietnam. This is represented by playing one scenario to represent each month. If squads are losing one fourth to one third of their figures each time, "ain't nobody getting home!" Still, I will include suggestions for players who want a more bloody, one off game rather than a campaign. Players who are envisioning a more Ia Drang (We Were Soldiers Once, and Young) Vietnam experience can reverse the changes I made to make it more of a bloodbath like that battle.

    Platoon medic moves up through a rice paddy while keeping a wary on a water buffalo

I am also continuing to play test more scenarios so that I can include a dozen in the rules for players to game out their own campaign. I'll be running it next at Buckeye Game Fest in Columbus, March 12-15. I haven't decided if I will run it at DayCon, April 17-18, or Little Wars in Chicago the following weekend, yet. I will very likely run it at Drums at the Rapids, May 15-16, at Fort Meigs. And I'm also scheduled to run it a half dozen times at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, June 17-21. So, if you are interested in trying out the game, there will be plenty of opportunities in the coming months!

    U.S. soldier peeks in the hut window before entering to do a search for V.C. contraband

This week, though, the real work begins -- laying out the rules and getting them ready to be published! It's more fun running games for people having a great time at conventions, like at Cincycon. Still, I was glad all of my players had fun this past weekend, and I look forward to running more games and more missions to see what happens in those games!

    VC squad that arrived in ambush is targeted by an accurate M79 'bloop gun' round in the jungle

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 52

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 21

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 48

    Most of the Americans are caught out in the rice paddies when the VC spring their ambush

    V.C. reinforcements coming onto the table through the elephant grass are targeted by M79 round

    Saturday's players move their forces onto the table during the 'Countdown to Contact' phase

    U.S. soldiers emerge from the trees, startling many of the villagers who try to flee the table

 

    One fire team moves up through the brush across the creek while others slog towards the paddies

    U.S. soldiers hit back heavily against a large V.C. squad that fired upon them from ambush

    Machine gun team in a reinforced bunker opens up on the soldiers, pinning many with its fire

    U.S. soldiers begin to fall from machine gun fire and VC mortar fire that rains down on them

    Finally, the battalion artillery answers & the lieutenant can call down a fire mission on the bunker

    Word spreads that the squad is pulling back -- the colonel needs them to rescue another in ambush