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| Sgt. Kern's ill-fated team begins to disembark from their Huey slick under fire in Surviving 'Nam |
Having just finished off my
28mm Huey helicopter last week, I felt the time was right to revisit my infantry squad of the Big Red One (1st Infantry Division) and take up the
tale of their tour in Vietnam. That, and the release of the rules on
Ganesha Games and
Wargame Vault, motivated me. This was July, their 7th month "In Country" -- so mission #7 for Sgt. Frey, Sgt. Kern, and the boys. They were tasked with a helicopter insertion and assault on a suspect Viet Cong position on a riverbank. Jenny would help me play out this game, controlling Kern's under strength fire team of four soldiers, augmented by newly-promoted 1st Lt. Fickell, his radioman Spec. 4 Byars, and the platoon medic, Spec. 5 Frank. I would be controlling Frey's similarly under strength team plus the M60 machine gun team of Cpl. Boston (just returned from recovering from his wounds in the battalion field hospital), and the very capable assistant gunner, Cpl. Warfield.
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| The Landing Zone where the squad will arrive -- red circles mark where the Viet Cong enemy are |
Listening to the chatter between the Huey crew on the headset, Sgt. Frey heard the pilot say that the first slicks in were reporting the LZ would be "hot." That meant Charlie was present and firing on the choppers as they landed. The pilot instructed both door gunners to lay down suppressive fire and for Frey's grunts to be ready to disembark quickly once they touched own. Frey acknowledged and lowered his head. This was not what he wanted to hear. Their squad had done helicopter insertions before, during their seven months in Vietnam, but this would be the first "hot" one. With hand signals, he informed his team of what was ahead and saw their faces drop, too. Frey stood up and leaned forward between the pilot and copilot, surveying the rapidly expanding clearing where they would land, which was lit up by flashes of gunfire. Most of it seemed to be coming from across the river as they approached. Hopefully, the trees surrounding the LZ on this side of the river would be clear.
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| Sgt. Frey's team was the first to land, stepping off into a maelstrom of enemy fire |
He turned back and moved towards his team, who were staring at the trees growing larger as they descended rapidly. He caught Cpl. Carter's eyes, one of his more experienced soldiers, and motioned for him to keep an eye on the new guy, Stoneburner, in his first month in Vietnam, and their M-79 gunner, Pvt. Pace, in his second. He put his hands on Boston and Warfield's shoulders, who had risen and were poised by the right hand doorway. As he felt the Huey's skids touch the ground, he patted each of them, but they were already moving. Boston looked back at him after a few steps and Frey pointed to a patch of trees not far ahead. No gunfire seemed to be coming from it. Together, the three soldiers sprinted towards for the treeline, hearing the snap of enemy rounds go overhead and the hammering fire of the door gunners trying to keep the V.C.'s heads down.
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| V.C. begin to mortar the LZ, as Cpl. Carter and Pvt. Stoneburner race towards the cover of the trees |
On their way in, Frey had noticed the fire still seemed to be coming mostly from across the river, but now he saw enemy shooting at them from the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. A plan of assault began to form in his mind, but first they had to get off the LZ and into cover! Boston was the first to arrive at the treeline. He wheeled and his M60 joined the sound of the Huey's machine guns, doubtless directed at the V.C.'s own machine gunners. He and Warfield took up position to either side of Boston, as brass flew in short bursts from his "hog". Suddenly, AK-47 fire rang out behind him. He heard the distinctive sound of rounds "snapping" over his head. He turned and saw three V.C. about 20 yards away, advancing from the trees behind them. Frey fired and saw one go down. He shouted to Warfield to engage them with his M-16. Frey turned back to survey his team's progress.
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| As the American helicopters arrive in the clearing, V.C. across the river rise up & shoot at them |
"Son of a bitch!" Frey cursed, as he saw Pvt. Pace prone just a few steps from the Huey, his head darting this way and that as he tried to get his bearings. Bullets tore up the ground around him, but he appeared to be uninjured. He caught sight of Carter, way ahead, entering the treeline to his left, trailed by Stoneburner, who seemed unsure what to do. Carter turned and waved frantically to Stoneburner to hurry up and get in cover. Their was a blast of wind as the Huey took off and spitting fire from its machine guns as it cleared out, so another helicopter with Kern's squad could arrive. Frey noticed Pace still pinned on the ground, and muttered, "Get up, Pace...!"
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| Sgt. Frey, center, and his buddies M60 gunner Boston & assistant gunner Warfield step off the Huey |
It seemed only a few heartbeats before the next Huey roared in, throwing up dust all around the clearing, again. When a V.C. machine gun opened up, Frey pointed it out to Boston, who shifted his fire and quickly suppressed it. Out of the corner of his eye, Frey saw yet another V.C. stand up to the left. He patted Boston on the shoulder and pointed. The M60 gunner wheeled and fired a burst, adding his hail of lead to Warfield's. Frey saw Pace stand up and start to run, then throw his hands up in the air and fall to the ground not moving. "Pace is down!" he shouted. "Warfield, when you guys are finished with those V.C. on our flank, can you go check on him? He looks pretty messed up!"
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| There is a chance in 'Hot LZ' that the V.C. will disable one of the Hueys while it disembarks troops |
Meanwhile, Frey watched Kern's squad dismount from their helicopter and head towards the closest cover. Suddenly, another enemy machine gun opened up on them from a nearby patch of trees, but on this side of the river. All three soldiers emerging from that side of the helicopter hit the dirt. When the machine gun's fire paused, Kern was the first up, and Frey could see him directing his M-79 gunner Cassidy to fire a grenade at the enemy bunker where the machine gun was located. Kern then shook Cpl. Hawk, who had just returned to the squad after three months recuperating from his wounds in Japan. Frey could see blood on Hawk's much fresher uniform, but the veteran soldier got up and hobbled fiercely towards the trees with Kern. The machine gun in the bunker fired again and both went prone. Kern appeared to be trying to return fire, but Hawk was motionless. "Damn it," Frey cursed. Kern's team badly needed help from the slick's door gunners or the circling gunships.
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| First chopper takes off, leaving Pvt. Pace pinned nearby while new guy Stoneburner sprints away |
His mind registered all of this while he was firing his own M-16 at an enemy machine gun directly across the clearing. He saw Lt. Fickell and his radioman pounding towards them and duck into the treeline, just a few yards away. Frey shouted to them, "Kern's in trouble -- enemy bunker!" Both wheeled, spotted the bunker, and let loose with their M-16's on full automatic. The machine gun in the bunker fell silent. Frey waited a few heartbeats, but it did not fire again. He chuckled, "Get some, L.T.! Maybe we should have you carry the hog instead of Boston??" Frey saw Boston flash a momentary grin at him, his eyes and teeth white against his dark face. Frey added, "Lieutenant, if you don't mind, get these gunships to do something besides sitting on the sidelines and cheering!" Fickell immediately took the microphone from Byars, and began to relay their situation to the colonel, who was in one of the choppers circling overhead. "Tell the colonel we have several men down already," Frey added, "and we'll need medevacs once the LZ is clear!"
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| New group of V.C. emerge from the jungle behind Frey, Boston, & Warfield and open fire on them |
Next to him, Boston spun back around, "Me and Warfie took care of Charlie behind us!" Frey gave him a thumbs up, then kept firing at the machine gun across the clearing. An explosion in the trees across the LZ erupted, where another V.C. machine gun had been. He could make out the shape of Carter, in the treeline, unslinging his M-16 after eliminating the position with a grenade. He chuckled, and called over to Boston, "Carter just got a machine gun, the L.T. got one, when is my '60-gunner' gonna get one?" Frey smiled as Boston's head shook back and forth, his machine gun spiting flame and pinning V.C. all across the battlefield.
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| From left, Cassidy, Kern, Hawk, & Tatum leap out of the Huey and begin to move towards cover |
"Yah see, Warfie?" Boston laughed. "Us 'Splibs' get no respect!" He turned to look at his friend, but Warfield was already racing past him into the clearing. Head down, he sprinted to Pace's position and checked him over. Frey could see him shake his head and quickly apply a bandage. Once it was secured, he tossed the heavyset soldier over his shoulder and began jogging back towards the treeline. Frey and Boston fired frantically to keep the V.C.'s heads down while Warfield was exposed. Both sighed in relief when Warfield staggered into the trees, and set Pace down next to the radioman and lieutenant. Byars immediately took over and began applying more bandages to the unconscious Pace.
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| Enemy bunker is revealed dangerously close to the 2nd chopper & fires on Kern's disembarking team |
"That was some serious Bronze Star shit," Frey said. "Hell, he's even faster than you, Boston." The M60 gunner grinned and snapped the cover shut on another belt of ammunition. He replied that the only reason his friend Warfield was faster was because he was carrying one of those "little toy guns you guys carry." He slapped the M60, smiled, and lowered the bipod down to the ground and began firing again. Frey looked back to Kern's beleaguered fire team, only to see a cloud of smoke begin to obscure his view of the distant river -- their objective. One of Kern's men had thrown a smoke grenade, probably so that they could get to the wounded without enemy machine guns pinning them down in the open. He swore as he saw the platoon medic Frank was one of those who was down, too. Warfield must have noticed this, too, because he sprinted back out into the clearing. Upon reaching him, he rolled Frank over and saw the medic was unresponsive. He quickly bandaged his wounds, then tossed him over his shoulder as he had done with Pace. His legs churned resolutely and Warfield soon had Frank in the cover of the trees, and bent over to give him more treatment.
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| The chopper roars off, leaving a handful of U.S. soldiers pinned in the open by enemy fire |
Frey called out, "Hey L.T.! Are you seeing this?" Just then a rocket from a gunship slammed into the riverbank and erupted, tossing V.C. to the left and right. Finally, Frey thought! He called for the lieutenant to shift his position down to where Warfield and Boston had been -- he'd have a better angle for his airstrikes. Soon enough, the two scurried past him, both craning to see the river in between two patches of jungle. Their eyes widened as they saw several squads of V.C. wading across to take the battle to the Americans. Apparently, their line of sight had been blocked where they'd been hiding in the trees. Frey saw them too, and pointed the fresh waves of enemy to Boston, who immediately shifted his fire. Waterspouts spurted up all around the V.C. Boston was muttering about Charlie being crazy. They should have stayed hidden because now his squad was going to have to mess them up!
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| Their line of sight blocked by some of the jungle patches, V.C. emerge and stream across the river |
As the tendrils of smoke grenade expanded and spread over a wider area, Frey noticed Kern get up and begin to carry Hawk towards the woods. Tatum raced in and threw Hawk's other arm over his shoulder. Frey silently urged them on till they reached the cover of the trees. He called over to the lieutenant, "Sitrep for Kern's team: Hawk and Frank are down. Cassidy is wounded, but on his feet. For my boys, only Pace is down." Lt. Fickell held up a hand and responded to a call on the radio. After he was done, he turned back to the sergeant and told him to gather some men and make a push across the river. "Yes, sir," Frey nodded. He waved and caught Carter's attention across the clearing. He motioned for him and Stoneburner to begin pushing towards the river from their side of the clearing. "Let's go, Boston! We're going to join your friend, our future Bronze Star winner." Boston gathered up his ammo and followed the sergeant along the treeline, heading towards the river.
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| Tatum throws a smoke grenade to give his comrades a chance to reach the 3 soldiers down |
As he and Boston stalked through the trees, he realized he could hear more choppers circling overhead, but no new squads had been inserted into the field. Maybe they considered it too hot, and were deploying them to alternate landing spots? "Sarge," Boston called, "there's still a lot of V.C. in this clearing. I think I should stay and keep them pinned down." Frey caught the machine gunner's eyes and nodded. "Oh, send Warfield back when you see him -- I'm running low on ammo!" Frey gave him a thumbs up as he ducked under the trees. He passed where Frank and Hawk lay, tended by Cassidy, whose sleeve was covered by more bandages than uniform. The look of pain on his face as he tended to his friends was clear, and Frey told him to hang in there. They almost had the enemy on the run.
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| Cpl. Carter leads FNG Stoneburner along the treeline to begin working their way towards the river |
Just as he reached Kern, he heard another explosion from a gunship's rockets. "Get some, L.T.!" he quipped. Kern's smile in response was weak and pained. His team was having a rough day. "Come on, buddy," Frey said. "Fickell wants us to gather some men and cross the river. He says if we cross, the enemy will probably fall back to avoid being cut off." Kern nodded and they collected Tatum as they advanced. As gunfire rang out all around the clearing, the three moved quickly towards the edge of the trees bordering the river.
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| Newly-promoted 1st Lt. Fickell calls in Fire Missions on the V.C., catching some in the open |
As the three looked up and down the river, Kern whispered, "You have seniority in sergeant rank on me, Frey...you first!" The trio crouched at the edge of the river. V.C. were hunkered down along the river bank, about 50 yards away. Frey took a deep breath. The lieutenant was right. If the V.C. knew they were being outflanked, they'd likely withdraw. He aimed his M-16 at the closest V.C. and fired, seeing him fall. Then he sprinted across the river as he heard the startled V.C. shoot wildly, trying to draw a bead on him. Once in the trees, he began firing bursts to cover the crossing of Tatum. He could see the V.C. were getting nervous, looking behind them. A single shot rang out, though, and his heart seemed to stop as he saw Kern crumple against a tree. Sniper! Dammit!!
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| V.C. pinned down by the air strikes & Boston's M60 fire begin to waver & look to their rear |
"Light them up, Tatum!" Frey ordered. Together they blasted away at the V.C. in the river. A couple fell, but the rest began withdrawing back into the trees on the other side of the river. He heard Boston's M60 fire chasing them as they disappeared into the greenery. "All right, Tatum," he said. "we did what the colonel asked. Now, let's go check on our buddies and get some medevac choppers here!" The two sprinted back across the river to check on Kern.
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| Sgt. Frey & Cpl. Tatum make it across the river, which prompts the remaining V.C. to 'but out' |
Whew! That was a one bloody game -- probably the squad's most casualties since the very mission! Of the 13 soldiers who rode in with Frey and Kern on the Hueys, six flew out in medevacs. I had to hope that my rolls on the Recovery Table were kinder than Jenny's Event Card deck draws during the game. Our misfortunes began when the
Bunker! card came up very early -- while the second helicopter was unloading. Also, the early cards drawn in response to activation failures brought a lot of additional figures on the table.
One of the things about Surviving 'Nam is the constant reshuffling of the event deck (which controls V.C. actions) in response to certain cards drawn means specific cards may come up more often in one game and never appear in others. So, one mission may be drastically harder than the next, or alternately seem like a cakewalk, depending on the deck and your activation rolls. In fact, one part of a game may seem easier, and then suddenly (as the card says), All Hell is Breaking Loose! We were also handicapped in that both of our M79 gunners were out of the fight almost right away. We lost two big important support weapons with Cassidy wounded and Pace out of action.
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| Two of the squad's wounded, Pvt. Pace & Spec. 5 Frank, moments being cut down by enemy fire |
So, how did my wounded guys fare on their post-game rolls? Jenny had four of her seven guys wounded during the game. Team Leader Sgt. Kern fortunately (for us) rolled
"Bad Luck! The unlucky soldier comes back to unit after just a few days of medical care, and is available for the next mission." Yes, the verbiage is tongue in cheek, but it is the best roll possible for a player. For Jenny, it just got worse. Poor Cpl. Hawk, the thrice-wounded, one-time team leader rolled, "
Million Dollar Wound! Their injury was serious enough that he will be sent home, but is not permanently disabling." Oh, Hawk -- we hardly knew ye...but you were "lucky" in the end! Much less fortunate were Cpl. Cassidy and Spec. 5 Frank. Both rolled "
Lost a Limb! They will be honorably discharged once recovered." Wow, that is three of Jenny's four wounded who aren't coming back to the squad. Tough mission for Sgt. Kern!
Now, it was my turn to roll. I had lost only (!) two guys -- poor Pvt. Pace (who never really made it past stepping off the helicopter) and Cpl. Carter, who was shot at the very end of the game and then carried off by his loyal newbie, Pvt. Stoneburner. Pace rolled "REMF for a month! They will be in a field hospital in the rear for a month and be unavailable for missions during that time." Okay, only one mission out -- not too bad. Older readers might appreciate my reference to the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter when I say his name upon activation, "Mr. Cah-TER! Anyway, my very experienced Cpl. Carter rolled "Enjoy Japan! They will rehabilitate in Japan and be unavailable to the fire team for the next 3 months." Unfortunate for the team, but good for him!
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| Moments after Kern's chopper touched down, with Pvt. Pace still pinned & unwilling to move |
What does all of this mean for Mission #8? Sgt. Kern would have two newbies next mission, called "FNGs" in the rules (N is "New Guy" and you can probably guess what the "F" stands for)! Thankfully, Sgt. Frey would have only one FNG. A previously wounded soldier, Pfc. Elliott, would be returning from his recuperation. There is a chart in the rules to see what type of soldier you get as a replacement (IF you get one). Essentially, there is a 75% chance it will be a FNG of one sort or another, either a "Cherry" fresh from the States or a rear area "Pogue" who screwed up and got transferred. I got VERY lucky, and for two of them, rolled "Grunts" (experienced soldiers coming back from injuries or transferred by the company commander who took pity of the squad). So, though Frey and Kern's boys will go into next mission under strength again -- four soldiers instead of five -- we will have newbies only for a Medic and in one of the fire team positions. Considering this was our our second deadliest mission of the tour, it could have been a LOT worse.
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| My 'Surviving 'Nam' rules are out and available -- see below for links! |
Since a player's mission in
Survivng 'Nam is to get as many of their soldiers home safely during their 12-month tour (12 games) as possible, how is my squad doing after its seven month? At this point, both Frey and Kern's fire teams each have two men who were with the squad at the start of the campaign (including themselves). The headquarters element have exactly the same number. Carter will eventually be back and is an original member, too. So, slightly over 50% of the squad's original roster has gone home wounded or been killed in action. The best part about doing the game as a campaign, though, is how you begin to cheer for them and root for them to make it home in one piece. Even though you lost them, you kind of smile when you know that one of your guys gets to go home with his "million dollar wound."
If you want to follow the adventures of my squad of the Big Red One, click on the various links below. I will update the blog each time I play a new mission. In the meantime, if you are interested in the rules, they are now officially available for sale by Ganesha Games and a number of distributors. Click on this link for more information on how you can buy the printed or PDF download version.
Links to missions my squad from the Big Red One in Vietnam has performed:MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
- Miniatures painted in 2026: 135
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
- Terrain painted in 2026: 28
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
- Scatter painted in 2026: 59
