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

   

My First Gringo 40s Vietnam Figs & Some 'Pinned Markers'

    Looking down the barrel of my two Gringo 40s Vietnamese snipers -- 1 painted as NVA, the other VC

My friend Jim told me that U.K. manufacturer Gringo 40s has a 28mm Vietnam figure line that size up well with the Black Sun range from Crucible Crush, where most of my collections is from. I'd almost pulled the trigger a few times and ordered some to be shipped across the pond to me. However, I really don't want to mess with the tariffs and international shipping costs. When a friend of mine said they were going to the U.K. to visit family and friends, I asked him if he'd pick up some and he agreed.

    A look at the NVA sniper - one of the things I was missing from my initial batch Vietnam troops

The bulk of my order was North Vietnamese Army (NVA) figures, which technically none of my Crucible Crush are supposed to be. However, I would think that the ones in khaki uniforms and the iconic almost "pith helmets" included in the Black Sun range could easily work for NVA in a pinch. Still, these Gringo 40s figures are cast specifically as NVA. Ged from Gringo 40s is known for doing his historical research. He was also very accommodating in making sure the shipment arrived on time where my friend would pick it up. Great guy!

Anyway, one thing I was definitely lacking in my Vietnamese figures was something to use as a sniper. So, I ordered two -- one in uniform and helmet that could be an NVA sniper and another bareheaded that I could easily paint up as a Viet Cong guerrilla. Gringo 40s also had two figures in their range to represent downed air crew evading capture. I ordered two of them and was disappointed when one was out of stock. Meaning well, Ged substituted a flight line crewman with a clipboard and baseball cap. Not what I had in mind for a figure meant to be trying to evade capture in the jungle! So, that figure and the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) gift figure will be going north to Jim for all his help and he will hopefully be providing me eventually with a 3-D printed airman figure at some future date. 

    I painted the bare headed sniper up as Viet Cong in the traditional all black outfit

I painted all three up as a batch, albeit a small one! The snipers are prone and are posed resting their arms and upper body on some sort of embankment. I epoxied both the embankment and the miniature onto a pill-shaped base I had originally bought for 28mm mounted troops. I tried to copy the way Gringo 40s' photo depicted them resting on the embankment, but to me it looked a little awkward, like he was raising his midsection up off the ground. I decided that I would cover that gap later with flocking, since I would be depicting the snipers in the jungle rather than the embattled streets of Hue. After priming them with Liquitex White Gesso, I painted one a medium tan called Bambi Brown and the other, who would be the V.C. sniper, in black. After dry, I highlighted each color very light tan and medium gray, respectively.

Next, I pulled out the color I'd bought for Vietnamese flesh and did their faces, hands, and the parts of their legs and feet showing. The bare-headed guy seemed to be wearing sandals -- perfect, since he was meant to be V.C. The uniformed guy had on boots. After painting some belts and straps khaki (if not already done so in the case of the NVA sniper), it was on to the gun. I used a medium brown for the wooden stock and grip and Iron Wind Steel for the metal parts. I painted the scope black, figuring that they would want to make it hard for enemy to see when the sniper was zeroing in on a target. A couple more highlights, the eyes, and these two bad boys were done! In my Surviving 'Nam rules, the snipers are indeed bad boys. They are the second deadliest Foe (after a bunker and machine gun) that Event Cards can bring onto the table.

    My Gringo 40s downed airman trying to evade capture in the jungle -- nice, clean figure!

Way back when I painted my American troops up for Vietnam, I helpfully labeled each shade of green that I used with a circled number for where they went in the process. It had been a few months since I finished my last Americans, so I thought it would be a cinch to follow my recipe, so to speak. However, I forgot that step two was not a dry brush. It was supposed to be the straps and pouches. So, I unhelpfully failed to follow my own recipe when painting up my downed airman. I don't think that is a real problem. Helicopter pilot uniforms don't get the same wear and tear that an infantryman's does, I imagine. So, the shades are bound to be different -- even assuming they were identical when issued! 

It was shades of painting my elves on this downed airman, with a lot of various greens. I wasn't 100% sure how to recreate the plexiglass visor. So, I decided to use Iron Wind Steel again with Pewter highlights for where the sun was striking it.  Otherwise, he was another easy figure to paint up. I like the pose, with him slightly crouched and leaning forward as if running. He carries a pistol in one hand and something else clenched in his other fist. I assumed perhaps a compass?

    I did not exactly replicate the uniform 'recipe' I used for my previous American troops, which is okay

All in all, this batch of three figures went quickly, as you can imagine guys in one color of uniform would. Flocking the snipers was a bit more fun, and I added a lot more tufts than I usually would. I wanted to give the impression of his concealment. A medium sized tuft when on either side of his upper body to conceal how it arched off the ground. Hopefully, it looks like he's resting against a slight slope, sighting down the barrel. I put more leaves on the ground, too, to make up for the lack of plastic plants. Originally, I put trimmed off sections of plastic plants on my bases for my Vietnam figures. In game use, I have found that these tend to pop off way more than they should. Note to self: No more plastic plants on figure bases!

    Bullet Impact FX from Green Stuff World make great 'Pin Markers' for my Surviving 'Nam games

On to the Pin markers! I spotted these Green Stuff World "Bullet Impact FX" markers at Michigan Toy Soldier Company on my trip up north last month. They screamed "pin markers" to me the moment I saw them (which was a bit awkward in the shop, as everyone assumed it was me screaming). I decided to base them up the same way I created markers to show figures that had moved in our games of Space Weirdos. I used tiny 1/2" adhesive cork circles. I used the adhesive side to attach them onto small washers with the same diameter. Originally, I was going to do just one impact marker per base. The more I thought about it, two in a row might give that look of machine gun fire spraying across an area of ground. 

    I wanted to give the effect of the line of a machine gun bursts striking the ground in front of troops

I separated the 3-D printed impact markers from their sprues. One went flying when I snipped the much thicker sprue part and I still haven't found it! After that, I used an X-acto knife to separate the bottom of the marker from its stem and left the very thick sprues alone. I used superglue to attach the marker to the cork, after digging out a shallow hole for it to settle into with a pin vice and X-acto knife. They attached easily, and I quickly switched to doing two in a row per marker for the smaller ones and just one single one for the larger impact markers. 

I'd asked advice on the Lead Adventure Forum on how to paint them up, and used their ideas in what I ended up doing. I painted them a base medium gray with a very light gray dry brush. For the folks who recommended bits of earth flying up, I did a relatively heavy brown vehicle wash. This darkened it up a tad more than I wanted but did give the effect of dirt flying into the air in some spots. I went back with my lightest gray and brush highlighted various parts of the tiny arms of the "explosion." I knew flocking them would be a bit of a challenge, what with how tiny and difficult to grip they were and also trying to getting flocking on the marker itself. I painted the base and sides my earth brown first. Once dry, I painted ground around the explosion as best I could with white glue and sprinkled on Woodland Scenics Blended Turf. I tried to tap off as much of the excess I could. I figured any that remained on represented dirt clods being hurled into the air by the impact.

    One box of these 3-D printed effects created 24 Pin Markers -- WAY more than I'll ever need!

A couple coats of Krylon matte clear and they were done! What's more, they were ready in time for this weekend's trip to Cincycon where I will run my Surviving 'Nam game twice. What is it about conventions for game masters? There is always one more project we are trying to finish in time for a convention game! In this case, it was two -- snipers and pin markers. They're done, though, and hopefully they look good on the tabletop this weekend.

What else is on my painting desk? Two batches! I have my next batch of elves for Dragon Rampant -- eight spear-armed troops. I also have some very odd figures that I won in a raffle (I believe at Advance the Colors 2024). They're weird Sci-Fi alien or robotic figures. Hopefully, they'll be perfect as enemies for Majestic 13. Stay tuned to see how they turn out and you can let me know if you think they fit the part.

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

Surviving 'Nam Scenario Playtest: Tanks for the Help!

    Firefight between Big Red One soldiers & the Viet Cong rages in my latest Surviving 'Nam game

At this stage, I feel my Surviving 'Nam: An Infantryman's Year In Country rules are done, for the most part. All that is left is to play test the remaining scenarios that will go in the book. I did a solo test of "Tanks for the Help!" last night. In this scenario, the squad is part of a group tasked with protecting a tank broken down on a dirt road in Viet Cong country. It is taken from an actual Big Red One in Vietnam incident, as well as from my favorite Vietnam fiction novel, Fields of Fire by James Webb. The squad has to form a perimeter to keep any V.C. -- especially those armed with RPGs -- from getting close enough to fire upon the tank and its crew, who are busy repairing it. The game ends when the squad has inflicted a certain number of casualties (that's when the tank is assumed to be fixed and drives off), and they may then exfiltrate the table.

    The tank we need to protect is on the road out of view while jungle & elephant grass cover the table

My squad of the Big Red One finally welcomed back one of its injured fire team leaders, Cpl. Kern. He and his men, with Lt. Fickell and his radioman attached, would cover the left. Sgt. Frey and his team, along with the M60 machine gun team and medic Spec. 5 Frank, would guard the right. Looking at the terrain, I decided we would advance about half of the force into the two pieces of jungle (Medium Vegetation) in the second tier of terrain our from our baseline. The remainder would guard each flank and form a reserve in the center. Each of the jungle pieces would be occupied by our heaviest hitting weapons -- Cpl. Warfield's M60 machine gun on the right, and Lt. Fickell, his radioman, and (hopefully) their fire missions on the left. Each would have a teammate or two deployed just ahead of them with an M-16 so they weren't the first ones shot at by the enemy! 

    Sgt. Frey, top left, leads his fire team with M60 team & medic attached to establish a perimeter

I set the Countdown to Contact modifier at "-2", which meant that I would get at least two turns to move into position. As it was, with my rolls going fairly well, I was able to fully deploy after four turns of Countdown to Contact movement before the V.C. arrived. One large V.C. squad showed up in the elephant grass on the opposite baseline, while the other showed up on the far right table edge behind another patch of jungle. Two other V.C. riflemen showed up on our far left, very close to our flank guards. Almost immediately, I drew the first "Fire Mission" card, which is needed to establish contact with the battalion artillery (further cards bring in actual fire missions if the C.O. has any V.C. in his line of sight). Things seemed to be going well. Though I was failing on about half of my activation rolls, the resulting cards I pulled from the deck did not activate any V.C. Instead, they were less disadvantageous ones like "Wait a Minute" vines preventing a soldier from moving, or a snake that startles a squad member into a random movement.

    Cpl. Kern, center, resumes control of his team as they move off the road into the junble

Along with already being in firing position, the fortunate card draws meant the squad was able to blaze away immediately at the V.C. when they appeared. Cpl. Warfield, temporarily promoted to M-60 Gunner while his friend Boston recuperated from his wounds suffered during the last mission, pinned about half of the V.C. squad in the elephant grass, taking one out of action. Even Lt. Fickell and his radioman got in on the act, firing their M16s and taking down insurgents while impatiently waiting on battalion artillery to respond on the radio. The only real scary point was the two V.C. on the left flank who quickly pinned Pfc. Pace and were advancing towards him while he groveled in the dirt. Cpl. Kern yelled at Tatum to pour fire into those two.  Kern also jogged over to help, firing off several controlled bursts. Between the two of them, they gunned down the insurgents. Pace popped his head up and fired off a blast, as well. Kern laughed and told him it was safe now, and to keep his eyes peeled for more V.C. on that flank.

    Kern's team enters the patch of jungle where they will set up their half of the forward perimeter

On the far right, the squad of V.C. behind the jungle advanced beneath the trees. That brought them into line of sight of Sgt. Frey's fire team who had been deployed to guard against threats from that flank. Pfc. Johnson sighted his M-79 and lofted a shrapnel round into the midst of their formation. It exploded on target and several V.C. tumbled to the ground. Frey's point man, Cpl. Carter, also fired a burst, taking down another enemy. Soon, all six V.C. lay motionless, and the right flank was quiet. In the center, it was a shooting gallery as half a dozen soldiers fired on the V.C. as they attempted to sprint from the elephant grass to the jungle patch just ahead of them. Soon, they were all down, too. It grew quiet for a few moments across the squad's front.

    Center reserve along the road line with Sgt. Frey, medic Spec. 5 Frank & M79 grenadier Cassidy

Pop! A single round cracked from deeper within the elephant grass. Lt. Fickell heard the snap of it passed above his head. He ducked, cursing. "Sniper!" he called. Pfc. Otis yelled out he had seen the muzzle flash. He flipped the switch to full auto and sprayed the area with an entire magazine, just to make sure. All along the line, the squad listened. No more V.C. firing, no sounds, and no movement. Sgt. Frey shouted for everyone to stay frosty. That was probably just the first wave. Spec. 4 Byars' radio crackled to life as the battalion artillery said they were ready for the fire mission. "Should we hammer that patch of elephant grass, just to be sure?" Fickell asked his veteran radioman. Byars shook his head, saying it was too close. Better to be safe and not risk any short rounds.

    Pfc. Otis spots the approach of a large squad of Viet Cong advancing through the elephant grass

A moment later, there was a whistle of incoming mortar fire. It impacted in between the squad's forward group and their reserve. "Not ours!" Fickell shouted. Sgt. Frey chuckled, thinking to himself, "Not your fault, eh, L.T.?" He believed him, though. He honestly felt the platoon was very lucky to have Fickell -- he was one squared away officer. Not every unit could say that about their C.O.! A silence reined over the jungle as the soldiers peered into the jungle looking for more signs of the enemy. There appeared to be none. Was that it? Really?? As it turned out, the Event Cards continued to be very fortunate for my squad. NOW -- with all the enemy on table dead -- I was pulling the event cards that would activate V.C. Meanwhile, I flipped over no cards that would bring new enemy onto the table. The Fire Mission card kep showing up again and again, forcing poor Spec. 5 Byars to invent excuses to hold off the eager artillery.

    In this scenario, each V.C. squad includes an RPG because they're hunting a tank!

Both Sgt. Frey and Cpl. Kern began directing some of their forward elements to fall back to the reserve line. "That tank has to be fixed soon," Frey called over to Kern. The soldiers moved into their new positions and waited. Suddenly, the silence was shattered by the sound of a RPD -- a Vietnamese light machine gun. Tracers and rounds sliced through the trees where Warfield's M60 was set up. Several soldiers hit the dirt, pinned. Frey called on Warfield to relocate so the M60 gunner would have line of sight on the enemy LMG team. As he moved, the RPD opened up again from the other patch of elephant grass. Warfield's assistant, Pvt. Hartline yelped and went down. "MEDIC!" Frey shouted. Spec. 5 Frank sprinted from the woods to Frey's left across the patch of open ground and quickly appeared at Hartline's side. 

    Another squad of V.C. enter the board behind a patch of jungle, trying to take out the tank

Cpl. Kern called over to Frey, "Since when do we have a track star for a medic?" Frey laughed and said, "He's great, but don't get too close to him! He likes to step on booby traps." While the two team leaders watched, Frank patched up the new guy, Hartline, and pulled him to his feet. They began walking together towards where Warfield was firing into the elephant grass, suppressing the enemy machine gun team. Suddenly, Frank and Hartline both dove for the ground. There was a "Pop!" "You gotta be kidding me!" Frey laughed. "Frank did it again -- he stepped on another booby trap!" Kern looked a lot more concerned than the sergeant did. "Oh, don't worry," Frey called over. "He's always okay. It's the people around him that have to watch out. Warfield? Frank? Hartline? You guys okay?" It seemed only Hartline was hurt,. Frey looked over at Kern, caught his eyes, and smiled.

    The V.C. move into the patch of jungle, unaware that puts them in line of sight of Sgt. Frey's team

Eventually, the LMG team was dispatched. Frey told Hartline to limp to the rear and see if the tank was ready to move out, yet. As Frank walked by him, Frey just shook his head. "How many times do I have to tell you, Speedy Gonzalez? WATCH where you put your feet..." he chuckled. Just as Frank was about to reply, the jungle to their right and front erupted in AK-47 fire. "Shit," Frey cursed, "that's out of Warfield's line of sight!" He called out instructions to his team, then fired off a burst. He saw one V.C. fall. He heard his buddy, Carter, open up on the new enemy, too. Warfield, after relocating yet again, laid down a long staccato burst of machine gun fire. He stood up carefully, peering forward. 

    Cpl. Kern's forward position opens up on the V.C., mowing down a few in the elephant grass

"They be down, Sarge, but Elliott and Johnson are hit!" Frey cursed again, and shouted instructions for which guys to come and help carry them to the rear. Frank was already off, racing towards the wounded men -- doubtless not looking where he was going! Behind him, he heard the sound of a tank engine gunning to life. In front, Lt. Fickell was ordering everyone to pull back -- the tank was fixed and ready to move out. Kern walked up to him, his gaze directed towards where Frank was checking over Pfc. Elliott. "Couldn't they have fixed that about five minutes earlier? Your guys okay?" he asked Frey. The sergeant replied he hoped so, they'd know if a few minutes. Meanwhile, the team leaders directed their men to exfiltrate to the rear. He hoped Elliott and Johnson were okay. They were both relatively new, but shaping up well.

    2 V.C. on the left  are too close to Pfc. Pace for Kern's liking, so he tells Cpl. Tatum to light them up!

In all fairness, I have to say that my squad had excellent luck when it came to the Event Card deck this game. Plus, our rolls to avoid enemy fire were fantastic. Up until the final batch of V.C. activated, only one guy had been wounded, and he was soon on his feet as Walking Wounded. My rolls to avoid enemy fire crashed on the final two, though. Still, I was happy that I had good luck rolling on the Down chart for them. I came up with a Walking Wounded result and a Lightly Wounded one. 

    Pfc. Johnson lobs a perfect M79 grenade shot into the midst of the V.C. closing in on the right

Unfortunately, the trend downward continued when I rolled on their recovery time. All three would miss at least one month. Pfc. Elliott would get to enjoy the rear for a month while he recuperated. The FNG Hartline would be off to Da Nang for two months, as his wounds were slightly worse. Poor Pfc. Johnson, in only his second month in country, was badly wounded enough to be sent to Japan for three months. Yikes! Three guys "Down," and three guys gone for next mission! At least Cpl. Boston would be back, though (the normal M-60 gunner). Also coming back was long-lost Cpl. Hawk, returning from three month's recuperation from wounds suffered when he dropped his own grenade (after being hit, to be fair!). Doubtless, he would get some grief from the squad for that!

    Squad's first casualty of the game, and wouldn't you know it was an FNG, Pvt. Hartline?

Still, June's mission is now complete and the squad is halfway through its year in Vietnam. Kern will likely be promoted to sergeant, so we will have two good, Veteran team leaders and it appears a lieutenant who can be trusted. Are things looking up for my squad of the Big Red One? Stay tuned to see...!

    V.C. light machine gun pops up and opens fire on Frey's team from the elephant grass on their side

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 34

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: 24

 

    Mortar fire from the V.C. crashed through the squad's position throughout the game, hitting no one

    Final trio of V.C. riflemen to pop up and open fire, unfortunately downing 2 members of the squad

 

    Bad luck! Pfc. Elliott and Pfc. Johnson go down to the unexpected fire of a small squad of V.C.

'Christmas Money' Purchases - What Have I Bought So Far in 2026?

    Spoiler Alert: A 2026 purchases from Hobday & Hicks and their Warhost line of 28mm Elves

To make things easier at Christmas for my elderly mother, we agreed awhile back that her gift to us would be money. That way, my brothers and I can buy whatever we want or need with it rather than asking her to run around time and find things for us. I found over the years, though, that I would deposit into my checking account and then kind of forget about it. So, sometimes her gift kind of just went into the general slush fund. To remedy that, I've begun making dedicated purchases (hobby or otherwise) and mentally ticking it off against the amount she gave me.

One of my first purchases of the year was a pair of 3'x3' cloth battle mats. I was looking for fleece ones made here in the U.S., and ended up going with Cigar Box Battle Mats. Since I seem to have settled on a 3'x3' playing area for my 28mm Vietnam games, I wanted one to use for that so that I don't have to keep using my 3'x4' neoprene one and blocking off the last foot. I decided to go with the one called The Shadow Deep -- obviously intended for the fantasy skirmish game of that name. I liked the dark green wilderness look of it, though, so figured it would be a good general purpose mat usable for a variety of periods. I'm not sure what material the cloth is, but it is not fleece. It has a bit more sheen and reflectivity than I'd wish, but it is still a good gaming surface.

About the time that I was shopping online for this mat, I had finished up the two medieval buildings -- the Duncan House and Watchtower. I loved how they turned out so much that I became interested in doing a medieval or fantasy town skirmish. Simultaneously, I began also  looking at mats that would be good for a nice city board. I ended up liking another "Shadow Deep" mat called Blood Moon best.  It has a good look of a crumbling stone surface to it -- not perfectly-maintained cobblestones. More of a decrepit town street, which I liked.

    Resin printed "Bullet Impact FX" from Green Stuff World for my Vietnam 'Pin Markers'

The next big purchases were part of a day trip up north to Michigan. My friend Mike S needed to pick up some painted miniatures from the amazing Ted Bender. The speed in which Ted gets entire armies done is mind boggling. When Mike told me he was planning on going north to pick up some figs, I pitched the idea of including a stop at the Michigan Toy Soldier Company. They have an amazing selection of modeling, painting, and basing needs, as well as carrying a number of figure lines and some rulebooks. My main purchase there that day was the Green Stuff World 22mm tufts that I used for my elephant grass for Vietnam. I also picked up a couple packets of leaf scatter for various bases to add to the ones I'd gotten for Christmas from Jenny. 

    'Plants & Vegetation: Xanadu' -- more resin pieces that I will try out on my next Vietnam figs

While shopping, my eye was caught by a couple other scenic items. Green Stuff World has started making what they call "Resin Bits" -- various scatter or basing items. Two in particiular caught my eye. The first was the pack called Bullet Impact FX. I felt these would make excellent Pin Markers for my Surviving 'Nam rules that I am writing. The next was a pack of tiny resin jungle plants called Xanadu. For my 28mm Vietnam figures, I would often glue on parts of plastic plants to the base. However, in gaming, many of these have popped off. Flexible plastic is notoriously resistant when it comes to being glued into place. I thought that maybe these resin ones would stay in place better for future miniatures for this project.

    U.S. Army Dog Handler from Gringo 40s -- I will be painting these up as gifts for veterans I know

And what was that about "future miniatures" for Vietnam? Well, I have a local friend who is a British citizen who goes back to the UK regularly for visits. I'd asked him to pick up some miniatures for me the next time he was overseas so that I could avoid the whole tariff and shipping expenses. My friend agreed, and I put in an order with Gringo 40s for some of their 28mm Vietnam figures. According to my friend Jim, they mix well with the larger Crucible Crush Black Sun range which make up the bulk of my miniatures for this project. So, I'll be getting some NVA miniatures to complement my Viet Cong, as well as some specialty ones that I needed like snipers and downed air crew. I'm also picking up two of their U.S. Army Dog Handlers with German Shepherd. I have two friends who were sentry or scout dog handlers in Vietnam. They came to my middle school's Veterans Day celebration for many years. I am going to paint one up for each of them, hopefully depicting them and their dog. I figured they'd appreciate the gift. To hear them tell their stories, check out my YouTube Veterans Recall interviews with Ed Reeves and Tom King.

    28mm Elves from Hobday & Hicks' 'Warhost' line -- I ordered an army of them from Badger Games

So, what else have I bought? Well, now that the Bonefish Band is all painted up for games of Dragon Rampant, I could buy another 28mm fantasy army, right? Our group is having a lot of fun with the rules. If I ever wanted to do demo games at a store or convention of DR!, it might be a good idea to have at least one other fantasy army painted up. Right?? Glad to see you agree! So, I went on a hunt for 28mm fantasy elves that evoke the Lord of the Rings/Tolkein mythos. No punk rocker elves for me! Someone on Lead Adventure Forum suggested the Warhost line from Hobday & Hicks. They are carried domestically by Badger Games, who I am a big fan of, too. Once I sat down and sketched out an army list for the rules, I couldn't resist going online and ordering them. They arrived yesterday as I am typing this. So, look forward to seeing some Tolkein-style elves on there, soon! 

So, there you go -- thank you, mom! Of course, these purchases mean that after a solid month of having a great Miniatures Painted vs. Acquired ratio, it was time to throw some challenge into 2026! Speaking of work to do, what else is on my painting desk? The six Battered markers (orc casualties) inch closer to completion. I have done the flesh base coat on the Crucible Crush figures for Majestic 13. And I plan on spray painting a couple more medieval buildings this afternoon, if the weather cooperates. These are ones I bought at Advance the Colors 2025 from Sword & Scabbard Games. Stay tuned -- lots more on the way!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 95
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 24

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 0
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 17

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 2
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 24