Running Surviving 'Nam at Summercon Game Day

    U.S. soldiers enter a village tasked to search a Vietnamese market using 'Surviving 'Nam' rules

I took Surviving 'Nam, along with my new stock of printed rulebooks that had arrived earlier in the week, to Summercon -- a game day run by Lowell and Jeff of Battle at the Crossroads convention, Cambridge, OH. I set up the "Stone Buddha Market" scenario and ran two groups of players through the game. Both groups said they had a great time and enjoyed the game, more than one of them purchasing the rules from Rich Brown of RRB Minis & More, who also attended (and got a chance to play)! Another vendor that is coming to Advance the Colors, Discount Hobbies, showed up and bought some copies for his online store, as well. 

    My morning players beginning their mission, moving in from the far side of the board in the photo

Both games saw the "Countdown to Contact" phase end quickly. This part of the game is before the enemy appears, and each player can move his team onto the board and begin to advance towards their objectives, never knowing when the Viet Cong will spring their ambush. In this scenario, it can end the normal way with a d6 roll adding in the number of turns elapsed and adding/subtracting the scenario modifier. If the total is 6+, that was the last turn of Countdown to Contact movement. The next turn begins with players dicing to activate a single figure of their team, progressing around the table in a continuous circle until all players have attempted to activate and resolved any actions for all of their figures. In game one, one of the civilians next to their sampan by the river turned out to be a V.C. and opened fire on the nearest soldier. In the second game, the player controlling the lieutenant rolled a "6" on the second turn of the game.

    Sgt. Worthington & two of his fire team arrive at the back of one of the huts they have to search

The quick start to the battle meant that none of the soldiers had advanced into the market area, yet, when the shooting started. The morning players pushed forward more aggressively, moving into the hooches and along the river into the sampans to search. One soldier dashed forward and took cover behind the stone statue of Buddha. When shooting died down, he searched the nearby market stalls for contraband. 

    Seeing the U.S. soldiers arrive, many of the civilians in the market 'Didi May' (run fast) away

In the second game, the players admitted they were probably too tentative in their advance. The V.C. had moved forward quickly from the opposite board edge and also across the river. They took up positions or took cover along the wooden bridge and fired on the advancing U.S. soldiers. An enemy light machine gun team set up along the dike of a rice paddy and fired upon the Americans advancing between the houses. 

    

    A Viet Cong bunker with light machine gun team opens up on the advancing Americans

The morning game also ran into enemy LMG fire, too. One of the first Event Cards drawn brought an enemy bunker onto the table. It began to fire on the left of the U.S. advance. Rather than get into a firefight with the deadliest enemy on the table, the players cleverly through smoke grenades to cut off the line of sight of the bunker on their flank. When the LMG shifted firing ports to open up on the soldiers advancing in the market place, more smoke grenades followed, frustrating the V.C. and limiting their chance to deal damage on the invading Americans.

    Undeterred, American soldiers press on, closing in on the village and ready to engage the enemy

In both games, the rest of the civilians did a quick "Didi Mau" and fled the table. At the beginning of each turn, the players roll 1d20 to see what each civilian will do. Most of the time they flee either away from the soldiers or the V.C., but sometimes they simply freeze in place. A roll of "20" means they are actually a V.C. in disguise. The civilian moves to cover, pulls out a weapon, and opens up on the Americans, like happened in the morning game. Both groups of players suffered losses, the first game having more get hit and go down -- probably because of their more aggressive assault on the village.

    Afternoon players march their fire teams onto the board during 'Countdown to Contact'

The players in both games picked up the mechanics quickly, and grasped the tactics of using cover and taking firing positions that let them open up on groups of enemy. Both experienced the "Oh, crap!" moments, such as when a squad of V.C. suddenly appeared on the rear. I would probably say the morning players were a bit more fortunate in what Event Cards were drawn as a result of activation failures. Players choose to roll either one or two d20s to activate a figure. Each failure results in the draw of an Event Card, which typically either brings on new V.C. or activates enemy already on the table. The morning group never drew the dangerous "Sniper!" card, and got a lot of the not-so-dangerous cards, such as "Snake," and "What the Hell?" which do no damage and represent jumpy troops panicking to creatures in the jungle moving near them. 

    On the opposite side of the village, V.C. riflemen advance through a rice paddy while villagers flee

The morning players did a nice job of having their left advance the interdict the enemy, preventing them from firing on the troops searching the village as much. In the game, all V.C. except snipers usually fire at the closest American soldier. By pressing forward, the two teams on the American left drew the fire on themselves. The other two teams were able to infiltrate the village and along the river, and eventually had searched all five positions they were tasked with by the scenario objectives. At this point, they were able to exfiltrate, using the cover to make their escape without being fired upon by the V.C., which they did a good job of keeping pinned down.

    While in the rice paddy on the American side of the village, more Americans enter the village

Surviving 'Nam scales to the number of players, with the amount of initial enemy placed on the board at the end of Countdown to Contact being on a "per Fire Team" basis. And with fewer players in the afternoon, that in theory also means fewer chances at failures which bring on more enemy. The afternoon group had a more difficult time dealing with the enemy LMG team in the rice paddy. They also drew the sniper card twice, which caused some hairy moments as the lieutenant and radio man came under fire. The lieutenant was actually wounded, and after being patched up, began hobbling off the table. One of the sergeants was forced to pick up the radio and continue to try in Fire Missions on the enemy.

    In the afternoon game, the V.C. ran forward quickly and took up positions near in the market

Speaking of sergeants, both groups of players did a good job utilizing the free action that the team leaders can give to one of his nearby men when he activates. In both games, the M60 gunner and assistant were kept nearby and used to pin down groups of enemy. Players learned to use the machine gun's suppressive fire, as they shifted fire regularly to pin down as many groups of V.C. as possible. I really like how the rules highlight the value of the M60 to an American squad. In previous games, when the M60 gunner is under-utilized, the players tend to struggle. In games where he is used well, they are typically more successful.

    American M60 fire has pinned down this V.C. LMG team dug in on the dike of the rice paddy

The morning group successfully completed their mission, and we were able to see that the V.C. could do little to impede their withdrawal. So, their game was considered a victory. The afternoon game was still at a stalemate, though. The V.C. were more aggressive, and moved across the river, in amongst the village huts, and firing on the Americans. The players eventually decided that they were going to withdraw, and chocked the mission up as a failure. They were able to get all of their wounded off the table and exfiltrate through their entry point. Doubtless, they would call in air strikes on the village and hope that the choppers and fixed wing aircraft could finish the job!

    Fierce firefight breaks out in the village in the afternoon game as the V.C. proved relentless

It was a good time and I had fun players in both of my games. At this stage, it looks like the next time that I run this at a game day or convention will be Advance the Colors, Oct. 9-10, Springfield, OH. I am running it in the evening both Friday and Saturday. Since it is my HMGS chapter's flagship convention, I typically work the registration desk during the morning and afternoon. In the meantime, I'll have to select what scenario I will be running and make sure I have all the terrain ready for it! I'm very happy that Surviving 'Nam: an Infantryman's Year "In Country" continues to sell well in both PDF (on Wargame Vault and Ganesha Games) and print (Amazon and Lulu). Any day now, professionally printed Event Card decks should be available on DriveThruCards, too. I'm looking forward to getting the proof copy in the mail soon, and can't wait to see the artwork of Uriah Groves on the official cards!

    Enemy RPG blast impacts near the attacking American troops squeezed in the gap between the huts

 MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 166

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 71

Finishing Off My 'Pacific Huts' for Vietnam

    3 'Pacific Huts' from Diabolical Terrain's line of WW II 3-D printed terrain that I'll use for Nam

You know how it goes when you're running games at a convention or a game day? You think of something less than two weeks before the event that will be extra cool thing to add to the tabletop. Well, last week I thought that I should get another of the Pacific Huts that I bought from Diabolical Terrain done in time for Saturday's Summercon game day in Cambridge, OH. As I breezed along on the 3-D printed hut, I thought, "Hey! Why not get the other remaining two done, as well?" Sure enough, for a project that has more figures and terrain than I need for a game, I suddenly manufactured a deadline crunch! 

    Each of the huts is subtly different, with different textures & layouts, but same basic design

They DO paint up very quickly. The only assembly that needs to be done, as you may have seen in my post about my first Pacific Hut, is epoxying the posts the hut rests upon to its underside. You also have to glue the ladder to the log deck, and in my case, trim to size some craft sticks and epoxy them into each corner of the hut to hold the roof in place. Not sure why the model was designed without tabs or something to hold it in place, but this is very easily remedied. I also glued craft sticks to the back of the door, which for some reason, is flat with no wooden texture. I spread Tacky Glue on the back of the door, then laid enough craft sticks atop it so the texture of the door on the interior matched the exterior -- more or less. I trimmed the stick to size and then epoxied the door in place, too.

    I like the 'woven' look of the exterior and interior walls - also a good look at my craft stick posts!

Next, I took a gamble on a fairly hot day and primed the roofs and buildings with Krylon Fusion Matte Black. My brother, who lives in Nashville, TN, had preached that it is not humidity but the dew point that is more important. Another blog post I read online said it is the difference between the dew point and temperature that is the true worrying point for when you can spray miniatures or buildings and when you can't. The blog said that as long as there is a 10 degree difference between the dew point and the outdoor temperature, you should be okay. I wouldn't risk clear coating painted miniatures on a hot day with that formula -- I can wait. However, priming with a "rattle can" is worth doing, and so far I haven't had any problems following that formula!

    A look at all of the 3-D printed buildings and their thatch roofs - I love how they are raised on posts

One of the reasons these paint up so quickly is that there are only two surfaces on these buildings. Well, three, actually! The wooden posts and frame for the building are one and the woven wicker sides are the two. The third one is the thatch roof, but is done exactly like the woven mat sides with an extra step on the end. I do the wood first -- wet brush dark brown, dry brush Camo Brown, and highlight Khaki. Then I add in the wicker sides in between the wooden frame posts. This is done with a medium brown color called Autumn Brown, which I then dry brush with Iron Wind Metals Dun. For the roof, I add a final light gray highlight to give a more sun-bleached effect on the thatching.

    Using the Diabolical Terrain huts will give my Vietnamese village a more cohesive look, I think...

Once the painting is all done, I add a final black vehicle wash over the entire building. I like the effect this gives, make it look more dirty and lived in. For the interior floor, I cut to size a piece of scrap booking paper that I found in the local craft store. One final clear coat and the huts are done! I'll be using all four of the now completed huts I bought from Diabolical Terrain at the game day in Cambridge this Saturday. Although I like my scratch built jungle huts I made long ago for our Pulp games, they are a bit larger. These will fit better for the board size for Surviving 'Nam and I will likely use these more going forward.

    I added in a dirty looking scrapbooking paper for the floors, but otherwise usually don't do interiors

What else is on my painting desk? First off, the huts barely edged out the Elven Halberdiers I've been painting. Otherwise, I have another small batch of scatter terrain that is close to be done, as well.  For miniatures, I have primed the first of my Pulp Retro Sci-Fi figures from Hydra Miniatures. I am doing my factions in groups of five figures, which is more than enough for a multiplayer game of Space Weirdos rules. For the first action, I will likely paint them up similar to the two earlier ones I did -- one for my Five Parsecs from Home crew and another for my Star Wars rebels. Being a metal miniature, it was not destroyed in the great asphalt catastrophe when a friend accidentally dumped my box of miniatures I was using for our Star Wars campaign on the streets one night after gaming. Anyway, stay tuned for more updates!

    This one is almost identical to the first of the Pacific Huts that I did - very basic and open looking

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 210
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 160

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 14
• Terrain painted in 2026: 36

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 34
• Scatter painted in 2026: 69

    These buildings will be on the table for my games this Saturday at Cambridge 'Summercon'

'Pacific Hut' from Diabolical Terrain for my Vietnam Games

    From Diabolical Terrain's 3-D printed line of 'Pacific Huts,' here is another Vietnamese hooch

Last October at Advance the Colors, I picked up four 3-D printed Pacific Huts from my friend Ron at Diabolical Terrain. By the time I bought them, I already had enough Vietnam hooches or buildings painted up for the tiny villages or hamlets my players will encounter in games of Surviving 'Nam. So, the huts sat there staring at me accusingly from the shelf for more than six months. With my rules finally released, I decided to paint them. I figured I would do one first as a test rather than all four at once.

    Zooming in on the front porch & ladder, with 2 of my 28mm Empress Vietnamese civilians

This is Pacific Hut 5, which completely by coincidence, seems to be the simplest design of the seven Diabolical Terrain has for sale. Had I taken a moment to check out the four varieties I bought, I would likely have chosen this one, anyway! The posts that the hut rests upon come in four corner pieces, which you glue to the bottom of the hut. That was easy. I did mine with my normal "go-to," two-part, 5-minute epoxy. Next, I noticed that the roof didn't have any tabs to keep it into place or a way to slot in on top of the building. That was a bit disappointing, but easily solved. I measured and glued four wooden craft sticks into each corner, protruding up just enough to catch the roof and keep it from sliding off, but not enough to prevent it from sitting flush on top of the hut itself. After that, I spray painted it black on one of those rare, non-humid summer days in Ohio. I followed that up with a 50/50 mix of water and acrylic black paint.

    Side view of this Diabolical Terrain hut - though meant for WW II Pacific - works well for Vietnam

Looking the hut over, I decided that there were essentially only two materials represented on this model, not counting the thatch roof. There was the wooden components, including the support posts raising it off the ground, the deck, door,  and the smaller wooden poles that frame the building. Then there was the wicker portion, which were the most of the walls of these huts. So, really, I was looking at only three color schemes. I decided to do the wooden parts first, wet brushing them with a craft "Burnt Umber" color -- a very dark brown. The next day, I dry brushed those areas Howard Hues Camo Brown, and finally highlighted them in Khaki. 

    Interior of model showing my four craft sticks in the corners which nicely keep the roof in place

The following day, I painted the wicker portions a medium brown craft paint called Autumn Brown. I let that dry overnight, and followed it up with a Iron Wind Metals Dun yellow dry brush. I should mention I was giving the thatch roof a very similar treatment. However, I added a final very light gray dry brush on the thatch, that I did not do on the wicker. Once the paint on the roof and building had dried, I went over both with a black wash. The last step was to take a piece of scrap booking paper that had an interesting dirty wooden pattern and cut a rectangle of it for the floor. Once it was trimmed to fit the floor of the interior as best as possible, I affixed in place with white glue. 

    Rear view of the hut -- model will look great on land or on a riverside with it being elevated on posts 

Not only was a I pleased with how the Pacific (read: Vietnam) hut turned out, I was really stoked about how easy it was to paint up and get ready for the tabletop. There's something inspiring about cranking out nice-looking tabletop scenery that quickly. It is listed for $22 on the Diabolical website for 28mm scale (also sold in 15mm and 32mm), which I think is a fair price for something so practical and good looking on the table. If you are doing Vietnam or even World War II Pacific theater, I would highly recommend these huts. Check out the different varieties, some with porch screens or other differences. I will likely paint the other three up soon, now that I know how quickly they paint up!

    Last look at this 28mm model -- I have three more that I purchased from Diabolical still to paint up

What else is on my tabletop? I have my batch of five figures for the Lead Adventure Forum's 20th Anniversary in the flocking stage. I've also begun the final batch of figures for my Elven army for Dragon Rampant. I leave for Historicon on Tuesday, though, so there will likely be a holdup on my progress. Stay turned, though, and hopefully I will have more soon -- especially having played a game of Dragon Rampant on Saturday and Lion Rampant on Sunday!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
  
• Miniatures painted in 2026: 141

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
  
• Terrain painted in 2026: 29

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026

• Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
  
• Scatter painted in 2026: 62

'Hot LZ' Challenges Big Red One with 2nd Toughest Mission

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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...!" 

    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!"

    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. 

    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!"

    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. 

    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.

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.

    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!

    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.

    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. 

    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. 

    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!!

    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. 

    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.

    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!

    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.

    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:

• Mission 01: Check out the Hooches
• Between Missions - Promotions & Replacements
• Mission 02: Temple at River Bend
• Mission 03: Perfect Ambush 
• Mission 04: Downed Airmen
• Mission 05: Perilous Paddies
• Mission 06: Tanks for the Help!
• Mission 07: Hot LZ!

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