First Playtest: Surviving 'Nam - A Year In-Country with Mr. Charles...

    Viet Cong have an ambush ready for the soldiers of the Big Red One in my first play test of the rules

Well, the system worked! And boy, was it bloody for my soldiers from the Big Red One (1st Infantry Division)!! 2nd Lt. Cooper was tasked with leading two squads with an attached M60 light machine gun (LMG) team and medic, to check out a small, Vietnamese hamlet, taking place as part of a company-wide sweep. Each squad was led by a veteran sergeant with three riflemen and an M79 bloop gunner (grenade launcher). A total of 15 soldiers, recently arrived in Vietnam, were humping single-file on a trail through the bush heading towards the hooches of Su Khoi Dau Khong Vui. From the distant sounds of firing from where the other platoons in the company likely were, they could expect contact at any moment. If it happened, it would be their first significant firefight of their 12-month tour of duty. The troopers were nervous, but confident in their sergeants, old timers Sgt. Hayes and Sgt. Bruce. However, they still were not 100% sure about their brand new second lieutenant, Cooper, who'd just been placed in charge of their platoon shortly after arriving in Vietnam.  

    Layout of my fictional Vietnamese hamlet & the hooches the soldiers have been tasked to investigate

My system is an adaption of Ganesha Games' cooperative or solo miniatures game, Sellswords & Spellslingers.  The intention is for players to each control a squad of American soldiers trying to survive their year-long tour in Vietnam. The enemy, in this battle the Viet Cong (VC), are controlled by the Event Cards and the game's mechanics. I played it as if I were two separate players, though, each controlling a squad and splitting the attached elements up between them. My imaginary two players would alternate activating a soldier until all soldiers had acted, and then a new turn would begin. 

The game lasted 11 turns, with the final group of soldiers exiting the table, assisting their wounded comrades to safety. They left behind 21 dead or wounded VC at the hamlet, but suffered grievous wounds in the process. Luckily, that included only one American Killed in Action (KIA). After the battle, I rolled on the chart for recovery from wounds to see who would be available next month (Mission #2), who would still be recuperating in the rear, and who had the misfortune to make a quick full recovery and be available for the next scenario...ha, ha! The ranks will be considerably thinned for that game, with each squad down from five to four and three new replacements assigned to fill the void. I'm getting ahead of myself, though! How about a battle report?

    The Big Red One in column as it marches past fields & patches of woods as it nears the hamlet

In the lead, Sgt. Hayes motioned his point man and slack man towards the hooches, as they came into view. Things seemed peaceful, with about a dozen Vietnamese farmers and villagers going about their business in the fields, leading animals, or stopping to stare at the approaching G.I.'s. For my rules, I've created a new pre-battle sequence called Countdown to Contact. Instead of players rolling for each soldier individually for their actions, and then moving them like normal, each player rolls two dice per soldier under their command all at once. He then assigns the dice to figures and moves them. Any failures to activate do NOT result in the draw of an Event Card. This pre-battle sequence is meant to reflect that players nott really know when the you-know-what is going to hit the fan. So, Sgt. Hayes gave his lead three soldiers two moves towards the hooches, hoping to get them checked out before any enemy appeared, while the rest of his squad followed up with one move. Sgt. Bruce moved his squad up behind, some beginning to fan out into the woods to the left of the trail.

    Sgt. Bruce's 2nd Squad begins to deploy into the woods to cover 1st Squad's search of the hamlet

At the end of each turn of Countdown to Contact, a single d6 is rolled. You add +1 for each elapsed turn, plus any scenario modifiers to the roll (I gave this scenario, "Check out the Hooches!", a +2, meaning I was adding three total to the die roll). If a "6" or higher is rolled, Countdown to Contact ends and the normal activation procedure begins. Players then roll one or two 20-sided dice (their choice) for each of their characters -- called PCs. I've changed it from the three dice of Sellswords to two dice to make for fewer wild swings in events. Veterans activate on a roll of 7+ (Sgt. Hayes and Sgt. Bruce were the only veterans, having seen combat in Korea). Most troops are "Grunts," and activate on an 8+, while FNGs on a 9+ (the N&G stand for "New Guy" -- can you figure out what the "F" is for?). Wouldn't you know it, but I rolled to end Countdown to Contact after only one turn! That was only the first of many unexpected things to occur for my newly-arrived troops!

    Even before the shooting started, some of the villagers wisely decided to flee for safety

I had also created a chart for civilian movement, with results ranging from Freeze to moving away from U.S. troops, moving away from any VC, double moving towards the nearest board edge, and even "transforming" into a VC, revealing a weapon, and opening fire or throwing a grenade. I rolled at the end of each turn, with most civilians having escaped off-table by turns 4 or 5. Only one doughty old mamasan, just as she neared the table edge, pulled out a sub-machine gun from under her black pajamas and joined the VC in the woods. Meanwhile, Pvt. Parker and Pfc. Taum reached the stairs of the two hooches by the end of their moves. The rest of the two squads were moving up to cover them, expecting gunfire at any moment.

    First VC enemy appears - a light machine gun team opens fire on the U.S. soldiers in the hamlet

I jotted down on a notepad any thing I encountered during the play test that I thought needed clarified or changed. One of the first changes I feel I will make was prompted by the sequence of Event Cards I flipped for each activation failure of my soldiers. The first four or five would have activated enemy troops (called "Foes" in the rules) if any had been present. However, since none began on the table, I was skating by with no ill effect from some pretty nasty cards, such as "All Hell Breaking Loose" (which activates all foes on the table). So, my first change will be that once Countdown to Contact ends, scenarios will dictate a certain number of foes be placed on the table immediately. The first one that eventually did show up was an enemy LMG team in the woods along the left hand board edge. It opened fire, pinning several soldiers, but not taking anyone "Down." One of the effects of an LMG in my game is that, even if its roll to hit is unsuccessful, it "Pins" its target and any other enemies within 2". Everything I have read about Vietnam indicated the M60 was the killing weapon in close combat on the battlefields of Vietnam. I found this to be true in my play test, as well. The American's M60 and the VC's RPD (and also the U.S. grenade launchers), wreaked the most havoc on the enemy.

    The first U.S. casualty -- Cpl. Kern is hit by LMG fire while Pvt. Cassidy and a villager look on

Not all Event Cards activate or bring foes onto the table, though. One that didn't bring new enemy hit me on the first turn of normal activation procedure (technically Turn 2). "Colonel on the Horn" has several possible outcomes listed on the card, requiring a further die roll to see what the battalion commander wants. My roll was "Mission Scrubbed - get off table with your wounded ASAP." I reasoned that one of the other companies had walked into a nasty ambush and Cooper's squads were needed to reinforce them. That was the last thing poor privates Tatum and Parker wanted to hear, though! Now they had to double time back across the open ground with VC popping up in the woods all around the ville. This mission was FUBAR before it had barely begun! Another change I'm making is to add a few more outcomes to "Colonel on the Horn." I included ones that don't scrub the mission, including an insistent colonel requiring a detailed Situation Report right away, dammit! This will cause the C.O. and radioman to lose their next turn. 

    Pvt. Janowicz lobs a perfect 'bloop gun' shot amidst a VC squad that just opened fire on his buddies

"All Hell" was truly breaking loose as more and more VC opened fire on my guys. Turn 2 saw the first Americans going "Down." One of the key concepts of Sellswords & Spellslingers, thus also in my "Surviving 'Nam" rules, is the Danger Level (DL) of a foe. It is used when the foe shoots at a PC (the PC must roll higher than the DL to be unscathed), or when a PC is shooting AT a foe. The tricky part for that is modifiers for cover and distance must be listed as "+ / -". That thick Medium Cover is subtracted from the Danger Level of the foe when he's shooting at you, making it easier to roll. However, it has the opposite effect when your PC is shooting at an enemy tucked away behind the trees, making the number you need to roll to hit higher. The first of my troops to go Down (fail to roll over the enemy's DL) was Cpl. Kern, who had moved to the edge of the field and was drawing a bead on the enemy LMG. 

    Another squad of VC shoot from ambush downing Pfc. Griffin, but missing the medic, Cpl. Spellman

I say "Down" instead of wounded because of something peculiar I had read in numerous memoirs by soldiers who served in Vietnam. A soldier would be struck and go down. More than once, they wrote the impact of the bullet felt like they were hit by a truck. However, when someone went to check on them, they found that a piece of equipment had deflected or stopped the force of the round, and the soldier was unharmed. Or sometimes the soldier was only lightly wounded, but the sight of their blood and knowing they'd been shot was keeping them from functioning. I represent this in my rules by a roll below the DL meaning the PC goes "Down." Tip the figure over. Another friendly figure has to go and spend an action checking on him. Once that action has been spent, players roll on the chart to see how badly hurt the soldier was, in fact. A full range of possibilities from unhurt like above, lightly wounded, seriously hurt, or "Messed Up" -- out of action. 

    Having almost begun the search of the hooches, Pvt. Tatum & Pvt. Parker are hurriedly recalled

I began the play test scenario later in the evening, and was surprised when Jenny came downstairs to tell me it was 10:30pm already. Time went by fast while playing! I finished the turn, and resolved to finish the game after lunch tomorrow. My troops were in the process of falling back to our entry point, and things were looking fairly good. Cpl. Spellman, the medic, was Johnny on the spot, bouncing from one downed soldier to another. He had been targeted himself numerous times, but seemed to be leading a charmed life. Every time, he rolled above the foe's DL and came away unscathed. A shout to Spellman's rear distracted him, though, as he was checking on Pfc. Griffin. Sgt. Hayes had been hit! After patching up Griffin's flesh wound and ordering him back into the fight, he jogged off to check on his sergeant. 

    Medic & Pvt. Janowicz check on Pfc. Griffin, while behind them veteran Sgt. Hayes goes down

It was at this moment, that the wheels came off the Big Red jalopy! Spellman was Downed himself by fire from a squad of VC that had popped up to his right. Pfc. Tatum, panting from his hair-raising run through the center of the ville, stopped to help Hayes and Spellman. Another burst of fire, and Tatum went down, too. What was truly turning the tide in favor of the VC was a horrible run of my die rolling for activation. First Squad's M79 gunner, Pvt. Cassidy, failed on both his activation rolls for two turns in a row. I kept a log of what each soldier did to help me analyze the game afterwards. Turn 4 reads "x2 Failures" over and over. Plus, cards like "All Hell Breaks Loose" came up back to back. 

    One mamasan fleeing off-board changes course, pulls out a weapon, and join the VC in the woods

Sgt. Bruce was doing his best, though, to pick up the slack when his counterpart went down. He kept the M60 gunner, Pfc. George, hammering away at the VC. One ability of the squad leader is to give a free activation to any soldier within 6" -- even if they've already acted. Pfc. George and his assistant gunner Pvt. Boston, fed belt after belt through the M60. George was quick to pin and silence enemy LMGs as they opened up on the squads. However, the problem facing the Big Red One was that the guys who were Down were back out in the open, in the center of the village. Plus, it didn't help that Lt. Cooper and his radioman, back on Turn 3 when things looked smooth, extracted themselves off-table. So, no Fire Missions to lay smoke or bail out the troops with the radio gone! Nice job, "Butterbar!"

I wrote my mechanics to encourage players to do what U.S. troops would do when their buddies went down. They risk their own lives to check on them and recover their wounded. The Down mechanic rewards players for doing this. You're not really sure how badly they're hit. This encourages players to check on their buddies, like troops actually would, and help them get off the table to Medevac. 

    Pvt. Janowicz continues to "get some" with his M79 grenade launcher & another great shot!

Things continued to go downhill as the turn count rose. Sgt. Bruce went down on Turn 5. Now, both squad leaders and the lieutenant were unable to help their command. At one point, I counted that I had only five guys standing and seven laying Down or otherwise out of action. Luckily, Pvt. Carter was able to help patch up Sgt. Hayes. Once on his feet, Hayes immediately began to make a difference. His extra action motivated the soldiers to gather up their wounded buddies and begin hobbling with them to the rear. Potential disaster struck when M60 gunner Pfc. George went Down, too. Hayes pulled him to his feet, though, and the two began limping to the rear. 

    Another VC LMG team fires at Cpl. Frey as he moves to rescue Kern, who has been down for awhile

Finally, a lull in new arrivals gave the soldiers some breathing space. Using the woods as cover, the remnants of both squads pulled back and finally were able to withdraw from the field. They weren't exactly in any shape to reinforce another platoon, but they could get their seriously wounded to Medevac, which would hopefully save their lives. At the start of Turn 12, when I noticed no VC had any of the pairs of survivors hobbling together towards the rear in line of sight, I called the game. All were within one move of the board edge, so it was obvious they'd get off. Whew! What a rush, though! At one point, I thought for sure both squads were going to be completely wiped out. Well, except for lucky Lt. Cooper and his radioman Pvt. Byers, doubtless wondering where everyone else was, and why they were lagging behind on the trail! 

    Things looked bleak with both Sgt. Hayes & Sgt. Bruce, the medic, and Pvt. Tatum down in a heap

After the battle was over, I carefully recorded each soldier's status at the end of the game. Luckily, all wounded had been helped off board by their fellow soldiers. This is important because each injured soldiers requires a roll on a Recovery Chart. There are positive modifiers if a soldier has been helped off board, or if the wounds were light. I pulled up the chart, snagged a likely 20-sided die, and wished for the best. So, here are the results of the Big Red One's first action in Vietnam:

    Near the end, I began to wonder if we'd have enough uninjured soldiers to carry all the wounded!

 

1ST SQUAD

• Squad Leader Sgt. Hayes = (Lost Limb - his war is over!) This was a frustratingly bad, post-game die roll. I had a +4 for him being only Lightly Wounded, and +1 for making it off-board. My roll? A "1" on 1d20! Apparently, the old Korean War veteran toughed out that serious leg wound at the end game, but once at the hospital it turned out much worse than it looked.
• Cpl. Kern = fit for duty (Roll was "Bad Luck - soldier returned to unit after a few days of medical care"...ha, ha!). 
• Pfc. Tatum = out for 1 month, recuperating from wounds.
• Pvt. Parker = Killed In Action - the unit's only fatality.
• Pvt. Cassidy = fit for duty. 

2ND SQUAD

• Squad Leader Sgt. Bruce = Lost Limb - his war is over! Wow - I lost both of my squad leaders on the very first mission. Will anyone survive their 12-month tour? 
• Cpl. Frey =  out for 1 month, recuperating from wounds.
• Pfc. Griffin = fit for duty.
• Pvt. Carter = fit for duty (injured, but also with the "Bad Luck" roll).
• Pvt. Janowicz = fit for duty.   

ATTACHED ELEMENTS 

• Command Officer 2nd Lt. Cooper = fit for duty.
• Radioman Pfc. Byars = fit for duty.
• Medic Cpl. Spellman = Million Dollar Wound (returning to the States for treatment -- his war is over!).
• M60 Machine Gunner Pfc. George = Lost Limb - his war is over!
• M60 Asst. Gunner Pvt. Boston = fit for duty.

    My card deck - first play test went well, though casualties were high among the two squads!

That's one KIA and four so badly wounded their tour of duty is over. An additional two won't be back in time for the next mission. So, the ranks will be a little thin for Mission #2! Reflecting on the casualties, that's seven of 15 who reported for duty that will not be there next time. It looks like Lt. Cooper is going to have to take over 2nd Squad himself, while Cpl. Kern is promoted to promoted to lead 1st Squad. He's going to be thrilled by that outcome, I'm sure! And likely, just as thrilled that he's getting two new replacements. Actually, there IS a slim chance with each Replacement roll that you don't get a FNG, but actually get someone more experienced. In the attached elements, there will be a new assistant gunner, as Pvt. Boston is promoted and moves up to take George's place on the M60. There will also be a new medic. I'll do all the rolls to see what type of replacement they get prior to the next post.

After my first play test, I am very encouraged. It was bloody, but I had some awful luck in the mid-going of the game. I want to do at least one more game before I open it up to others giving it a run with their group or by themselves. If you're interested in play testing, send me an email (mike.demana.wwm@gmail.com). I will need to type up rules more properly than I have it now, with sections scattered here and there. Thanks for any comments on the battle report, and I hope to present Mission #2 next week sometime!

MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Miniatures acquired in 2025: 288
  
• Miniatures painted in 2025: 161

TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Terrain acquired in 2025: 36
  
• Terrain painted in 2025: 57

SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2025

• Scatter acquired in 2025: 115
  
• Scatter painted in 2025: 150