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