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| The squads' point men advance through the elephant grass in another game of "Surviving 'Nam" |
I decided to take a risk and play test one of my scenarios for
Surviving 'Nam at a local gaming convention this past weekend. Typically, I will have play tested it solo before springing it on players. However, I think most game masters (especially those who wrote the rules) get a good feel for play balance once they've run a number of games and created a good handful of scenarios. As this would be Mission #8 that I'd designed, I decided to take the risk.
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| The heavily wooded board where the squad would conduct their 'Search & Destroy' mission |
In this mission, the players began at one corner of the board and are attempting to cross to the opposite corner. They are on a Search & Destroy mission with the goal of killing as many Viet Cong as possible. Additionally, they must search five bodies for intelligence. They can't exit from the board until there are six or less enemy figures on table. The battalion commander wants "body count" and it is up to the players and their reinforced squad to provide it for him.
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| Three U.S. fire teams advance onto the board, probing for contact with enemy Viet Cong |
I had three players for the game, so each controlled a five-person fire team led by a veteran sergeant. They were also given platoon headquarters elements of an M60 gunner and his assistant, the platoon commanding officer and his radioman, and a medic. They split these five figures up among their teams. The scenario calls for the U.S. soldiers to march onto the board. One fire team begins on the board in the corner. Another marches on during the first Countdown to Contact phase, and the final one on the second. During Countdown to Contact, there are no enemy figures on the board. Each figure receives one action, which is typically used to move. My players also took the opportunity to begin to fan out, with the second team heading right to cover one of the squad's flanks, while the other began to move towards a patch of bamboo that would be on their left.
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| My players march their forces onto the board, uncertain of when contact with the V.C. will occur |
After turn 2 of Countdown to Contact, one of the players rolls 1d6. If they roll a "6", the V.C. spring their ambush and appear on the board. If not, they get another turn of movement and the V.C. will show up on a 5-6, or 4-6 on the next turn, and so on. Do you want to guess what the designated player rolled? Yep! A "6" on the very first turn possible. We then randomly rolled placement for the ambushing V.C., with two large squads of riflemen appearing in patches of jungle just within line of sight of the squad's advance scouts. Another very small squad and a number of individual V.C. riflemen also popped up on board. Once all the figures were on the board, it was time for the shooting to start!
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| Contact is made very early in the maneuver phase of the game - a large squad of V.C. pop up |
Like the fire team moving into the jungle to guard their right, the team on point decided to move their lead soldiers into cover. However, they chose the lightest cover on the table, a patch of elephant grass along their proposed line of march. They chose not to veer into any of the medium or heavy vegetation nearby. What's more, the player had also put the FNG on point, accompanied by the assistant machine gunner (also an FNG). For those who don't know, the "N" and "G" stand for "New Guy." I'll leave you to guess what the "F" stands for in the terminology of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam! There are three levels of troops under my rules, Veterans, Grunts, and FNGs.
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| The early springing of the ambush kept many of the U.S. soldiers bottled up in their entry area |
These two unfortunate newbie soldiers were targeted by numerous V.C., who typically fire at the closest soldier. It took a number of shots, but eventually both FNGs were "Down." In my rules, once a friendly soldier is hit and "Down," it can't take any actions until another comes and checks on it. This reinformces historical behavior of troops in Vietnam. They
would check on their buddies when hit. Once the friendly figure moves into contact and spends an action, a roll is made on a chart to see how badly hit they were. There are about a half dozen results, ranging from "Messed Up" (out of action) to the soldier having been knocked down by the force of the bullet, but unharmed. Perhaps his equipment absorbed the blow. "
Hey buddy, you're okay -- it hit your canteen! That's not blood all over your leg...it's water!" |
| I warned them to spread out because they were vulnerable -- V.C. mortar fire barely misses |
So, it became paramount for the squad to rescue those two Down soldiers. Unfortunately, V.C. were popping up all around the squad. A light machine gun team opened up on them from the heavy cover of a tumbled down, ruined stone temple. Anyone who ventured into the elephant grass to check on those two privates would be prime targets for the deadliest V.C. weapon in the game. Initially, the players were bottle necked into their deployment corner, too. I suggested a few times they needed to spread out and move forward. There were enemy mortar round cards in the event deck! As if to punctuate my advice, one of the next players failed an activation roll, resulting in the draw of an event card. Sure enough, it was "Incoming!" The players got very lucky, as it landed in a perfect spot where no U.S. soldiers were. The blast radius was almost completely surrounded by Americans, though!
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| More V.C. arrive & advance to firing positions where they can easily target the Americans |
Bit by bit, the U.S. soldiers moved up. Just as a couple soldiers ventured into the elephant grass to help the Downed guys, though, they rolled and sprang the "Bunker!" card. This brought another enemy machine gun into play in a reinforced log bunker. All of those in the elephant grass not already Down were immediately Pinned by its fire. Luckily for the players, the bunker was not on the far edge of the board, like the one in the temple. Instead, it was close by in another patch of elephant grass in range on their left flank. They all breathed a sigh of relief when an M79 gunner placed a perfect shot through the firing slot of the bunker and killed or wounded all of the occupants. Whew!
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| C.O. advances boldly on the right to get within line of sight of the enemy LMG pinning them down |
The lieutenant in charge was a bit of a fire eater. He chose not to relay to his sergeants that, after reporting contact with the enemy on the radio, the colonel had called back to say he should withdraw his soldiers. The lieutenant chose to inflict some damage on the enemy first before withdrawing. The "Colonel on the Horn" card can cause up to half a dozen different outcomes, and fortunately for them, they had rolled "Mission Scrubbed." What's more, the lieutenant began moving up on the right with his radioman in front of all of his soldiers. He wanted to get where he could draw line of sight on the temple. Once there, the player then had to wait for one of the two "Fire Mission" cards in the deck to show up, though. The two cards weren't cooperating, though! Fire was directed at the him and his radioman. They were Pinned, too. Another of his squad showed up to put fire on the enemy LMG team, but it was ineffective. So far, the enemy were simply in too good of cover.
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| Spotting a squad of V.C., the C.O. calls down a fire mission on the black clad guerrillas |
"Where the Hell is the M60?" the lieutenant shouted back. Unknown to the C.O., the player controlling the M60 rolled a natural one on his first 1d20 roll to shoot. His gun fired a few rounds and promptly jammed. He looked for his assistant to help him clear it, but the newbie was currently pinned down in the elephant grass way ahead. It wasn't till late in the game that the squad's heavy weapon finally cleared the jam and got off a few shots. By then, battalion artillery had FINALLY answered the radio. Heavy mortar rounds screamed down into the temple complex. Rock and brick shattered and deadly fragments flew everywhere. When the rounds ceased and the dust cleared, there was no sign of the LMG team. "Outstanding!" He turned and shouted to his sergeants. "Grab the wounded and let's get the Hell out of here. Battalion is pulling us back!"
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| An enemy bunker opens up on the squad from their left, concealed in the elephant grass |
The squad medic was the first to make it to one of the wounded troopers. He patched him up, and sent the soldier limping to the rear. The assistant gunner -- way out of place on the battlefield -- reached the injured point man. He began bandaging him, too. Another grunt arrived to help him, and together they helped the man struggle back out of the elephant grass. The sergeants directed their more experienced soldiers to toss a few smoke grenades to cover their exit, and the wedge of troops contracted backwards on itself and exfiltrated the battlefield.
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| Luckily, the battalion colonel scrubbed the mission and the squad didn't have to fight its way through |
At the loss of only two wounded, the lieutenant considered it a successful action. He directed his sergeants to tabulate an estimated body count, and mentally began composing his after action report. He checked on the wounded -- the medic assured him both would make it, but they needed Medevac soon. He got back on the horn and reported the successful contact to battalion, and called for the bird to come pick up the two wounded privates. Meanwhile, his soldiers were thankful that another mission In Country had been completed and they were another day closer to that big metal bird ride home!
MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Miniatures acquired in 2026: 159
- Miniatures painted in 2026: 60
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Terrain acquired in 2026: 3
- Terrain painted in 2026: 21
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Scatter acquired in 2026: 16
- Scatter painted in 2026: 48
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