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| A squad of VC arrive on table, while U.S. soldiers prowl forward through the bamboo & jungle |
For the last several years, our
Great Lakes chapter of the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, has put on a slate of miniatures events at
Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. The convention brings in thousands of gamers of all types -- role players, card players, board gamers, and of course, miniature players. We take the opportunity to put on highly visible events and utilize the show as a chance to recruit members to our chapter. What better place, I thought, to run some games of
Surviving 'Nam and generate some interest for the rules imminent release?
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| Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division advance towards an isolated Vietnamese hamlet to search it |
I scheduled six game over the course of three days at Origins. I would run a different scenario from the rule book each day. Even before the convention began, all four slots in my six games were completely booked! Whoa -- sold out before the first attendee arrives! For the first time ever, I would run two games on Wednesday of Origins. I always considered that just a set up day, and never thought about running games then. However, scheduled events begin at noon Wednesday, so I figured I would run twice on that day since my games had openings for only four players each. I took Friday off, as another GM requested a round table for one day, and I deferred to him so that our
HMGS Great Lakes area would fill the tables more consistently.
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| My 4 players in 'Check out the Hooches' contemplate the tactical situation & debate a plan |
Through the years running games at Origins, I've always enjoyed the chance to introduce folks who'd never played a miniatures game to the thrill and spectacle of historical miniatures. This year was no exception, as I had players who were typically board gamers or role players sign up and have a great time. I also had my share of miniature gamers, interested in playing a Vietnam War game or who thought the concept of
Surviving 'Nam sounded interesting. One player confessed that
Apocalypse Now is his favorite war movie. So, unlike at a miniatures convention, GMs tend to get an interesting mix of players around their table.
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| U.S. lieutenant, trailed by his radioman, leads his fire team forward in 'Tanks for the Help' |
Tanks for the Help!
The first scenario that I ran is called Tanks for the Help! In this case, a U.S. tank has broken down on a Vietnamese country road. Worried the Viet Cong will sneak up and blow it up while it is being repaired, the U.S. infantry are tasked with fanning out in the woods all around it and keeping any V.C. from getting close. The enemy does hear about the tank, and soon is moving towards the positions that the players' fire teams have taken up. Each player controls one 5-man unit of U.S. soldiers from the Big Red One infantry division.
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| Wednesday evening players move up their fire teams and take positions to repel a VC assault |
The game begins in the Countdown to Contact phase, where each player may move his figures one action as they hurriedly take up positions to protect the tank. When a 1d6 roll, plus turns elapsed, equals "6" the V.C. arrive in positions rolled randomly by the players. Most scenarios have a positive or negative modifier to the Countdown to Contact roll. This allows it to occur sooner or later, on average. Still, despite the modifier, the randomness of 1d6 means the players never really know when the V.C. will launch their attack.
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| And here they come! Two VC squads, each with an RPG, hoping to blow up the disabled tank |
Tactically, this is a fairly straight forward scenario. The players must knock a specified number of enemy out of action to break the spirit of the V.C. attack. At the end of every turn, the V.C. figures on table get an extra movement forward towards the players. If the number of enemy on table runs low, more arrive on the back edge and begin assaulting forwards. In my first game of the convention, the players' rolls were amazing. They rarely failed their activation rolls, resulting in fewer shots against the players than you might expect. When targeted, they typically rolled high and avoided the enemy fire. What's more, the Event Cards smiled upon them, as well. No Light Machine Gun appeared. No
Sniper! card appeared. Those are the two deadliest cards for players in the deck, along with
All Hell is Breaking Loose (which activates ALL V.C. on the table for a shot if in line of sight or a move, if not. All Hell didn't come up till late in the game when the V.C. numbers were depleted.
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| More VC arrive and prepare to enter a thick patch of bamboo & assault the defending Americans |
Not to take anything away from the player's tactics. They had a solid battle plan, grasped the mechanics quickly, and used their fire team leader's free activations cleverly to shoot down any V.C. that appeared in dangerous positions. They were by far the luckiest of the half dozen sets of players, though, and they finished the mission fairly quickly and efficiently. I felt bad for them that they never really had that "Oh, crap!" moment when V.C. are popping up all around them and their soldiers are going Down. Still, what player doesn't like to win? So,
Surviving 'Nam started off at Origins with a successful first U.S. mission.
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| A VC rifleman spots the squad's radioman and stalks forward, hoping to get off a clear shot at him |
The next game did not have the same easy path to victory. They suffered losses, but were ultimately able to inflict enough casualties to break the back of the V.C. resolve. After the game, I walked the players what they would do if they were playing this game as part of a campaign, which
Surviving 'Nam is intended to do. Each game represents a mission during one month of their yearlong tour of duty in Vietnam (13 months if Marines). So, I'm hoping players will fight their way through all 12, with the goal of getting as many of their soldiers through their time "In Country" alive.
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| Players used my new 'measuring sticks' (3-D printed sticks with 1 inch bands from RRB Minis) |
After the game, players must roll for each wounded U.S. soldier, even if they were Lightly or Walking Wounded. If they were carried off-table by friends, and if the wounds were lighter, they receive bonuses to the roll. The resulting out come can result in the loss of the soldier to the fire team, for example if they roll low and geet
Killed in Action or
Lost a Limb. The soldier could also have suffered a
Million Dollar Wound!, which gets the soldier a ticket
home but without horrible disfigurement or debilitating injuries. Or they may roll
Enjoy Japan! (three months recuperation),
Enjoy Japan! (two months) or
REMF for a Month! (one month). The players enjoyed that aspect of the game, too, and were also interested in the rolls to see what kind of replacement they would get if their numbers fell too low. All in all, the showcasing of the rules was off to a solid start on the first day of the convention. In hindsight, I would probably bring a more tactically challenging mission to a convention next time, as well as one that has more cool looking terrain on it for eye candy for passers by!
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| Four friends from Utah all signed up for my Thursday evening game & were a blast to play with |
Check out the Hooches
I have to confess that the games I had on Thursday were likely my favorites of the convention. I had fun all six times I ran Surviving 'Nam, of course, and enjoyed my groups of players. I think I got very lucky as everyone seemed to have a positive attitude and no curmudgeons seemed to sign up for any of my games. Nevertheless, whether because of the way Thursday's games played out or the nature of the scenario, Thursday was an absolute blast! At the end of each session I ran, the players seemed very, very excited about the game. Many said they were looking forward to its release (I told them my best guess was about a month or so until that happens). Some asked about the figures and where they could get them. I helped them navigate to Crucible Crush's Black Sun range page on their website. It was exactly the kind of day someone writing a new rules set wants to have.
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| Peaceful Vietnamese hamlet with villagers doing daily chores about to be disrupted by the US arrival |
In
Check out the Hooches, which was actually the
first scenario I play tested solo back in August of 2025, the players' fire teams need to conduct a search of two hooches in a small hamlet in a jungle clearing. Along with a vegetable field, barn, and pig pen, the hooches are surrounded by patches of jungle. This is where the V.C. pop up when the Countdown to Contact phase of the game ends. And in the morning game on Friday, the players' troops paid in blood for the successes the Americans had yesterday. Light machine gun bunkers opened up on the players from the table edges, snipers appeared taking pot shots at key leaders, and
All Hell was breaking loose many times.
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| As the soldiers arrive in column, the villagers begin to panic & flee -- like granny on the far left! |
In fact, one unfortunate player on right wing of the American advance, ended up facing the bulk of the V.C. who arrived (including both enemy bunkers). Prior to this mission, I had never had one player's entire fire team be knocked Down or Out of Action. In
Surviving 'Nam, when a player does not roll high enough to avoid an enemy shot, he is "Down." He cannot activate until another player goes over to check on him, and hopefully patch him up and get him back into the fight. The roll on the Down chart provides a series of possible results from Out of Action to a lucky hit that was deflected by a piece of equipment.
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| One U.S. sergeant leads his fire team quickly to encircle the right side of the village |
The terrain of the village also does not provide clear lines of fire for the Americans. There is no one place they can set up their M60 light machine gun to sweep the entire village. Fields of fire and lines of sight are restricted, and the skirmish degenerates into a number of separate actions. Unfortunately, the player on the right suffered greatly because of it. His sergeant and all four soldiers were Down or Out of Action for the last half hour of the game, it seemed. However, the left faced less opposition and fought their way forward to the hooches and was able to search them. Reinforcements from another player's squad were able to get some members of the team up and moving and help carry off the others for a very narrow escape.
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| Meanwhile, another fire team begins to ascend the stairs of the closest hooch to search the interior |
The butcher's bill was much greater in this firefight than in the two previous games. At least one soldier was KIA and another lost a limb and would be going home after recuperating at an army hospital. One of the things I really like about
Surviving 'Nam is how each game plays out so differently. Player activation rolls tend to be streaky. One moment they're cruising along, gunning down V.C. riflemen. The next minute, they're rolling multiple failures in a row for activations. Snipers appear and gun down a squad leader or officer. Light machine guns open fire and pin key troops. And every time they un-pin, another burst of LMG fire sends them diving back for cover. The Event Cards are streaky, too. It may seem like forever till the first
Fire Mission! card comes up (which enables them to call in mortar strikes on the enemy). And just when things seem their bleakest, Fire Mission after Fire Missions seem to appear, as you reshuffle the deck after each time that card comes up. The players cheer as a bunker is neutralized or a enemy squad that appeared on their rear is blown up by artillery.
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| Just then, the VC spring their ambush and pop out of the jungle to open fire on the Americans |
All of this seemed to happen on Thursday in the two runnings of the scenario. One player had such a great time he showed up Saturday to play again. Afterwards, as Jenny and I were walking back from a nearby brewpub, I confessed that I think that
Surviving 'Nam is my strongest rules set to date. Of all the ones I've written, it seems to be the most tight and do the best job of abstracting certain things while still giving players the visceral thrill and uncertainty of combat.
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| A bloody firefight begins on the right that will end up with the entire U.S. fire team going down |
Temple at River Bend
On Wednesday in Tanks for the Help, I informed the player's ahead of time what the number of V.C. was that they had to dispatch to stop the enemy attack. On Saturday, in Temple at River Bend, I decided to keep that secret. The U.S. player force is taking the role of the "hammer" in a hammer and anvil attack. They are to engage a V.C. who have made camp in a ruined temple complex in the jungle. They need to cause enough casualties to get them running in the opposite direction -- straight into an off-board ambush laid by the rest of the company.
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| Saturday morning's crew was also very fun, alternately bickering with & encouraging each other |
I guessed the board might be my best looking one of the convention, so had told earlier players during the week to stop on Saturday and check out the tabletop. It included three scratch-built, ruined temple buildings or stupas, along with an aquarium scenery temple that I prettied up with vegetation. The wide greenish-brown river bend looks the right color for a jungle river and the scattered pieces of jungle-choked ruins look very evocative, I feel. The fields of fire for the attackers are also restricted by the various patches of jungle, and the shape of the river forces them to expose themselves to enemy fire at closer ranges than they'd prefer to gain line of sight on the enemy.
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| Bend in the river opposite the temple complex presented a tactical challenge for the U.S players |
Like many of the 12 scenarios which will be included in the rules, they are based on actual incidents I've read from the memoirs of soldiers who served in Vietnam. This one even occurred to members of the Big Red One, which is the unit my 28mm Black Sun figures are painted up to depict. I fought this one solo back in August of last year, too. Check out that more detailed
battle report here if you're interested. When I am running games at a convention, I always try to set up my table as far in advance as possible. I hope the table layout will "sell" the game and encourage folks to sign up. Or in this case, to show up and hope to fill any spots of no-shows (which was actually a bit of a problem this year at Origins). Saturday morning's game had two no-shows, which allowed me to include both players who were waiting and hoping to secure a spot in my sold-out event. One of those was a very enthusiastic returning player from Thursday.
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| U.S. soldiers advance to get within line of sight of the VC inside the ruined temple complex |
One thing I thought was humorous all convention long was that the first players to arrive chose NOT to take on the role of the lieutenant's fire team, and instead picked one of the sergeants'. Even the lure of the M60 machine gun team wasn't enough for players to step forward to be the "Looey" -- perhaps they'd read or seen too many accounts of Vietnam which mention the sometimes short life expectancy of an officer in charge of an infantry squad! Anyway, Saturday morning's lieutenant was a younger player who hadn't played too many historical miniatures games, I surmised. Still the other players encouraged and helped him along, joking with him much as veteran sergeants might with a brand new officer. The four players probably had the best chemistry of any of the half dozen games I ran. They rooted for each other to succeed and laughed off the pitfalls their fire teams encountered.
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| Enemy mortar fire begins to zero in on the Americans as they near the bank of the muddy river |
Unlike in the other scenarios, two V.C. light machine gun teams appear immediately when Countdown to Contact ends. Along with the
Sniper! Event Card, these are the deadliest dangers the players face. As the LMGs began to pin the players, they began to grow a little desperate. The desire to move their soldiers out of line of sight of the machine gun was very real. However, that left precious few shooters to have eyes on the enemy and try to take them out. It was interesting watching how the players dealt with this danger in the scenario.
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| Taking cover in some jungle near the river, American soldiers fire upon the VC to drive them out |
In the final game Saturday evening, I honestly felt at one point that the players might lose and have to withdraw. Two fire team leaders went down within minutes of each other. That robs the players of the free action that the leader can grant to one of his men when he activates. That second shot in a turn by the M60 gunner or M79 grenade launcher can often be the key to suppressing the enemy's biggest squads or heaviest weapons. The push on the players' right stalled and the Fire Mission cards never seemed to arrive.
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| VC mortar barrage somehow threads its way through a group of Americans without hitting any |
Suddenly it broke open, though. The young man in charge of the lieutenant decided to risk him moving forward so he could see both enemy machine guns. And wouldn't you know it? That was just when battalion artillery called back and asked for the fire mission coordinates. First one and then the other machine gun was taken out of action by the barrage. The players were nearing their goal when a potential disaster occurred. The
We're Outflanked! event card was drawn, and a six-man enemy squad appeared in a patch of woods right behind the squad medic, machine gunner, and assistant gunner. The only figure that had not activated yet in that turn was the assistant gunner -- who was an FNG. These new guys have the worst percentage chance to activate.
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| 'We're Outflanked!' card gives U.S. players an "oh, crap!" moment with VC arriving on their rear |
The young man controlling the lieutenant's fire team rolled two successes, though. He had the FNG prep and throw a grenade which took four of the six enemy out of action. The first turn of the next turn, his machine gunner spun around and KO'd the remaining two. Those six enemy eliminated took them over their target score and won them the game. The older players cheered the young man's success, which was heart-warming. It was especially good to see him to get a chance to redeem himself, as the M60 had been engaged with one of the enemy LMGs for most of the game. He just never seemed to roll high enough to take it out, pinning it time after time.
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| Picture of a VC bunker (roof taken off) from an earlier 'Check out the Hooches" game |
The weekend was full of moments like this, it seemed. Although I apologize to any of my players reading this if I got minor details of their game wrong. After six games run during an extended weekend of gaming, the action tends to blur. I had a sign with a QR code next to my table, linking people to the
Surviving 'Nam posts on Lead Legionaries. So, welcome aboard to any new readers of my blog. I tend to update it a couple times a week. I hope you become regular readers. Rest assured, I will definitely announce it here first when the rules are published and ready to purchase as print on demand book or download as a PDF. Stay tuned!
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| My game was one of many (and NOT the best looking!) of many put on by HMGS Great Lakes |
Thanks to everyone who played in my games and all the kind comments from passers by at the convention about how my tabletop looked. I really appreciated the positive feedback given. For my players, though, know that you gave me every bit as much of an enjoyable time as my game did for you!
Links to missions my squad from the Big Red One in Vietnam has performed:Links to Surviving 'Nam AARs at Conventions:
MINIATURES Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Miniatures acquired in 2026: 179
- Miniatures painted in 2026: 125
TERRAIN Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Terrain acquired in 2026: 12
- Terrain painted in 2026: 26
SCATTER Acquired vs. Painted Tally for 2026
- Scatter acquired in 2026: 21
- Scatter painted in 2026: 59
