CapnJim's Vietnam Stuff...Nam 68 Game 9 Scenario Info - Page 31 - 15 Sep 25)

[CapnJim]

Well, the odds are stacked with them for this scrum.  So, we shall see...

[CapnJim]

We did play yesterday (Friday, 15 August).  As usual, Dave, Gene, and Ted took 3rd Platoon, while I played the VC, civilians, and acted as GM.  Ted played the Platoon HQ. CPL Alias' M60 team, and the attached M48A3.  Gene took 1st Squad, and Dave 3rd Squad.  The game went about 3 hours, and played out for 20 turns (10 each side). 

Now that that's out of the way, lets' get on with it...

Part 1:  It's Quiet.  Too Damn Quiet...

The chopper ride to Firebase Weezy actually felt good.  With the side doors of the Hueys locked open, the rush of wind (warmish as it was) felt way better than the heat and humidity on the ground.  They would get to experience more of that soon enough.  Once at Weezy, they linked up with the tankers that would be attached to 3rd platoon for this mission.  SFC Daltry thought to himself "This oughta be interesting.  Could be the only time we get a chance to work with DATs."

Once the usual briefings and pre-mission checks and re-checks were done, they all moved out.  It was 7 or 8 clicks to this stupid hooch on the Quim Bi Road they were supposed to check out.  That was a good hour-and-a-half march, at least.  Maybe longer, depending.  When they got about a couple hundred meters from the objective area, around a sharp bend in the road, Daltry called a halt.  The men set up 360 security, and Daltry told CPL Wyman to send a couple guys forward to scout the joint out.  Off they went.

When they got back, they reported.  No sign of VC, and just a few civilians milling around.  There was a small dock on the river across the road from the hooch, with what looked like supplies stacked on it, and some old f***er at a small boat tied to the dock.  The road crossed a sidestream just before the hooch. and it looked like they were stuck having to use the stone bridge there.  It looked like a sturdy bridge, though.  And there were some small hills overlooking the area.







The 2 men did report that there was a rickety old wooden bridge about a hundred meters south of the main bridge, that looked like infantry could use it.     

3rd Platoon moved out to the north up the road.  The plan was for the FO to cross that rickety old bridge, and move up the west side of the river to a low hill, and set up to call in the mortars should that be required.  3rd Squad would move up on the left, followed by Daltry and the HQ in the slot.  1st Squad would move up on the right.  Once they got close, the tank would get off the road (they VC liked to mine the roads...), and the tank and CPL Alias and his M60 would take up overwatch positions on a hill just southeast of the objective.  They could keep an eye on things from there.  3rd Platoon followed the plan.  This where our game began.

   





As 3rd Platoon approached the area, carefully, the civilians kept about their business.  The tankers and CPL Alias watched over them, like guardian angels...





Something didn't feel right to Daltry.  The civilians were acting squirrelly, going this way and that.  It was like they couldn't decide which way was better to go....and it was too quiet.  Too damn quiet....

It was about then that one of the civilians came running toward the, down the road, waving frantically and yelling excitedly in Vietnam ese.  The men in 3rd Platoon just about all pointed their weapons at him, but Cong told Daltry he was only telling them the VC had planted booby traps all over the place.  No one shot him, and that information was relayed to all the men.  The man turned around, and ran back across the bridge. 



The first hint of trouble came as CPL Wood's men in 3rd squad came up on the right side of the road, by a bend just south of the bridge.  PVT Rudd make a "Mine!" hand signal, pointed at the inside curve in the road, ripped off a frond of bamboo leaf, and marked what looked like a buried mine there.  "Be careful, fellas.  That guy wasn't shittin' us.  They got booby traps around" came the call from CPL Wood to anyone who was within earshot.   



All the while, the civilians kept up their confusing movements.  Oddly, the old man on the dock got up to run toward the boat, slipped on the dock, and face-planted.  He didn't get back up right away.  And the tank and the machine gun continued to keep a watchful eye out over the scene.





As 3rd Squad approached the stone bridge, with CPL Wyman and his team moving up the the steam bank to cover CPL Wood's team as they moved for the bridge, PVT Rudd crouched against the right-side pillar, and heard the dreaded "click".  He had just enough time to flatten against the pillar, uttering "Oh, shi...", when the old Soviet grenade that had been trip-wired to that pillar went off.  It must have been planted against the inside face of the pillar, because PVT Rudd came out unscathed, save for getting showered in dust and debris, and having some temporary hearing loss.  Even worse, CPL Wyman's men spotted another grenade wired to the left-side pillar - and they marked it.  SFC Daltry thought to himself "Jesus C****t!  The mother f***ers have the place wired up...".



The rest of the platoon kept moving up, now even more cautiously than before.



3rd Squad was ready to cross the bridge.  CPL Wyman and his team were set at the stream bank, ready for come what may.  The civilians suddenly moved away from the bridge, which CPL Wyman thought a bit odd.  As CPL Hamilton from 1st Squad moved forward to bring up the platoon's rear, he motioned for his 3 men to follow him.  They didn't, apparently being VERY careful.  In fact, PFC Bigelow (CPL Hamilton's grenadier) would remain there, becoming one with the earth, during the whole fight.  It was a decision on his part that would result in some "counseling" after the mission was completed.  At the bridge, CPL Wood ordered his team across, and his team moved out.  PVT Rudd led, trying to stay away from both sides of the bridge, in an effort to avoid any more booby-traps.  "Be careful, Rudd" shouted Wood.  ""Watch for boo......"

 



I will leave it there for now.  My plan is to post Part 2: It Ain't t Quiet No More..." tomorrow.  Stay tuned...

[has.been]

...and it seemed like such a good plan.
Great stuff Capt. can't wait for the next part.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Ooh, major cliff hanger.

[CapnJim]

...and it seemed like such a good plan.
Great stuff Capt. can't wait for the next part.

Thanks.  And the boys did have a good plan.  Some of their soundest tactics yet (in my humble opinion...).

Ooh, major cliff hanger.

Yep.  Read on to see what happened...

Part 2: It Ain't t Quiet No More...

As mentioned in Part 1, as CPL Wood's men from 3rd Squad began crossing the stone bridge, the civilians suddenly moved away from the bridge (well, except for the old man lying face down at the base of the dock), which CPL Wyman thought a bit odd.



PVT Rudd led CPL Wood's men, trying to stay away from both sides of the bridge, in an effort to avoid any more booby-traps.  "Be careful, Rudd" shouted Wood.  ""Watch for boo......"


BOOM!  BANG!

PVT Rudd's efforts to move down the middle of the bridge not only didn't avoid any booby traps, he didn't see the tripwires and he managed to detonate two old Soviet grenades, one each set at both far bridge pillars.  PVT Rudd hit the ground highty perforated and dead as a doornail.



One man down, and nobody had fired a shot yet.  SFC Daltry was right.  The VC had wired the place up good.  And he was sure the shit was about to hit the fan.  CPL Wyman (3rd Squad Leader) was ahead of him.  He and his team was scanning likely areas from which the VC would trigger their ambush.  The tankers and CPL Alias and his pig on their hill were doing likewise.

CPL Wood's men kept moving across the bridge, heading toward the dock - with PVT Scott heading toward that prostrate old man.  3rd platoon wanted to chat with him.  The rest of 3rd Platoon followed CPL Wood's men, with SGT Tyler's team from 1st Squad heading toward the hooch.  CPL Hamilton's men headed for the bridge, intending to take up positions at the bridge railing.







It was at this point that said shit hit said fan.  First, a trio of VC reared their heads in the jungle scrub just across the river from the dock.  They didn't get a chance to fire.  They were met with a hail of 5.56 and 7.62 NATO small arms fire, as well as 40mm and 90mm HE rounds.  The VC that weren't wounded hit the dirt.



Then, almost at the same time, more VC popped up from the marshy area just northwest of the objective area.  They opened fire, and shot PVT Scott dead on the dock by the prone old guy.



Two men down. 

The civilians scattered, running away from all the gunfire.  This time, their movement made sense...



And, men from 3rd platoon returned fire.  Most of the 2nd group of VC the the dirt.  Or mud, as it were. 



The original 3 VC, across the river from the dock, took another man down, and that pretty much took them out of the fight.  The only unwounded VC there dragged one of his wounded comrades away from the fight.  And the full weight of firepower available to 3rd Platoon was unleashed on the 4 VC in/by the marshy area.  Rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, tank main guns, all let loose on them.  Even the FO on the other hill got in on the act, calling on fairly accurate mortar fire on the VC position.  Some missed.  But a lot hit.  And 2 VC at the marshy area went down.  Others hit the dirt again.  It was now very, very loud.









After that initial response to the VC ambush, there was some more sporadic fire.  SGT Tyler had a man enter and search the hooch, but he didn't find anything of any value.

Most of the the civilians scurried away, except for the poor lady who though her best route of escape was a foot-bridge across the river. She survived the American response to the ambush, but was was frozen in place (likely by fear, I would guess.  She was in the wrong place at the wrong time.).

And then it was over, almost as soon as it started.  The few VC that could, melted away up the riverbank.  3rd Platoon now owned the place.

 



Aftermath

This firefight fight was sharp and fairly quick.  The VC (me) knew, with what they had with which to hit the Americans, they had to inflict as much damage as possible with their opening shots.  If the Americans could respond with their firepower, the VC couldn't stand up to it for long. 

PVT Rudd's unfortunate experience with the booby-traps was something of a fluke.  This game was the first one in which booby-traps actually did anything.  And, the VC only hit one GI in their opening volley.  The GIs in 3rd Platoon used a pretty good plan and executed in well.  By keeping men (including the tank and machine gun, situated in a place with a good view of the likely battlefield) on overwatch ("Covering Fire" in game terms), they were able to react authoritatively to the VC ambush.  And, with the limited effectiveness of the VC ambush, they were able to dump a lot of firepower on the VC.  Hell, even the FO's fire mission was pretty much on target.

Here's the rub, though.  3rd Platoon is teetering on combat ineffectiveness.  They won this fight.  They stomped the VC.  But they still took 2 KIA.  And without getting replacements, they can't really withstand much in the way of casualties.    The players have remarked in the past, that even when they win, it feels like they lost.  In this game, they lost in game terms (traded KIA with the VC, 2 for 2 - the other 2 wounded VC survived and got away).  But it felt like they won.  Very interesting.

They did capture the old man on the dock (who turned out to be a VC infiltrator).  And the actual Search Point was the dock, which turned out to be a small VC supply stash.

After the firefight, The Old Man choppered out a spare M60 team from the company reserve, to beef the platoon up a bit.  The chopper also brought out PFC Jaymes' M60 team, and SFC Daltry assigned one of his gun teams to the squads to get them back up to (only) 7 men each.  They loaded their 2 KIA and the prisoner on the slick, and it, and the M48, left 3rd platoon's AO.  They did not get any replacements.  Worse, SGT Tyler and PVT Whitford were going back to The World - this had been their last mission.   The Old Man told Daltry that all the Division's replacements were going to the Division's units supporting the fight against the Tet Offensive (which wasn't quite concluded yet). 

The Old Man gave them new orders.  Continue patrolling north up the Quim Bi Road, and stop and search anyone or anything that looks like it could be VC or VC supplies.  This will be the basis for our next Mission (#9, scheduled for 19 September).

3rd Platoon was teetering on a knife's edge.  They are a veteran infantry platoon (well, most of one), proud members of the 1st Cavalry Division.  But, some of the men were getting tired of the grind.  They were down a squad, and some of the men were getting tired of losing friends without very much to show for it.  Both SGT Tyler's and CPL Wyman's teams were now Reluctant (in game terms, and likely for real...).  3rd Platoon's Tour of Duty was wearing on them.  How long would they last until they were pulled out of the field for combat ineffectiveness?         

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Interesting AAR, thanks for the write up.

The after action effects are Interesting.

[carlos marighela]

Great AAR. Really interesting game dynamics, the 'feels like losing even when winning' has a nice take on soldier's priorities, ie their mates and their own prospects of survival.

It's been a fascinating campaign to watch from the sidelines. No bloodbaths per se, more a constant drip of casualties and overall I'd say that's a fair representation of the conflict overall. Juts out of curiosity does the campaign end when the platoon becomes combat ineffective?

I like the booby trap so much more than the modern, anodyne, IED. I often wonder how much childish sniggering at the word 'booby' it must have taken over the years to force the change. Let's start a campaign to bring back booby traps. We just need to convince the Pentagon that IED is some sort of DEI inspired, culturally Marxist 'wokeism'. That should do the trick.

[has.been]

Once again, thanks for posting.

[CapnJim]

Interesting AAR, thanks for the write up.

The after action effects are Interesting.

Thanks.  I use the "Aftermath" part of the AARs to take the rules' post-game and mission generation processes, and put them into the narrative for the platoon's activities.  Ii also chuck in a few of my own observations.

Great AAR. Really interesting game dynamics, the 'feels like losing even when winning' has a nice take on soldier's priorities, ie their mates and their own prospects of survival.

It's been a fascinating campaign to watch from the sidelines. No bloodbaths per se, more a constant drip of casualties and overall I'd say that's a fair representation of the conflict overall. Juts out of curiosity does the campaign end when the platoon becomes combat ineffective?

I like the booby trap so much more than the modern, anodyne, IED. I often wonder how much childish sniggering at the word 'booby' it must have taken over the years to force the change. Let's start a campaign to bring back booby traps. We just need to convince the Pentagon that IED is some sort of DEI inspired, culturally Marxist 'wokeism'. That should do the trick.

Yeah, they've only had 1 or 2 really bad fights.  But a death by a thousand cuts is still a death...

Regarding combat ineffectiveness, the rules state that once a platoon's strength gets below 20 men (they are currently at 21!...), that's the "combat ineffectiveness" trigger point.  If/when we hit that point, the guys and I have decided to either 1. Add enough replacements to get above 20 men (the rules' recommendation), or 2.  Call EndEx at that point, at which time higher HQ will pull the platoon out of the field.  We'll wait to beat that horse til after it's dead...

And IED to DEI is not a stretch at all.  In US military parlance, and IED would be a "Device, Explosive, Improvised, 1 each".  So they really ought to be a DEIs...but I'm with you.  I like "booby-trap" better.  You just know some grunt coined the term "booby trap", while a desk jockey came up with "IED"....   

Once again, thanks for posting.

You're quite welcome...

And, for our 19 September game, we'll have a guest VC player.  My brother from Florida (Mark) is coming up for his annual visit, and he has volunteered/agreed to play the VC, while I act strictly as GM/umpire.  The usual suspects will continue to play the Americans.

 

[Rick]

The booby, of course, being an unintelligent looking bird with a reputation for getting stuck in things that it could quite easily avoid! 

[mikedemana]

Great report, Jim! Hopefully, you guys choose to add in the FNGs and keep going. I want to see how a full year plays out. Of course, that's assuming you guys are still having fun with it! I know us -- the readers -- are! 

Mike Demana

[Dr. Zombie]

These reports really are a joy to follow. Great job on running such a successfull campaign.

[Vagabond]

I've just caught up on the last 10 pages and can't believe it was 5 months ago that I was last here.

You're doing a superb job of holding it all together with the AAR's and the bits in between.  I can see why your guys would be a bit frazzled with the constant drip drip of casualties, as well as the constant unknown threats when entering a new village.

I did something like this once solo and ended up neurotic over trying to keep my guy's alive in the face of constant unpredictable enemy action.

It would be interesting to get the 3 players write their views on how the campaign went when you wind it up.

Hope you get the full 12 games in and I'll be back in another 5 months.

Well done with this so far

[CapnJim]

Great report, Jim! Hopefully, you guys choose to add in the FNGs and keep going. I want to see how a full year plays out. Of course, that's assuming you guys are still having fun with it! I know us -- the readers -- are! 

Mike Demana

We'll make that determination on the 19th (after the next game).  I'd like to keep going through December, but we'll make a group decision if/when that time comes.

These reports really are a joy to follow. Great job on running such a successfull campaign.

Thanks.  Appreciate that.

I've just caught up on the last 10 pages and can't believe it was 5 months ago that I was last here.

You're doing a superb job of holding it all together with the AAR's and the bits in between.  I can see why your guys would be a bit frazzled with the constant drip drip of casualties, as well as the constant unknown threats when entering a new village.

I did something like this once solo and ended up neurotic over trying to keep my guy's alive in the face of constant unpredictable enemy action.

It would be interesting to get the 3 players write their views on how the campaign went when you wind it up.

Hope you get the full 12 games in and I'll be back in another 5 months.

Well done with this so far

Thanks, Vaggers.  You do realize you're welcome here any time...

 

[CapnJim]

Game 9 of our Nam '68 Tour of Duty campaign is set for this coming Friday (the 19th).

As usual, Dave, Gene, and Ted will play the Americans, and I will GM.  But we will have a guest player playing the VC.  My brother Mark is up for his annual visit from Florida.  He will be playing the VC.  He and I played a couple "learn the rules" games yesterday, and he caught on pretty quick.  So, we should be good to go.

Here is the scenario sheet:



And here is the US Platoon Roster:




FYI, we had a discussion at last week's game, and it appears that we will play this thing through to December.  So, if/when they get down to combat ineffectiveness, they will be getting some FNGs.  Of course, an illustrated AAR will appear here after we play Friday.  Stay tuned!