Charlie Company

Vietnam rules

Reviewed by Bill Rutherford

Pub. by RAFM, Inc. Skirmish-level Vietnam combat. 57 pages of rules and notes, 19 pages of charts, photocopiable forms and rosters, etc. The figure scale is one to one, turns are either one or five minutes long, depending on whether combat's going on, and distances are, well, short. CHARLIE COMPANY is unusual in that the players typically all on the American/Allied side as officers or NCOs, with a game master controlling the activities of the NVA/VC troops. The game's designed to play as a "tour of duty" of 12 battles, with individual player victory determined by winning battles while surviving one's tour.

CHARLIE COMPANY is written in an almost conversational style that, normally, I abhor. In this case, however, it enhances the rulebook, immersing the reader in the practicalities of ground warfare in Vietnam. The rules themselves only cover about 20 pages in the middle of the book, much of the rest being discussions of troop organizations, the evolution of ground combat during the war, the nature of the terrain, anecdotal notes, and generally providing ongoing designer's notes to the rules. The player and NVA/VC forces behave in much the same way on the tabletop, except that the latter have much more restrictive command control rules applied to them.

This serves two purposes - it makes it easier for the game master to control them and is historically proper, as the NVA/VC, due to much more limited communications capabilities, typically DID fight battles in a more rigid fashion. The play sequence is quite simple, with movement and fire taking place in their own phases. Inter-player communication is strictly limited to when players' characters are physically in contact, or during the RTO phase when they can talk via radio.

Movement is standard - fixed maximum rates based on what a figure or unit is doing (e.g., combat, patrol, charge, etc.), modified for terrain. Different movement rates assume the troops to make different levels of use of cover and protection, which, given that most combat in the game takes place at close range, is quite important. Much emphasis is put on the different terrain, almost all of which consist of varied types of vegetation. Somehow, this makes sense… Mines and booby traps are extensively dealt with - not their mechanics so much as the ways of using them in the game.

Spotting is probabilistic and based on spotter expertise, but is not ranged, given everything's close range. Fire combat is simple and quick; different weapons (AKs, rifles, cannon, LMGs, etc.) get different numbers of D6s to roll, the number of dice rolled being modified by the firing unit's movement mode. The dice are rolled and all that exceed a given hit number score a hit. As everything's at short range, there're no range modifiers. On the Allied side, hits are distributed among the target unit members and individual hits rolled for on a casualty table to see how bad they are. On the NVA/VC side, hits simply kill troops and, if sufficient in number or severity, may drive away units. Close combat consists of foes who are too close conducting another round of fire combat.

Artillery is similarly elegant in concept and simple in execution. FOs call spotting rounds which precede FFEs which may or may not arrive where expected. Hit resolution is more-or-less deterministic, but casualty effects are diced for as with direct fire. Airstrikes are treated as artillery (bombs) or as direct fire (MGs), which seems reasonable. Command control is handled in a particularly nasty way. Troops leaving the immediate supervision of their NCO or officer come under the control of the game master. Based on game master expertise checks, the troops may or may not do what they're supposed to. At various times during play, as noted, characters must make rolls against their expertise rating to accomplish tasks. This rating may increase between games/battles as the characters gain experience.

Included are two scenarios to introduce players to the game system. The first, a simple road-clearing operation, includes a very nice map, OBs, introductory notes, and all else that's needed to play the scenario. The second is written more as a narrative (I preferred the first one) but includes everything necessary to play. There are NO morale rules for the Allied side.

The authors claim that at this level and in this war command control was much more an issue than morale. My limited reading on the period supports this - troops got pinned down or didn't carry out orders, but breaking and fleeing the battlefield (to where?) didn't seem to have happened. I like CHARLIE COMPANY. It's quick, frustrating, and fun. Elegant, too. Available for $17.95 from your FLGS or, if they can't get it, directly from RAFM at 155B Copernicus Blvd., Brantford, Ont., Canada N3P 1N4 (or from their website at http://www.rafm.com).

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