Interest in wargames representing American involvement in the Vietnam War has been on the increase over the last year or so. The period is widely documented with written publications and video archive footage. During the war in South East Asia there were large scale divisional sweeps such as Operations “Junction City” and “Cedar Falls”, numerous battalion operations, firebase sieges with human wave assaults, riverine actions, convoy ambushes and many other areas of interest to the wargamer.
I use 20mm Britannia figures and vehicles, available in the US from Combined Arms Inc., in my games but any scale can be used. Old Glory has just release a wonderful 25mm Vietnam line and Peter Pig has an extensive listing of 15mm Vietnam figures and vehicles. There are also several other manufactures that produce figures in scales from 10mm to 40mm available to the gaming community.
Rules for the Vietnam War are also widely available for games from battalion and company level down to squad operations. Platoon level skirmish operations hold the most interest for me and the Vietnam conflict is full of game ideas at that level. I use Easy Eight’s’ “Battleground” rules for W.W. II with modifications. They give a good flow to the game at platoon level with enough detail to give flavor to the action.
Below are the modifications to the “Battleground” rules I use in my games. As I mentioned earlier, I use 20mm, but they are the same for any scale that you play in “Battleground”. The modifications are based upon my readings, observations of video and conversations with veterans from that conflict. Please feel free to use all, some or tell me that I’m “full of it” for such ideas. They seem to work well in the games I’ve run.
1: M-16 – Standard personal weapon during war. Rated as AR (Automatic Rifle) ROF of 3, capable of “Spray Fire” mode. Jam number is 19 and above.
2: M-14 – Standard Marine Corp personal weapon until Mid-1966. Two types, Semi-Auto (rated SLR, ROF 2) & Full Auto (rated AR, ROF 3). AR version capable of “Spray Fire”, but only 3 issued to each 14 man squad, all others SLR version. Jam number is 20 for both versions.
3: M-60 – Commonly used machine gun. Rated as LMG if in squad or door gunner operation, rated as MMG if in fixed position on helicopter gunship. The ROF is 4 and jam number is 20. When fired on ground without an Assistant Gunner, there is NO increase in jam number, but “To Hit” number increased by “1”, i.e.: 12 would become a 13 to hit.
4: M-79 – 40mm Grenade Launcher. One action to load, one action to fire. Double range of rifle grenade on chart (i.e.: up to 16” in 20mm scale). Also fires smoke and flechette (canister) rounds. For HE shells use small HE template, for flechette use shotgun template.
5: Claymore Mine – remote or AA (automatic ambush) directional mine, basically huge shotgun blast. Use the 105mm canister template with corresponding hideous results (really nasty to be on receiving end of this thing!).
6: LAW Rocket – 66mm one shot rocket. One Action to make the rocket ready to fire, one action to fire. Use Bazooka ’43 table for hit and penetration factors. Use Small HE template for explosion radius. (Really good for bunker busting).
1: AK-47 – Common issued personal weapon to NVA and Main Force VC Battalions. Rated as AR (Automatic Rifle) ROF of 3, capable of “Spray Fire” mode. Jam number is 20.
2: SKS – Communist carbine. Rated as SLR, ROF of 2. Jam number is 20.
3: RPG-7 – a.k.a. B-40 rocket launcher. Gunner could carry up to 4 rockets with him. One action to reload, one action to fire. If rocket is already in launcher, no action required to load. Use Panzerschreck table for hit and penetration factors. Small HE template for explosion radius.
4: Chi-Com Grenades – looks like shorten version of German stick grenade. It is a notoriously unreliable weapon with a high failure rate. The grenade will be a dud 50% of the time. Roll for dud after grenade is thrown.
A wide variety of weapon types were used during the conflict in Vietnam. Many were of W.W. II vintage. It is not uncommon to see ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) troops with M-1 rifles, M-1 & M-2 carbines, BAR’s and .30 cal air-cooled MG’s. My uncle, USMC “in country” Dec., 1964 to June, 1966, carried in the following order, a M-14, then a M-60 and finally a W.W. II issued Thompson SMG (that was his favorite).
The Peoples Liberation Front, a.k.a. the Viet Cong, carried anything they could get their hands on. The local Viet Cong cells would normally have a mix of American, French and Communist weapons in their units. In was not unheard of to have forces using old W.W. II Japanese weapons until the ammo supply ran out. A friend who collects military memorabilia recently purchased a 98k German Mauser, 1942 manufacture date, taken off a local VC by a soldier in the 9th Infantry Division fighting in the Mekong Delta. Some VC units were well armed and some were very poorly armed.
Main Force VC Battalions and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) formations were mostly armed with modern Chinese and Soviet weapons. A squad should be equipped with a mix of AK-47’s and SKS carbines, possibly a LMG and / or an RPG gunner. They are well armed, motivated and a dangerous adversary.
I hope this is of some assistance to those playing games set in the Vietnam War. Almost any weapon can be used and be historically accurate. I don’t believe there is that much difference between a MP-44 and a M-16 / AK-47 when using the “Battleground” rules system. An automatic rifle is an automatic rifle. So use your knowledge of weapons, common sense and enjoy your game. See you across the table.
American Weapons
Communist Weapons
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