written by john reeves, and grey novak with kurt hummitzsch
published by RAFM
80 pages
$19.95 (no miniatures) reviewed by

Since the Vietnam War conclusion, there have been many games involving the conflict, but most of them have been hex & counter war games. The only real attempt to bring the Vietnam War to role-players was Palladium's Recon, but unless you had someone with military experience running the game or leading the party, the chain of command usually broke down as one player tried giving an order to another who refused to follow. You don't need to guess at where this chaos eventually leads to. Well listen up, Cherry! It's time to get back into the bush, 'cuz Charlie don't wait for no one!

Charlie Company is the first game release in a long time from the RAFM Miniatures Company, and brings with it a surprisingly realistic & accurate system for playing American soldiers during the Vietnam War. Charlie Company can be considered an historical miniatures war game, but it's so much more than just pushing lead. You could say that it's sort of a pseudo-role-playing game as well, with its extreme campaign orientation. The basic premise of Charlie Company allows each of the players to take on the role of a squad, platoon, or company leader. The objective: keep the men in your command alive long enough to get back home to Mom, and apple pie, while the GM, playing the VC, does his best to stop you. Each mission represents a month of game time; if the character survives twelve missions, he goes home.

The group should decide what level they want the game to operate at. I recommend a platoon level game where each of three players commands a rifle squad, and a fourth player plays the platoon Lieutenant. One of the great things about Charlie Company is that the players do not have to keep track of individual stars for each of the men in their command. The only factor that matters is how effective the commander's leadership is.

This is noted by the commanders Expertise Rating, which is randomly determined based on what year of the war they're playing in, and most importantly, how much time he has spent in country. Previous field experience is a big factor in keeping your men alive. Then, as a reflection of the attrition rate during the war, each player rolls to see how many soldiers make up his starting squad. Don't worry, there are also rules for replacements when the scenario is over.

Charlie Company comes with a very interesting random scenario generator. Take a regular deck of playing cards, and deal one card to the commander of the US forces. This one card will determine the nature of the mission, the transport to the objective, the area of operations, and fire support. Then, based on the color of the US players card, the GM will be dealt a number of cards to determine enemy resistance at the objective. From there, the GM sets up the terrain while the commanding officer player writes out the Operational and the Transportation Orders. Yes, if the platoon is to be airlifted, he has to note exactly who is in what chopper, and in what order they will land - and it certainly does suck to see your whole squad go up in a ball of flame that was once your transport chopper.

Once the troops are on the ground, the combat system is easy enough. Fire combat is based on how many guns can be brought to bear on the target area, whether or not you can actually see that target. A number of dice are thrown, and hits are counted. The VC/NVA (Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army) have different hit charts which reflect their general performance, and morale; but it's the fact that the players can go the entire game without ever sighting the enemy that's most appealing.

The GM is under no obligation to reveal the enemy's location to the players until they are within a logical line of sight; even then, they still have to make a roll versus their Expertise Rating. However, it would be a bit unfair to just pick off the officers and radio operator, so there are play balance restrictions - the GM must randomly determine who in the player's unit gets hit.

So with all of that, where's the role-playing aspect? Well, just about every game has some role-playing to it and in our latest session at a local convention the player assigned the lead squad did a fantastic job of pretending to be the frightened point man (what did I do to piss off the sarge this time?). And when the platoon started to draw fire, you should've seen how the players started screaming for their men to get down, and take cover. When it was all over, the players, mostly historical miniatures players (the hardest to impress), complimented the feel for the inherit paranoia of never knowing where the enemy was.

I've never played the other Vietnam War games, but I loved the elements of surprise in Charlie Company. It's fast playing, with simple rules that place the right amount of emphasis on player decision in time of crisis. It's also ready right from the start for campaigning. Now I just need more greenies to crawl through the brush...

remember... Charlie don't surf!