After looking around for a good set of Vietnam skirmish rules we stumbled upon two likely candidates. The first is a modified version of Crossfire, the second a modification of Battleground WWII. Both are available on the Internet. Since John’s figures were mounted individually we decided to try the Battleground rules first.

The main modification made for the Vietnam era is that figures get only one action each turn. This is a good idea since Battleground already has too many die rolls, and if everyone is toting automatic weapons the game could end up as a tedious exercise in dice rolling.

Statistics for the standard weapons of the day (M16, AK47, RPG, etc) are spelled out. The author, James Morrison, also invented rules for armor, helicopters, and aircraft but we didn’t try these since we didn’t have any models. The rules modifications, and several scenarios, are available in the Battleground WWII files section on Onelist. You will also need the Battleground WWII core rules to play the game. The combatants in this battle were John Burke and Phil Willows (VC) against Butch and Dustin Weiss (US). The American objective was to sweep and search the village of Tri Binh. They had a full platoon (three rifle squads, a weapons squad with 2 MGs, platoon HQ) and support from 3 tubes of 105 mm howitzers to do the job. The VC were ordered to inflict casualties on the Americans and then disappear. Their small force included one RPG, one LMG, and some rifles and AK-47s. They started the game hidden and had a pillbox and three 6” sections of tunnel.

John and Phil set up an ambush by positioning most of their force in the village where they could catch anyone entering along the north road in a crossfire. The tunnels were put in a T shape with the bunker at the intersection. The bottom of the T was inside on of the hootches. The ends of the T opened at the edges of bamboo thickets at the back corners of the village. The LMG team was put in the bunker.

The Americans were given a choice of LZs and decided to approach the village from the north. As they trudged through the rice paddies Phil and John decided to harass the inexperienced gamers with some psychological warfare. Every move was accompanied by clicking noises and questions like “are you sure you want to

As Butch’s first squad reached the outskirts of the village his point man was killed by fire from an AK-47 and an RPG. Dustin’s squads immediately ran to a nearby wall and fell prone behind it. The lieutenant (Butch) wasn’t pleased and he ordered Dustin to attack the town from the north while he dealt with the newly discovered VC threat. Dustin moved down the road and ran right into the VC ambush. Unfortunately for him he was caught with the entire second squad walking fully exposed down the road. The consequences were fatal and his survivors broke morale and fled back to the security of their beloved wall. They remained there until the irate platoon sergeant arrived to chew them out and take command of the squad.

Meanwhile on the right flank Butch was having more success. He was able to eliminate the VC position that had been giving him trouble and call in some artillery fire on the village. This succeeded in dislodging the VC and they fell back to their secondary positions. Butch sent the third squad around the right flank. It was a good move. They were able to use a bamboo thicket as a screen and move all the way to the end of the village. He might have turned the flank if John didn’t have one of his VC waiting in a tunnel entrance at the end of the thicket. The ambush was sprung and thanks to some abysmal die rolls the third squad routed. Dustin was able to recover the initiative, although he repeatedly made the mistake of ending his moves standing up in the open. The casualties were awful. Finally he began to put pressure on the left flank of the village which was lightly defended.

By this time Butch’s first squad had made it into the village and assaulted one of the hootches. He caught the VC cadre leader and killed him in close combat. The VC began to crumble but they still had a card to play - the bunker. Butch found a tunnel opening in the hut, passed a gut check, and sent two men into it. The lieutenant had finally rallied the third squad and they located a second tunnel opening. As they came around the bamboo thicket they ran right into the bunker and were sent racing back into cover.

The Americans in the tunnel heard the firing of the LMG and moved forward to investigate. As they got to the tunnel intersection under the bunker a homemade chicom grenade dropped into their laps. DUD! The lead American burst into the bunker above him blazing away with his M16, killing the loader in the first burst. Incredibly, in the confusion, the gunner kept firing out the bunker at third squad until the tunnel rat silenced him with a final burst from his rifle.

This was the end of the VC resistance. The survivors disappeared out the back of the village leaving the Americans with their reward - a handful of worthless huts and a mangled platoon. This battle could in no way be described as an American victory. There were far too many casualties. However everyone agreed that the rules had worked well and everyone had a good time. John was inspired enough to consider painting more figures and we kicked around the idea of getting a few helicopter models.