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'Nam Project - an AAR of sorts

 I have not played a game for a while due to 'real life' being busy, and wanting to make some extra scenery before playing my next game.

 I was able to play a game this weekend which was quickly thrown together for one main reason: my copy of the "Bolt Action" rules arrived a few days ago and I wanted to play test them to see what they were like.

 I had to do a bit of prep before playing as a) the rules were intended for WW2 Platoon plus level of play and not the Vietnam war, and b) I was playing them solo at 1:1 skirmish level.

 It was also the first time I had used my printed game cards, and they added to the game a lot.

 With these adjustments in mind I have the following AAR to share, complete with dodgy photos:

Mission: the LRRPs were to patrol to a small village and conduct a search for signs of the enemy.

 (Note - this is not the type of mission LRRPs would normally do, but I wanted to use the new buildings I had made).

 The LRRPs approached the village and made for the huts by crossing over the rice paddy.



 It was while half way across the paddy field that the first signs of the enemy appeared. These were spotted, and one was just a false alarm, but the other was the LMG detachment from a VC squad.





 The VC fired at the LRRPs, but the shots were in no danger of hitting the LRRPs. One of the VC charged the lead scout, but was dropped by one of the other team members before the VC could charge in to melee.

 The other VC were quickly dispatched by the LRRP team.




 Making it in to the village unharmed, the LRRPs spread out to search the village when they are again attacked.




 One of the VC fires an RPG towards the team, but the shot goes wide and explodes harmlessly beyond the LRRPs.
 The LRRPs make short work of the VC RPG team and again continue on with the mission.

 Having searched two of the four huts, the LRRPs are again interrupted by the appearance of a VC command group.
 Two of the VC are quickly dispatched, but the leader was pinned and took a few turns to deal with.





A random event sees the appearance of a cobra on the scene. Fortunately for the LRRPs it appears a good distance away from them, but it did make things tense for a few turns until it moved in to the jungle and out of sight.

 The mission continued with a few random shots winging their way at the LRRPs from the jungle, but there were no more interruptions while the team completed their search and then called in for extraction from a near by helicopter.


Game Notes

 I made a few changes to the rules to allow 'Bolt Action' to be played as a 1:1 skirmish game.

I used the weapons list from the rule book with no problems, adjusted the distance allowed between figures, and used counters instead of order dice.

 Overall the game played very smoothly and the game flowed quickly as there wasn't much need to keep referring to the rules to look up what the procedures were.

 I did have to re-read the melee rules to make sure I was reading it right as it is very nasty to those involved.

Having played the game using the Bolt Action rules I will continue to do so, as they are very easy and produce a good result for a game.

I will need to type up my rule adjustments and additions for future games, and if anyone is interested I will be happy to share my notes with them.

8 comments:

The Extraordinarii said...

Good to see your back, terrain set up is lookin good.

lrqan said...

Interesting Batrep. I enjoyed it. Your terrain is great and the phots are very atmospheric. Keep it up.

Simon Quinton said...

Great batrep. Would you recommend the Bolt Action rules, seems quite a few bloggers have picked them up.

Shelldrake said...

Would I recommend the Bolt Action rules? Yes... but... It uses point values for creating your forces which I don't like (I hate point values), so I am using historical orders of battle instead.

Dutchy124 said...

A great write up, thank you.

I have a good collection of 28mm Vietnam forces and would like to try this out aswell, I would like to take you up on your offer of the changes you made and also to take a look at your printed game cards. Perhaps you could email me at hollandclive333@yahoo.com

Thank you Clive.

Beccas said...

Interesting Shelldrake. I am enjoying playing Bolt Action. Bolt Action Vietnam. That sounds awesome.

Unknown said...

Bolt Action Vietnam sounds very trick. I am going to adapt Too Fat Lardies "Platoon Forward" to use for Viet Nam. Gives you a character system and a whole system of scenarios and random units for solo play.

Bronco_6

Shelldrake said...

I do have a copy of platoon forward and intend to use it once I get the gaming system I am using down pat.

I intend to name my LRRPs and see what happens to them as they progress through the campaign.