Happy New Year everyone. I have been busy with family and playing ancients SAGA. I have been painting up a storm of new units as the greeks need a lot of bodies. I don't normally post reports of SAGA as they don't generate much interest but will give you all 2 pictures just to show what has been going on.
Greeks with long sticks
Greeks meet Gauls!
As a break I played a very small battle in SVN. I wanted to use ARVN ACAV and play an ambush. I rolled up the board and it showed a key building on a river. Viola! An old french outpost protecting a bridge. This also showed me I will need a new scenario for Battalion Forward; rescue.
"That's odd" Liem thought. "Why would they be attacking at dawn?" He tried to get a word in with the Colonel but couldn't. "Get over there right away...., Make us proud..., Defeat the communists." Liem had heard it all before. He felt confident he was running into an ambush; did the Colonel know? No matter, he would protect his forces as best he could. At least he had some tanks going with him.
ARVN Forces [trained]
1 company of ACAV
1 platoon of walker bulldog tanks
[ raw] 1 platoon of militia guarding post
Outpost 10 at dawn.
Battlespace with OPFOR placed. For those of you with Platoon Forward that want to try this the formula I used was: A= 2A-1 B=2B where Bs included all vehicles.
The VC get 2 turns to attack the outpost before Liem starts his trek. They ended up with 2 platoons + HMG. [ VC trained except for morale they are experienced]
The VC are stopped at the gates but along the river the fighting rages along the wire.
The cavalry approaches. The VC have RPGs and a 57RCL on the far side of the road.
It is amazing how badly ARVN armor always rolls for me! Meanwhile...
VC in the outpost!
Of course the last 2 "bulldogs" refuse to move! Liem sends his first platoon around.
Of course they mined the road![ 40% chance]. At least the tanks are moving up.
Liem deploys. He orders 1st platoon to take out the RCL. We must get moving!
1st platoon carries the day! Liem orders 2nd platoon forward towards the outpost. Meanwhile...
Fighting at the outpost has ceased. Several prisoners are being taken back to the jungle.
2nd platoon is taking too long. The VC are clearing out.
2nd platoon shows up. No flag is flying over outpost 10. They skirmish with a rearguard but it is clear that Charlie has slipped back into the jungle.
Fun game that played fast; just about 60 minutes. Clearly a loss for Liem but not sure he could have won. Need to play several more times to see if this is close to balanced. If anyone plays it let me know your results.
Enjoy
Joe
Joe,
ReplyDeleteOuch!!! Damn man, that was a tough one, and no, I don't think Lt Liem could have won that. Good looking fight, and I agree, your ARVN tanks always seem to take it on the chin; pretty realistic I would suppose ;) Anyway, great scenario, and I really love the photo of the VC sappers coming through the wire. I'm not sure how prevalent rescue missions were in the war, but this is just begging for an all-out effort to get the militia/CIDG-troops back from the Viet Cong.
And Saga's not really my thing, but I will tip the hat and say those Greeks are smartly painted.
V/R,
Jack
Jack, I never considered a true follow up rescue mission but that would be fun. Great idea! Thanks. And thanks for the appreciation of the greeks!
ReplyDeleteJoe
A tough mission for the US great scenario to play through.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Stu
Joe,
Delete"I never considered a true follow up rescue mission..."
Hmmm... I know I recall something about 'leave no man behind' from my time in the Corps. S'pose it's not the same everywhere ;)
"And thanks for the appreciation of the greeks!"
You bet, good looking troops are good looking troops. I've discussed this at length with my buddy Shaun (Travers); if I had unlimited time and money I'd wargame everything, but I don't so I don't. But I can still appreciate others' efforts.
A few years ago I was actually a bit inspired by Shaun and bought a few 10mm Romans, looking to play some skirmish games (like Song of Blades and Heroes), but the lack of time meant I didn't see it through. You can see a few pics here:
http://blackhawkhet.blogspot.com/2014/05/for-my-buddies.html
V/R,
Jack
Stu, Thanks! If you get a chance to try it let me know how it plays for you. ( you can use your new Indian troops!)
ReplyDeleteJack, We have had this discussion, play short stuff and keep track of it and you can play it all. Your figures look great. You need to try SAGA to rekindle your interest; it is just fun! My son doesn't mind playing it. BTW I spent 6 weeks in Australia. A mini exchange with the RAAF! Talk about a boondoggle.
Joe
Joe,
DeleteYes, certainly, keep things quick; I do, I just do LOTS of it, which puts me right back in the same boat ;) I'll check into some reviews of SAGA to see if it grabs me, but honestly man, I've got so much stuff in the queue already that I'd be an imbecile to try and start another big project. So there is a chance ;)
And yes, the Land Down Under was quite a bit of fun, wasn't it? I shall always remember fondly my time on the Gold Coast...
V/R,
Jack
Oh, and from now on I'll be patient enough to wait until you post to TMP and we can discuss it there. For some reason I'm unable to post comments to blogs from my phone anymore, only from my laptop...
DeleteVR,
Jack
Jack, You already have the figures and terrain. All you need are the rules and to paint about 40 figures. Even a Marine can do that!
ReplyDeleteJoe
I sold the figures…
DeleteJack
Oh. Then you might want to hold off.
ReplyDeleteYup
Delete