Alpha boats for FoF and other pictures

Have played several games over the last 2 weeks including a great one taking place in Iraq that the US lost with only 2 turns left.  But this post is going to highlight my current fascination with riverine warfare in Vietnam.  A unique aspect of the war and one of the true successful innovations the French had.
Every year I blow $100 on frivolous stuff I really don't need but would be cool.  Now my wife would tell you all my wargaming stuff is frivolous but I am talking even frivolous for me.  Last year it was custom dice.  This year I bought an alpha boat from Battlefront (25% off) and a building complex from Crescent Root. ( love their buildings!)   The boat is frivolous because how often do you really need an alpha boat in a skirmish game?  The buildings are because... I have alot of buildings already. Good news is only spent $85.
So to my alpha boat.    It is big and looks cool!!!

Here it is pimped out with a custom flag!  

FoF Ambush Valley has no stats for Alpha boats so here is my best guess

Alpha boat  Class H    20mm cannon 4/3 L    twin 50s 4/1 L  and 80 mtr  4/2 L minimum 40 yards 

                    armor 3D10 except rear 2D10.   crew  7   Notes  Can carry 10 men.  Equiped for mine-

                    sweeping.  4D10 against mine attacks.  

And because you all know I have my French Foreign Legion in Indochina we have...

A Vedette de Port also with custom flag!

Another view

These were Harbor Defense Launches that the French added guns and armor too.  Many had 20 mm guns in front but mine has twin 50s from my Peter Pig PBR.  Needless to say Ambush Valley has no stats for this baby either so...

Vedette de Port   Class M    twin 50s 4/3 L   single HMG ( one per side) 3/0    60mm Mtr  3/0

                            armor 2D8 except rear 1D8   crew 7   Notes armor and weapons varied; more 

                            added as war progressed

 

 

Other stuff to report:

 

Quick game just to get my "river legs" with my half painted alpha boat ambushed.  5 Navy SEALS jump out. 

VC with recoiless rifle. 

SEALS attempt to capture the rifle but it slips away.  

Finally painted up a Timecast building I bought last year at Historicon. 

In the mean streets of Iraq...

More street action!

US forces moving under the cover of smoke

US trying to hold on...

One fireteam pinned as the rebels get ready to storm the building!  SL down WIA.

Armor shows up but will it get there in time?


It didn't.  The Rebels charged but were beaten back with final defensive fire.  US held on to their positions but lost on points as they had too many seriously wounded.   Great game.

That is all the news that is fit to print.  Happy Easter everyone.  Anyone with better info and ratings for the Alpha or Vedette de Port boats please let me know.

Enjoy

Joe

 

  

Johhny A in the FFL Chapter one

Finally decided to start a French Foreign Legion squad in Vietnam using Grunt's Forward and my rules for the Legion which will be in my African expansion.  There is a 10% chance of getting an American and I finally got one! ( Okay so 10% is high but hey it is my game and I am an American.  There is also a 10% chance of getting someone from the UK.)  Great back story as well so this guy can't die.  Gentlemen and Jack ( I doubt there are any ladies that read this, if there are please let me know and I will correct myself!) I introduce to you Johnny Anderson better known as "Johnny A". 

Johnny A grew up as a golden boy high school athlete and class president of well to do parents in the mid west.  WW II broke out and in 1943 Johnny turned 18 and against his parents wishes "threw it all away" and enlisted in the marines to serve his country. His touch continued as he was quickly found to have true leadership talent and ended up a squad leader on Okinawa.  After the war he demobilized and went to college to prepare for law school to take over his dad's practice.  He was restless however, and Betty Lou helped quench that fire in him. After Betty informed him she was with child his dad told him the honorable thing to do was marry her and stop living a wild life.  Johnny didn't want to give up his wild life so spit for the east coast.  After bouncing around for 6 months he realized he knew how to soldier and went to France and joined the Legion armed with his High School French.  The Legion also noted his skill and he advanced rapidly to once again become a squad leader.   His brash cockyness did rub his fellow NCOs a bit, particularly the kraut Dietz ( swear I rolled him up too!) and the Lt Carville but the Company commander fancied himself a fluent english speaker and americanophile so liked this marine who had seen action in WW II while he himself had been in North Africa.

West of Hanoi in the Red River Delta 1951
Capt Doucet informed Johnny in English that a mentor of his had located to Annam and he wanted to take him to see the temple up river.  He wanted Johnny's squad to accompany them.  The boat would only hold a dozen people so he should pick 10 and meet him at the dock tomorrow at 7 am.  Now Johnny didn't like the Captain but he had treated Johnny well and the Captain was brilliant in a fight.  None better he had every seen; even in the Corps.  Besides, the Captain was the Captain...
Patrol scenario using Grunt Forward.
Sgt Johnny A         Gr II Leader
       1st Squad  10 men including 1 BAR       8/10
ASL Cpl Hughes    Gr II Leader
Capt Doucet            Gr III leader with Brilliant characteristic
1 patrol boat with LMG up front.

French will land at the dock upper right and proceed to temple on foot.  VC will be returning to village

My cool $4 temple from Petsmart

Johnny A, the Capt and Fr LaRouche, SJ. 

Fr LaRouche meets some villagers.  Yes he does speak the language but they tell him nothing. ( yes there is a table for that.)

The enemy shows up on blinds and becomes...

1 squad, 1 LMG and 1 mortar team.

Cpl Hughes gets pinned down right away and civilians scramble for cover. 
 The VC use tunnels to move to the opposite side of the village leaving the LMG in the temple.  One of Hugh's men goes down with a serious wound.   Johnny patches him up and takes him back to the boat.

Johnny A making a drop off.

The boat moves up and eliminates the LMG. 

Johnny sends 2 men into the temple. He goes back for the rear guard and the Capt and priest start towards the temple again.  Battle over?

As Johnny picks up the rear guard to move they are attacked by the VC squad.  Disciplined firepower carries the firefight and after 2 KIAs charlie breaks off contact. 

Short fun firefight!     Easy victory for Johnny A. One serious wound vrs 4 KIA for the VC. ( VM)  Post battle Johnny gets to talking with the priest who also speaks english and they strike up a friendship.  Also, Cpl Hugh's fireteam takes a liking to him with a +1. 
More to come for sure!

Also played a special ops raid on an african nation where 4 green berets snatched a high ranking officer. 

Enjoy

Joe








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Peter pig watch tower/ Ruf/Puf base attack

Finally painted up a watch tower I bought from Peter Pig over a year ago.  I have always liked Martin's stuff as it is good quality for a fair price.  It can be challenging for a skirmish gamer because if I need 1 bazooka man I have to buy a pack of 8 so I normally get my weapon teams elsewhere.  But for bulk forces and leaders ( if skirmish games have "bulk forces") his stuff is good and he is my go to for infantry.  ( I confess I like Flashpoint for Vietnam as well.)
I think my modeling/painting skills are getting better over time so I tried to trick the tower out.  I added a MG and a tin roof.  The roof is removable to get at the figures.  It is obviously made with cardboard and toothpicks.   I was pretty chuffed with myself.
So to try out the tower I needed a base attack. Force on force has some neat rules for night fighting and rules specific to the vietnam war.  For instance VC function as if they have night vision googles because they are familiar with the terrain and constantly train for night fighting. Thus when I play you really are desperate to get some type of illumination up over your free world troops to help level the playing field.   After all, Charlie owns the night.
IV corp 1969.
A main road through the province has a key bridge that is protected by a small station of regional forces.  The local Viet Cong are going to blow the bridge and conduct a spoiling attack on the compound to cover the activity of the sappers.  Their secondary goals are to destroy the bunker,  flagpole and guard tower.  There is a US marine base not far with 105s on call and QRF available.

 The bridge, station and local environs at night.  VC set up.  ARVN can attempt to spot 3 hexes away as per FoF rules.  Sapper team coming down main road.  VC have two assault teams that will attempt to infiltrate both corners off the secondary road.   There is 2 man security patrol patrolling around perimeter of base for ARVN.

The ARVN station.  My watch tower on the left.  Ironically, the figure in the tower is a Resistant Rooster Japanese soldier painted as ARVN with a soft cap.  Flagpole made from a coffee stirrer. 

   It's the little things like custom dice!

75mm on overwatch waiting for ARVN to react!   They don't. 

The South Vietnamese fail all their spotting rolls so the VC slip into camp.

Sappers planting charges at bridge.

Team two slips through the wire.  You can just see the ARVN patrol walking.  ( Peter Pig figures)

The scene when Arvn finally sounds the alarm.  The patrol at top sees team two in the wire and fires shots.  The guard in the tower shouts a warning but doesn't release his flare before he is pinned down. 
The VC move swiftly.  1 man tackles the flag pole while team one rushes to the tower base. 

Team two storms the bunker!  The 2 man Bar team fight valiantly but they are quickly overwhelmed. 

As bad as the ARVN spotting rolls were the VC set charges roll now become.  In the excitement it becomes much harder to do than in practice!
The ARVN officer gets illumination rounds overhead and accurate fire erupts from the blockhouse. A competent NCO (Gr II) leads a 4 man team out towards the tower.

  The NCO leads his team and they actually push team one back when the VC moral fails.  ( Go figure I played ARVN 6/6 and VC 6/8) 

To make matters worse...

US marines arrive.  Even though a LCpl is shot dead jumping to the ground their fire is accurate and deadly. 
With the sappers done at the bridge Charlie realizes it is time to go home and they pull back.

The withdraw is sped up at the VC keep failing their morale checks.    The bridge blows 10 minutes later!

Fun game with very few casualties.  ARVN lost only 4 KIA, US 1, VC 6.  VC scored 5 points for the bridge plus 2 for the bunker with 7 total for the win.  ARVN picked up 2 a piece for the tower and flag.  In retrospect I either need to have the bridge better guarded with a standing sentry or reduce it's points.  I think I will put a light at both ends and a 2 man team.

Enjoy

Joe

Plain of reeds 1952

Finally felt compelled to play Force on Force!  I got a USMC buffalo and USA greyhound for Christmas with the idea of equipping my french/ARVN force in Vietnam.  The french called the Buffalo with the 75mm howitzer the "alligator".  It looks really cool so I felt compelled to paint it up.  I should have bought some weasels which the french called "crabs".  Oh well, next time.
 
I don't have a french platoon for indochina and didn't roll one up. The french platoons were large with 15 person squads.  I think I will stick to my ARVN platoon long term. I did roll up the backgrounds of the legionnaire NCOs though because they are always interesting.  I didn't roll a scenario and just decided on "Hammer Dawn" straight out of Grunts Forward.  This would be a water borne assault with one squad of ARVN coming in on the side so I could use my new greyhound. 

Mission brief straight out of Grunts Forward:  "Our intelligence has found the enemy!  Your platoon has been selected to make a surprise attack on a rebel hideout.  While destruction of the enemy is important, it they run away another platoon will be there to catch them.  Your job is to capture officers and supplies."

French/ARVN forces
2 squads of 12 men each   1 LMG team and 9 semi automatic rifles.  1 NCO with SMG.  8/10
1st squad SL Gr I french orphaned and joined the legion at 15. ASL  Gr II Dutch ran away from rich parents who didn't even know he was gone. 
2nd squad  SL Gr II french jilted lover   ASL Gr I Welsh  former commonwealth soldier looking for excitement. 
Sous-Lt  Gr III   and medic
1 Alligator
1 80mm mtr across river
1 Arvn squad modeled on french with 12 men including LMG ( BAR)   6/8
Gr II SL     Gr I ASL
1 Greyhound

 A collection of huts too small to have a name on french maps.  Water at the bottom right.   Road top left.   Not only is the enemy unknown in this scenario but there are three target unknowns clustered at the center of the board. They represent caches of equipment and maybe a HQ if we are lucky.  Goal is to get to those as fast as possible!  Lt will move with first squad ( one with the poor SL) across rice paddies towards jungle while squad 2 takes the huts and hill in the center.    Arvn squad will enter and also make for the hill in the center.  ( Lt not counting on ARVN squad.)

 As legionaries approach the fields 3 peasants drop their rakes and pick up guns! 

 Meanwhile the seaborne troops land.

 and move towards the huts.   Fire erupts from the jungle.  1 man goes down. 

 ARVN hears the firering and slows down.

 Meanwhile, in the jungle.   " Load as much rice as you can!  Hurry Comrade!"

 The legionaries make it to the first hut but take 2 casualties.  Resistance is heavy in the "village." 

 Mid battle:   1st squad (left) has made slow progress but with the help of fire from the alligator is carrying the paddies.  The alligator is immobilized from a recoiless shot from the hill on the right.  French mortar fire from across the river drove the rifle team off the hill.  The manuver section of second squad led by our Welshman is in the hut but they are just holding their own.  No thought of advancing towards the hill.  The support section of 2nd squad has been laying down fire into the village. ARVN creeps towards the center hill. 

 1st squad carrying the paddies.  The explosion is from the alligator.  While this looks good for the papers they were held up by 3 peasants (6/8) with bolt action rifles! 

Something a Greyhound can blow up!    A cart full of rice races for freedom.   The greyhound missed but ARVN rifle fire convinced the drivers to bail out. 

 Cool random event gave the french a vehicle reinforcement.   So I chose....  ( sorry about the river edge, I didn't even notice that during the game, fancy that.)

 The 2 surviving members of the VM recoiless rifle crew see the rivercraft.  Too good a target to pass up.

 Bullseye!   ( It sank the craft but after the game I realized I used stats for a 75mm rifle ( medium) not a 57mm rifle which I presume would be light.  I guess it was a lucky critical hit. 

 The french officer comes over to see what is taking second squad so long... ( Plus another shot of my cool alligator!)

The French get to the rice cache and fire at the retreating VM.  The two peasants in the background are entering a tunnel to escape. 


A lot of fun!   I actually had to remember how to play FoF as I hadn't played since November.  Technically this was a french win as they prevented the rice from leaving but they were slow and ironically it was ARVN that stopped the rice.   French had 3 KIA, 1 seriously wounded IH and 1 WIA.  The river craft was sunk ( I guess) and the alligator damaged.  The VM had 6 KIA.  Great fun and am thinking of using ARVN marines as they used french equipment including the alligator.  For those of you that want to try this Platoon Forward generated the following forces:
VM regulars 8/10
1 squad of 9 with semi automatic weapons.  1 SL Gr III
1 LMG team
1 half squad of 5 men  Gr I leader
2 snipers
1 57mm recoiless rocket team
Irregulars 6/8
2 security teams on alert at start with 3 men each. 

Enjoy

Joe