DE BELLIS VIETNAM
Quick and dirty rules for wargaming Vietnam...

by

Riccardo Affinati

 

SETUP

The armies (or Divisions, if you are playing a larger scenario) consists of 12/24/36/48 or more elements (bases) of troops, plus one extra element which represents the (General) of the army. Single elements can be mounted on bases of every size, as long as the chosen size is identical and omogenous for all and every element in play. Troops are classified as Infantry (NVA, ARVN, Regular, Marines, Special Forces e Vietcong), Helicopters, Tanks or (Fire Bases).

Players use always a six-sided dice (D6) during play, for both movement, combat, distant shooting, reinforcement and so on...

PLACING TERRAIN
Before deploying their troops, both player have to arrange their field of battle placing terrain elements. First, choose a playing surface of an adequate size, then subdivide it in six (6) separate areas, assigning a different number, ranging from (1) through (6), to each one.
Now, players throw a die for every numbered area, and place the adequate piece of terrain under the following rules: if you throw (1), (2) or (3), the area is classified as (Open Terrain), while a result of (4), (5) or (6) means (Difficoult Terrain).

Usually, we classify (Open Terrain) as a more or less uniform surface, such as a flat plain, open fields of every kind, grassland, gentle slopes, and so on. Whereas, we classify (Difficoult Terrain) elements such as woods, steep slopes, rough terrain, marshes, sand dunes, rivers, urban areas (Hamlets) and enclosed rice-fields. One or more element of this kind must be placed inside the adequate area of the playing surface; terrain elements can have an irregular shape, provided they do not exceed (20cm) of lenght in every direction. The area of effect and borders of each terrain element must be easily and promptly recognizable by both players.
Rivers must flows between two different board edges; sea, lakes and cliffs are impassable terrain, while beaches are classified as (Open Terrain.)

DEPLOYMENT
Once you have prepared your playing surface, both players throw a die: who scores higher become the (First Player) and gains the right to choose where to deply his troops between one of the two long board edges.

Troops must be deployed within (30cm) from the chosen board edges. Once the first player finished his deployment, his opponent does the same with his own troops, taking the board edge on the opposite side.

 

SEQUENCE OF PLAY

In this set of rules, players take alternate bounds between them; every bound take place in the following manner:

  • The (First Player) moves the number of bases (or groups of adjacent bases) allowed by the competence of his own general

  • Bases of both players not in contact (close combat) with an enemy must shoot at a valid target of their choice, if any is present within their range.

  • Every base owned by the (First Player) actually in physical contact with an enemy base now fight a round of (Close Combat), inflicting or making outcome moves - combats are resolved in the order chosen by the player whose bound is.

  • The (Second Player) moves the number of bases (or groups of adjacent bases) allowed by the competence of his own general

  • Bases of both players not in contact (close combat) with an enemy must shoot at a valid target of their choice, if any is present within their range.

  • Every base owned by the (Second Player) actually in physical contact with an enemy base now fight a round of (Close Combat), inflicting or making outcome moves - combats are resolved in the order chosen by the player whose bound is.

 

MOVEMENT

Every turn, each player throw a die (D6) for his (Movement Points): the result show the exact number of single bases (or groups of adjacent bases - see later) that the player can move this turn.
If the (General) has been killed, halve this value; instead, you must double the cost of (Movement Points) for every bases (or group of bases) which is beyond (40cm) of distance from its (General). Note that if terrain such as (Hills), (Woods) or (Urban Areas) intervenes beetwen a base (or Group) and its assigned (General), the distance specified is lowered to just (30cm) !!

Remember, also, that a group of adjacent bases (in direct contact among themselves) which faces the same direction can be moved as a single element, thus paying just a single (Movement Point) for the moving the whole group.

Here follow the respective movement allowances of every unit in the game:

MOVEMENT ALLOWANCES
Infantry (US, NVA, ARVN & Marines) 10cm
Special Forces & Vietcong 15cm
Tanks 10cm
Helicopters* 30cm
Fire Bases -
* Obviously, helicopters can fly and thus they'll never apply
any kind of movement modifier due to the terrain they're hovering over !!

Troops moving along a (Road) can add a (+50%) bonus to their movement. Whereas, troops crossing through Difficoult Terrain (Hills, Rough Terrain, Woods, etc. ) or an obstacle of any kind they have to halve their movement allowance.
As previously said, this rules cannot be applied to helicopters, which naturally ignore any kind of terrain they move over...

 

DISTANT SHOOTING

Troops shoot in a direct line with a (45°) fire arc, calculated from the front side of the shooting element. Infantry, Helicopters and Tanks can Shoot during both bounds, while (Fire Bases) shoot only during the opponent player's bound.

The player whose bound is shoot first. Remember that an element in contact (Close Combat) with an enemy cannot shoot, nor be targeted by another element.
Also, with the exception of (Helicopters) and (Fire Bases) placed on a hill and not in contact with an enemy, no element can shoot if its line of shight is even partially blocked or obscured by another element, be it enemy or friend !!

WEAPONS RANGE
Infantry 10cm
Tanks 20cm
Helicopters 20cm
Fire Bases 60cm

Please note that troops inside built-up areas (such as a Hamlet) or (Woods) get their range for distant shooting lowered to just (5cm), no matter how much their original value.

For simplicity's sake, we grouped together the tables showing all the (Combat Factor) for both distant shooting and close combat in the next chapter. Nevertheless, to avoid any confusion, we placed the tactical modifiers for (Distant Shooting) here:

TACTICAL MODIFIERS
(DISTANT SHOOTING)
Fire Bases and Tanks shoot to a target in two or more rows (enfilade) +1
Target behind cover -1
For each friendly element which shoot to the same target (max 2) -1

 

CLOSE COMBAT

Every element which moves in base-to-base contact with an enemy element must fight in close combat. An element can be contacted on its flanks or rear only if the attacker began its own movement already behind the flanks or rear of its target. The player whose bound is choose the order in which single combats are resolved. Both players throw a die for each fighting element, applying the appropriate tactical modifiers to the result.

An element contacted in this way by an enemy can evade from combat during the movement phase of the turn following the one in which it has been contacted. To evade it must turn showing its rear to the enemy and moving its full movement allowancs away from it - note that such a withdrawal cannot be accomplished unless the fleeing element has a movement allowance higher than his enemy !!

The combat value of every troop in the game, for both (Distant Shooting) and (Close Combat), are provided in the following table:

TACTICAL FACTORS
TROOP TIRO MISCHIA
Special Forces (US) 4 4
Marines (US) 3 4
Infantry (US) 3 3
Infantry (NVA / ARVN) 2 2
Vietcong 1 2
Tanks 4 4
Helicopters* 3 2
Fire Bases 5 5
* Only a (Helicopter) can engage in close combat another (Helicopter).
Also, every single (Helicopter) can carry one (1) Infantry element, chosen from the elements already recruited.

 

You'll found the tactial modifiers for (Distant Shooting) in its own chapter. Instead, here are provided the modifiers for (Close Combat) between adjacent elements only:

TACTICAL MODIFIERS
(CLOSE COMBAT)
Element higher than enemy (uphill) +1
General is aggregated to the fighting element +1
Element contacted by enemy is behind cover +1
For each friendly base supporting from the rear ranks (adjacent and facing the same direction) +1
If contacted on the rear or flanks (for each flank) -1
Attacking element crossed an obstacle before contacting enemy -1

 

COMBAT OUTCOME

Rules for resolving (Distant Shooting) and (Close Combat) are the same: compare the results from both players, the winner is the element with the higher result.
Generally, the losing side will suffer a good deal of unpleasant consequences, which we just thrive to disclose.... :-)

If the total is less than that of the enemy but still higher than half, the losing elements recoil, moving back (2,5cm) without changing their facing. The troops are beaten but kept their nerves, and believe it or not, these are still good news...
Please note that this result cannot be applied to (Helicopters), (Fire Bases) and (Artillery) contacted in (Close Combat); if these kind of element lose the combat, they are simply removed from play as casualties, no matter how bad or good they lose !!

If the total is half or less than that of the enemy, that's really bad news for your men: the losing element is aptly destroyed, the troops scattered and/or slaughtered to the last man... hmm, you probably will have to remove the element from play.

Remember that an element that recoils through a terrain classified as (Impassable Terrain) or contact any enemy element during their withdrawal are automatically destroyed. Also, if a recoiling element contact a friendly element while withdrawing, that element will be pushed back as well.

 

OPTIONAL RULES

GENERALS
Generals can move up to (12,5cm) every bound. They are a special kind of non-fighting element, which cannot act indipendently and should be aggregated to a normal element at the end of its movement. If the (General) is not aggregated in this way at the end of the bound, the player will have to halve the number of (Command Points) diced for the current bound.

If the element hosting the (General) recoils for any reason, throw a dice: with a (6), the General is killed during the withdrawal. If the element was recoling from a (Close Combat), then the General will get killed more easily, with just a result of (4), (5) or (6).

Remember that an army which lose its (General) will have, again, to halve its (Command Points) value for the rest of the battle!!
Finally, a (General) can be classified as (Genius), (Competent) or (Inept); such a classification will define how strong will be the cohesion of the troops, and will come in handy when you'll have to face heavy losses (see later - Victory Conditions).

REINFORCEMENTS
If, at the beginning of every bound, a player get a (6) while throwing for his (Commnad Points), he can choose to ask for reinforcements from the Headquarters: throw another die, with a (4), (5) or (6) he will obtain a new element of his own choice.
Obviously, the reinforcements will approach the field of battle from the board edge of the lucky player.

ARTILLERY ATTACK / AIR STRIKE (US)
If, at the beginning of every bound, a player get a (6) while throwing for his (Commnad Points), instead of asking for (Reinforcement), he can choose to ask for an (Air Strike) or for an (Artillery Attack) from behind the front. The player choose an enemy element, then throw a dice: with a (5) or (6) the element is automatically destroyed and removed from play.
Note that the ability of the (General) ordering these special attacks influence the result: a (Genius) can add (+1) to his dice, while a (Inept) one must apply a (-1) modifier to his result.

Also, remember that while both sides (Americans and Vietnamese) can ask for an (Artillery Attack), only the U.S. player can ask for an (Air Strike) !!

 

VICTORY CONDITIONS

Battles can end in many different ways, depending on the specifical conditions or requirements you chosen to apply to the game. Unless you are playing a scenario specifically devised, we suggest the following victory conditions.

The battle end when:

  • One of the players lose his (General) and has already lost more elements than his opponent
  • The difference between the number of surviving elements from each army is of six (6) or more elements.

In the last case, please remember that, again, the skill of the (General) can definetely save the day to both you and your men: if your (General) is classified as (Genius), the difference will have to be of eight (8) or more elements, while an (Inept) general will give up with a difference of just four (4) or more elements.

 

ARMY LISTS

Finally, the army list you all was awaiting to uncover: we built them considering an army of just twelve (12) elements plus the (General), so if you plan to fight a larger battle we suggest you to increase proportionally the size of the army, in the way described in the first chapter of these rules.

These is the list of the major powers involved in the Vietnam war for the period covered by these set of rules:

AMERICAN FORCES:

  • 1 Artillery
  • 1 Fire Base
  • 1 Helicopter
  • 2 ARVN
  • 3 Marines
  • 3 Regular Infantry (US)
  • 1 Special Forces or 1 Tank

COMMUNIST VIETNAMESE FORCES:

  • 2 Artillery
  • 4 Vietcong
  • 6 NVA

 

SCENARIOS

In the end, we thought to add some scenario to spice up your regular battles. What follows is a set of alternative army lists, useful to recreate few of the most amazing clashes of the whole war, either really happened or just fictionalized in some movie, exclusively for your gaming pleasure.

Anyway, we didn't wanted to ruin the flavour of this set of rules adding special rules or any other kind of complications: we trust that the usual gaming rules and victory conditions, strenghtened by your competence and good-will, will be more than enough to crown the winner of you battles:

GREEN BERETS
American Forces:

  • 4 Fire Bases
  • 2 Helicopters
  • 3 Marines
  • 1 Special Forces
  • 1 ARVN
Vietnamese Forces (Commies):
  • 6 Vietcong
  • 18 NVA

APOCALYPSE NOW
American Forces:

  • 6 Helicopters
  • 4 Marines
  • 2 Special Forces
Vietnamese Forces (Commies):
  • 24 Vietcong (all placed behind some kind of fortification!!)

PLATOON
American Forces:

  • 4 Regular Infantry (US)
  • 2 Helicopters
  • 1 Tanks
  • 3 ARVN
  • 2 Marines
Vietnamese Forces (Commies):
  • 12 Vietcong
  • 12 NVA

 

In the very end, if you really think you need to add some special rule to your games, we are sure you will be able to come up with something useful by yourself, surely more appropriate to your gaming style than anything we could ever devise.
Always remember, though, that the true strenght of this set of rules is its inherent simplicity, and every rule you create should not get in the way of this very quality!!

All in all, have fun!!

 

 


Created by Riccardo Affinati - All rights reserved (2000)