SCENARIO
By Guy Bowers
‘Rock and Roll’ in the Vietnames jungle with Bolt Action
FULL AUTO!
World War II gaming in 28mm and other scales. With the release of the rules, the first question that came to my mind was how far could Bolt Action rules be pushed? Could they be adapted to other periods? The Korean War, certainly, is effectively covered by
© Georgie Harman
Love it or loathe it, Bolt Action has triggered a renaissance in
the existing US, British and Soviet lists. But what about Vietnam?
T
he Vietnam War (1955-75) holds a fascination for wargamers, probably partly due to films like Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. Hopefully, gamers will go beyond the ‘Gung Ho’ version and be inspired to read further, with books like We Were Soldiers Once … And Young by Lt Gen Harold G Moore, or The Only War We Had by Lt Col Michael Lee Lanning, to name but two. For some, it may be ‘a war too soon’. As it is still a fairly recent conflict, the wounds are still fresh. However, playing the period will (hopefully) encourage people to read further, particularly the stories and lives of the brave men and women who fought in this war. From our previous WWII games and initial play-testing ‘up country’, it soon became clear that Bolt Action can be a very deadly game. This is particularly true when the dice get rolling, and there are a lot of dice in Full Auto fire-fights. So, to make Vietnam ‘playable’, a few liberties have been taken, most of which turn out to be historically justifiable, which is a bonus. We only cover the major US involvement in Vietnam from 1967 in these lists.
mortar with a crew of 1; it is not a ‘team weapon’.
TERRAIN Most Vietnam battlefields will be terrain-heavy, varying from paddy fields, jungle and river to the suburbs of the cities. Some special considerations were needed for this. Bolt Action usually follows a strict line-of-sight rule, but, given the complexity of the terrain, this is a little impractical. Our basic terrain (like most people’s) is a section of trees or bushes on a base. We separated our ‘jungle’ into sections – separate areas of terrain, approximately 6” square. The open areas between sections are considered paths (open). Units can shoot into a single jungle section, but not beyond it, so units behind a jungle section cannot be shot (or shoot through it). Units at the edge of the jungle have light cover (within 2”
from the direction of the shooter), while those deep in the jungle have heavy cover (they are hard to spot), but have a -1 ‘to hit’ when shooting out (as the dense cover hinders outgoing fire).
UNITED STATES ARMY Use the lists from the main book or from Armies of the United States. Except where noted, infantry will be conscripts – the US relied on the draft and, by the time men gained experience, their year tour was up and they went home. The following Army Special Rules are used: ‘Follow Me!’ – While the US officer cadre may have been inadequate (the ‘best’ being inducted into Special Forces), the US had a good system of NCOs. While the squad leader is alive, the squad tests morale as ‘Regulars’ (Leadership 9, not 8).
WEAPONS The weapons are unmodified from Bolt Action. There was a good argument that the assault rifle should be reduced to 18” range, as the bolt action version should outrange it, but we left it as it is. Shotguns are treated as having 12” range and Assault 1, but ignore cover. The M79 ‘Thumper’ is treated as a light
US infantry run into a VC ambush.
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