Conn Con Opening Game "Vietnam"

Ted Conn's Annual game day in-house "convention" was held the weekend of August 16.

Conn-Con

A full day of gaming that features the local lads gathering and either showing to play or bringing along a game that will get played at some point along the day.  The event usually runs into late in the evening.

I was first out of the gate.

My Vietnam game is a crowd pleaser and has a good level of play-ability at convention like settings.  It was a special request at Conn-Con and I gladly obliged.

So the Vietnam game is a setting where all the players are on one side - USA.  The "game" is a random card drawn setting that produces the encounters that were typical of a Vietnam operational experience for US forces.  The above image shows the battalion entering the valley in helicopters and a vehicle convoy.

Our battalion commander, Jeremy Morrissey also commanded A Company and the Green Beret LRRP team.

Chuck Couch was our Company B commander.

Ted Conn, the convivial convener of Conn-Con commanded Company C. (That might be my favorite sentence I have ever written for this blog.) Pat Chambers was our base security commander with D Company.

Every square section of the table was an encounter area that produces a card draw that is referenced to my written chart of encounters.

This running of the game produced a lot of VC patrols, civilian encounters that needed US aid, a tunnel complex, several mortar teams, and then reinforced North Vietnamese Army Regulars with artillery support.

US firepower wins the day.

Next update: the body count....

Edit:  We continue now with the S3 report for the Conn-con Operation.  US Battalion casualties included 44 infantry fatalities, 1 lost M113 APC, 1 severely damaged APC that would need a recovery vehicle, 2 damaged helicopters.  VC body count was 135 infantry fatalities, two destroyed mortar teams, and 1 damaged truck and destroyed towed artillery piece.  Significant military intelligence included the discovery and destruction of a communications center and tunnel complex near the village of Lam Tri, two groups of civilians detained and moved to redistribution camps, and numerous weapons and food cache discovered in the valley.  US forces will need to do an additional sweep of the valley

Tried FUBAR Vietnam

The Secondhand Lions airlifted into a hot LZ using the FUBAR Vietnam rules available from

 

FUBAR-One Page SF/Modern

Now our group likes Vietnam gaming and we want these rules to be used for games in the club so we were predisposed to find them adequate and acceptable.  I think the admittedly incomplete Vietnam version of this game has some good ideas but the dice convention of multiple dice types really didn't improve our game and in a lot of ways just slowed it down.  The activation of units is great and the suppress rules are worth trying and keeping.  I think we will revert to the D6 system and add the Vietnam vehicles and specifics back to Core FUBAR.

"N" Country A Celebrated Vietnam Game Scenario

This year's Recruits convention in Lee's Summit was the 10th anniversary and twentieth show put on by the high school gaming club.  To celebrate this milestone a lot of the original show game masters were contacted and asked if they would reprise their first contribution to this amazing show and venue.  This convention is a showcase of talent in the mid-west and draws a diverse crowd from the region.  The games are really well conceived and well executed.  I participated in the first year event and our club ran two games.  We put on our Vietnam N scale scenario and also the 54mm large Stalingrad game.  Jon Haworth and myself decided to honor the request of the convention staffers and bring back for the crowd a "command performance" game.  The fist game we will look at in this post is the Vietnam game called, "N" country.  This game is a programmed scenario that puts all the players on the American side as part of an air mobile infantry battalion.  The commands played by each player interact in a battalion level sweep of a valley in the central highlands of Vietnam.  The players are all assumed to be located in a rear echelon airbase and will be transported by helicopter into the area of operation.  Once placed on the gaming table all contact back to the battalion headquarters is conducted with radio protocol and call sign acknowledgement. 

In this image we see the opening strategy session with the battalion commander, Brad, looking over the AOO maps.  Planning his search and destroy mission.  There is a radio antennae broadcasting from this valley and his battalion has been tasked to search several of the villages in the area and take out the enemy broadcast capability.  Ryan, Kaelan, and Bill await their company orders for the sweep.  Each of them will command a company of infantry that will be air lifted into the valley.

 Screened from the players at the battalion headquarters is the Bangh Tiem valley in the central highlands.  This aerial view shows the peaceful villages and tranquil rice paddies amid the jungle canopy in the mountains.

 This view shows the mountain player game screen.  When your platoon is at battalion base you as a player are required to remain at the game table.  When you deploy, you are obviously allowed to be at the wargame table

Here we see D deploying Bravo company under the command of Kaelan, into the valley.  Bravo company would encounter several VC patrols running a screen or picket for a main force NVA company.

Bravo company is being supported by gunships.  Bravo company had to use marker smoke to keep from getting hit with friendly fire.

Gunships swirl above the jungle canopy. Artillery called in by Bravo is marked on the map with the golf tee.  NVA in the treeline. Bravo moving into the foreground.  The valley is alive in the background with more action.

Click pictures for a close up view.

Napalm strike takes out a NVA/VC position.

As the mission ends, enemy troops are seen moving into position along the rice paddies watching as the last of the US troops are airlifted back to the battalion HQ.

Recruits Convention Spring of 2012

A Frontier on Fire Rules: This Very Ground

French and Indian War Scale: 54mm
This game was put on by Chris Cluckey
The frontier is aflame! A small wooden fort, defended by desperate Colonial Militiamen, is under attack by French Marines and their Native allies. As the commander of the Militia, can you hold out until reinforcements arrive? Or as the French leader of the raiding party, can you kill all of the Militia, capture the fort and cut the British supply lines?

I played in this event on Friday night and got command of the Indian allies.  We broke through two wooden doors and into the blockhouse proper and scored a French victory.  This was a great game and quite a treat to get to use such fine lead prepainted minis.

Rapscallion Rules: Full Sail
Period/Era: 17C Scale: 28mm
GM: Ken Van Pelt Club: Secondhand Lions Sponsor:
28mm Pirate Brawl. Can you provision your ship from the innocent seaside town of Nevis? And evade the pirate hunters?
I just had to get my crew and ships out and game them prior to the "big" event with 16 Miniatures on a Lead Man's Chest.  I ran a short pirate island hop scenario that allowed the Secondhand Lion's boats a chance to get their hulls wet. 

Mid day I spent "In-country" on the FNG table umpired by the author himself.

Hearts and Minds Rules: FNG

Period/Era: Vietnam Scale: 20mm
GM: Darby Eckles Club: Sponsor: Two Hour Wargames
Rumor has it that the VC plan on trying to wipe out a "disloyal" village. Its your job to stop them. Can you protect the villagers or will the enemy have their day. Presented by the Creator of Two Hour Wargames FNG 2nd Edition Darby Eckles!

And then:

The Secondhand Lions set sail in Scott Christian's "16 Miniatures on a Lead Man's Chest."
Event: Sixteen Miniatures on a Lead Mans Chest Rules: FFoS (unpublished)

Period/Era: 18th century as Hollywood Scale: 25/28mm
GM: Mr. Christian and the Mutineers Club: Sponsor: Old Glory 25s (Prizes Provided)
Come about ye scurvy dogs and run up the colors! The Largest pirate game in the Midwest just got bigger. More Ships, more locations, and more adventure than ever before. Brave over 600 square feet of table space in one of 20 ships, raiding, trading and cannonading your way to the title of most infamous captain to sail the Caribbean. Governors, cannibals, smugglers, merchants, pirates and agents of the crown all scramble for their share of fame and fortune in a world of limited resources and infinite possibilities. Prizes will be awarded to both the best and worst career; participants are encouraged to dress the part. Anyone under the age of 14 must have an adult at the helm of their ship. If you are interested in bringing your own tall mast ship to play, please contact me before the convention to write up a sheet for game play. Located in the Lecture Hall near concessions.

Hungry canibals lunch on some Captain Crunch.

Mystery Island in the distance.

Pirate Island...a certain refuge at table's edge.

The Secondhand Lions ships in the fore is the HMS Cyprinadae and to the starboard is the Zeolot.  Off in the far distance is the Hotspur.

So much going on all at once.  This game really becomes an environment unto itself.

The Cyprinadae bravely throws her bulk between an agressor and the ship it is meaning to attack.  What a selfless act of heroism.

The Hotspur, commanded by Captain Carr, escorts the Dutch trader to the English port.

Chuck gets his just deserts as the worst pirate career.

Bill turns out to be a man of honor.

and our man Ted scoops up a load of crew and a ship to add to the Secondhand Lion's fleet.

I managed to reduce the captain of the Spanish Galleon to zero with the earstwhile help of the corporation and we as a group collected the Laser Dreamworks ship as prize.   This is the second time the Lion's have been victorious over the treasure galleon. 

All in all the convention was a superb weekend of gaming fun.  I sold a few items in the auction and bought some games and dice at the vendor's tables.  Can't wait for the fall Recruits convention at Lee's Summit High School.  Lee's Summit, Missouri.