Marine River force in Vietnam

[duff]

Ever wanted an excuse to play with all the wonderful boats the USMC had in Vietnam? I did so I built this campaign to do just that. 9 Battles, approx company sized. Not intended to follow a specific historical unit but recreate the type of actions the brown water navy undertook. This is my first campaign so I'll appreciate any feedback I can use to improve it or for future developments.

[Suhiir]

This should be interesting.

[gila]

Originally Posted by Suhiir

This should be interesting.

I'd think so,since USMC is your passion

[Kessu]

I have a soft spot for anything remotely having to do with the navy, so I was eager to sink my teeth into this one.

It's your 1st campaign so I'll go easy on you.

Rule #1 - background research - A main force Viet Cong regiment's AA-assets consisted of 2 X AAMG batteries of 2 HMGs each. On the company level and the battalion level you would not expect to find AA- assets apart from smallarms.

The 1st scenario quickly decended into the realm of science fiction as I counted the seemingly countless number of 12.7s and 14.5s raking my sole gunship. Six Zpu 4s (?) and Lord knows how many DShK 1938s. That kind of firepower simply did not materialise in any given single location. Unless they consentrated the entire VC-AA arsenal in the Republic of Vietnam.

The above applies for the countless rockets. Vietcong used rockets in a similar fashion as the Hajis do in Iraq and the Talis in Afghanistan. One or two rocketlaunchers fire a salvo and then clear out.I think you had a dozen or so RA -units on the map?

Similar logic applies to the number of grunts. US military doctrine follows the age old math of superior force & firepower. You would not find a USMC company attacking a superior force (in terms of men). A company attacks a platoon, a batallion attacks a company and so forth. Run into a superior force = dig in and await reinforcements and fire support.

[duff]

For someone with only very shallow military history background - where on the internet would I be able to get a realistic idea of VC force structure and especially what would be common deviation from the "norm"?

[Suhiir]

Originally Posted by duff

For someone with only very shallow military history background - where on the internet would I be able to get a realistic idea of VC force structure and especially what would be common deviation from the "norm"?

Try these for a start:

Various NVA/VC TO&Es

For another game but good basic info
Same game as above but more info

Links to various VC related websites

[Suhiir]

Originally Posted by gila

I'd think so,since USMC is your passion

Someone has to look after it

[duff]

Perhaps include in the briefing the words "There is known to be a VC battalion in the area, however you are not required to engage the whole force and our information suggests they are not battle ready and are unlikely to move against you." ?

[Suhiir]

Originally Posted by duff

Perhaps include in the briefing the words "There is known to be a VC battalion in the area, however you are not required to engage the whole force and our information suggests they are not battle ready and are unlikely to move against you." ?

If there was a "known battalion in the area" the smallest force they'd send into the area would be a reinforced battalion with lots of artillery, helo, and air support on-call.

[Suhiir]

Battle #2

Again, excellent map!

Without getting into details:

The VC were all dug-in, makes them MUCH harder to hit/suppress.

94 Squads (mostly 3-man scout teams, hard as hell to hit due to size 0)
3 Sniper
12 Fortifications
3 MMG Section
7 Recoiless Rifle
5 82mm Mortar Section
3 Hv AAMG
3 ZPU-4
3 57mm AA Gun

And most interestingly ... 67 mine symbols.
To quote the manual: "A 'mine' is not '1 mine' but a random small number of mines. It is a symbol for a mined area and may be 2 mines or it may be 8 mines (or 3 or 5)."
Let's assume an average of 4.5 mine per symbol ... 67 x 4.5 = 301.5 ... the average anti-tank mine weighs 30# ... so 301.5 x 30 = 9045# ... 4.11 tons of mines ... very industrious those VC.

The ONLY reason I made it to the village via the road was I ignored the scenario advice and bought a single tank, an M67A2 Zippo to be precise, as part of my CORE. Then picked up two Engineer Squads with scenario support points. Gotta love flame tanks when it comes to roadside ambushes