Surviving 'Nam - Search the Hooches

Dusting off the old blog to have a place to post a battle report for a new game I've tried, "Surviving 'Nam" by Mike Demana.

The game is a solo/co-op skirmish level adventure that pits friendly forces against the Viet Cong during the Vietnam Conflict of the late 1960s/Early 1970s. Designed to be played as a campaign, players can follow their troops through a year long deployment in country.

Not having any Vietnam figures or terrain in 28mm, I opted to try out the game in Tabletop Simulator. I spent an evening assembling a troop list of 15 soldiers, laying out terrain on a 3'x3' board, and creating virtual assets for the rulebook and the card deck that drives enemy actions. I decided to generate my initial platoon randomly, using dice to determine their expeerience levels. The group would be deploying together, with February of 1969 being the date of their first mission. The rulebook comes with 12 scenarios. Rolling randomly again, my men would be running into some trouble with their first mission, "Check out The Hooches."

My initial force included 15 men, split into 3 sections of 5 men each. Though new to the country, each section ended up with a veteran, two grunts, and two FNGs. The HQ section consisted of a 2nd Lieutenant, in charge of the platoon, a light machine gun team, a medic, and a radio man. Each of the other two sections had a veteran sargent, three rilfemen, and a soldier carrying a "blooper" grenade launcher.

With everything ready to go, my men inserted on the southern edge of the playing field.  Their goal was to search the buildings in the village for supplies, then exit the northern side of the board.

February, 1969 - Dai Hoang village, Republic of Vietnam
Mission: Search the Hooches

Turn 0
"Alright guys. Here's the ville. Search those hooches, and the trucks'll pick us up on the other side." Lieutenant Smith wiped his brow. "Let's get it done."

Turn 1
As the troops approached the village, farmers looked up from their chores. A couple started running. Others stood, watching the men approach. Most just started calmly moving away.

Turn 2
"Johnson. Williams. Set up the M60 in the treeline on the left. Cover the village. We'll advance with the platoon." The LT moved off to the right with his radioman and new medic. Villagers kept moving off, opposite the men's positions. One of them broke and ran. It wasn't difficult to imagine that he was going to warn the VC, especially as the men spotted the enemy moving through the bush. Sargent Miller screamed, "It's about to get hairy!"

Turn 3
Private Johnson made the first move, swinging his M60 around to suppress the enemy on the left flank. The VC were faster, though, pinning him down behind the rock he was using for cover. His loader, Williams, froze in place, "There's more coming!"

"Put fire on those trees!" Sargent Miller screamed to 1st section, motioning to the left flank, "Put em down!" Private Taylor turned to fire, tangling himself in the underbrush. "Fuck!" he yelled, letting loose a rifle burst, taking down one opponent. He kicked himself free as the others moved. Moore froze in place as bullets whizzed passed him from the trees. "Davis! Fire that blooper!" Sargent Miller yelled, but Private Davis froze as fire erupted from all sides of the ville. "We're fucked Sargent!" he screamed in panic as Taylor went down next to him. Private Wilson swung around, taking a bead on the VC who pulled the trigger, killing him with a single shot. "Davis dammit," the Sargent bellowed, "Get a grenade on that bush!" Private Davis pulled the trigger. With a fwoomp, the grenade launched, passing far over the enemies heads. "Didja even fire that thing in training??" the sargent muttered as he ducked a round.

On the right flank, 2nd squad also started taking hits. Private Thompson screamed as something slammed into his leg. Sargent Miller returned fire. One VC fell. Private Jackson fired his M79 in the same direction. He was rewarded by the sounds of screams in the woods. The others in the squad opened fire, but missed. "Check that man!" Sargent Anderson ordered, pointing to Thompson. "I'm okay," the private replied, "But I can't walk, sir."

In the center, Lieutenant Smith looked at the chaos erupting around him. His heart thrummed as he decided what to do next.

Turn 4
Back on the right, Sargent Miller ordered the squad to keep moving. Private Moore, initially stunned by the attack, advanced. "Davis! Wilson! Grab Taylor! Let's move!" The two men reached for the downed soldier, just as bullets streaked out of the treeline, striking them both. The sargent swore under his breath. He turned toward the center of the field "MEDIC!!"

In the center, Private Johnson lifted his head, ready to fire his M60. An RPG round slammed into the tree behind him, pinning him and his loader, Williams, to the ground. "That was too close," hissed Williams. Suddenly, machine gun fire ripped from the village, striking Lieutenant Smith. As a light rain started to fall on the battlefield, Medic Jones and Radioman Brown stayed frozen in fear, watching their commanding officer fall.

On the right flank White and Harris, both new guys, grabbed Thompson. "We gotta go," White said, as the two dragged the wounded man toward cover. Private Jackson attempted to put down covering fire, but his weapon jammed. "Shit," he muttered under his breath, clearing the chamber. "Let's boogie," said Sargent Anderson, falling back. On the opposite side of the field, he watched artillery rounds fall. The LT must have been able to call for support.

Turn 5
"Moore! Get back here! We're leaving!" Private Moore turned back to his sargent. Seeing his buddies down, he hustled back to the men as a bullet zipped past his head. Sargent Miller knelt down to check on Private Davis. "You're okay dude. Get up." Davis looked around. "Wilson. Wilson, you okay man?" The man next to him groaned, looking at the wound in his arm. "Yeah, man. I can walk."

In the center of the field, Jones, the medic, knelt down to check on the Lieutenant. Leaning on the garden fence for support, he heard a gentle click. A hidden mine exploded, taking him down. Radioman Jones looked down at the wounded medic, knowing instantly that the man would need to be carried out. To his left, more rounds fell on the enemy. The fire mission was succeeding.

On the right, Sargent Anderson barked out orders. "Jackon! Go with the LT! Move!" Jackson nodded and sprinted toward the fallen leader. Anderson snapped a shot off into the woods. "You boys keep moving this man." As he approached the LT, Jackson laughed, a faint voice over the radio could be heard "Evacuate! Your position is being overrun!" "No shit," he thought. As he reached the Lieutenant, he could see that the man was in bad shape. A large hole had been ripped into his thigh. "Don't worry LT, we're gonna get you out of here."

Wilson and Johnson, the machine gun team in the center, sheltered behind a rock. "Johnson, man! We got VC behind us!" The machine gunner looked over his shoulder. "We gotta didi man!" He picked himself up out of the dirt.

Turn 6
Private Wilson of 1st section, though wounded, popped off a shot into the trees, striking a VC RPG man. "Let's go," he said. Sargent Miller and Private Davis grabbed the unresponsive Taylor, dragging him toward the woods. A rocket screamed out of the woods. While it narrowly missed Wilson, Private Moore went down. Covering the retreat, Johnson swung his M60 toward the enemy, but return fire forced him to duck. His partner, Williams, ducked as well as the trees all around the ville erupted with enemy fire from all directions.

Private Jackson, grabbing Lieutenant Smith, grimaced. "Let's go, sir," he said, as he began dragging the larger man away from the ville. "I got Jones," said the radio man next to him, "Let's go." The two men smiled in appreciation as Sargent Anderson approached from the right. His men had made it to the trees, and he was determined to make sure the LT made it out alive.

Turn 7
The entire area erupted again, blanketing the field with fire. Jackson flinched as Sargent Anderson went down. A silent prayer raced through his mind as he hoped they'd make it out alive. Private Brown, dragging the medic, hustled past into the treeline and out of site.

Sargent Miller looked back at the fallen men behind him. "Keep going," he told Davis, "I'll catch up." Davis continued dragging his squad mate, Taylor, toward safety. Miller raced back to the downed men. He checked. Moore would need help out to the extraction point.

Johnson, on the machine gun, layed down fire, attempting to cover the retreat, but his shots went wide, missing the VC blocking the escape route. Williams, next to him, took a panicked shot, jamming his M16 as bullets whistled through the air.

Turn 8
Sargent Miller check on his downed men. "Wilson, you're okay, head toward the trees." Wilson nodded, clutching his wounded leg. "Okay Sarge. I'm out here." The Sargent checked Private Moore. "I'll need to drag him out of here on my own," thought the vet soldier. Jackon, on the other side, dashed over to the other Sargent, Anderson, who had gone down. He was wounded seriously enough that he'd need to be carried out. The machine gun team, seeing wounded men on both sides of them, split up to help.

Turn 9
Private Wilson, limping toward the tree line, suddenly jumped. A cobra reared up in front of him, ready to strike. The young private swore. "I've been hit twice, I ain't letting you get me." Davis, next to him, dragged Private Taylor to safety. Behind them, Private Johnson and Sargent Miller began moving the wounded Private Moore. Artillery rounds fell in the trees behind their position, causing screams of pain from the enemy. "We might make it out of here," thought Johnson.

In the center, Williams was having trouble moving the Lieutenant by himself. More artillery rounds landed near his position. From the sound, they took out some VC blocking his escape. Looking down, he realized that the LT had become entangled in the underbrush. He'd need to clear that before they could move. Jackson, on the right, ducked a shot, grabbing Sargent Anderson and moving him into cover.

Turn 10
The troops continued moving away from the ville, one limping, the others dragging the bodies of their comrades. As the sounds of gunfire died down, their first fight was over.

Post Game
This was a brutal fight for the platoon's first time out. 47%, of the platoon, 7 men, were wounded during the action, earning Purple Hearts. Two lost the use of limbs, earning honorable discharges, while one was wounded seriously enough to end his career. Private Jones, the medic, and rifleman Wilson recovered quickly, returning to duty, while Moore and Taylor, the news guys, would need longer to recover.

For the next mission, Sargent Miller was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and given command of the platoon. 1st section was assigned a Grunt sargent and FNG private. 2nd section was assigned a Grunt sargeant.

HQ: Fully manned
1st Section: short 1 man
2nd Section: short 1 man

Overall, I really enjoyed the game. The card mechanic to active the VC works well, and there was plenty of action for a narrative feel. I'm looking forward to playing more!

Five Parsec From Home - Campaign Creation, Turn 1.1

 

INVASION IMMINENT. It was all over the news. The bugs were coming. Holo-tickers scrolled across the tops of buildings, warning of evacuation. The AI news reporters had been talking about it for days.

Most of those who could afford to had already paid for off-planet extraction. Those who couldn't pay hoped to find their way to government escape ships. For some, this, like any crisis, was a time for money to be made.

Stepping into an alley shanty town, Molly ducked into the small tin and wood shelter she and her friends called home. Not everyone in Duplantier had money. She saw Christina crouched on the ground, siphoning water through a small purifier. Selling clean water was what had been keeping them fed the last few weeks. Molly tucked the heavy carpet they used for a door to one side, hefting it up over a board to keep it in place. Christina looked up, her eyes squinting at the sunlight.

“I found us a job,” she said, “It's not much, but it might help us get out of here.”

“What kind of job?” Molly asked.

“Nothing much. There's a hanger over near the spaceport. They're loading up small shuttles and such to supply the larger ships. Responsive Acquisitions wants someone to grab a package from there before everything gets launched.”

A package. For Acquisitions. Best not to ask.

Molly raised an eyebrow, “Is Chloe back?”

Christina brushed a lock of pinkish brown hair out of her yes, “She's out trying to sell that stuff she found the other day.”

Molly nodded, “Well, I'll pack up what little we have.” She thought of the bugs invading, reflecting on the stories her father had told her as a kid. “We do the job tonight?”

“Yeah. Then we see if we can get outta here.”

*****

Thus begins my first Five Parsecs From Home campaign. Five Parsecs is a solo storytelling/miniatures game from Modiphius Entertainment which pits a star ship crew against a number of enemies and situations. Much of the game is table and dice driven, with a lot of random elements used to create characters and situations. This randomness acts as a prompt for the storytelling aspect of the game. The miniature portion is used to resolve any battles that may come up.

At its most basic, the game consists of pre-campaign setup, which includes character creation, then a number of campaign turns that are split into three phases: Pre-battle, battle, and post-battle. I've opted to play a 20 turn campaign.

For my game, I'm using both the core rules, and those from the Five Parsecs Compendium, which adds a number of variants to the base game.

For my first campaign, I've opted to use the following options from the Compendium:

• Starting in the Gutter
• Psionics
• Dramatic Combat
• Factions
• Expanded Missions and Quests
• Expanded Connections and Factions
• Casualties and Injuries
• Fringe World Strife
• Loans

I'll go into each of these as they come up.

To begin a campaign, players first need to create a Crew. The standard number of characters in a crew is six, but, because I'm using the Starting in the Gutter option, I'll be starting with a crew of three. There are a few ways to create characters, but the most interesting is to use dice and the rule book tables to generate each character's attributes. Statistics are based on the character's race, attributes, background, and motivation, all of which can be randomly generated.

For my crew, I generated three human characters. Being a sci-fi game, alien races are common, but humans are the most common. After generating the characters, I generated their starting weapons and equipment. Due to Starting in The Gutter, none of my characters could have military grade items, and started with fewer items than a standard crew. They also begin with no money and without a starship of their own, so they are planet bound at the beginning. Thus, the crew is starting off poor, with hopes of one day earning enough money for their own ship.

Molly's Marauders

Here are the characters that I generated, along with the the back stories that I imagined for them.

MOLLY WHITE - Leader
Species: Human
Background: Military Brat
Motivation: Political
Class: Ganger
Experience: 0
Reactions: 2 (Human + Ganger)
Speed: 4" (Human)
Combat: +1 (Military Brat)
Toughness: 3 (Human)
Savvy: +0 (Human)
Luck: 1 (Leader)

Hand Gun (Dramatic Weapons Rules)
Range: 9"
Shots: 1
Damage: 0
Traits: Pistol (+1 Brawl, +1 Combat within 6")

Molly White, captain of “Molly's Marauders,” was born into a military family on Sarail III. She spent her childhood moving from duty station to duty station with her father, who raised her on tales of his military incursions on distant planets. As a teen, she was stranded on Fuller III when her father was killed during a hover-car accident there. She began living on the streets, with an eye on the government, who, despite her father's contributions to Unity, gave no help to a military orphan.

CHRISTINA NAVARRO - Crew
Species: Human
Background: Tech Guild
Motivation: Discovery
Class: Enforcer
Experience: 0
Reactions: 1 (Human)
Speed: 4" (Human)
Combat: +1 (Enforcer)
Toughness: 3 (Human)
Savvy: +2 (Tech Guild + Discovery)
Luck: 0 (Human)

Hand Gun (Dramatic Weapons Rules)
Range: 9"
Shots: 1
Damage: 0
Traits: Pistol (+1 Brawl, +1 Combat within 6")
 

Twenty-five year-old Christina Navarro has always been a techie. As a child, her intense curiosity led her disassemble a number of her parent's electronics, as well as wreaking havoc on a few of their smart home's features as she tried to discover how they all worked. Later in life, she began attending university, but soon found herself with a fringe crowd of students selling black-market technology. This led her to being kicked out of both university, and her parent's home. While living on the street, she and her friend Chloe met Molly White. The trio became fast friends, and formed a small family for the sake of street survival.

CHLOE SHEPHERD - Crew
Species: Human
Background: Wasteland Nomad
Motivation: Discovery
Class: Enforcer
Experience: 0
Reactions: 2 (Human + Wasteland Nomad)
Speed: 4" (Human)
Combat: +1 (Enforcer)
Toughness: 3 (Human)
Savvy: +1 (Discovery)
Luck: 0 (Human)

Scrap Pistol (Dramatic Weapons Rules)
Range: 7"
Shots: 1
Damage: 0
Traits: Pistol (+1 Brawl, +1 Combat within 6")

Born in the western desert of the northern continent on Fuller III, Chloe Shepherd made her way to the space port of Duplantier's Place when her nomadic family passed by on their way to their winter hunting grounds. Chloe's interest in the bright lights, whizzing hover-cars, and bustling city was intense enough to cause her to stay after her tribe had moved on after stocking up on supplies. Jobless, Chloe soon fell in with the street merchants, acting as a guard for various suppliers. It was here that she met Christina Navarro, who was selling technology to a local buyer.

After creating characters, the next step to beginning a campaign is to determine the group's weapons and gear, as a whole, then assign that equipment to each character. In some cases, that equipment is kept on the crew's ship, or, in my case, in the group's hovel. In addition to what each character is carrying, I rolled for the following items: Scrap Pistol (x2); Purifier (+1 Credit per turn); Fake ID (+1 to obtain a license); Beam Light (+3 Visibility in low light)

After creating a crew (and, usually, a ship), the next step in a Five Parsecs From Home game is to begin Turn 1. To begin the turn, it is first determined if the crew is going to travel to a new planet. In my case, the crew has no ship, so they will not be traveling. I do, however, still need to create the planet that they are on.

Using the dice and tables for planet creation, the planet of Fuller III was born.

Fuller III

Fuller III, at the moment, is a politically and militarily stable planet, with the largest city, home to a space port, being Duplantier's Place, often called just Duplantier for short. Though stable, the planet is under threat of invasion, which could occur at any moment. For the population, psionic beings are unusual, but not unheard of.

For each planet that a crew travels to, it must be determined if they need a license to operate as hired contractors for jobs. In the case of Fuller III, licensing is required, but my crew has a Fake ID, which allowed them to forge a license. Nicely, this random roll on the equipment able fit nicely with my already constructed story.

Also when a crew visits a new planet, it must be determined if they have any Patrons (people who will pay them to do jobs) or Rivals (people who are enemies of the crew). In my case, the crew received one Patron during character creation, and no rivals, as this is the first campaign turn. I've opted to call their patron Suzuki Kansuki, a wealthy individual who is willing to pay handsomely when work needs to be one.

Using the Compendium's optional rules, planets may also have factions vying for the crew's attentions. In the case of Fuller III, three factions were randomly rolled: a Criminal Enterprise, a Political Movement, and an Advocacy Group.

With the planet created, it's time to start playing the first phase of the turn. First, the crew must pay 1 Credit for upkeep (things like food, clothing, and general goods). While my crew has no money to start with, they were able to avoid debt by having a Purifier, which generates 1 Credit per campaign turn. So, we don't go into debt, but there's still no money to buy goods or a ship.

Next, each character is assigned a task. In my crew's case, one character went out to look for work, one went recruiting for more crew members, and one went to trade items. In my story, Christina Navarro was able to find a second Patron, which allowed me to choose between two different jobs that were offered to the crew. With a Criminal Enterprise as a planet faction, and “Secretive Group” rolled for the second Patron, I opted to create a sort of underground buyer, called “Responsive Acquisitions.” After rolling up the random jobs offered by each Patron, I decided to have the group work for the acquisition company. The pay isn't as good, but the danger is less, and, with an invasion coming, less danger seemed like a good idea.

With a job determined, Molly went out to find a new crew member. Because I am starting with less than six characters, adding a new member is free. I created Darwishi Kassis, who will show up in the next phase.

DARWISHI KASSIS - Crew
Species: Human
Background: Unknown
Motivation: Unknown
Class: Unknown
Experience: 0
Reactions: 1 (Human)
Speed: 4" (Human)
Combat: +0 (Human)
Toughness: 3 (Human)
Savvy: +0 (Human)
Luck: 0 (Human)

Hand Gun (Dramatic Weapons Rules)
Range: 9"
Shots: 1
Damage: 0
Traits: Pistol (+1 Brawl, +1 Combat within 6")

Finally, my third character, Chloe, went trading. Trading represents the character bartering for and selling small items, which, in Turn 1, resulted in the crew earning 2 Credits. Good news! We're poor, but not completely broke.

Phase two of the turn is the miniatures phase, where the crew will do the job assigned to them. I've been working on acquiring miniatures, getting them painted up, and building terrain. Once all of that is complete, I'll be able to play out the next section of the story.

Japanese Torii

Torii with miniature for scale.

 
Recently I discovered the solo miniatures game Five Parsecs From Home from Modiphius Entertainment.  The game, which has a sort of Firefly meets Cyberpunk feel to it, is sort of a story generator that uses randomized prompts to create characters and narratives, with battles played out on a small board with terrain and miniatures.  Like many people my age, my first introduction to the Cyberpunk genre was William Gibson's Neuromancer complete with its urban Japanese high-tech future setting.  So, while thinking about possible terrain for Five Parsecs, my mind automatically went to Japan, and one of the most iconic Japanese symbols, the torii gate.

I started by quickly looking up images online, finding a nice image of a torii with dimensions.  I printed this out for reference, then found that the printed size was already perfect for 32mm miniatures.  This happy coincidence let me use the printed image to measure off all the bits I would need.

The perfect size.

The first step was to cut two Hashira, or uprights.  Fortunately I had a 1/2" dowel that was the perfect diameter.  Next was the addition of the Nuki, the section spanning between the Hashira.  I notched each dowel, then laminated three 1/4" square pieces together for the nuki.  I used the same process for the Gakuuka (center) and the Shimaki (lower span).  The shimaki was sanded a bit to introduce the decorative angles.

 Next was the Kasagi, or upper part of the span.  To simulate the upward sweep of the ends, I glued small bits of popsicle stick to the ends, then sanded them to shape.

 

Kasagi Ends

 

 

With the kasagi finished, the woodwork was done.

Finished woodwork.

Base details were added by wrapping the uprights with card stock, and glue 28mm bases to the bottoms.

It stands!

Then, on to the wood pile.  Er, paint shop.  I hit the entire thing with a rattle can of "Colonial Red," then used craft paint to color the bases and kasagi black, as seen in the opening photo, giving it a traditional color scheme.

Traditional color would be vermilion, but I substituted Colonial Red

Finally, a shot of my workspace.  Yes, I have two desks in the room.  Yes, both are filled with partially done projects.  Yes, I tend to work cross-legged on the floor anyway.

My build area. Comfy if your knees can take it.