Adam has been painting US Infantry, North Vietnamese Army (NVC) and Viet Cong (VC) for the Vietnam War. Yay. I’ve been wanting to game that period for a long time. Unfortunately, for me, he has chosen Charlie Don’t Surf: Wargames Rules for the Vietnam War to game with. This is by Richard Clarke, one of the Too Fat Lardies. Personally I buy all of the Too Fat Lardies books but I find the supplements more to my taste than the rules. But Adam loves them. I had a horrible experience with ‘O’ Group so I couldn’t help but wonder, would Charlie Don’t Surf be any better?
New Zealand
A brief summary of the various wars involving New Zealand, with additional details on the New Zealand Wars (1845-72), and Kiwis in World War II (1939-45) .
Will Standard Crossfire Work for Vietnam?
After reviewing What to Simulate in a Vietnam War Company-Level Game, I decided to take a closer look at whether standard Crossfire could handle it. By “standard Crossfire,” I mean the version in the rulebook (plus HTD), where a rifle stand represents a squad of 9–12 men.
The short answer? It doesn’t — but I already knew that.
The point of the exercise was to identify the gaps. And those are exactly the gaps I’m aiming to fill with Wombat Gun, my draft variant for the Vietnam War.
What to Simulate in a Vietnam War Company-Level Game
I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a variant of Crossfire for the Vietnam War—still at company level, just like standard Crossfire. I’m tentatively calling it Wombat Gun.
Then the other day, Adam came over and we played Charlie Don’t Surf by the Two Fat Lardies — another company-level game. That session really got me thinking: what are the key elements worth simulating in a Vietnam War company-level wargame?
Here’s where I’ve landed so far. These are the key features of the conflict that I think any ruleset should simulate. Please share if you have other ideas.
Kiwis vs FJ in Italy – A Crossfire Scenario
We’ve played this a couple of times now so I thought I’d put it into my scenario format. This is a Crossfire scenario for a fictional battle between 2 NZ Division (Kiwis), including Kiwi Armour, and German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger). It is primarily to play test my Balagan House Rules for Crossfire Armour (2nd Edition).
Perano – A Crossfire Scenario and Battle Report
Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) played another game in the Italian Campaign using 2 New Zealand Division. This time it was Perano using my ideas for a scenario. All words are Bruce’s except where noted.
ANZAC M113s – Revisiting the APCs to get for my Vietnam Project
Having done quite a bit of research on ANZAC/Australian M113s in Vietnam, I’ve decided to change my plan for collecting them. I’ll recap my original plan from 2020 (ANZACs in Vietnam – Steven’s Wargaming Project), have a look at the kits I have today, and then outline my new, slightly more megalomaniac plans.
Monaldini and Monticelli – A Crossfire Battle Report 2
Bruce Stewart (aka Gunnery Sargent Rock) and his mate Clynt had a go at my Monaldini and Monticelli Scenario. Kiwis, including six Shermans, and Greeks against Fallschirmjäger and “Turcomen” during the Italian Campaign. All words are Bruce’s.
Using WW2 National Flags as Objectives in Crossfire
I’ve been using flags as my terrain objective markers for a long time. And recently I made some more for New Zealand, UK/GB, India, USA, Germany (replacement), Japan, China and Australia.
Hotel Excelsior – A Crossfire Scenario and Battle Report
Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) sent through another battle report featuring Kiwis in the Italian Campaign. The combat is again in Casino town against the Fallschirmjaeger, but this time around the Hotels Excelsior and Roses.
Monaldini and Monticelli – A Crossfire Battle Report in Italy 1
Jamie and I played my Monaldini and Monticelli Scenario. Kiwis and Greeks against Fallschirmjäger and “Turcomen” during the Italian Campaign. And lets not forget the six Shermans.
Summary: Great scenario. Lots of tactical decisions for both players. Nice to get a few tanks on table. Great game. We’d play it again. I won. Or perhaps Jamie did.
Monaldini and Monticelli – A Crossfire Scenario in Italy
I wanted a scenario to play test my emerging revision to the Crossfire armour rules. This scenario simulates the New Zealander and Greek attack on two small settlements – Monaldini farm and Monticelli – south-west of Rimini on 14 Sep 1944, during the Italian Campaign. Defending are Fallschirmjäger and “Turcomen” i.e. Soviet PoWs in German service. It is roughly a company a side in terms of infantry but the Kiwis have six, count them, six Shermans.
Kiwis vs FJ in Italy – A Crossfire Battle Report 2
Bruce Stewart (aka Gunnery Sargent Rock) and his mate Clynt had a go at my Kiwis vs FJ in Italy scenario. Crossfire in the Italian Campaign featuring New Zealanders – perfect. All words are Bruce’s.
Cassinograd – A Crossfire Battle Report 3
Jamie and I played a draft version of Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad. We played two games in a couple of hours. Jamie was the attacking Kiwis and I was the Fallshirmjaeger. This is the second game.
Summary: Great game. My larger regular force was much more resilient than the small veteran force I used in Game 2. Jamie captured the objective (the Post Office), but he literally did it as his clock counted down to zero. Very tense and exciting game.
Cassinograd – A Crossfire Battle Report 2
Jamie and I played a draft version of Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad. We played two games in a couple of hours. Jamie was the attacking Kiwis and I was the Fallshirmjaeger. This is the first of our games, making the second Cassinograd game with Bruce Stewart’s being the first.
Summary: Okay game, but could have been better. I had a small veteran force. The smaller forced lacked resilience, despite the higher morale, and Jamie took the objective (Municipal Buildings) relatively easily.
Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad
Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) got me thinking about Cassinograd. This is an adaptation of Doctor Phalanx’s Crossfiregrad scenario, transferred from Stalingrad to the Italian Campaign with 2 New Zealand Division (Kiwis) attacking Fallchirmjaeger in Cassino town. Crossfire of course. Bruce’s version was pretty much standard Crossfiregrad, but I’ve made some more changes to add flavour.