My mate Roland and I often talk about a specific principle of military command, where a commander focuses on units one or two levels down the hierarchy — no further. I wanted to use this to justify the scale of Wombat Gun, my Crossfire variant for the Vietnam War, so I went looking for its origins. In Wombat Gun, players take the role of company commanders. The “two levels down” principle is why the game tracks platoons and squads — not fire teams, not individual soldiers. Player authority is meant to mirror real-world command practice. But where did this principle come from?
Wombat Gun
A company-level variation of Crossfire 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.