Over the last couple of weeks, I've been working on various bits for my long neglected 20mm Vietnam gaming. I guess it's about time that I've finally come back around to Vietnam, as the war ultimately had a big part in influencing my involvement in wargaming. I grew up while the war was going on, and saw the evening news every night at dinner time with updates on the war, body counts, etc.
Vietnam put the idea of playing war front and center, reinforced by WWII movies, such as Battlground, Battle of the Bulge, and Kelly's Heroes. The presence of Vietnam in the news and magazines eclipsed the influence of WWII and Korea (my Dad served there) such that when someone spoke of a US soldier, in my mind, I saw a Vietnam era US GI. That is still the first thing that comes to mind.
In high school, I began playing Heritage's Panzertroops with 1/72 scale WWII Airfix infantry and various armor kits. Towards the end of high school, I got a copy of Mark Baker's Nam (the book scrutinized over its integrity and authenticity) and was intrigued by the idea of gaming Vietnam in miniature.
A year or so later, I went to my first game convention, and encountered my first Vietnam game, being played mostly by veterans of the war. It was a haunting experience, both from the tinges of my own childhood fears about Vietnam, and even more so by the way the vets at the table were experiencing the game. Their sense of urgency and intensity during the game was amazing to witness, their manner of play was exhilarating and intoxicating.
From there it took another year and a half before I found Firefight 20 figures from Breastplate Hobbies in Boardman, Ohio, and brought my first Vietnam game to life.
My gaming group of the time put together a game inspired by the movie, Uncommon Valor, with Craig of Gaming Models building a prison camp as the centerpiece of the game, it was run at some the of the conventions around Ohio in the mid-1980s using one home-brew rules.
After relocating for a new job, my old Vietnam figs spent several years on the shelf, and then would make it to the table top only two more times after almost a decade passing, introducing the period to a retired Navy SEAL that I gamed with at the time. In those games, the rest of us marveled at his amazing vision and understanding of small unit tactics, and he re-experienced a bit of the exhilaration of the fire fights he had been in over the years.
As a result, he quickly researched information about newer, higher quality figs, and once again I found myself painting figs and refining rules for Vietnam. This time it was 20mm FAA figs, a very nice quality line, but more limited in scope than I would have liked. We played some games, and he even ran a few games at local conventions. After a few years, he relocated out of the area, taking his US troops and Vietnam gaming with him.
My third adventure in Vietnam gaming started in 2004/2005, when I purchased most of the Britannia 20mm Vietnam line from the Emperor's Outpost (?) at Historicon. I didn't really get them painted until 2009, adding some terrain and other bits over the next year, but they've only made the tabletop in limited numbers a couple of times. I added some figs in 2017 for a scheduled event that got cancelled, and since then, they have been collecting dust.
Recently, I've been going through old posts on the Fields of Fire discussion forum, and got the fire burning again for Vietnam. The current forum is the latest iteration of a long the running iconic discussion forum, loaded with amazing stuff for Vietnam gamers.
I don't know if this still counts as round three or maybe more properly round four of 'Nam Gaming, but I'm having a blast working on many of the things that I never got around to before. Over the last couple of weeks, I've finished a bunch of infantry status markers that I've needed for years, made some bamboo groves, started making rice patties, and another round of jungle foliage.
I've also done a ton of research for a variety of other 'Nam projects, including more hooches, bunkers, more figs, hilly or mountain terrain modules, streams, bridges, and ordered some kits to add more helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. It has been a lot of fun.
I'll be sharing some pics of the new work in the coming weeks.
Yeah, Vietnam does scratch an itch. I first came across it as a thing when my mother took me to watch The Green Berets,. She was a John Wayne fan, but who isn't?
ReplyDeleteOne day, before I die, I need to get around to painting my 10mm Vietnam pile of lead.
Great post. That camp looks amazing, I actually watched Uncommon Valour last night, great movie.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to this!
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