Boots on the Ground: A Vietnam War Game
You are an officer in Bravo Company, a unit of the US Army deployed in Vietnam focused on helicopter insertion and extraction. The year is 1966, and the land is a rugged jungle filled with guerillas and disease. Your goal is to kill as many Communists as possible and secure various objectives scattered across the harsh Vietnamese landscape.
Bravo Company consists of 6 fifty man platoons. The overall commander is a Major, who controls a single platoon by himself, and the remaining platoons are split between 5 Lieutenants. Every turn, you will send in orders for your 50 men, and the Major will decide what strategic resources he wishes to employ. In absence of orders, command defaults to the Major.
The game takes place on a grid map. Each square represents an area 10 meters by 10 meters. A platoon fills up 5 x 2 squares. Movement distance per turn is 5 squares, line of sight is 10 in clear conditions and effective fire range is 5. A diagonal movement is treated the same as a horizontal or vertical. A turn represents roughly 2 minutes.
The forces allotted to a platoon are such: 42 riflemen, 1 officer, a 4 person mortar team and 3 person machine gun unit. A majors platoon also includes 2 radio operators. Additional forces and equipment may vary per mission. Every rifleman can begin firing the turn immediately after contact with the enemy. Machine guns provide exceptional bonuses in open terrain and suppression, while mortar teams are good against cover and stationary vehicles. Both take one turn between contact and use to be set up. Officers rarely die unless a unit is entirely wiped out, but if they do then the player is replaced with another. Radio operators similarly rarely die, but if they do then no strategic resources can be called in.
The outcomes of combat are randomly determined but are weighted by cover, troop number and quality, positioning, terrain, and surprise and many other smaller factors. The defender generally has the advantage. Units can set up ambushes over the course of one turn which remove the set up time for units but can only be done in terrain with enough cover. If an ambush is discovered before it is sprung then the ambushers have a disadvantage, but if it is perpetrated effectively then it grants a large bonus. Moving while under fire is inadvisable. You cannot fire and move on the same turn.
Strategic resources are outlined at the beginning of each mission. Included in the description are their effects, limitations, set up time and cooldown. They require a living radio operator to use. They usually entail artillery strikes, fly overs, and paratroopers, but also can be more exotic. Their use is at discretion of the Major--if he dies but the radio operators survive, then command goes to the second platoon, then third, and so on.
You can request extraction at any point. The helicopters will at that point arrive at a suitable landing zone in 3 turns. You must then make your way back to the landing zone. The Major can order the helicopters to take off at any point. The only way to end a mission is extraction.
Terrain varies from mission. The major terrain types are jungle, light jungle and clear. Others that might appear are swamp, water, sand, and any other that are relevant. Clear leaves all values the same and provides no cover. Light jungle makes movement 4, line of sight 8 and fire range 4 and provides bad cover. Jungle makes movement 2, line of sight 5 and fire range 3 and provides good cover. Weather also has drastic effects: rain makes line of sight 8 and movement 3, for example. The effects of all terrain and weather present on the battlefield will be outlined pre-mission.
Enemy forces not within line of sight are hidden. When visible, they will appear as red units on the map. Known enemy emplacements will be marked even when not in line of sight, but can be inaccurate if they have moved since last observed. Buildings will appear as brown squares. All buildings can be entered and provide good cover.
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Rough outline. I'm looking for people to run a test mission Sunday night.