Chain of Command Vietnam - Enter the ACAV

Second test game today with Chain of Command DMZ, the unofficial supplement to play the Vietnam conflict with Chain of Command. In this game we introduced for the first time a vehicle, my "Peace Maker" ACAV model,  parked in my garage for sometime now.

 
We chose this time to play the "Attack on an Objective" Scenario Six of the main rule book. The table had a major jungle (type 2 area) crossed by a dirt road leading to a village which according to the intelligence cources was a major NVA depot area.

The battlefield form the US edge

The mission for the FWF player was to take control the area and then search and destroy any weapon supplies or rice caches found. The patrol phase resulted in the US player placing his jump off points close to the edge of the jungle area covering a broad front... and from there things started to go downhill for him.

The initial unit deployed was located in the left, with the mission to act as an anchor for the attack and to cover the flank, while the ACAV with a section inside moved along the road.

The NVA seemed most unimpressed. Using the "local knowledge" feature (allowing a long distnace deployment from an own jump off point), maneuvered to deploy at the rear of the unit, fire and then charged (a double activation rolled),  routing the unit and in addition capturing the US jump off.

A major setback for the US player; the cunning NVA player instead of finishing the turn (which has captured the jump off but also lifted the "pinned" status of my units) decided to use their overwhelming fire advantage to basically whipe out the unit in the following activation, before any support coud arive to the crime scene.

In the meantime, the ACAV moved forward and the section inside disembarked on reaching the outskirts of the village

A new surprise awaited the US unit when a hidden bunker hosting a tripod-mounted 0.3 MMG uncovered and fired over the unit in the open, causing several KIAs and the unit leader. The Force Moral of the US already low, fell to 1 and the game was over just 1 hour after start.

Lessons learned: don't scatter your jump off points and move always tactical when in the open.

As it was still early in the day, we decided to replay the game but swaping sides. The former NVA player was now in charge of the US and supposedly having a good knowledge of the dirty communist tricks could be more challenging for the NVA side.

The deployment of the US jump off points was totally different to the previous game, being placed closely to each other along the main road, while the NVA formed a defensive line in the village.

Two US units were out in the first activation phase while the third came mounted in the ACAV from the edge of the table. With one section providing covering fire, the second advanced cautiously towards the village triggering the reaction (may be to early) of the NVA player which placed one of its sections under the cover of the rice paddy bank, opening fire at far distance.
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The ACAV joined the main US forces line soon and the NVA MMG bunker pkus another section were put in action to provide some critical fire mass to the Communist player. The result was one US section heavily mauled and breaking .

But the combined fire of the ACAV .50 and the remaining US section (reinforced with the Platoon's 2 LMGs) wiped out the NVA section. The ACAV moved now to eliminate the bunker threat and the NVA used the last reserve and used a double activation to deploy the remaining section firing on the US infantry whie ordering the embedded RPG to fire on the ACAV... BOOM!

The vehicle was hit and the section inside bailed out with significant losses, rendering it hors action. The US Force Moral at this stage was 4 with NVA standing at 5. We held a short discussion and concluded that neither side was in a position to win a decesive victory, although the US was likely to suffer highly if attempting to enter the village. A draw was agreed.

So two games in a morning, one a decesive victory to the NVA and the other a close affair. Good impressions from the Vietnam supplement and highly motivated to keep actively testing over the next weeks.