The Vietnam war is one of my favourite periods for gaming, and whilst there have been many platoon sized games produced for WW2 in recent years, those produced exclusively for the Vietnam period have been few and far between. Excluding the likes of 'Arc of Fire', 'The Face of Modern Battle' and even 'We Could Be Heroes...' which were generic systems for modern warfare, I believe the last dedicated set of rules published were 'Buck' Surdu's "Fire Team Vietnam".
So, when I heard that a new set of Vietnam skirmish rules have been released, and that they are released by Two Hours Wargames, I am was naturally rather excited by the prospect. The benchmark for Vietnam rules was really set by RAFM's 'Charlie Company', and there have been few sets of rules for the period that are as good. However, first impressions of FNG is that it compares very favourably with Charlie Company - it certainly requires much less bookeeping, which isn't a bad thing.
The rules are aimed at squad / platoon level, but can handle larger numbers of troops without too many problems - although anything more than company would be really pushing the game mechanics, since most actions in the game are done on an individual basis.
As you might expect of any set of rules for Vietnam, FNG allows for the use of Infantry, AFVs, Helicopters, artillery/mortar fire support (on and off table) and air strikes. The rules also allow for Riverine operations and have a special section covering tunnel complexes.
The rules are designed to be used with any scale of figures, although all distances are measured in inches, and as such they are probably best used with either 20mm or 28mm models. You may want to consider converting the ranges from inches to centimetres if using 15mm or smaller figures, although there is certainly no requirement to do so.
The game is desgined to be played in one of four ways:
For those unfamiliar with Two Hour Wargames systems, every figure has a single characteristic - Reputation, aka 'Rep' - on which the majority of the game mechanics are based, and is a number between 2 and 6. This characteristic denotes a combination of skill, experience and bravery. For example, a Rep of '3' would normally be assigned to a typical US Army rookie, new in-country. A veteran with several months combat experience is liable to have a Rep of '5'.
Reputation is also used to drive THW main game mechanic - the 'Reaction Check'. Reaction Checks are taken by all troops under certain conditions. e.g. When fired upon, When sighting the Enemy, When wanting to charge the enemy etc. It is command-and-control device, which controls the way that troops react in stressful battle situations. Essentially, the higher the Rep of your troops, the more likely they are to react in a positive manner.
For example, When under fire troops with low Rep are much more likely to run and hide behind cover rather than returning fire.
Reaction Checks mean that you can never fully control your troops in any situation. However, they are also the game mechanic which enables solo play to be managed so successfully.
FNG is laid out in a similar way to previous sets of THW rules using the CR 2.0 system, so there will be much that is familiar to anyone who owns previous titles such as Chain Reaction - Fully Loaded or Nuts!. There are sections on the 'Core' rules, Campaign rules, Army Lists and then some special rules at the end.
Whilst the main 'Core' ruleset has changed little from 'Nuts!', the change emphasis towards Vietnam is apparent even after the first few pages, as additional rule options and amendments start appearing in the text.
Little of the basic game mechanics have changed, although one of the most noteable changes is that the Duck Back rule has been clarified to ensure that figures move away from the enemy when forced to take cover. (I believe this follows a particularly inventive discussion on the Yahoo! group...)
Additional rules in FNG which help give it that period flavour include:
The rules contain several army lists for the conflict, which cover the majority of the protagonists - the main omissions being US Armoured Cavalry, ROK forces and US Special Forces (LRRPS etc).
As with 'Nuts!', whilst the rules for 'FNG' are good, it's when they are used in conjunction with the campaign system that they really come into their own.
The campaign covers the period 1967 - 1968, probably the time when the conflict was at it's height and American involvement was highest, before Vietnamization of ARVN and US forces took place.
The campaign usually starts in January 1967, and takes place in bi-weekly turns. The player takes the part of a Squad leader (NCO), and the idea is to complete a 'Tour of Duty' with your squad (which will consist of 12 or 13 months, dependent upon whether you are playing US Army or USMC). The squad is generated, and will usually consist of a mixture of raw recruits, veterans and short-timers.
Missions may take place once every two weeks, and may be a squad action, where you squad is acting alone (Usually some sort of patrol) or a large action, where you squad is acting as part of it's platoon or company.
In a change from the Nuts! campaign system, missions can take place at varying times of the day and in varying weather conditions. Also, the missions may vary dependent upon the area being operated in. In game terms, this will mean that if you game as USMC (Which operated in the I Corp area (North) of the country) you use a different mission generation table.
So far, so good...and much like any other game.
Where the difference occurs is that once contact is made with the enemy, there is a chance that the firefight will escalate as other units are drawn towards the sound of battle. This, as far as I am aware, is a unique feature of THW games system and certainly makes for much more entertaining games. So, rather than enagaging in a short firefight between opposing squads of troops, you could suddenly find yourself engaged by a heavy machine gun, a sniper, artillery fire, an entire enemy platoon or even a tank!
Similarly, you could find yourself reinforced by extra troops, armoured vehicles, artillery or air strikes.
There is even an optional rule which can be used to determine the activity level and aggresiveness of communist forces - so you could find yourself facing (or playing as) a small force which trys to slip away after contact, or suddenly up against hordes of 'Charlie' determined to wipe you out!
The 'Reinforcements' rules in the missions makes every game unique and somewhat unpredictable - and does away with any need for points based army lists. Some people may not like this, but I personally think that it's a superb idea and adds a certain realism to the game.
Just imagine it - you are a US squad on routine patrol, expecting a quiet day. Suddenly the whole jungle around you is alive with a platoon or more of NVA with tank support. Bad weather means that there is no air support available, and your RTO is struggling to make radio contact with your supporting artillery. Need a change of underwear yet?
On the other hand, Free World Forces use of off-table support assets (Artillery fire missions and Air Strikes) can seriously unbalance a head-to-head game (a 750lb bomb, with a 30" blast circle, can seriously ruin anyone's day) and so should be used with extreme caution.
Probably the only downside to the campaign system is that it naturally lends itself more to an American point-of-view (i.e. the 'Tour of Duty' idea), so if you wanted to play a campaign as ARVN, NVA or VC, there isn't quite so much 'flow' to the campaign.
No rules can claim to perfect, and 'FNG', like any other, does have a few shortfalls/drawbacks/ommissions. I'm not altogether happy with the US Army lists, or the stats on some of the vehicles. The missions could do with a little more variety, or could be tailored more depending upon what type of force you are playing (Air Cavalry are likely to get very different missions to CIDG forces, for example)
However, I would be the first to say that these are subjective observations of minor issues, and part of the joy of THW rules is that they are very flexible and can easily accomodate house rules for anything that you may think is missing.
In summary, FNG provides virtually everything you may ever need for gaming Vietnam, whether you want to play a one-off battle against a friend or play an in-depth solo campaign. You can fight in the jungles of the Central Highlands, the streets of Hue city, the rivers of the Delta or even the tunnels of the Iron Triangle.
The rules provide a fun game which requires a minimum of bookeeping or on-table counters/markers, and also provides realistic results that rewards the use of sound tactics. In short, these are probably the best set of Vietnam rules since 'Charlie Company' and definately the best set of rules that Two Hour Wargames have published to date.
I cannot recommend these rules highly enough. If you play Vietnam, buy these rules now - you won't be disappointed. If you haven't played Vietnam games before, there has never been a better set of rules to get you started.
The rules are available, either in PDF format or as a hardcopy, from Two Hour Wargames. As ever, the online community on Yahoo provides excellent support and a contant stream of ideas - almost a reason for owning a set of the rules on it's own!