Mark's Vietnam Playtest

My good friend Mark Waddington has been working on a couple of really interesting projects for a year now.  One thing he's working on are some gorgeous handmade ships for the War of 1812 on Lake Ontario.  They are spectacular and nearly complete, though he's still flogging the question of what rules to use.  Everything is scratchbuilt, from hulls to masts to guns.  I can't wait to give them a try when he's ready.

He's also been working on a 25mm Vietnam project.  We gave them a try today.  It was a meeting engagement between an American force and some Vietcong and North Vietnamese regulars.  Mark adapted the rules from some published sets to fill his needs.  The combat mechanics were puzzling at first, but I pretty much had it figured out after the second turn.  We all got into a serious firefight in heavy jungle, which reduced our fire somewhat after I was caught in an initial ambush.  Things bogged down enough to call in a gunship.  It was fun, because it could unleash lots of fire power (yes!! buckets of dice!!)  Unfortunately we didn't do a lot of damage with it.

 Even so, I think Mark was pretty happy with the first test.  A few things to work on but it was very enjoyable.  Joe Waddington and his friend Mike, and Dean Motoyama were also on hand to work through the game.  It was the first of our summer Truants' game.  Haven't quite decided on next week's game yet, but whatever it will be I'm looking forward to it.