A Walk in the Sun

 Our latest Fistful of Lead trip was to sunny Vietnam, inspired by our various playings of Decision Games 'Khe San'. This particular scenario is set during Operation Apache Snow in May 1969.

The usual gang of reprobates assembled, the heroic NVA defending their homeland from the colonialist invaders were myself, Jerry, Simon and Mark with Pete in command. The US Imperialists were John, Micheal (both resplendant in their tin hats with covers), Jim and Russell. At least it was an excuse to wear my VC boonie and fighters scarf, some of the surviving bits of my old re-enactment gear.

We were the 29th NVA Regiment and the Americans were B Company, 3/187th Regiment.

As ever, this was a 54mm skirmish game with individual figures, using the modern variant of Fistful of Lead.

The action opened with the NVA out of sight and dug in, with the US point team cautiously marching up the track. We had a fireteam (me with four NVA troopers), two RPG teams (Simon and Mark) and a sniper (Jerry) with an SKS. Our job was to stop the US getting three or more troops off the far edge and controlling both the road junctions.  

Our guys were all dug into spider holes, apart from Jerry who was up a tree. We also had a Claymore covering the far road junction. My team was dug in across the track at the first junction, the RPG teams were echeloned further back and Jerry was covering the left track.

The US were virtually on top of our positions and I couldn't take the chance they would spot us first so two of my guys popped up and gunned down the US point men. Personally I would have put my team to the side of the track, not across it, and waited until the US were fully committed, but orders are orders.

Undeterred by the fate of their pals (they are both down wounded), more US troops appeared. In FFoL, figures activate individually, based on playing cards by the owning player. The black blob on one of my guys shows he is out of ammo, having emptied a whole magazine into the US point.

More Americans appeared, so the rest of my team popped up and shot at them. Less effective this time the yellow blobs show their targets are shocked, but not hit.

Even more Americans roll up and return fire, nearly all my guys are shocked. At least their foxholes are giving them some cover. I am now fighting all the Americans on my own, which strikes me as a really silly idea.

My guys bug out and leg it into the jungle back down the track. The US mill around sorting themselves out, their medic deals with the wounded and they  put an M60 team around the left flank. Visibility in the jungle is short, so my guys have a chance to sort themselves out too, they remove the shock markers.

Some of the US push forward aggressively, leaving a bunch of wounded and shocked troops behind. My team are still all bunched up around the junction, and one of the RPG gunners pops up and fires ineffectively at the US column. It is becoming increasing hard to see what is going on with all the trees in the way, all very atmospheric!

Just how many Americans are there! I'm glad my guys disengaged. I've just got one lightly wounded man now and we are starting to spread out across both tracks.

To cover our redeployment, one of my chaps throws two grenades into the middle of the great mass of US troops on the road. Ouch! Jerry also manages to shoot the M60 gunner, but a US blooper guy bags one of our RPG gunners.

Even more Americans arrive! Another fireteam deploys on the right flank, but at least Jerry has stopped the M60 team on the left. The US fire M79 grenades to try and dislodge him but miss. My chaps have melted back into the trees and are taking cover, so are now invisible again.

We broke for the night at that point.

The US on the main track are still all pretty shook up, and the latest fireteam to arrive moves across to the left flank (you can see them in the foreground of the picture). Jerry is still taking potshots from his tree and apparently leading a charmed life.

As the left flanking US team sweeps forward, the central column gets going again. Nicely bunched up, they get a shower of grenades from my guys concealed among the trees.

The US point man finds where we have deployed the Claymore. Yes, that is a Party Popper. He is blown to pieces in the blast.

My guys now keep up a steady fire on the US and they return the complement, both sides mainly suffering shock results so the sea of yellow counters extends. The US occupy both the junctions and there isn't any way to shift them, but as time runs out, they haven't a hope of getting anyone off our base edge either, so it is an honourable draw.

Despite the large volume of small arms fire and all the pyrotechnics, when the smoke cleared, the total losses for all sides were just 2 KIA, 4 WIA and the rest just shocked/suppressed, which seems pretty realistic really.

The was good fun and very atmospheric, beautiful toys too. Hopefully we will be going back 'up country' at some point.