Ambush Valley - it all goes Pete Tong for the Marines

Marines about to cross the canal.

Following on from our last game, we were able to finish our Force on Force battle, set in Hue during the street fighting in that city in February 1968, just over 50 years ago! I adapted a scenario from the Road to Baghdad supplement (Scenario 10: the Footbridge) and took on the role of a platoon of US Marines tasked with capturing a bridge across the Dong Na canal in Hue.

I have envisaged this as part of a rolling campaign - one section of the battlefield will feature in a future scenario that is projected to take place about an hour in game time after this one. What happens after the Marines get across the bridge and manage to re-group?

But on with the action. We left the game last time with one section of Marines pinned down on the bridge, itself ruined by the efforts of Viet Cong sappers and mortars to destroy it (maximum 6" move on the bridge). A second squad was moving onto the bridge to take over the assault while the platoon FAC vectored in a helicopter gunship to attack one of the buildings across the canal.

It all goes Pete Tong

This session started very badly for me: although the VC air defence was rated as Low, they managed to shoot down my helicopter almost immediately, depriving me of air support for the second half of the game. I pressed ahead with my attack in true Marine Corps spirit. An M60 and a squad on overwatch on my side of the canal rained fire onto the remaining guerrillas and rendered another VC squad combat ineffective (all members dead or seriously wounded - i.e. no longer able to fight). The VC had morale rated as d12 so it was highly unlikely any of Kelvin's troops would be pinned, although this did occur in one instance where he managed to roll snake eyes on 2d12 for a squad with two men left...

Bridgehead established!

I began moving up another Marine squad I'd had on my left flank to help take the bridge, as I was not sure my new point squad would be up to the task on their own. Kelvin's FO was beginning to zero his mortars in on the bridge and the Marines were taking some casualties.

I moved my M60 team to one end of the bridge to give them more of an opportunity to lay down fire on the VC, what was left of them. The last building holding out was taking a ton of fire.

And then it happened. My point squad reached the other side of the bridge, which was my victory condition. It was turn 9. They only needed to hold out for one more turn. Another squad was coming across the bridge, but would not reach them in time to reinforce them. But all seemed well. Then an RPG (rocket propelled grenade - AP3 in this instance) attack caused the squad to fail its morale check, and they became pinned, which in FoF results in degraded morale. Okay, so no biggie. They had less than one turn left and we agreed a pinned unit still counted as the required bridgehead.

Checking out the victory conditions, all I required was to keep one squad established on that side of the canal. That was when the VC mortars landed on the squad, forcing another morale check while they were still pinned. This resulted in the squad breaking and fleeing the battle. I had another squad on the bridge and about to get across the canal...if there had been a turn 11.

Reinforcements en route from the left.

But no, that was it. The VC had jammily squeaked a victory. Full kudos to them. It can be tough playing irregulars against regular veterans like US Marines in FoF, but they managed to hold their ground.

The Marines lost four KIA in the end, and another four seriously wounded, giving the VC another +8 VPs for an 18-0 win. It could so easily have been a 10-8 win for the Americans, but it was not to be.

Overall it was a good scenario. I've tweaked it slightly from the original, and there are elements I've left out - e.g. more US fire support, opposition armour (which didn't exist at Hue), civilians running around (I lack Vietnamese civilian models at the moment but they are on the list).

Post-game analysis

My mistake was changing my game plan. Kelvin stuck to his plan from the outset, which was characteristic of communist officers in this conflict and others of the Cold War period, and it worked out for him. He just had to hold onto his position. He was wise to keep some of his men back as a reserve which he committed once he started to take losses. He was unlucky with his efforts to coordinate mortar fire, but it came good for him in the end.

I wasted two squads, one of which loitered ineffectually on my left flank. I don't think they were needed there and they did not really contribute to the engagement. By the time I committed them to the battle on the bridge it was too late in the game. Another substantial squad was left to loiter in the rear with one casualty. They had taken a lot of light wounds in the initial attempt on the bridge, but this should not have been enough to deter them. They could have left the casualty where he was or detached a single Marine to get him to the rear. He didn't need the whole squad to baby sit him. I did not think I would need them, but in the event I should have either used them to lay down more fire or attack the bridge again.

One note on the rules - the FoF book contradicts itself on first aid checks. It says at one point they should be made at the end of a turn, while elsewhere that they should be made as soon as a unit takes hits. We checked first aid consistently at turn end for this game, but in retrospect I think the checks and morale checks should be made as hits come in. This seems more realistic.