Setting up & the Tanks

SALUTE ZERO NINE:

The FILM

COLBERT’S:

9me Regt de Hussards

15mm AB Figures:

Regards,

VIETNAM: 001: Ft Knox, looking up river towards Chau Phu (far top left)

TET OFFENSIVE 1968

Joe’s Pics – PART 1

31 Jan 1968

GAME BRIEFING
This 28mm Vietnam wargame was set at the start of the Tet Offensive. The US supply base 242, known as ‘Ft Knox’ and located on the Mekong River, was set up to supply US outposts and fire bases further up river. The US objective was to keep open the three routes of supply to these isolated and vulnerable outposts:

By road – overland trail through jungle
By river – for transporting heavy materials by barge
By air – for med-evac and rapid squad deployment

Far upriver, the isolated US outpost at Chau Phu was running low on ammo. A munitions convoy was dispatched by road to re-supply them. The base at Chau Phu was on high alert following the shooting down of a command huey by an RPG shortly after daybreak. It crashed atop a rocky promontory called Ka Nhang, located a few kilometers south of the camp. Survivors from the crash radioed for emergency med-evac by helicopter.

At the start of the game, the US Army was unaware that the North Vietnamese Army had infiltrated in force along both banks of the Mekong between Ft Knox and Chau Phu. Their first day objective was to cut the supply lines between Ft Knox and its forward bases. Vietnamese positions and moves were plotted off-board, moderated by the umpire (Martin Monks). The North Vietnamese figures were brought on to the table only when a contact between troops occurred.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Tet Offensive was a military campaign conducted between 30 January and 23 September 1968, by forces of the Viet Cong, or National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, and the North Vietnamese army, or People’s Army of Vietnam against the forces of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), the United States, and their allies during the Vietnam War. The purpose of the offensive was to strike military and civilian command and control centers throughout South Vietnam and to spark a general uprising among the population that would then topple the Saigon government, thus ending the war in a single blow.

The operations are referred to as the Tet Offensive because they began during the early morning hours of 31 January, the day of the most important Vietnamese holiday, Tết Nguyên Đán, which celebrates the first day of the year on a traditional lunar calendar. Both North and South Vietnam announced on national radio broadcasts that there would be a two-day cease-fire in honor of Tết, also called “Spring Festival.” In Vietnamese, the offensive is officially called Cuộc Tổng tiến công và nổi dậy năm 1968 (“The General Offensive and Uprising 1968″). The common name is (Xuân) Mậu Thân (“[Spring] Year of the Monkey”).

The Vietcong launched a major offensive beginning with a wave of attacks on the morning of 30 January in the I and II Corps Tactical Zones. This early attack did not, however, cause undue alarm or lead to widespread allied defensive measures. When the main communist operation began the next morning, the offensive was countrywide in scope and well coordinated, with more than 80,000 Vietcong troops striking more than 100 towns and cities, including 36 of 44 provincial capitals, five of the six autonomous cities, 72 of 245 district towns, and the national capital. The offensive was the largest military operation yet conducted by either side up to that point in the war.

The initial Vietcong attacks stunned allied forces and took them by surprise, but most were quickly contained and beaten back, inflicting massive casualties on the communists. The exceptions were the fighting that erupted in the old imperial capital of Huế, where intense fighting lasted for a month, and the continuing struggle around the U.S. combat base at Khe Sanh, where fighting continued for two more months. Although the offensive was a military disaster for Vietcong forces, it had a profound effect on the American administration and shocked the American public, which had been led to believe by its political and military leaders that the communists were, due to previous defeats, incapable of launching such a massive effort.

Courtesy Wikipedia
Copyright: Public Domain
PHOTO FEATURE
The pics of the game are divided in two parts.
Each part contains 127 pictures with captions.
Part One follows here.

For Part Two, use this link:
http://ilovewargameing.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=2139

CREDITS
Figures & vehicles: Ron Ringrose
Terrain & scenery: Ron & Sue Ringrose
Customised figures: Terry Thornton
Umpire: Martin Monks
Photography & Text: Joe Dever

Game played: 25-01-09

002: Helicopter squads receive their briefings

003: The Ft Knox Vehicle Park

004: Air Rescue squad get ready to depart

005: HMG post on roof of base hospital

007: ‘Good Morning Vietnam’

008: Ft Knox base hospital

009: Heavy material for the motor barges

010: Ploughing a furrow through the muddy Mekong

011: “Able company, mount up!”

012: West bank checkpoint

013: “Move out!”

014: East bank checkpoint

016: 128th Artillery Battery in their fire base atop Hill 103

017: The Hill 103 fire base commands a sweeping view of the Mekong river basin north of Ft Knox.

018: Gills Bar, on the outskirts of Sa Dec village

019: Buddhist monks settlement

020: ARVN HQ & Hill 103

021: Chan Li – the ‘Mr Fix-it’ of Sa Dec village

022:  Swift boat ‘Macho’ policing Vietnamese river traffic

023: The Paradise Club – Sa Dec village

024: Sa Dec Bridge (top right)

025: US Army munitions convoy crosses Sa Dec bridge.

026: Swift boat ‘Maverick’ escorting a supply barge

027: “Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmm”

028: Paddy farmers & US supply barge

029: Ruined temple of Ganesha

030:  Supply barge receives word that Charlie is coming!

031: Paddy fields, jungle, Hill 103.

032: Munitions on the move.

033: Fire Base Delta

034: Armoured riverboat (with heli-pad) at Fire Base Delta

035: Innocent peasants… or VC infiltrators?

036: Fire Base Delta catches sight of the munitions convoy

037: Vietnamese junk – river trader or enemy craft?

038: Munitions convoy scout car recce’s ahead.

039: The downed Heuy, ablaze atop Ka Nhang promontory.

More at:

http://ilovewargameing.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=2140

and:

http://ilovewargameing.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=2139

FROM MONDEGO BAY to VIMEIRO

Following in the Footsteps of Wellington’s Army – New Series to start soon

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Wellington’s Peninsular War Campaign begins

SALUTE ZERO NINE

The FILM

>

>

SALUTE ‘o9 – Close up

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Armourtex

Photos from the

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 South London

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Warlords’ great

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 show.

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.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>

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COLBERT’S:

9me Regt de

 Hussards

15mm AB Figures:

Regards,

Game Report

The Retreat from Corunna

General Moore’s epic retreat from the north

of Spain to Coruna,

where he faced the French General Soult in

a battle of survival next to the Atlantic.

Superb game report by Joe and ace terrain by Ron Ringrose.

Full report at

http://ilovewargameing.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1940

Some pics to wet the appitite:

See

There’s a new category on WS for modern gamers - so far it includes Cold War themes and Iraq: take a look and contribute your ideas.

http://ilovewargameing.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1897&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

From the Iraq War, there’s a detailed look at the amazing Battle for Cimic House, where soldiers became cut off and fought a fierce 6-month long battle against the Mehdi Army. There is a look at some of the tactics used and……..

Snipers on the roof ofCimic House

 

 

 weapons involved, like Beharry’s Warrior armoured car (here seen after contact): 

Warrior

Idea is to insert some AFV videos for reference and maybe to start a moderns section:

MERKAVA 1, Israel

We’ll see how it goes. This vid is from the same day:

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INVITES YOU to the:

AUTUMN INVITATION GAME BY THE SEA:

““““““

The Battle of the Pyrenees

 >>>>>>>>SEPT. 2008>>>>>>>

““““““`

A NEW GAME TO END ALL GAMES: 

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SEPTEMBER 2008 -

DETAILS HERE: NEW PEEPS, NEW THRILLS................

Details here:

 http://wargamessociety.wordpress.com/april-invitiation-game-by-the-sea/

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