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برچسب: Combat

  • Brown Water Brawl: A Combat Commander: Vietnam AAR – InsideGMT


    Designing a game with the scope of Combat Commander: Vietnam requires a lot of testing. Before the game is opened up for broader playtesting, the core design team has to ensure that all of the pieces of the design are working to provide the play experience we want. In the previous article we discussed how the Random Scenario Generator (RSG) and the data behind it is the anchor for the whole system. Indeed the RSG data serves as a validator for all 24 of the designed scenarios that will come with the base game.

    Scenario design for the Combat Commander series is very delicate when looking at specific historic engagements, and perhaps even more for generalized engagements. Data models trend towards the average, so the RSG system uses player agency to tilt the odds with their choices. In written scenarios, the designer is the one that tilts the odds, often to align with the historical record. Without these little tweaks the scenario might feel too generic, but tweaked too much and things can end up on the rails.

    The scenarios for the base game of Combat Commander: Vietnam are pulled from the archival records of the participants. The maps are drawn from 1:50,000 scale maps from the period, zoomed in to match the scale of Combat Commander. The scenarios designed for these maps fit the details we know historically into the framing of the game. The goal is for the core system rules to cover 85% or more of any scenario.  Adjustments are then made with a few special rules to bridge the gaps between historicity and playability.

    What follows is an After Action Report from a recent playtest of scenario #9, “Brown Water Brawl”. This is a key scenario in the base game because it introduces Amphibious Assault rules. Amphibious and Air Assaults are among the many things we’ve heard fans say they want to see in the system. This was a playtest to see how the rules affect gameplay for both attackers and defenders.

    SITUATION REPORT:

    Rach Ruong Canal, IV Corps, South Vietnam, December, 1967 – Although initially blocked from deploying forces to the Mekong Delta due to opposition from the South Vietnamese Government, in 1967, the Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) became America’s force in the Delta. Pairing the 2nd Brigade of the 9th Division with Navy brown water assault craft, the MRF sought out NLF forces along the many rivers and canals of the Delta.

    After receiving rocket fire from the west bank, a company of the MRF lands with support from Monitor assault crafts to engage elements of the NLF’s 502nd Local Force Battalion.

    Information display showing the scenario year, victory points, and other details (playtest graphics)

    The NLF gets to set up its detachment first with three bunkers provided by the scenario rules. One of the bunkers is set up forward to contest the coastline where the MRF will land. The other two bunkers are placed in the open, one to cover the forward treeline, while the other defends the treeline in the rear. A few squads are also placed forward in order to contest the Americans before they get off the coast and toward the open area.

    Gray NLF units set up to resist the American landing and hold key positions (playtest graphics)

    As an Amphibious Assault, the Americans will have three waves of platoons enter the map from the water in the northeast, one per turn. The first wave picks the landing zone which will be used by all subsequent waves. The Amphibious Assault rules provide the defender with the ability to contest the landing zone after the first wave has deployed. One of the things that came out of this play was the need to encourage aggressive play from the NLF to actually contest the landing zone. As it is, that possibility does not come up in this playthrough.

    While the landing zone is not really contested, the landing parties can be, which leads to the other key part of the amphibious rules that allow the landing craft free attacks during each deployment. Recognizing this is one of the reasons the NLF play it safe with their setup, but playing it safe does not prevent them from taking fire.

    Victory in scenarios is measured by VP which are scored in a number of ways. The clearest is combat attrition. Both sides earn 1-4 VP for eliminating opposing units. Additionally for Attacker Defender scenarios VP are scored at each time check for any held objectives. Because the defender starts in control of the objectives, it is on the attacker to take those objectives as quickly as possible to keep the defender from scoring them.

    Finally each side holds a secret objective which is only revealed and scored at the end of the game. The end game is triggered either on turn 8, by one side choosing to Break Contact after the Time marker reaches the Support marker, or one side having to Break Contact the Time Check after their casualties are equal or greater than their Break Point level (we will save the discussion of Break Contact and the other new mechanics which support it for a future article).

    Time 0

    VP: 0

    US Casualties: 0

    NLF Casualties: 0

    Support Marker: 5

    The Americans start by picking their landing zone. They choose a spot whose line of sight is blocked by huts, to allow some of the units to deploy into cover. On landing, the platoon leader spots the forward NLF bunker for the assault craft to perform its free attack. The bunker makes for strong cover, protecting the units inside whose return fire suppresses the leader. One of the squads outside of the bunker however, does take a hit from the bombardment.

    The NLF in the bunker continue firing, their recoilless rifle wounding the leader while small arms fire suppresses the machine gun team with him. Two American squads and the other machine gun team use the vollying fire to screen their movement in the opposite direction, where they find cover in the huts to the south behind the treeline. The platoon leader at the landing zone targets the bunker with mortar fire, failing to break the units inside but giving the units with him a little time to recover.

    The lead squad to the south, hearing rustling ahead, moves into the treeline guns at the ready to assault fire as they make contact. The NLF local force squad there is slow to react and takes a hit.

    The American group by the landing zone spray fires at the bunker and the squad hiding in the woods next to it. The bullets do nothing to the bunker but are able to hit the units in the woods.

    The wounded NLF to the south are able to rally before moving out of sight of the Americans. Another NLF squad reacts to the gunfire and moves to flank the squad in the woods, but have to slow to cross the canal which is particularly high for this time of year.

    The Americans by the landing zone all fire into the woods by the bunker and are able to eliminate the NLF squad there. The American squad in the southern woods continues to close on the retreating NLF squad, suppressing them with their assault fire.

    Time 1

    VP: NLF 1

    US Casualties: 0

    NLF Casualties: 1

    Support Marker: 5

    As the second American platoon arrives at the landing zone, the assault craft targets the bunker again, this time breaking the NLF squad inside, through the cover. An American squad in the south closes in to flank the retreating NLF unit in the woods. The other NLF squad makes its way across the canal to assault fire the initial American squad, but the Americans manage to use the cover of the woods to their advantage.

    The other suppressed NLF squad moves back through the rice paddies to avoid being attacked. The American squad on the treeline counters the NLF that assaulted from the canal before they can pull back. The ambush breaks the NLF unit before they are eliminated in the ensuing melee.

    With the woods to the south now clear, the Riverine forces move the arriving platoon in from the south avoiding the forward bunker all together. Another call is made from the first platoon leader for Fire Support. The NLF uses the opportunity to rally the squad in the bunker, then the recoilless rifle lands a shot at the group hiding in the huts, eliminating the leader.

    Down a leader, the Americans try to regroup. More NLF emerge from hiding near the bunker on  the other side of the canal, preparing for a stronger defense against the attackers coming from the treeline. The NLF recoilless rifle continues firing at the coastal huts, breaking the remaining units there. The broken units try to immediately recover but instead end up suppressed. One of the American squads on the treeline opens fire at the NLF units by the bunker, breaking them before they counterattack.

    Time 2

    VP: NLF 3

    US Casualties: 1

    NLF Casualties: 2

    Support Marker: 5

    The final wave of the Riverine Force arrives at the landing zone with their platoon leader joining the units in the huts to spot for the assault craft, but it cannot find the target. Instead of returning fire, the local force leader calls in for Fire Support. The NLF squad in the paddies recovered, then heads back into the woods to contest the approaching Americans.

    The last platoon leader helps rally the team in the huts by the landing zone, while the Americans at the treeline keep firing at the broken NLF squad in the clear across the canal until they are eliminated.

    Time 3

    VP: NLF 4

    US Casualties: 1

    NLF Casualties: 3

    Support Marker: 5

    The other American squad in the woods moves to assault fire the NLF squad at the treeline, suppressing them. The second platoon leader by the canal calls in a request to delay the rear support as he prepares his men. The NLF at the treeline again retreats back to the paddies before it can be attacked.

    The second platoon leader makes the call and the Americans move into positions along the treelines on both sides of the canal. The squad already there makes a dash through the clear past the suppressed NLF to secure the objective at the turn in the canal.

    Unable to recover from their wounds the broken American squad from the first wave is sent back to the landing zone while the freshly landed platoon uses the activity in the woods to make their move north. The lead squad manages to avoid taking fire from the group in the forward bunker and surprise the NLF unit in the woods off the path with an assault that breaks them. Some of the platoon follow behind into the huts off the path in the north, while the remaining squads go to reinforce the groups in the trees across from the bunker.

    The broken NLF squad in the north pulls back through the clear behind the trees and out of line of sight. They warn the other broken squad there about the coming wave, so they can make their way into the trees for cover. The Americas charge in before the warning NLF squad can follow, leaving them extremely vulnerable in the open.

    The second American platoon leader makes another call back for Fire Support as a squad in the rear moves towards the action in the south. The squad on the canal objective tries to fire at the suppressed NLF unit through the hinderance of the paddies but can’t hit the target. The NLF leader from the bunker in the open calls back for their own fire support.

    In the north, the broken NLF squad tries to fall back through the paddies. The Americans open fire but are unable to land any shots on the retreating unit. The NLF squad in the south also falls back through the paddies without taking any opportunity fire.

    At that moment the second platoon leader gets confirmation on their approaching close air support and helps them spot the bunker across the canal. Napalm comes down on target forcing all of the units in the bunker, and the one behind it, out before the bunkers are destroyed by the blaze. All of the NLF units break from the attack as they run into the clear. In the midst of this an NLF sniper manages to hit an American squad still by the landing zone.

    One American squad on the southern treeline jumps the gun and rushes across the canal to assault fire the NLF trying to escape the napalm fire managing to suppress the squad and the leader. The NLF try to rally but only the leader manages to do so.

    Time 4

    VP: NLF 5

    US Casualties: 1

    NLF Casualties: 3

    Support Marker: 6

    The NLF leader escaping the flaming bunker urges the other units to withdraw but the Americans don’t hesitate to fire on their retreat, eliminating the squad with the mortar and the team with the recoilless rifle. Now alone in the open the leader takes fire from the American squad on the objective and the one that crossed the canal, but manages to avoid taking hits. With the air support still in the area the third platoon leader calls in another strike on the forward bunker. The spotting is off this time, missing the NLF with its package of more conventional bombs.

    The NLF leader in the bunker finally connects with their Fire Support and calls in mortar fire that drifts south to break the Americans that crossed the canal and suppress the leader at the treeline. Understanding the reality of the situation the NLF leader then tells the group with them to start falling back. The squads creep through the smoke from the American bombardment but the leader stays with the recoilless rifle team hoping to eliminate more Americans before pulling back.

    While the Americans in the south rally, the fire group in the north opens fire through the hindrance of the paddies to eliminate the remaining broken NLF unit. More Americans start pushing out from the treeline as the NLF squad in the southern paddies crosses the canal to link up with the leader from the bunker.

    The Americans in the north rush the forward bunker to surround and cut off the retreat. The NLF in the south pull back even further. Then the Americans converge on the last bunker going into melee.

    Time 5

    VP: US 1

    US Casualties: 2

    NLF Casualties: 6

    Support Marker: 6

    An ambush breaks a US squad but they still manage to eliminate all of the units in the bunker, hitting the NLF break point.

    The surviving group in the south continues to withdraw without taking fire until they are behind the flames of the napalm. Everyone still alive manages to Break Contact, except the NLF leader that gets captured when the Americans secure the area.

    Endgame

    VP: US 4

    US Casualties: 2

    NLF Casualties: 9

    Support Marker: 6

    An ambush breaks a US squad but they still manage to eliminate all of the units in the bunker, hitting the NLF break point.

    The surviving group in the south continues to withdraw without taking fire until they are behind the flames of the napalm. Everyone still alive manages to Break Contact, except the NLF leader that gets captured when the Americans secure the area.

    Endgame

    VP: US 4

    US Casualties: 2

    NLF Casualties: 9

    Support Marker: 6

    Timelapse of Playthrough

    Previous Combat Commander: Vietnam InsideGMT Articles



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  • magic the gathering – Raid triggers and extra combat steps

    magic the gathering – Raid triggers and extra combat steps


    The ability can only trigger once on each of your turns.

    The actual text of the ability on Alesha is

    At the beginning of your end step, if you attacked this turn, return target creature card with mana value less than or equal to Alesha’s power from your graveyard to the battlefield.

    In order to understand this ability, you can divide it into three parts: the trigger event, the condition, and the effect. The trigger event is “At the beginning of your end step”. The condition is “if you attacked this turn”. And the effect is “return target creature card with mana value less than or equal to Alesha’s power from your graveyard to the battlefield”. The beginning of your end step happens once during each of your turns, so the ability triggers once in each of your turns. The condition means that if you didn’t attack, the ability doesn’t trigger at all. If you did attack, and you have a valid target, the ability triggers and resolves that one time, and the effect happens.



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  • For Everything There is a Season: The Origin Story of Combat Commander: Vietnam – InsideGMT


    Note: All of the images depicting game components in this article show early concept or playtest art.

    A Time to Plant.

    It was 18(!!) years ago that Chad and I started talking about designing a Combat Commander: Vietnam game together. Of course, Chad was the master crafter of Combat Commander and knew the CC design a bazillion times better than I did, but he didn’t really know anything about Vietnam. I probably know more about that war/period than I know about any other in military history, and I love Combat Commander, so a co-design with Chad and myself seemed like a good fit. But we both were really busy with other projects, so we decided to work on CC: Vietnam in the margins, not caring if it took even a decade to get to our game tables in finished form.

    So we went slowly but had a ton of great conversations as we crafted the project—and I learned even MORE about the genius of Chad Jensen when he sent me his master CC spreadsheets to adapt for CC: Vietnam. Wow. Over time, we honed the design document, unit spreadsheets, and scenario scope, and I finally put together a very ugly test CC: Vietnam map that we used to maneuver and “fight” our imaginary battles. Here you can see both that original map and Chad’s enormously better version of that map at right, which depicts mountainous jungle terrain that we envisioned as a base map for an “Assault on a US Fire Base” scenario, Marine defenses of a hilltop position, and US assaults (mini-Hamburger Hills) on dug in NVA/PLF forces.

    Gene’s playtest map (left) vs. Chad’s playtest map (right). Yeah, I know… 😊

    As most of you know, Chad’s design plate was continually busy during those years. There wasn’t a time I can remember when Chad didn’t have a couple games on our P500 list and a few more in his head. Here’s an ad we did back around 2015 that showed just a few of the Family Games that Chad had completed or in the works:

    So Chad was busy. And starting around 2014, I got into serious development and testing on the game I’d wanted to do forever, Mr. President. So both of our design time for CC: Vietnam was minimal, but we kept honing the design document and both thought it was coming together and that we’d do it “someday.”

    A Time to Weep. 

    Sadly, we were wrong. Even 5 ½ years later, I still have trouble thinking and talking about that incredibly heart-wrenching period of Chad’s sickness and passing. I lost a good friend, Kai lost the love of her life, and the gaming world lost an absolute rock star designer. So gaming-wise inside GMT, everything Chad-related just stopped while we all grieved his passing. 

    A Time to Build Up.

    Probably a year later, allowing some time to pass and the hard edges of grief to soften a bit so we could get through a phone conversation without crying, Kai and I began to talk about finishing Chad’s unfinished or unpublished designs. And he had a bunch of them. Honestly, I didn’t think at that point that CC: Vietnam would be one of them because, frankly, I didn’t want to design it without Chad (and there was STILL Mr. President dominating my design time). And so we did other games instead—games that either Kai or I had a team in place or recruited to finish. Of all those games we talked about and have worked on, I’m especially happy that John Butterfield volunteered to finish Downfall with Kai. And it won the CSR Game of the Year last year! What a tribute to Chad, and to John, a forever friend to Chad and Kai.

    In 2022, Kai and I began to seriously discuss the Combat Commander series and agreed to create an Anniversary Edition of the CC: Europe/CC: Med. games which was packaged as Chad originally intended, in one big box. And we had designers ask us about taking the CC game to other theatres and periods. But no movement for CC: Vietnam. Until there WAS!!!

    A Time to Seek.

    Two of our newer GMT designers whose work I’m really excited about are Non-Breaking Space (NB) and Stephen Rangazas. NB created Cross Bronx Expressway (nearing heading to the printer now) and Stephen designed The British Way. Both have other designs on P500 now and also on the design table. Well, in the fall of 2023, NB came to our Weekend at the Warehouse and showed a couple games to Jason, Kai, Rachel, Mike Bertucelli, and me. I liked his games, but more importantly, I liked HIM. After the weekend, we were all excited about working with NB—I heard several “he fits with us” comments (and he DOES!)—on various projects. And Stephen’s The British Way and The Guerrilla Generation demonstrated both his design skill and the depth of research that he puts into game design. I was particularly impressed with the way he engages with customers online: he communicates clearly and humbly and is open to feedback and other interpretations while being committed to making the best product that he can. 

    So, at that warehouse meeting, being really impressed with NB, I mentioned in passing that I’d really love to find a team to get the Combat Commander: Vietnam project moving forward. NB surprised us with “I need to make a phone call.” That call was to Stephen (they often work together in a design partnership). NB has since told me that it was Stephen’s background in Vietnam research that prompted the call. Stephen’s design of Sovereign of Discord, the expansion to our hit COIN game Fire in the Lake, already benefited from his depth of knowledge (and I would note here that your work has to be pretty impressive to get Mark and Volko to sign off on doing an expansion for one of their best-selling games!). After the call, NB told us something along the lines of “We’re interested, but it’s a divergence from the path we are on right now. So we need to take some time to think about it and discuss it in depth before we give you an answer.”

    Fast forward to January of 2024. NB contacted me and Jason and let us know that he and Stephen were definitely interested in working on a Combat Commander: Vietnam game! We had an online meeting a week later where they walked us through a slide show of how they intended to move forward with the design, assuming we approved it. Here are a few of the slides from that meeting:

    Stephen and NB’s scoping of the Factions that they proposed including in the game.
    NB and Stephen’s early overview of Faction Deck Force Composition and Timelines

    It was a really good meeting. We had a lot of questions, and NB and Stephen answered them with skill, honesty, and transparency and were not shy to share what their research showed. I liked that when they hadn’t figured something out yet, they said so. It was clear to me that they had the chops to research, design, and deliver a new Combat Commander: Vietnam that aligned with Chad’s and my vision for the game but was not limited by it. I left that meeting IMPRESSED. And we gave them the go ahead to push forward into the “create the physical game” stage, which they proposed to have to show us by the Fall 2024 Weekend at the Warehouse.

    A Time to Dance.

    We didn’t hear much from Stephen and NB from January to September. We just left them alone, knowing that what they were creating was a huge task. Occasionally they’d have a question, but mostly they just worked away on their own, sculpting what we all hoped would become a masterpiece.

    Then, just before the Weekend at the Warehouse, NB sent us the image below and told us he’d have the playtest kit ready for the Weekend. We were so excited!

    At the Weekend, we were all really happy about where the design was and ready to move forward to getting it ready for P500. I was thinking it might be ready to go on the P500 list in a year. Then NB said, “Please give us a deadline. We work better that way.” So I said, “April 2025.” NB didn’t blink, so that was our target date.

    Then, in January, Stephen and NB informed us that they had EIGHT maps (pictured below) they were now testing on and anticipated they’d double that within a month. 

    They also included a Map of Vietnam with a Scenario and Reference guide for all the planned Battles (below). 

    And then they COMPLETELY blew me away. They built a campaign system! WHAT??!!??

    Campaign Scenario Generator (left) and the CC: V scenario it generated (right)

    They then noted that they thought they’d be ready for a MARCH P500 addition instead of April. Looking at the quality and completeness of their work (I’ve shown just a fraction here), I had no problem giving them the March slot. So here we are, with Combat Commander: Vietnam hitting the P500 list with this week’s customer newsletter. I hope you’ll order yours now!

    I hope this article gives you all some insight into how Combat Commander: Vietnam has come to exist. What a long journey this has been. I am HUGELY excited about what NB and Stephen have created and how they’ve taken Chad’s system and our vision and combined it with their own research and added so much that we probably wouldn’t ever have thought of. I still can’t believe we’re going to have a Campaign System for CC: Vietnam!!!!!!

    I believe (and hope) that the Combat Commander community will be blown away by how cool this game is and by the amount of value they’re going to get in this big box of Combat Commander love. And I know Chad would be SO happy to see this game that we planted the seeds for finally come to fruition. As with everything in the Combat Commander world, every time I play this, I’ll be thinking of Chad. And I’ll always be thankful that NB and Stephen took up this challenge and have honored Chad with the care, attention to detail, and general awesomeness that they’ve created for us to enjoy as we play Combat Commander: Vietnam.

    – Gene



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  • magic the gathering – Does Maddening Imp affect creatures cast after combat?

    magic the gathering – Does Maddening Imp affect creatures cast after combat?


    Maddening Imp does destroy creatures that enter after its ability has resolved.

    The main relevant rule is rule 611.2c:

    If a continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability modifies the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects, the set of objects it affects is determined when that continuous effect begins. After that point, the set won’t change. (Note that this works differently than a continuous effect from a static ability.) A continuous effect generated by the resolution of a spell or ability that doesn’t modify the characteristics or change the controller of any objects modifies the rules of the game, so it can affect objects that weren’t affected when that continuous effect began. If a single continuous effect has parts that modify the characteristics or changes the controller of any objects and other parts that don’t, the set of objects each part applies to is determined independently.

    The first part of Maddening Imp’s ability is a continuous effect that does not change any objects’ characteristics or controller, so it can affect objects that weren’t affected when the ability resolved. The delayed triggered ability is then not associated with any particular set of creatures when it is created, so it determines the set of creatures to destroy as it resolves in the end step.

    This is confirmed by the rulings in this Reddit thread.



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  • Capturing the Core of the Combat Commander System – InsideGMT


    While the game comes with 12 scenarios, there is also a 2-page roll-your-own scenario system that will generate a HISTORICAL situation in about 5 minutes, after which both players secretly choose from one of many historical forces of platoon-to-company size with which to fight.

    -Chad Jensen on Combat Commander: Europe (2006)

    Magical Realism

    The premise of Combat Commander’s Random Scenario Generator teeters close to absurd for a board wargame. Not Campaign for North Africa absurd where you’re tracking pasta rations, but “is that even possible” absurd. Random variables that generate plausible wargame scenarios across the breadth of World War II sounds like magical thinking. The number of permutations that can be generated from the variables of the RSG are astronomical. Just the two Allies and their troop quality, across the five years in the base Europe box, has tens of thousands of combinations. Balancing the outputs, so that a high percentage of the generated scenarios exist within a margin of error for fidelity sounds impossible. Yet, you roll one up and the evidence is right there waiting to be played. Magical. I became obsessed with that magic, and as I studied it I soon found Chad’s secret – research and data. Understanding how this data bridged the gap between history and the model, was central to our design process for Combat Commander: Vietnam. 

    Orders of Battle and Support Tables from Combat Commander: Europe

    Wargame systems are notoriously data driven. Variables on counters placed in hexes with scale measurements and visual references for terrain with modifying effects. Detailed play sequences, with phases referring to one or more charts to resolve actions with sub sequences. Where Combat Commander differs is that the majority of charts in the game are for the Orders of Battle (OoB) and Support. In other words, the tables are focused on the receipt of units and their weapons, not about their use. 

    A design decision Chad made was to put most of the actionable data onto the unit counters and in the fate decks. Many mistake this shift to card driven mechanics as an abstraction that might reduce the game’s fidelity. Yet these asymmetric decks pack more faction and game data across their card counts than you would find in most of the tables and charts from other wargames.  They also keep the games flowing smoothly, the actions immediately resolved, with little need to consult a table to determine a result. The heavy lifting of the design is not in the play itself but rather how each game is set up. Becoming a strong Combat Commander player includes understanding how setup impacts play. This is taken one step further with the RSG, which includes scenario as well as unit set up. For Combat Commander: Vietnam we wanted to provide a similar level of agency for players, grounded in the history, but balanced by their choices. 

    Page from the RSG rules in Combat Commander: Europe

    The Balancing Act

    To shape the balance of the RSG system, Chad provides agency in the setup process. Players are able to build formations with a bid for initiative balanced against available support weapons and fortifications. Playing through the RSG and having to make these decisions takes practice but it is where the model reveals itself. With experience, players will find the fidelity of the scenarios they generate increase. This comes from an increased understanding of the Orders of Battle and Support tables, and their competitive values in various situations. That they map closely to their historical values for the theater and period generated reinforces the decision space of a historical company commander, and we wanted to take the same approach with Combat Commander: Vietnam.

    The first two volumes of Combat Commander, Europe and Mediterranean, were originally designed as one box, a point stressed to us by Kai Jensen when we first started working on Combat Commander: Vietnam. In order for the system to work across multiple years and areas, all of the faction data had to be balanced against each other, which meant that they all had to be designed at once (the following volume Pacific, redesigned the system to account for the additional theater). The primary reason for this was the central role the RSG system had on the whole design. Even some designed scenarios are balanced against what the RSG might generate.  

    This is a testament to just how powerful Chad’s design approach was. By putting so much of his research and data into getting the variables of the RSG system right, he designed a sandbox from which any WWII engagement at the tactical level could be modeled and validated. Appreciative of this, our first goal for Combat Commander: Vietnam was to build from the premise and design an RSG system that could generate scenarios for any region, with historical combatants, across the 15 years of the Indochina conflict. If we got the RSG right it would mean we could design and validate scenarios for any engagement at the game’s scale. 

    Anderson, Arnsten, and Averch, Insurgent Organization and Operations (August 1967).

    We went through a number of iterations for the Order of Battle tables for Combat Commander: Vietnam, sourcing documentation of the force composition and weapons across the factions. Translating this data to unit values on the OoB formed the basis of the RSG system. As we started working on building out the maps for the base game, pulling from the 1:50,000 scale maps used during the conflict, we could immediately check the composition of forces from the primary sources against how they would be represented by the RSG. After months of iterations we started to find the magic.

    Orders of Battle with Support Tables from the Combat Commander: Vietnam Playtest Kit

    Campaign for Randomness

    As the map count for Combat Commander: Vietnam increased and we continued playing RSG scenarios across them, something started to feel missing. In isolation the playthroughs gave a decent overview of the types of small-scale engagements seen across the conflict, but, without the context to really place where and how they fit into the broader war effort. To provide that context, we had to bring something completely new to the Combat Commander system.

    When it comes to military operations, the easiest way to provide context is to go up in scale, and understand the significance of an engagement to the higher command. Combat Commander was originally called Company Commander in reference to the scale it models. Going up from the company is the battalion. We posited that if Combat Commander: Vietnam players could play a series of connected games as a battalion campaign it would contextualize the choices made in the individual engagements to better understand why fighting in Vietnam was so different. 

    Records of an ANZAC Battalion’s Operations. The Combat Commander: Vietnam Campaign system is built to represent this level of operation.

    Campaigns have been in Combat Commander since John Foley introduced them in the second battle pack. To this point however they have primarily been a way of sequencing scenarios, both designed and randomly generated, to play in a historical succession. This allowed players to fight out multiple days of battle in Normandy or Stalingrad to great effect. Yet, these campaigns have only existed as add ons, not parts of the core rules. The last challenge we gave ourselves with the Combat Commander: Vietnam design was to build out a campaign system that was a part of the core. This meant expanding the system to be able to generate random campaigns across the factions, for any region, at any time during the conflict. 

    Composing the large battles are any number of small fights, little connected, and sometimes at cross-purposes one with the other. Each is local and limited in the feelings of the men who engage. Company fights company, platoon goes against platoon. How the regiment or brigade fared as a whole is something that has to be computed later.

    -S.L.A. Marshall, Battles in the Monsoon (1967)

    From the Combat Commander: Vietnam core box, using the Random Campaign Generator (RCG), players will be able to generate an area of responsibility for a battalion commander over a month-long operation as a campaign. The perspective provided by this form of play contextualizes the individual engagements in a way that allows players to experience the decision space of Vietnam at the tactical level with the context to understand the implications of their decisions operationally. 

    Campaign Map showing a Free World Forces Battalion operating in a relatively remote, Communist controlled area of II Corps.

    With the RCG system in place we are also able to design historical campaigns which allow players to replay known operations. So much of the research that went into the design captured primary accounts from all sides including their operational maps. The campaign framework is a direct reflection of this, with the historical campaigns providing the decision space of their historic counterparts. 

    What will come in the base box for Combat Commander: Vietnam will be all of the things players already love about the system. 24 scenarios that can be set up at any time for a dynamic game full of the flavor but grounded in the historical realities of the conflict. The RSG system will expand the scenario potential from those base maps increasing replayability. The amount of variety you will get playing one off scenarios will be satisfying to system veterans and newcomers alike. 

    The Hurricane II, FFV Magazine, May 1967

    For those looking to form a better understanding of the war and how it progressed over time, Combat Commander: Vietnam’s Random Campaign Generator will prove to be the central experience. Playing campaigns with a single faction will provide a deeper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Across multiple campaigns you can see how their capabilities changed over time. Explore how the terrain in the different corps zones affected how formations operated. With the historic campaigns you can face the decisions of your historic counterparts. 

    All of this has been done in an effort to make Combat Commander: Vietnam the most comprehensive tactical wargame experience on the conflict. It gives players infinite replayability with the opportunity to enrich their understanding of the challenges faced by all sides during the war. Even more, all parts of the design are fully extensible which means future battle packs and expansions will provide even broader coverage. For anyone looking to immerse themselves in the Vietnam Experience, this is the starting point. 

    Previous Article: For Everything There is a Season: The Origin Story of Combat Commander: Vietnam



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