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Wider Wargaming => Non-Pendraken Stuff => Topic started by: bigjackmac on 02 September 2019, 03:38:08 PM

Title: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 02 September 2019, 03:38:08 PM
All,

I've wanted to do this for a very long time; the problem is, it's Vietnam gaming, but I don't want to stop all my other projects and start a new one, so the simple answer was to combine them.  I'm going to play out this project, but put it into the timeline of another, so that I can play what I want AND keep the campaign moving along.  So, what am I doing?  You've seen the movie "Platoon," right?  You know, 'the only man that can kill Bahnes, is Bahnes!" that one.  Yeah, I love it, and so this is my wargaming tribute to that amazing movie.  I have created a roster of the entire platoon, from Lt Wolfe and SSgt Barnes and Sgt Elias, all the way down to the FNGs, Bob Gardner and Chris Taylor, and I'm going to play out a series of fights in 15mm using them.  The problem with the movie is that it only has three real fights in it: the initial night ambush (where Gardner is killed and Tex and Chris wounded), the bunker complex (where the platoon gets its ass ripped), and the final battle where the firebase is overrun.  That worked great for the movie, but that's not enough for a wargaming campaign!  So I'm going to play the 'real' fights from the movie, and I'm going to add in some 'fictitious' fights that are (hopefully) plausible for the Vietnam-era.  So I'm going to start at the start, right there with the night ambush, where SSgt Barnes grabs Doc Sanchez and pieces of Sgt Elias' and Sgt O'Neill's squads, and leads them out.  In order to make it more 'wargame interesting,' I'm going to plus up the number of NVA, and having them arriving from more than one direction.  I hope you enjoy it!

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8iP87ja09mA/XWccHFM9JQI/AAAAAAAAr6Q/USdYp7s3R80IKg5V7COhLxciPnrGXvPugCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7395.JPG)
Overview of area, left is north.  In the overall scheme of things, i.e., in terms of the front lines, the good guys are in the west and the bad guys are in the east, but in this fight the platoon will be in the south and the bad guys will enter from the north.  Hill 47 is at bottom right, there's a road running north to south with a branch to the west (bottom), and if you look closely, there's a hard-packed trail leading east through the jungle (top center).  There's also a small village at bottom left; the village is actually what brings us here, tonight.  A friendly patrol this morning swept through the village and found plenty of signs of enemy activity, including a weapons cache, so command thought this would be  good spot for an ambush.

The ambush site is at the base of the crossroads (center right), with a team watching their backtrail at top right.  They departed friendly lines just after dark (about 2030, local time) and got into position on Hill 47 (bottom right), but it didn't take Barnes and Elias long to figure out they couldn't see anything from there on this dark and moonless night, so they repositioned down to the crossroads.  They got set in, ran comm checks, made sure their gear was arranged just the way they wanted it, then went to 50% (every other man sleeping).  It's about 0130 and the first inkling of trouble has dawned on the men (the bad guys are at far left, on the road); no one has actually seen anything yet, but the veterans amongst them can sense it coming.

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t8AchBvJ8zA/XWccK6wHdJI/AAAAAAAAr6Y/pzggUsMqzrozaN1XpnasOFI1OteATFUYACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7396.JPG)
The ambush position, from top left: Rodriguez, Westfall, and Sgt O'Neill hold down the left flank.  It should have been Sgt Elias, as those are men from his squad, but Barnes wanted him watching their backs (bottom right).  Next are Doc and Barnes, then the MG position covering down the road, with Gardner, Junior, Tex, Taylor, and Sanderson.  At bottom right, watching the back trail, are Manny, Elias, Parker, and Fu Sheng.

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5gbfdWLg0tE/XWcdMprmvhI/AAAAAAAAr8A/0oQb_WDBswcBbrHKKeA7rDkt5jqywcg_ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7413.JPG)
Taylor is about to piss his pants, the Commies are almost on top of them! Taylor wakes up Sandy, looks over to see if the MG team of Tex and Junior are awake: they're not.  It was Junior's watch!

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fDM0eZhD7_0/XWcdOZJJ8jI/AAAAAAAAr8E/P_ckrGf_5wE7NZoTzhJWmOBeOp_5p46RQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7414.JPG)
Taylor initiates the ambush with his rifle (sorry, no Claymores, wanted this to be a fight).  How 'bout them roads?  Pretty spiffy, eh?  They're new, from "Fat Frank," and they're great.  Reasonably priced, and got here (to the US, from the UK) in less than two weeks, too!

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6B59vE4Pdsw/XWceB-W3-tI/AAAAAAAAr9c/jEygF4-VJ4AVk_61OE9kVMEXbJ0NA5vBgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7428.JPG)
Barnes is large and in charge, kicking Taylor and Sandy in the ass to get them back in the fight.

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NIlLZST4ZuE/XWceQAwJDHI/AAAAAAAAr90/HiYec8biLAkWl5k0e993_4l_2tdbfPozQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7432.JPG)
Enemy troops try to flank through the ville.

To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
https://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2019/09/operation-chunky-bandit-25-ground.html

The ambush patrol policed up their gear, formed up, and returned to their lines, in high spirits, having met a numerically superior enemy and bested him.  As it turned out, they'd be sitting tight for a few more days, waiting for the next fight, but when it came it was the entire platoon making an advance to contact.

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 02 September 2019, 06:55:21 PM
Roads look spiffy indeed!

Nice fight!
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Duke Speedy of Leighton on 02 September 2019, 09:21:33 PM
Ohh
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 03 September 2019, 02:51:16 AM
Thanks Peter and Lemmey!

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Terry37 on 03 September 2019, 04:05:57 AM
Truly awesome!!!!

Terry
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Techno on 03 September 2019, 07:33:58 AM
Excellent, Jack !!

Cheers - Phil
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: mmcv on 03 September 2019, 07:49:45 AM
Excellent stuff, loving the rockets in action.
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Lord Kermit of Birkenhead on 03 September 2019, 08:33:23 AM
Nice stuff
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 03 September 2019, 05:56:26 PM
Thanks guys!

V/R,
Jack
Title: Fights from the Movie "Platoon" Fight #2
Post by: bigjackmac on 09 September 2019, 03:27:18 AM
All,

This is the second in my series of Vietnam-era, platoon-level fights based on the characters in the movie "Platoon."  In the first fight I played out my interpretation of the initial fight scene in the movie, where SSgt Barnes and Sgt Elias led a patrol out on night ambush.  In the movie, the FNG Gardner was killed, Tex was wounded bad enough to be MEDEVAC'ed, and Taylor was lightly wounded, ending up on light duty for  a bit.  In my game, the 'Platoon' got off easy, whacking five bad guys and taking no casualties, with Rodgriguez performing a bit of close combat heroics.  Not enough to get him decorated, mind you, but enough to see him promoted from Private to PFC.  So here we are, a few days later, and the 'Platoon' is on a sweep and clear mission, a general advance to contact-type scenario, looking to find the enemy and whoop up on him.

The 'Platoon' has been walking now for a few hours, not a shot fired on this lovely, sunny morning.  But that's all about to change; coming to an open area, SSgt Barnes, the Platoon Sergeant, called a halt to confer with the squad leaders.  Lt Wolfe tried to interject, but mostly Barnes just ignored him and continued issuing orders to Sergeants Elias, Warren, and O'Neill.

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1VJQdJ4YGk8/XWckyJEbNPI/AAAAAAAAsEk/I2byPGg6KlMiCZw4g6UAiVY-ACnf_M0bgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7496.JPG)
Overview, north is left.  At top, in the east, is a ridgeline on Hill 196, with a road running through a saddle.  At bottom left is a small hill, Hill 57, with a small village atop it, while there is another village spread thinly across the east side of the river, which is bridged near a crossroads in the center.  For our purposes, we'll refer to them as 'north village' and 'south village.'  At far right is a small footbridge, and a couple sampans/fishing boats tied up.  Despite the presence of the two bridges, the river is fordable by men on foot throughout its length.  Other than that, there's some traces of jungle to hide bad guys in, and rice paddies dot the landscape.

Here's the set up: Lt Wolfe and the command element are in a stand of trees just left of the road (bottom center left).  Sgt O'Neill's 3rd Squad is atop Hill 57 at bottom left.  Sgt Warren's 2nd Squad is in the tree-line at bottom center, and Sgt Elias' 1st Squad is in the tree-line at bottom right.  The plan is for O'Neill's squad to serve as a base of fire (supporting position atop Hill 57, though it's not perfect as it's got plenty of sight-blocking terrain between it and potential enemy positions, but it's the best they could do to start) while Elias and his men break cover, with Warren's squad in reserve.  Assuming the situation doesn't immediately go sideways, Elias's squad will make it up to the river and call a halt, at which time Warren's squad will move up to the river as well.  Once that is completed, Elias and his men will push across the foot bridge (top center right).  Once a foothold is established they will halt and O'Neill's squad will come up on the left, then Warren's squad will push across the main bridge.  If that all works out, Elias and O'Neill's squads will fall in behind Warren's and the Platoon will continue moving east (top).

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3Mv0oE-Z3k/XWclPxpYs0I/AAAAAAAAsFI/bL_-jNcSoH07NGD1nHUMdjNb-ahRdIfLgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7504.JPG)
Elias' squad moves up towards the foot bridge, the south spur of Hill 196 looming at top right.

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtB8MP5u-Tg/XWcnIpqjE7I/AAAAAAAAsIc/YzlSDSc73ro1pBMOGN0iZSBymlduma7NwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7535.JPG)
Speaking of the south spur (top right), bad guys have shown up there in force, so O'Neill orders Tex and Junior to get their M-60 (bottom left) into action.  Tracers string out, searching for bad guys, in support of Elias and King's stalled advance (far right).

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3AE4yIVbTpw/XWcn1yUf37I/AAAAAAAAsJk/UvPcsPg7-IIEDItx5YboIKpcLLX6T43ogCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7547.JPG)
Lt Wolfe finally finds his map, figures out the coordinates, and calls in a Fire Mission.  "Give me one on adjust."
"Roger, one on adjust.  Stand by... Shot."
"Shot out."

(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--b_ogyywlA4/XWcobpYPoiI/AAAAAAAAsKg/uoDQT2g3trgzaWXa_XIbje5_kYhO4_dRwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7558.JPG)
Barnes screams at Morehouse and Francis to get the Pig into the fight, as Doc works on...  Nope, you gotta read the batrep to see who got hit. 

You can find it here:
https://cubalibrewargame.blogspot.com/2019/09/operation-chunky-bandit-26-ground.html

The next fight will be another non-movie fight, but somewhat based on the movie.  Here's what I'm thinking: a couple days later the platoon is continuing its general advance.  Like the movie, they find the tunnel complex; they call for reinforcements to deal with the tunnels, leaving Elias and his squad there to hold down the area until the reinforcements arrive.  Meanwhile, Barnes and Lt Wolfe set out with the other two squads towards the village, but there they get contact and fight it out.  Hmmm...  Since I'm only running two squads, maybe I'll run with NEIS again.

Anyway, stay tuned!

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Techno on 09 September 2019, 07:29:32 AM
Great report and piccies, Jack ! :)

Cheers - Phil
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Duke Speedy of Leighton on 09 September 2019, 08:16:21 AM
Eek
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 09 September 2019, 08:40:30 PM
Wow, these are not proving particularly popular now, are they?
All I'm getting out of Lemmey is "Ohh" and "Eek."  I'm not even sure what that means.

Sorry guys, but I'm too deep to quit now, gotta see this through.  If it makes you feel better, I've played two games of Bitzkrieg Commander," I'm working on the batreps.

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 09 September 2019, 09:47:58 PM
HAd seen this earlier, but put in standby untill the kids got in bed   :D

Nice fight, and lots of action! but that's your fault, you kept rolling more blinds  ;D ;D ;D

Will have to look into those rules, they seem interesting  :-

Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: mmcv on 09 September 2019, 10:26:21 PM
Great action and your tables are always a joy to behold.

Interesting comment on solo play, it's something I always try and bear in mind when playing solo, and something that's easy to forget when you've a "gods-eye-view" of the battlefield, something historical commanders don't generally have the luxury of.

As to Lemmy...they don't call him "mad" for nothing...
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 03:34:10 AM
Thanks guys, and sorry, didn't mean to seem like I'm moaning, was just making a statement that these batreps don't seem very popular.  Not sure if it's me, 15mm figures, the movie concept, the Vietnam setting, or the rules, just clearly not popular.  And that's okay, just struck me as odd as I figured the movie Platoon was well known and well liked.

Peter - Yeah man, I think I had the volume turned up to 12 with those blinds, felt like a human wave attack!  The rules are pretty cool, definitely some different mechanisms, which seems to be young Ivan's specialty.

mmcv - Thanks for the reminder on Lemmey ;)
Yeah, that's part of the attraction of solo gaming for me, I can do things to infuse character into the game that you would never do against an opponent (if you were trying to win).  I'm glad you liked the fight, and I'm finally pretty proud of how my table and troops look.  As a reminder, this is from one of the first batreps I posted here, back in 2013:

(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1qmvhqZ7PHM/UhfenqFd9VI/AAAAAAAAAtg/lwJ0Kea6CJw/s1600/P1120433.JPG)
Wow, look at that!  Gray spray painted walls, khaki spray painted houses, brown spray painted craters and telephone poles, grids drawn on the mat, carpet for hills...  Now, don't misunderstand: if your setup looks like that, and you're having a blast, more power to you, please post some batreps, I'd love to see them.  I was having a great time, but I knew I wanted to get my stuff looking better.  I'm finally to the point where I'm proud of my table.

Anyway, thanks for looking guys, and thanks everyone for the support.

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: paulr on 10 September 2019, 07:46:11 AM
I'm definitely liking the newer look of your tables Jack :-bd =D> :-bd

But as you say, if you're having fun all power to you :) m/
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: pierre the shy on 10 September 2019, 10:24:10 AM
Nothing wrong with the way your table looks or your batreps Jack.....

There have been some epic Vietnam movies....Apocolypse Now, Platoon, The Green Berets to name a few.

Speaking for myself I have never found a desire to game the ground combat portion of the Vietnam conflict, not sure why exactly......a bit too assymetric numbers wise?,growing up there here in the late 60's and early 70's there was quite a lot of opposition to NZ participation, maybe that influenced me?

On the other hand I have wanted to game the air war side of things for years......now I have some 1/600 stuff to be able to do that, though like you I will be doing it solo since no-one else in our group holds much interest in aerial gaming and I'm still trying to catch up with Peter C to borrow his copy of Downtown....maybe I just watch too many episodes of Dogfights on Youtube or the history channel  ;)
   
Anyway keep 'em coming Jack  ;)


       
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 01:23:29 PM
Paul - Indeed!

Pierre - Thanks!  An interesting perspective on Vietnam ground operations; we are all victims of our experiences ;)
So hurry up with the aerial fights, I'm really looking forward to seeing them!

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: Matt J on 10 September 2019, 02:35:39 PM
Great stuff Jack!

Also big fan of Platoon but add to that Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, We Were Soldiers etc etc

Would love to do Hue and throw some armour about (getting there but distracted by the Aussie contingent at the moment - love those cents  :D)

'Nam, horrific for the grunts but one helluva soundtrack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 10 September 2019, 07:19:06 PM
Quote from: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 03:34:10 AM
Thanks guys, and sorry, didn't mean to seem like I'm moaning, was just making a statement that these batreps don't seem very popular.  Not sure if it's me, 15mm figures, the movie concept, the Vietnam setting, or the rules, just clearly not popular.  And that's okay, just struck me as odd as I figured the movie Platoon was well known and well liked.



In all honesty, i have seen the movie, but the only name i am familiar with is Elias  ;D

It was one of those movies i have seen once, and that's it. Can't even remember the battles.

Quote from: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 03:34:10 AM

Peter - Yeah man, I think I had the volume turned up to 12 with those blinds, felt like a human wave attack!  The rules are pretty cool, definitely some different mechanisms, which seems to be young Ivan's specialty.


Must admit, i have only played five men in normandy (and took the rules out after reading this report actually)

Should give them another spin really, but lately i have been playing gw and mantic games. Just love the walking dead skirmish game, and have rekindled my love for fantasy with warhammer 7th edition warbands. Got a suplement for bolt action skirmish as well, so have to try that out too! so many games, so littte time!!!

Quote from: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 03:34:10 AM

Yeah, that's part of the attraction of solo gaming for me, I can do things to infuse character into the game that you would never do against an opponent (if you were trying to win).  I'm glad you liked the fight, and I'm finally pretty proud of how my table and troops look.  As a reminder, this is from one of the first batreps I posted here, back in 2013:

(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1qmvhqZ7PHM/UhfenqFd9VI/AAAAAAAAAtg/lwJ0Kea6CJw/s1600/P1120433.JPG)
Wow, look at that!  Gray spray painted walls, khaki spray painted houses, brown spray painted craters and telephone poles, grids drawn on the mat, carpet for hills...  Now, don't misunderstand: if your setup looks like that, and you're having a blast, more power to you, please post some batreps, I'd love to see them.  I was having a great time, but I knew I wanted to get my stuff looking better.  I'm finally to the point where I'm proud of my table.



Wasn't your first campaign the one with the 'big red one'?

I used to do batreps around that time as well, but just can't find the time these days!
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 10 September 2019, 07:26:48 PM
Quote from: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 01:23:29 PM

Pierre - Thanks!  An interesting perspective on Vietnam ground operations; we are all victims of our experiences ;)



Vietnam is one of those wars that really doesn't 'live' around here as much. I mean, we get history lessons in school about the two world wars , but always only a passing mention of the vietnam war. I find it interesting, but it's not part of 'our history' (not meant in an offensive way, really hard to explain what i mean), so there is less focus on it.
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 10:57:29 PM
Matt - Thanks man, I really appreciate that.  You named a list of great ones, and I'm really thinking hard on how to do Hue.  I'd like to do it in 10mm, but I think I've already got too much urban ruins/terrain in 15mm to try and start it over...  I don't know much about Australian involvement, other than Long Tan.  You're right about the soundtrack; just heard Fortunate Son and Gimme Shelter on the ride home from work ;)

Peter - One time?  You know, if you've only seen Platoon one time, you might be a Communist ;)  Regarding battles, there are only three: a fairly quick, conventional night ambush (US troops ambush NVA on a trail), a stereotypical last stand as their Firebase gets overrun, and they patrol into an ambush in an NVA bunker complex.  That's the one to watch (in my opinion), a great firefight, a screwed up fire mission, a failed enemy flanking maneuver, great scene.

I'm a fan of the 5 Men in Normandy concept, though I usually play 5 Men at Kursk for skirmish fights.  In these batreps I'm using No End in Sight.  I understand about too many projects and not enough time!

When I first started blogging I played a few three or four fight mini-campaigns, but they were just sort of preliminaries, playtesting.  The first full-on campaign I ever did was with 10mm Pendraken American Airborne vs Germans, which I called "All Americans."  It was a fictional battalion of the US 82nd Airborne Division, where I followed a platoon, having named every single man, through the assault on Sicily in July 1943.

And nothing offensive about your point of view, I understand perfectly.  It's like the Victorian Colonial era; I didn't really know anything about that until I got into wargaming and bought "The Sword and the Flame."  It's not really talked about in the US, and certainly not from a military standpoint.  The only quirk about it was that a few years ago I did a campaign called "In Country," also set in the Vietnam War, and it was pretty popular (unless I'm just remembering wrong).

V/R,
Jack

Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: paulr on 10 September 2019, 11:58:27 PM
Quote from: pierre the shy on 10 September 2019, 10:24:10 AM
...
Speaking for myself I have never found a desire to game the ground combat portion of the Vietnam conflict, not sure why exactly......a bit too assymetric numbers wise?,growing up there here in the late 60's and early 70's there was quite a lot of opposition to NZ participation, maybe that influenced me?

On the other hand I have wanted to game the air war side of things for years......now I have some 1/600 stuff to be able to do that, though like you I will be doing it solo since no-one else in our group holds much interest in aerial gaming and I'm still trying to catch up with Peter C to borrow his copy of Downtown....maybe I just watch too many episodes of Dogfights on Youtube or the history channel  ;)
   
Anyway keep 'em coming Jack  ;)   

Certainly some complex political baggage surrounding that war in NZ
I've played a couple of games but challenging to make it work on the table; asymmetrical and lots of ambushes

I'd be happy to give the air war a try, challenge is the investment in another rule set

Keep'em coming Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 11 September 2019, 08:35:22 AM
Quote from: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 10:57:29 PM

Peter - One time?  You know, if you've only seen Platoon one time, you might be a Communist ;)  Regarding battles, there are only three: a fairly quick, conventional night ambush (US troops ambush NVA on a trail), a stereotypical last stand as their Firebase gets overrun, and they patrol into an ambush in an NVA bunker complex.  That's the one to watch (in my opinion), a great firefight, a screwed up fire mission, a failed enemy flanking maneuver, great scene.



I own it on dvd though, does that count? ;D

In al honesty, my favourite movie about the vietnam war will be "we were soldiers" with Mel Gibson. have that one as well and have watched it about 5 times now. And every now and then i watch the 'ride of the valkyries" scene from apocalypse now on youtube  ;D ;D

Quote from: bigjackmac on 10 September 2019, 10:57:29 PM

I'm a fan of the 5 Men in Normandy concept, though I usually play 5 Men at Kursk for skirmish fights.  In these batreps I'm using No End in Sight.  I understand about too many projects and not enough time!

When I first started blogging I played a few three or four fight mini-campaigns, but they were just sort of preliminaries, playtesting.  The first full-on campaign I ever did was with 10mm Pendraken American Airborne vs Germans, which I called "All Americans."  It was a fictional battalion of the US 82nd Airborne Division, where I followed a platoon, having named every single man, through the assault on Sicily in July 1943.

And nothing offensive about your point of view, I understand perfectly.  It's like the Victorian Colonial era; I didn't really know anything about that until I got into wargaming and bought "The Sword and the Flame."  It's not really talked about in the US, and certainly not from a military standpoint.  The only quirk about it was that a few years ago I did a campaign called "In Country," also set in the Vietnam War, and it was pretty popular (unless I'm just remembering wrong).

V/R,
Jack




Ah yes, i remembered it being americans but got the 'unit' wrong  ;D
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 11 September 2019, 01:44:54 PM
Paul - Yeah, it's certainly different, but you know me, I'm staying away from everything and anything political, just want to play wargames.  I find I don't have any issues playing at squad or platoon level, pretty much the same scenario options as any other war.

Peter - I suppose it will have to! ;)  I was kind of let down by We Were Soldiers, actually.  Having read all about the fights at LZs X-Ray and Albany, there was a tremendous amount of maneuver/counter maneuver that went on (with the NVA largely getting the better of it, until overreaching and getting swatted back by massive US supporting fires); We Were Soldiers was very much a 'human side of things' type of movie, which I can certainly appreciate, but to me it shorted the action sequences, which was sort of boiled down to 'jump off the Hueys, run over there, do some shooting, run over there, do some shooting, call in air, movie over.'  Didn't really explain what was actually happening particularly well (in my humble opinion), and the battle did not end with the air strikes.  I'd say the worst was yet to come, actually.

Anyway, the Apocalypse Now air assault is a classic, and epic, scene, gotta love it.  I've never come up with a convincing way to game the ground combat with all those helicopters zooming around.

And yes Sir, All Americans.  I've recently been pondering getting back to them, too.

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 11 September 2019, 06:10:13 PM
Well, since i mentioned it, i watched the air cav scene again this morning. And the bridge scene with the grenade launcher  :D

The thing i liked the most of we were soldiers, were the helicopter scenes. (Starting to see a theme here?).

I have the same interest in most wargames, computer games : transport and carriers.

Ww2: beach landings! Longest day was my favourite movie when i was a kid. Especially the landing craft.
'Nam: the helicopters
Naval games: the aircraft carriers
Sci fi games: transports and fliers.i have a boatload of epic 40k fliers.

There's just something fascinating about adapting transportation to fit military needs!

Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 12 September 2019, 01:46:46 AM
Peter,

I am, indeed, noticing a pattern.  So cool, how about some more fights then?  You know your D-Day landing beach fight is one of my favorites!

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 12 September 2019, 04:59:46 PM
I have contemplated getting 10 mm landing craft, but that plan always falls short when i realise my bases won't fit.

I really want to be able to put the troops in.I'm actually looking to get some landing craft for my bolt action marines at the next crisis show. Maybe i'll get some done  :-

Only thing i can't figure out is, what to use. Looking at pictures of marine landings show mostly amtracs. And at £26 per vehicle that gets costly very quick! there are pics of marines in landing craft at iwo, wich i prefer, means i can do them in mdf (much cheaper). Should be the lcvp wich sarissa makes.
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 15 September 2019, 02:34:07 PM
Peter,

Sorry for the delay, the end of the week always gets super busy for me (my boys have baseball games on Thursday and Saturday, practice on Friday). 

Hmmm, for some reason I thought I'd seen 10mm landing craft in one of your batreps, but you're absolutely right about having a tough time getting troops actually inside them.  It's just like houses in wargaming; they look to be the correct size on the table, and scale-wise to real life, they're dead on, but for some reason you just can't actually get (even singly based) troops in them, or if you do, to look right...

I did recently buy three of Pendraken's amtracs for my WWII US Marines, with the passenger blocks from the French Indochina range, and I think I'm going to be able to pull putting in and removing the passenger blocks for games.  I'm still trying to work out how to do tank riders for my 10mm Soviets (being able to have them put on/taken off during games, not permanently attaching them to the vehicles). 

Regarding Marine landings and amtracs, yeah, once you get out of the Solomons (really beginning with Tarawa in Nov '43) it's all amtracs in the assault waves, with landing craft usually coming in from the 4th or 5th wave on.  You don't really need landing craft as they didn't make it to the beach, they got hung up on the reef about 600 yards out and the Marines had to wade in to shore.  Regarding Iwo Jima, the assault waves went in in amtracs, but it was strangely quiet, the Japanese didn't open fire until the Marines moved inland.  I've been to Iwo Jima about a dozen times: amphibious landings hit the beach, then you've got to go up a steep, about 15-foot slope, then it flattens out for about 30 yards, then you've got to go up again, where it levels out again as you get to the center of the island, before dropping off in the same manner to the other side of the island, Suribachi just looking down on you from about 10 o'clock.  The steep slopes and soft, black sand meant the amtracs couldn't get off the beaches (until later, when engineers created routes off the beach), so the various waves of amtracs and landing craft just stacked up  (the Marines were walking up, but all the supplies and vehicles were stuck on the beaches), making incredibly lucrative targets for Japanese artillery once they did open up.

Here's a pic:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-orzDjWsPSh4/U3fBMtCAGOI/AAAAAAAAFLE/q1YmkRgS6R8/s1600/M6.jpg)
That's us, screwing around atop Suribachi, the invasion beaches at right, Motoyama (you can see a white building in the background, part of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force sea/air rescue station there now, the three WWII airfields are now one) at center.

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 15 September 2019, 11:12:02 PM
Absolutely right, i made some paper landing craft from some junior general files, scaled to fit my bases.

Yes amtracs were my first thought, but i just always get stuck on the price for those thing (in 28 mm, my marines /japanese are warlord games models)

As we all know, the transport models aren't really necessary to play those games, but they just make it look so much better.

Really nice description of the situation, must be great to have seen that in person!
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 17 September 2019, 03:40:10 AM
Peter,

Paper models, eh?  Very clever, I didn't even realize!  And I couldn't imagine doing it in 28mm, so expensive, but I bet your troops look great!  And yes, not necessary, but really sets the game off, adds so  much to the visuals.

Iwo Jima is quite amazing, and what those boys did there even more so.  I'm sure I've brought it up here, but I'm a combat veteran, fought in several countries, including a month's worth of house to house fighting in Fallujah back in 2004.  Yet I still marvel at what those Marines did at Iwo Jima.

V/R,
Jack
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 17 September 2019, 09:03:11 AM
Yup paper:

(https://i.imgur.com/N9fS4Az.jpg)

actually, with the plastic warlord kits, 28mm is not 'that' expensive, really depends on far you want to go. Only thing that holds me back is the setup time.


(https://i.imgur.com/zVlB9Zd.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/U3P87Tq.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/HY42RPB.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/5fhXAIq.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ofvmU5k.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/hzQLn0A.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/OpMlMeN.jpg)
kamikaze
(https://i.imgur.com/eBRx6wM.jpg)
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: fsn on 17 September 2019, 09:40:06 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/N9fS4Az.jpg)
Turn your head to the left and the landing craft look like happy robots.
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: petercooman on 17 September 2019, 09:40:50 AM
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Fights from the Movie "Platoon"
Post by: bigjackmac on 17 September 2019, 10:53:00 PM
Fantastic, Peter, those look great, and a nice, big jungle fight there, too!

V/R,
Jack