Village Battle Indochina

Setup a small solo play through for my French Indochina War Eureka miniatures using the ruleset Hammer of Democracy by Ivan Sorensen.

20mm Hellcat strike on VM positions

Map Size 3' x 3'. 20 minutes of "Game Clock". After each turn roll 1 d6, take this much time off the game clock. Actual time to play was around 25 minutes or so.

Both forces were evenly matched, deploying with mortar & HMG team, 1 heavy infantry, and 3 light infantry. According to game rules each square was Dependable meaning 7 HP per square.

The Legionnaires deployed behind battle works on the outskirts of a small village, successfully rolling to spot Viet Minh movements on a 2 d6 5+ via aerial recon. This meant that off map artillery could target them on the first turn.

VM had very good initiative and activation rolls moving rapidly into position. Mortar and artillery fire wore down a few units but could not stop two squares from getting danger close to the French line.

By turn 3 the French had to roll for low Ammo with three units had been lost to effective VM artillery fire. A successful French Hellcat strike in Turn 4 might have proved the difference, severely damaging the two closest VM units which had not been destroyed by artillery and mortar fire, which was abysmal for the French side a la Dien Bien Phu.

Legion MG Nest

This battle was almost two close to call. The French took heavy losses, loosing half their deployed force but ultimately kept the Viet Minh from breaching the perimeter.

Excited to continue wargaming with these figures. I have quite a few troop options that I'm looking to play around with. Next time you see this I will likely play an armor reinforced game but will not allow French airstrikes. I currently have M24 Chaffee for French support and plan on adding some armored cars as well. Luckily the Viet Minh have a bazooka unit to even odds.

Keep rolling those 6's

 -15mm Dieter

Indochina French Eureka Legion & Para

The First Indochina War (1946-1954) is a conflict I've always been interested in and keen to realize for a wargaming project. Finally got these Eureka (USA) miniatures done up and ready for the tabletop. About a year or two ago I finished Bernard Fall's Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu, and decided to grab a set of French and Viet Minh figures. Lets take look. 

Using the ruleset Hammer of Democracy Friendly battle rules for the Second World War. I've added a few tweaks to bring the conflict into the Cold War and specifically the latter period of the First Indochina War, from 1950-1954. Can't recommend this ruleset enough. Definitely a beer and pretzels vibe but with just enough tactics to make it interesting. I might dive more into this ruleset in a later post because it's that cool.

For these French troops I decided to essentially divide them into two color schemes. Basic drab green with some camo tops for French Army or Foreign Legion, and all camo troops representing Para (or Legion) elements.

Wracked my brain thinking of ways to avoid painting so much camo; scouring google and my personal library trying to find a larger selection of French Indochina photos to prove my theory that not all the troops stationed in Indochina wore the British para smock or Marine Pacific camo. It seems the camera loved these camo troops but I found some variations and photos from late in the war of Foreign Legion troops wearing the traditional green drab.

The camo scheme came out tan looking, a bit too "sandy" in appearance, but I'm still happy with the end result in that it gives a little more pop on the figures against all green table backgrounds and the mostly green Viet Minh troops. The more I look at them kind of thing.

Per the rules, bases include officer stands, light infantry, heavy infantry, assault teams, MG Teams, Mortars, and recoilless rifles. Artillery is all "off table", a protocol that I'm adopting for a few other projects. Love the little details that Eureka worked into some of these heavy weapons stands. Note the rifles and ammo satchel next to the loader and firer on the recoilless rifle team.

I've added a M24 Chaffee, nicknamed Bisons at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. Currently working on basing a Grumman Hellcat for close air support. Sorry VM, no air support for you!

Keep Rolling Those 6's

 -15mm Dieter